Josh K. Wicks

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I am a proud feminist, and it is my firm belief that everyone should be able to say the same thing. However, it remains the case that large swathes of the male population (and even a small amount of the female population!) are not feminists. I feel that the greatest barrier to engaging men and boys with feminism is understanding – far too many of them make mistakes with the name of this movement. Simple discussions might be the solution to this problem. These are some of the things that I feel are most important for men to understand about feminism and being a feminist:

1 – Remember, this is not about you.

Being a feminist is all about campaigning for the equal rights of women and it’s important that women are allowed to lead this. Don’t try to position yourself as a leader, only as a supporter. Society already listens to male voices, we don’t need to be amplified – but women’s voices do. It’s worth remembering that we are always heard at the expense of women’s voices, so it is our job as feminists to shut up and let women lead the way.

2 – Accept your privileges and use them correctly

Everyone has privileges and it’s important that we all recognise and accept these in order to use them appropriately. Societal privileges make life easier for some people than others, and male privilege is really the number one asset we have as it makes it so much easier to be heard. We, as feminists, can harness this and use it to amplify others voices. Learn from the women around you. Misogynist men will simply not listen to women and, unfortunately, only other men will be able to get through to them. This is our role in feminism – spreading the word and standing in solidarity with all women while they lead the way. Encouraging men to work for gender equality under powerful female leadership.

3 – Intersectionality

It’s important to remember that not all women are the same. A black woman’s experiences will be different to a white woman’s experiences, a trans woman’s experiences will be different to a cis woman’s experiences and so on. It is paramount that feminism is inclusive of all women, no matter what. Gender equality relies on equal treatment of all people no matter what. Listen and learn from everyone around you and adjust your behaviour accordingly.

4 – Actions speak louder than words

Being a feminist isn’t a title you gain after speaking about gender equality or going on a protest march – it is about the way you live your life and every action you make. It’s about making sure none of your actions are sexist, harmful, discriminatory or bigoted and, above all, making sure you are not reinforcing any kind of inequality – and calling out your mates when they are doing it too.

5 – Most importantly, listen

Cis men have never/will never experience misogyny – don’t pretend to. We need to hear about these experiences to further our understanding, but never pretend that this is the same as experiencing it. This fight is all about support and breaking down the oppressive male audience, never ever belittling women and their lived experiences. We can empathise as much as we like, but we will never go through the same difficulties. Listen to what women have to say and accept it. Never talk over or down to women. Let women, and only women, speak about the issues that affect them, and never pretend that they are your issues instead. If women criticise your involvement in feminism, listen to their concerns and improve your behaviours.

Now that you’ve read it, apply it to your life and help the greatest people on this planet – the women.

I am ashamed at the state of this country. We were supposed to be heading into a more prosperous future, sunlit uplands and all that. This is not what I see. It’s worth noting that I am a privileged person in a wealthy area – I imagine this situation is much worse than I believe.

Last week, the United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights published a 24-page report, detailing the poverty situation in this country. The first line reads:

The UK is the world’s fifth largest economy, it contains many areas of immense wealth, its capital is a leading centre of global finance, its entrepreneurs are innovative and agile, and despite the current political turmoil, it has a system of government that rightly remains the envy of much of the world

Sounds brilliant. Britain remains on its pedestal as one of the richest and most developed nations in the world, bringing a brighter future for everyone within its wall. Unfortunately not. The report continues to cite statistics on poverty in the UK:

14 million people, a fifth of the population, live in poverty. Four million of these are more than 50% below the poverty line, and 1.5 million are destitute, unable to afford basic essentials. The widely respected Institute for Fiscal Studies predicts a 7% rise in child poverty between 2015 and 2022, and various sources predict child poverty rates of as high as 40%.
For almost one in every two children to be poor in twenty-first century Britain is not just a disgrace, but a social calamity and an economic disaster, all rolled into one.

This is not the country I was born into or the country I wanted to grow up in. The idea that 4 million people can live in extreme poverty and 1.5 million people can be destitute in the fifth richest country on the planet is scandalous and must be changed. That’s not even the worst fact. Reports which suggest child poverty could rise to 40% are deeply disturbing. I am ashamed to be a British citizen. This drastic increase is as a result of the implementation of austerity between 2010 and the present day. In his report, the UN special rapporteur suggested that this scheme has breached four human rights clauses, and disproportionately affected women and children. This is a blatant example of the rife institutional sexism that still lives and breathes within every area of government and wider society.

If you got a group of misogynists in a room and said ‘how can we make this system work for men and not for women’ they would not have come up with too many ideas that are not already in place
Professor Philip Alston on Austerity

I long for the days where our society is truly equal and discrimination is rare or even non-existent, but I fear that I will not live to see this day. A recent report from the World Economic Forum claimed that, with the current rate of change, the gender pay gap would not close until 2235. The government, businesses, corporations and individuals all need to be more proactive to combat this. We all need to talk about and raise awareness of the issues that affect us and even the issues that don’t, and we need to make sure that those in power act to end these injustices. We are all part of society, and we should all work together to try and make it better for everyone, not just ourselves.

The Grenfell Tower fire is yet another British scandal of recent times, showing total, institutional disregard for those at the bottom of society. A tower block, filled with social housing, in the richest borough in the entire country burnt down because the council had cut corners during a refurbishment which meant that, according to a Newsnight investigation, the building was as flammable as four oil tankers worth of petrol. This refurbishment was undertaken to make it nicer to look at for the surrounding rich people. Again, scandalous. I am disgusted that this could be allowed to happen.

2018 also revealed the plight of the Windrush generation, a large group of people who were invited to the UK after WWII to help fill the jobs left empty by those who had died. These people had every right to live and work in the UK, but many were forcibly removed and deported as a result of the ‘hostile environment’ policy. It turned out the home office had *mysteriously* destroyed all of the landing cards (proof of residence) of all of these wonderful people who have contributed an incredible amount to British society. It was later confirmed that the official estimate for wrongful deportations was between 81 and 164, and at least 11 of those people have since died. There were even cases where some people were refused access to the NHS (including cancer treatment) because they had no proof of residence. This is a clear case of institutional racism in the British government and is just a minute sample of the racial persecution that is present throughout wider British society.

Not only do we need a national change of direction, but we also need the winds of change to blow globally. Resurgent nationalism in the US, Brazil and Italy have terrifying similarity to 1930s Germany, examples of genocide and internment of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and Uighur Muslims in China and the threat of nuclear annihilation are all huge problems that need a quick yet sensible solution.

However, we face no greater challenge than that of climate change. It seems we are at risk of losing this planet completely. The UN intergovernmental panel on climate change recently released a report which stated that we only have 12-15 years to prevent the climate from reaching a point of no-return. This is absolutely frightening but, to my disappointment, came with very little action from governments around the world. Hopefully, the people of the world will wake up. We need to work towards a better world, a fairer society and break down barriers, but it is somewhat more important to ensure that we still have a planet left for that society to live on.

Here’s to hoping for the brighter future that I dream of so fondly.