I am a cis, mostly straight Ashkenazi Jewish man from Israel, which is the local equivalent of being a white dude. So I know whereof I speak when I say this: #banmen. Because we're trash.
If the past couple of years have shown us anything, they have shown us this: Men will take advantage of their power in a plethora of vile ways, from the subtle to the extremely unsubtle. Because we're trash.
At this point, some of you may want to call me a "self hating man." I'm not. Despite anxiety and occasional bouts of depression, I like me. But if you were gonna write that? I probably don't like you. Because why? Because you're trash.
Now let's get this out of the way. #notallmen. Okay? Does anyone still need to be told that when someone says "men are trash" they don't mean "every single man on the planet is trash"? If you do. Here it is.
It is at this point that you may want to write about how if someone wrote "women are trash," I'd be there to condemn them, and doesn't that say I'm sexist? Well, no. Because criticizing the privileged and making fun of them (us) for being trash is not the same as criticizing the marginalized and making fun of them. Because structures of power exist in society, and we don't live in a vacuum. Which is good, as we would all die.
That sure was a lot of caveats, huh?
Here's the thing. Due to being physically stronger, on average, men have established a dominant position is most societies a long time ago, and haven't relinquished them. Most CEOs are men. Most high ranking politicians are men. And it's not because of a gap in ability. It's because of a gap in opportunity, both overt and covert.
Let's talk about the covert stuff, because if you're not aware of the overt part I really don't think we can have a productive discussion.
If a man harasses a woman and faces no repercussion, the result will often be that the woman will walk away. From the company, from the industry. Because when you've experienced that a system is rigged against you, you are likely to decide not to participate in that system. When people say "oh, but we'll lose that dude's great talent," they're ignoring the great talents of women who were never given a shot because of that dude.
And so I return to my previous modest proposal: Ban men. Not from society as a whole. Not from any industry. Just from positions of power. And not forever. Let's give it 5 years and see where it goes, okay?
Or we could try, collectively, to not be trash. But I'm not gonna hold my breath for that one.
Credit to all images used: Wikimedia commons.