Feminism for Men

I’ve noticed a theme since my last post.  I went to a talk at my job about feminism.  I had a troll on the internet try to tell me it was women’s fault they are where they are.  He was unpleasant.  I read several news articles which reaffirmed my beliefs.  It’s been a week or so of confirmation of the need for feminism.

I’ve been a fervent feminist most of my life.  I’ve even been accused of not liking men.  This isn’t true.  I have high expectations of men.  I think they should be strong enough to support their women.

Honestly, I’ve been very lucky in the men in my life.  My father was very progressive – especially for a man born in the 20s – and encouraged all of us to go out and do what we wanted to.  My husband is usually very sensitive to the issues of women.

Because I’ve had these amazing men in my life, they’ve set a high standard for my expectations of how men should be.  Now neither of them is perfect but they set the bar high for others.

It doesn’t make men less to support women, to be their cheerleader, to help them be the best they can be.  It does make them love and appreciate you more.  It does increase the amount of respect women have for men.

With three daughters, it was important to me they have a good example of how a man should treat a woman.  When I chose Ken, I made a great decision.  He’s been an excellent role model.

So I say to all the men – the mothers of boys – to the other 49% of our population.  It’s time for you to step up and be a man.  Be a real man who can cry when he’s sad, laugh when he’s happy, and treat his women as they deserve to be treated – with love and respect.

Here’s a secret for all the men – if you manage to do this, you will have a better and stronger relationship with your woman and partner.

Why are females not valued?

Catching up on my DVR last night, I watched parts of the View from this week.  At one point, the women discussed the nun who was excommunicated because she allowed doctors to perform an abortion on a pregnant woman.  The woman would have died if the abortion hadn’t been performed.  They brought up all sorts of other details like this woman also had four other children at home and other things.  The women were outraged that this nun was excommunicated – as am I.  She did what was right.  It isn’t like the fetus at 11 weeks could survive without the mother.  So they couldn’t do a C section to deliver it.  If the woman had died trying to complete the pregnancy, the baby would have died. 

I understand the Catholic beliefs that life begins at conception.  I understand why they don’t think abortion is good.  Really does anyone?  However, in this particular circumstance abortion may have stopped a pregnancy but it also saved a life.  No one mentioned the hell the mother must be going through.  First she isn’t able to carry a child she must have wanted (I’m assuming here) to term.  So she is grieving the loss while at the same time being grateful to be alive (talk about conflict).  Then the Catholic church (some bishop – a man) turns around and punishes the nun who helped to save her life.  In essence, the Catholic church is saying it was wrong to save this woman’s life. 

I could rant for paragraphs about how I feel about this.  However, I want to go back to the fact that the View discussed this topic one day.  Apparently overnight they received numerous emails, most of which started with I don’t watch your program… well if you aren’t watching what do you care?  There was an email from a gentleman who called the women of the View not good Catholics because they criticized the church.

If the church can’t stand up to a few women criticizing it then perhaps it shouldn’t be in business.  On top of which isn’t it the duty of the membership to keep the organization honest and fair?  The women of the View asked why this nun (a woman) got excommunicated when the priests (men) who abused all the children didn’t?  This is a severe double standard.  I understand that the nun “broke” the rules in the eyes of the church.  Didn’t those men?  Why implement a harsh punishment against her when you didn’t against the men? 

I’m not Catholic.  I think Catholicism is out of date and out of touch with the reality of our current society.  I think the Catholic church is a bunch of old white guys who are trying to desperately hold on to power they don’t have any right to.  They are the worst case of good old boys society.  This is why I’m not Catholic – well and a whole bunch of other reasons.  However, when they apply their own rules and standards so unequally I question why anyone remains in this religion.  The women from the View didn’t hurt the image of the Catholic church.  The Catholic church hurt its own image.