He's Not a Feminist... but he's a mensch

Feminism has been described as the radical notion that women are people. But that is a bon mot, good for opening a few minds but not as a working definition of a philosophy or an ideology. Here is what I think feminism is: Feminism is a liberation movement. Though it takes multifarious forms, and there are probably more feminisms than there are feminists, that is what it comes down to, especially if you grant a broad definition of the word liberation. Feminism is the movement to free women from sexism, to free them from the oppression — whether murder, mutilation, or mere slight statistical lack of employment opportunity — visited on them by men… and by other women. -Chris Clarke, Creek Running North

OK, he loves his dog. That's the first thing.

He's an incandescent writer. That's the second thing.

And he is, as I'm far from the first to notice, a Guy Who Gets It.

Today he says he's not a feminist just because he supports feminism, any more than he's a Chicana because he supports Latina rights. He says that feminism is a liberation movement. He notices that he has "middle-aged vanilla hetboy bias and privilege."

I am a sympathizer. I am a fellow traveler. At my best, I am an ally. But I am a member of the class against which feminism is aimed. I can do my best to be a traitor to that class. More and more men do, and I think no one would deny that the material support we can provide is crucial, whether talking to other men, offering political and financial and emotional support to feminist activists, or just doing the damn dishes half the time.

Yeah. Sigh. As the aunt of three nephews, I gotta hope this kind of thing catches on.

Comments

[Gil.]

Mensch? You have to resort to Yiddish? The richest language in the world doesn't have enough words?

Oy vey!

[Chris Clarke]

Is "shucks" Yiddish?