Speak Out, Brother!

As it stands, I am currently the only male member of the CT NOW Board of Directors. Seeing this blog entry for the first time, you might be asking yourself a few questions.

(1) “How long has he been waiting to use this insanely clever blog entry title?”

(Answer: About a month.)

(2) “Did he join the board just to hang out with women all day?”

(Answer: No…but it doesn’t hurt.)

But the most important question:

(3) “What do men have to do with feminism?”

(Answer: Everything.)

As a male feminist, one of my inspirations is Don McPherson. Don is a former quarterback for Syracuse University, played in the NFL from 1988 to 1990, and currently is an analyst for Big East football coverage on SNY. Don is also an active feminist, speaking all over the country about issues like gender stereotypes and violence against women.

It’s one thing for women to speak out about women’s issues; more good work than we can imagine has been accomplished by women. But when “manly men” such as Don McPherson become active, it gives feminism a different perspective altogether. The fact of the matter is, women’s issues are everybody’s issues, and as men, we do women a disservice by remaining silent. These issues will persist as issues as long as men keep passing them off as “women’s issues.”

In the coming weeks, I’ll talk about a number of ways that women’s issues are also men’s issues. For now, I’ll leave you with a video clip of Don McPherson explaining just why this is the case.