Recently, actress and millennial sweetheart Emma Watson gave a speech in front of the U.N. about the importance of male involvement in the women’s rights movement. While I am a fan of Watson and the idea of male-inclusive feminism, I’m not interested in making an impassioned plea for male support. The concept of gender equality is so simple. I don’t feel the need to coax anyone — male or female — into supporting such a cause, nor do I want to explain to them why it does not yet exist. I’m not going to drag out the statistics on wage inequality, launch into an overview of rape culture or explain why the concept of “legitimate rape” is bogus.
If you don’t support the idea of a women’s rights movement because it’s too “emasculating” or you believe it “discriminates against men,” I can’t help you. It is not that I am opposed to any sort of criticism of the women’s rights movement. In fact, I would agree that feminism is insufficient in addressing a multitude of issues. For decades, the movement has systematically excluded African-American, Latino, Asian-American, Arab-American and other non-white women. While I appreciate her support, the recent media attention on Emma Watson’s speech follows a long tradition of upper-class white women being uplifted as the face of feminism. The feminist movement has also forsaken gender non-conforming, LGBTQ-identified women who are essential to the discussion of gender equality.
Feminism has failed us in so many ways, and I welcome change in the women’s rights movement. However, it has never failed to reach out to men or attempt to win their favor. I can’t count the number of conversations I’ve heard in just the past year about feminism consisting of mostly women attempting to explain its importance to mostly belligerent men. Although we’d appreciate it, feminists don’t need the support of males. I’m “WeForShe,” and if anyone — male, female or somewhere along the spectrum — wants to join, they are more than welcome.
Amanda Nelson is the secretary of UF Students for Justice in Palestine.
[A version of this story ran on page 7 on 9/29/2014]
