For Every Girl

 I saw this on Feministing the other week and decided to share it.

I understand that a lot of the things I write about deal with the way that women are treated and often leave out the dilemmas and issues that men face.

This poster shows that gender stereotypes do not just affect women - they have a negative impact on men as well. So while most of my rants discuss women and the problems we face in society - I want all the males out there to know that I am not disregarding your struggles.

When you create gender stereotypes, you put things into categories. You give something a label. And everything that does not fit into a category/cannot be labelled becomes "other" or "abnormal". So when there is a man who does not act stereotypically "male" - he is considered more "female" or "girly" or "gay". Or if a woman does something or acts in a way that is attributed to males - she is "butch" or "a dyke". And what about people who don't fit into the categories of male and female? As Jonanna Widner of Bitch magazine writes in her article "Top of the Pops: Justin Bieber's a lesbian hair icon - or is it the other way around?":

A 16-year-old boy-man whose testicles don’t seem to have dropped, with a strange haircut and a baseball cap that’s three sizes too big? Cool. A thirtysomething woman rocking that same look? Cue the panicky reactions. Why is that person wearing a tie buying tampons? This person is not fitting into my regimented paradigm! What happened to the rules?

But those spaces between girl/not girl, boy/not boy, growing up/not growing up are where queers belong, and here’s why: They’re not cramped crevices into which we are shoved, but rather spaces we have carved out for ourselves.

I am aware that her article is talking about how Justin Bieber's haircut is one sported by many lesbians (or vice versa: Bieber is sporting a lesbian hair-do). But I feel as though her conclusion is one that relates to what I am talking about: that when something steps outside the boundaries of what is considered "normal", it becomes an outcast and is made aware of its difference(s).

While I still say that women are far more objectified than men, I get that men, too, have to deal with the negative impact of gender stereotypes. It's gotta be tough for a guy not be able to cry when he feels like shit because he will be seen as weak. I feel for you. But then why is it so hard for you to see our point of view when we want to try to diminish these types of issues in our society? Yeah, sure, it'll do a hell of a lot of good for women but it'll help out the men too. That is what I think is a huge misconception about Feminism. People think that women want to have all the power. That we're angry and want to take out our anger on men. Um. no. We just want to make this world we live in a better place for everyone (including ourselves). Because, essentially, that is exactly what would happen. If there wasn't such a negative connotation on what it is to be female, and females in general, then men wouldn't have to fear being seen as weak, lesser than, or "womanly". We would embrace difference instead of fearing it. Everyone would have a place.

So support our wishes and motivation to change things. Don't fear the word "feminism" - embrace it. . Because you, too, will reap the benefits.