Badassery Magazine November 2017 Issue 18 | Page 21
L
adies and gentlebeings, I
would have to be a rather
imperceptive dolt to not
be aware that a large portion
of the readership of this fine
publication is female. Indeed, I
personally believe that it's one
of the reasons for the fresh and
powerful insights that are found
in its pages.
For that reason, it may seem as
if the blurb of belles-lettres that
follows is speaking to the wrong
audience. Indeed, it may even
feel as if I'm "preaching to the
choir" or worse, attempting to
impress.
I assure you my dear and long
suffering readers, none of the
above are true. I write these
words because I believe they
need to be said. It's my hope that
this small gesture will inspire
you to share them with others,
no matter the gender with which
they may identify.
Now that we've gotten that omi-
nous ballyhoo out of the way, we
may move on to the gravimen of
my text.
reason for my discomfiture:
I was being praised for showing
human decency.
Dear reader, what in the nine
hells does it say about us as a
society when we feel the need to
congratulate someone for being
kind? Is it that rare an occur-
rence? Have we fallen that far?
The answer is as obvious as it is
chilling.
Very recently I was perusing
the world-wide-inter-web-net
and read something that struck
me hard, not only with its sim-
ple truth, but also because it
mirrored something I had been
thinking about for a long time. It
went something like this:
"Men who support women's rights
no longer have the option to be
silent and pat themselves on the
back for their forward thinking.
Now is the time to speak up, to
act, to educate others about the
dangers and the realities of gen-
der-based discrimination, abuse
and violence."
Being the dunderhead that I am,
I did not instantly write down
the exact quote or who said it. (If
anyone recognizes the sentiment
here, please let me know so that
I can provide the proper credit.)
Whoever it was who gave such a
potent pontification, they are ab-
solutely right: Men who support
women's rights no longer have
the option to be passive. This can
also apply to many other issues
in our society, from racism to
homophobia, but for the sake of
brevity, I will restrict this discus-
sion to one issue.
It's no longer enough to sit smug-
ly, congratulating ourselves for
being "modern" and "forward
thinking." It's no longer enough
for men like myself to loudly an-
nounce that we're "feminists." We
have to demonstrate it with our
everyday actions, not just the
Recently someone gave me an
extremely kind compliment.
They praised me for my treat-
ment of women and said that I
was an "enlightened soul." (Their
words I assure you.)
I of course thanked the young
lady, and was very appreciative
of such approbation... but also
very uncomfortable, and I didn't
really understand why. The
uneasiness stayed with me for
several days until I finally decid-
ed to meditate on it. Much soul
searching later, I discovered the
20