How Women's issues just became Men's issues

Hi guys! I wrote this for a magazine at my university, but I thought I'd post it here as well :)

    I recently asked some people what they thought of when they heard the word 'feminism', and what they think is the main obstacle for women in our society - of the many responses I got, one included a link to a TED talk by Jackson Katz, PhD. An anti-sexism activist, his talk is about how men are cut off from the conversation about violence against women when they should be an integral part of it - not only because the majority of aggressors are male, but also because men are victims too. He emphasises shifting the focus from the female victims of gender violence to the changing of the aspects of our society that allow some men to think hurting and degrading others is acceptable. Just like rape culture, those issues need to be approached on an every day, social level. Talking about the bystander approach, he challenges men to say something when a friend or colleague says something degrading about women. He challenges men to be leaders in how other people, especially women, should be treated.

    Then, I came across an article about the recent rapes and murders of young women and girls in India, written by Mallika Dutt, the president and CEO of Breakthrough. In contrast with a huge focus on the legislative and judicial aspects of these cases, this article stated that "we need to understand violence against women and girls not as a “shocking” problem in a faraway place, but as the global pandemic that it is, affecting cities, towns, neighborhoods, and families everywhere. We need to understand violence against women and girls—in all its forms and degrees—as an expression of the status of women, worldwide, as second-class citizens. Bottom line, we need to create the political and social will not only to protect women and girls—and not only to empower them, but to fully value them as human beings."

    Both Katz and Dutt end with the idea that "men of all stripes—from poor communities to places of power—need to be engaged as leaders and allies in demanding an end to discrimination and violence." Both argue that our society's idea of 'masculinity' needs to be challenged just as much as society's view of women's identity and their roles. There needs to be a shift from thinking of a man as a tough, dominating character to a protective, supporting person. There needs to be a shift from thinking of a woman as a weak commodity to a valued and strong person.

    This is my idea of feminism - the issues we deal with are not just women's issues or men's issues, but problems we all have a responsibility to acknowledge and try to change. Problems we're all involved in and effect, often without knowing it. Rape culture, sexism, gender discrimination and unfair, hostile social constructs all fundamentally involve both men and women. If feminism is about equality, that involves men. 

Link to the TED talk:

http://youtu.be/KTvSfeCRxe8

Link to the article:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/05/05/mallika-dutt-a-better-response-is-needed-to-stop-crimes-like-rape-of-5-year-old-child-in-india.html?source=upworthy1