“Male progressives always see themselves as brothers, “bravely” joining together to rise up and overthrow the rule of their father. We should combat “male supremacy” itself, not merely “patriarchy.”” I like this quote even if I’m not sure I agree. It is in this article: http://thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-two-young-feminists-are-using-radical-feminism-to-pave-a-new-way-forward/

This is why I will no longer call my self a feminist. Not because I disagree but because I literally don’t understand it. To me it is the equivalent of saying you are an intergrationalist circa 1970 without understanding that you are white. I’m not suggesting that all self identified feminist men need to understand radical feminism intellectually in order to not potentially be destructive to the movement. I think it is possible though that we need to understand gender oppression more viscerally to take an active role in dismantling patriarchy vs. castrating kronos to call ourselves Zeus.

I realized recently that I can’t comprehend gender oppression viscerally. I can understand it intellectually but not viscerallly. Not like other forms of oppression I don’t experience first hand. I mean, I can talk to my jewish friends and understand a little about antisemitism viscerally. I understand how they feel when someone says a christian prayer that they are expected to know or when they feel unsafe in certain environments. It is a shallow understanding at best as I will never feel what its like to be Jewish but I empathize viscerally with enough to understand enough nuisance to talk about the complexities of ending antisemitism in America.

My recent time spent thinking about women’s…existence? What is the meta word that captures the female lived experience that includes but is not limited to oppression and rights? It wasn’t until a few months ago that I realized as a man that I am not gendered in the way that women are. I am the default and women are the other in America. I had of course heard that but to realize how ubiquitous that is…not too unlike white people not being raced? Crazy. Food for thought. I’d be interested to hear what people think.