Other than being the first African-American president that the United States has seen, Barack Obama has proven that he is different from past leaders on multiple fronts. His charisma, involvement in popular culture (such as using the phrase "pop off" at the G20 Summit in November), some logical policy changes (like banning solitary confinement for the juvenile prison population), and intriguing upbringing has deemed him to be flat-out cool. Now, we can add feminism to Obama's list of coolness. That's right, the President wrote a personal essay for Glamour's September issue on why he is a feminist and the importance of men joining the feminist movement.
Unfortunately, it's a pretty big deal that President Obama wrote this piece, even in the year 2016. Prior, such moves simply weren't made. Before publishing his article in Glamour, the President had spoken out on relevant issues that affect women nationwide. Specifically, at the beginning of this year he addressed the tax that is placed on feminine hygiene products, products that are necessary for the natural rhythm that takes place once a month in a woman's body. "I have no idea why states would tax these as luxury items. I suspect it's because men were making the laws when those taxes were passed," stated the President.
I know many people wonder why men are needed within the feminist movement. This movement tends to have a stigma of exclusivity and feminists are often labeled as hairy, man-hating lesbians who place men on a lower pedestal and only care about pussy power.
Like many generalizations, these simply are not true.
...Well I mean, pussy power is a pretty positive mantra if you ask me. BUT, feminism is actually the opposite of the negative labels that it is associated with. In fact, the proper definition of feminism includes equal rights and opportunities between the sexes. The movement extends to class and even race through Womanism. There is a place for everyone, and relatively all people that I associate with enjoy the idea of equal rights and strive for them.
So, why should men join the feminist fight?
Simply, because women's rights are human rights. 2Pac didn't lie when he spit that we all came from a woman in his 1993 hit single, "Keep Ya Head Up." A short but solid biology lesson, 2Pac recognized that everyone has a woman in their life - a mom, a grandmother, a boss, a girlfriend or wife. Obama even said in his essay, "Now, the most important people in my life have always been women." Whoever this woman in our lives may be, we wouldn't want them to suffer or be mistreated by law or society. Feminism is about dismantling sexual norms and gender roles that limit people and sometimes punish them when they deviate from what is "normal." Men experience this in their own separate ways, but in ways that are equally emotionally and psychologically traumatizing. People as a whole have been harmed by gender roles and by what society dictates to be acceptable. Just as women have been discussing among themselves their gendered experiences, men should be doing the same.
I mean, Obama has. Why can't you?
