I remember when I first transitioned to a vegetarian diet. As a fledgling convert, I quickly became a zealot, talking to/over anyone who’d listen about my change. I couldn’t suppress my excitement, and although I regret the overbearing tactic now, I did sway a timid supporter.
She wanted to learn more about my rationale, so I lent her a couple books that influenced me. Surprisingly, a few weeks later she weaned herself off meat, although I sensed she remained skeptical. Her reluctance wasn’t based on ethical principles or familial pressure. It wasn’t due to persistent cravings. It wasn’t even because of limited options at restaurants or overpriced tofu. Her ambivalence was because she didn’t want to be labeled a bohemian type. I asked her what she meant. “You know,” she responded, “Those people who don’t shave and have smelly dreadlocks. Because that’s so not me.”
That was true. She patterned her image a la Legally Blonde, not Miss Greenpeace.
Her perception of vegetarians was an untrue stereotype — one of social outcasts, misfits who reject the dominant culture and dress accordingly. I understood her reservation, but reassured her plenty of normal (whatever that means) people were vegetarians too.
Unfortunately the societal stigma that surrounds vegetarianism clouds feminism as well.
In Phoenix, where I grew up, most women avoid the label feminist like a creepy skeezeball at the bar. To them, feminism wasn’t the political, economic and social equality of the sexes. It was the bra-burning, pin-wearing, angry misandry they saw portrayed on TV. Unwilling to recognize the diverse audience who considers themselves feminists, they’d declare they were for equal rights, but you could take your feminism and leave it at the door, as if feminism was a nagging telemarketer.
You can only imagine how their boyfriends and husbands felt.
The word has been repulsively demonized. And it’s going to take courageous men to stand beside women — not only to restore the veracity of this manipulated word, but also to actuate the goals feminism champions. Women can accomplish equality on their own, but they shouldn’t have to, and they shouldn’t have to wait for chauvinistic males dragging their feet like a tantrum-throwing toddler.
I recently attended a Women’s Initiative meeting on campus and was impressed with the female turnout. Predictably, I was one of only three males in attendance. I somewhat expected the gender disparity, yet the lack of males sparked memories of my community college meetings in conservative Arizona. Not exactly what I anticipated in liberal D.C.
Many men are purposefully estranged from feminism because they fear it diminishes their masculinity. They fear they’ll be ridiculed by “the boys.”
There’s nothing implicit in masculinity that precludes support for feminism — in fact, the opposite is true. If a man is proud of his masculinity he should be comfortable in it. When he is comfortable with himself, he’ll understand men have a moral obligation to assist women, to be an accomplice in eliminating the remaining inequity they face. And while that might not entail full-fledged activism, it should at least include association with feminism.
Women have made monumental progress. But they still have a long way to go. They deserve increased male support to chisel away at the mountain of sexism they face. And like vegetarianism, feminism endures a battle of linguistic manipulation weighing it down. A movement always has more credibility and clout the broader the audience. When straights march beside gays, when whites march beside blacks, etc., objectives can be expedited. For too long men (and women) have eschewed feminism because of its distorted image, it’s time to change that perception and take it back.
Count me in.
Conor Shapiro is a graduate student in the School of International Service and a liberal columnist.
edpage@theeagleonline.com
