I am angry.
I'm angry because we live in a society in which we give boys a free pass to do whatever they want in life.
We don't reprimand them, we don't punish them. We laugh. We chuckle. We say "boys will be boys" with an amused grin, as these so-called "boys" hit girls.
We say "boys will be boys" when a man physically, emotionally, and or mentally abuses his girlfriend
We say "boys will be boys" when our president says that he grabs women by their genitals
We say "boys will be boys" when Brock Turner rapes an unconscious woman behind a dumpster.
It is so frustrating to me that we refuse to place the blame upon these guilty boys. We point a finger at his victim and shame her. What were you wearing? What were you doing that could have provoked him? Were you drunk? Do you know this could ruin his life? Why didn't you fight harder? And his victim sits there, voiceless because we refuse to blame our precious little boys. Women are the problem, apparently. Women who lure men in with their stout refusals and protestations of having a boyfriend. They refuse to hear it because they're men; they believe that the world owes them something
We claim to be the safest country in the world, yet our women are walking home with their keys laced through their fingers. There are classes for women on how to defend themselves from a possible attacker or rapist. There are apps for women who are afraid of walking home alone late at night.
As a man, these things do not affect me, I have the privilege of not feeling this sort of fear. I have the privilege of being male, of not needing protection from others who might try and take advantage of me.
But I do have that fear, I have it for the women in my life. Every night I go out with them, I tell them to text me when they get home. Every night I go out with them, I'm always on the lookout for predatory men. I want them to feel safe, I want them to feel comfortable. They shouldn't have to make themselves a weapon in order to protect themselves
Oh, and you thought you boys who let their friends get away with shit thought you were safe? think again. I want you to hold your friends accountable for what they do. I want you to scream at them, yell at them, and cut them off when they hurt their girlfriend. I want you to tell on them, that's right, tell on them. Expose them for the creeps that you know they are. I don't care that they're your friend, I don't care if they saved you from a burning building. A rapist is a rapist. Period, point-blank.
Please, for the love of women, stand in solidarity with them. Stand with white women. Stand with women of color. Stand with trans women. Stand with disabled women. Stand with them so that you create a force so powerful that it destroys those that seek to hurt them.
Until then, I refuse to support a country where our women do not feel safe.
