Google the phrase “can men be feminists” and the first result is a quote from the website everydayfeminism.com that states that:

“It's not a man's place to label themselves as a feminist since, at its core, feminism is for gaining equality for women. A woman you are close to can assign that label to you, but you have to earn it!”

While I respect and acknowledge this site's right to form their own opinion on what men's place is in the feminist movement; the fact that this quote is the first thing that appears when one Googles this question as one forms a feminist identity, is sad, especially if the person doing the Googling is male.

I came into feminism in a unique way. I have always enjoyed working with children; I have volunteered at my home church’s Vacation Bible School, I did two years of student teaching in high school, I have babysat and everything else under the sun. When the time rolled around for me to get a summer job, naturally I began with trying to get a job as a summer nanny (not a “manny,” that word at its core is frustrating). When I was turned down for jobs based on the fact that I was a male, I was offended that someone couldn’t see past my gender when thinking about me for a job. Through further research into the plight of the male caregiver, I realized that the patriarchy has cultivated a system that perpetuates the stigma that all men are child predators. It was then that I knew that it was my responsibility to put an end to this stigma and others that stop men from reaching their full potential and through that I could also campaign alongside my fellow females to have the same rights that I enjoy.

At its core, feminism fights for the cultural, social, and political equality of everyone regardless of the gender they identify as. This fundamental belief struck a cord with me. I wanted to be taken seriously as someone in the childcare field, regardless of the fact that I was male. That is why I am a feminist. I want to fight with every fiber of my being for every person on this planet to have the same basic human rights no matter if they are a woman, a man, a transgender or anything in between.

Feminism is not about hating men, it is about hating the systems that value their experiences over that of others. To say that men cannot be feminists because they don’t understand the female experience is just as sexist as the very systems feminism is fighting to dispose of. I do not know what it is like to be a woman, that just means I have to get that perspective from the females around me. My gender doesn’t discount my ability to care for children in the same way that it does not discount my ability to sympathize with women and add my voice to the roar calling for equality.

I am tired of having to explain to people that I am 100 percent a feminist and not anything less; not a feminist ally, not a pro-feminist. I am a feminist, through and through. I respect women just as much as I respect men, and I trust that, in time, everyone will see the value in feminism because the patriarchy is a load of crap and needs to stop stinking up our world.