If you are someone who identifies as female, and you’ve ever spent more than, say, a few minute on the Internet, you’ve probably manged to reach the same conclusion as many others: Sometimes, being a girl on the Internet is not the most fun thing in the world. I mean, you’ve got to deal with harassers. Mansplainers. Guys who slide into your DMs for no discernible reason other than to mess with you. Then, you’ve got the shamers.
Last night I read an amazing article about a dude whose pickup artist techniques led to him blogging, tweeting, and podcasting about his sexual exploits online. Without going into too much detail, his recollections were, uh, how should I put this? Okay, they were really disturbing and showed a lot of aggression and hatred toward women he slept with and women in general. He eventually got into a lot of trouble for it, but reading it made me think about all of the other dudes out there who date women, have sex with women, but hold awful opinions about women. I then started doing a little poking around on corners of the internet–from Reddit to random blogs–that were dedicated to sexist men who think that women are naturally manipulative, that men get the short end of the stick in the world, and that girls who dare to have sex with multiple people are used goods.
Okay. I want you all to close your eyes, take a deep breath, and transport yourself to a different place. I want you to imagine that you really feel that feminism is the root of all of your troubles. I want you to wonder why the word “men” isn’t included in the word “history,” and disregard the fact that the word itself literally says his story. Finally, I want you to try and believe the fallacious assumption that a Dorito and Mountain Dew smoothie is not only delicious, but also nutritious.
Now, open your eyes. Wasn’t that terrible? Can you imagine anything actually being worse, really and truly, than being a meninist?
A little while ago, my boyfriend wore a t-shirt to school that said #meninst. I consider myself to be a feminist, but I had no trouble with the shirt. He didn't actually say anything against feminism then, nor has he ever said anything, but girls have been harassing him ever since. They've been calling him names, saying rude things behind his back, they've even been taking shots at me. I know that feminism is a serious topic, but he really doesn't deserve this. What should I do about it?
Honestly, why is he surprised? "Meninism" was a concept created purely to mock feminism. If he wants to wear that shirt, he should know the weight of identifying with that word. Imagine if someone came to school with a big “GAY HATE” graphic on their clothing! It’s never a good decision to make fun of a serious issue, let alone expect no backlash.
You should explain to him what meninism is, and if he still wants to wear that shirt, you need to read 7 Reasons Why You Should Ditch Your Boyfriend If He’s Not A Feminist.
xo
gurl
*Note* We are not condoning verbal abuse on any level. However, identifying with the hateful term you proudly wear on yourself is a statement that a lot of people (in this case, an entire gender) will be hurt by. We think that people should react more intelligently than name-calling and have a real discussion with him over why the shirt is problematic. Knowledge is power.
