For a man to work with children, he must acknowledge that he is ‘marked’ and will be subject to far greater scrutiny, suspicion and supervision than would a woman in exactly the same role. Somewhere between men and children there is a line, and for those men who choose to cross it, for whatever reason, their motives will be questioned. Continue reading
Month: April 2010 (Page 2 of 2)
I think I’m a feminist. I certainly care about lots of things feminists care about: unequal pay, sex discrimination and so on. But whenever I think about it, the ‘feminist’ parts of my concerns seem to fade away. I care if women aren’t paid fairly, but then, I care if anyone is not paid fairly. Again, I care if women are discriminated against, but then, I care if anyone is discriminated against. How many ‘feminist’ concerns are subsumed in more general, gender-neutral concerns, and so, seemingly, not really ‘feminist’ at all? Continue reading
Lots of people are getting excited about the upcoming Cambridge Reclaim the Night, which will consist of a women’s march and a vigil open to all genders, as well as a men’s solidarity demo. (All parts of the evening are explicitly welcoming to trans people).
Holding events which are women-only inevitably reignites the debate about why there are events to which only self-defining women are welcome. In reponse, I have written a (wo)manifesto which tries to communicate why Reclaim the Night marches which are women-only are so empowering and so necessary… Continue reading
I am a 24 year old girl and my last boyfriend used to jokingly refer to me as a ‘righteous lesbian’ for my feminist tendencies. I don’t even think I’m that much of a feminist at all. However, when I’m told that girls are not as good at something as boys, I will take the bait and argue every time. I grew up with 2 brothers and 4 male cousins. I am smarter than all of them and they know it. I was smarter than most boys throughout my schooling. So don’t tell me I can’t do something just because I’m a girl. I’ll definitely do it better than you if I think you’re a bigot and I want to prove you’re wrong. Continue reading