yayfeminism:

Have you ever felt:

• Insecure because your body wasn’t big enough, strong enough, or slim enough?
• Pressured to be tough, aggressive and competitive beyond your comfort zone?
• Ashamed of your interest in cooking, fashion, dance, or some other activity because you were told it made you “gay” or “a girl”?
• Offended by media representations of helpless adult men who cannot feed, clothe, or bathe themselves without the help of a woman?
• Burdened by expectations to objectify women, have sex with many women and be sexually aggressive?
• Helpless when dealing with feelings of sadness, hurt, and shame because you were taught to believe that emotions show weakness and that “real men help themselves”?
• Confused at how to be sensitive and kind but still be sexually desirable?
• Alone when you suffered an injury but had to “handle it”?
• Afraid of being called a “sissy,” “wimp,” “f*g,” “p*ssy,” or “b**ch,”?
• Ambivalent about what it means to be a “real man”?

If even one or two of these is true, then you need feminism.

Why Feminism Helps Men

Feminism is about changing the gender roles, sexual norms, and sexist practices that limit you and punish you when whenever you deviate from them.

And the experiences listed above (and more) do exactly that: tell you what a “man” should be and punish you when you want to act differently.

All men have been hurt by the traditional gender system.

EverydayFeminism

I had to walk on a broken leg for three days when I was a kid because my dad told me to man up and walk it off each time I said it hurt. It was three days before my dad finally took me to the Doctors.