~Mahatma Gandhi
One of the many things I have learned during this year of living in the big city is how to understand people that are different than myself. I purposefully became an Affiliate Faculty of the Center for African American Studies. I also audited a class called Introduction to African American Studies. Being a white male, many would think I do not belong there. But what I have learned has been priceless. To understand a culture other than my own is truly a gift.
I also want to understand the plight of females in a male-dominated world. In my time here, I have also come to realize how women have been marginalized throughout history. They were only given the right to vote less than 100 years ago. In many parts of the world, they are still not permitted to speak or attend school. I am specifically interested in why they are in such low numbers in the fields of science and technology. So what is happening in society and what can we do about it? I think we need more males who recognize that they can be categorized as feminists.
Many people fight for the rights of minorities, but do not see the stereotypes, abuse, and miscategorization of women as a problem. Women are told they should keep quiet and let men run the show. They are denied equal wages, told what to do with their bodies (mostly by men in power), and told that they cause themselves to be raped by the way they dress. They are also used as sex symbols and asked to follow a standard of beauty that is rare and fake. I know men have their own problems, but how many men have been raped and then told it was because their jeans were too tight or the shirt they were wearing showed their muscles. It is crazy, but that is how our messed-up world works many times.
They deserve more than respect, they deserve an equal place in society. We need to showcase the female heroes such as the Rosey the Riveters, the senators and doctors, entertainers, housewives, astronauts, and engineers that have enriched out lives. We also need to recognize the women who work so hard to raise their families when fathers are absent or abusive. Women deserve to be respected, which includes being protected from abuse at the hands of boyfriends and husbands.
Recently, I have been observing classrooms and, more than once, the teachers have overlooked the female students, asked more difficult questions of the male students, let them drive the conversations, and allowed male students to “save” the females students after they could not answer a question. It is so subtle that no one even notices the bias. We have to train teachers to have equal expectations of all their students and push their female students to pursue any career they want, even those traditionally held by men.
I am calling on men to stand up for women, show them respect, allow them to be leaders in society and the church, and help pass legislation to make prostitution, pornography, and the exploitation of women through human trafficking a thing of the past. We need men strong and confident enough to call themselves feminists and willing to fight for the other half of our society.
