Men help to produce change

For hundreds of years, the struggle for gender equality has divided and affected many parts of life.

Despite its sometimes negative reputation among men, feminism doesn’t just benefit women. Men should help women in the fight for equal rights because men can benefit from true gender equality. Men are, in many cases, the cause of these social issues, therefore they must realize that they too can help to be the cure of these problems.

True gender equality provides the world with healthy competition, especially in the workplace. Only 57 percent of women participate in the labor force while 75 percent of men do. Not only do working women provide competition for men, but a mother working allows her to financially support her family. Most women who want to work aren’t given an equal opportunity as men. Single mothers find this difficult because they are the sole source of income for their family.

But, feminism isn’t only helping women gain rights. It also focuses on equalizing the playing field in areas where women tend to dominate. Feminism also works to ensure that men have equal rights to child custody as women. Only 6 percent of parent mediated custody agreements give the man sole possession of the child.

Men must work alongside women in the fight for equal rights because not only does it give give women the rights they deserve, but it also has many benefits for men as well. The psychological value of showing empathy and caring for another human being is astounding. When men realize that they are the source of these unequal rights, they must show care and empathy to women to help women get what they have deserved for so long, in turn benefiting men psychologically. A world of gender equality has the possibility of being an incredibly productive world full of tranquility and peace.

In the past, I gave very little attention to most things regarding feminism or the feminist movement. However, recently I’m learning the scale of the impact I can make in the fight for equal gender rights. As famous feminist Audre Lorde once said, “Your silence will not protect you.” Without feminism, we lose a feeling of security and understanding between genders. We lose trust and empathy, not to mention many social necessities such as income, child custody and jobs are negatively affected. Even something as small as not perpetuating stereotypes or adding on to misogyny makes a difference.

Many large social issues stem from gender inequality. When all genders become equal, those same social issues, such as poverty and job security, are solved. Once issues like equal rights in the workplace are solved and all genders understand the benefit of one another mutually, there is a greater chance of solving broader world issues.

Gender equality helps with solving these issues because without it, all that is left is misunderstanding and bias. When both men and women work together as one on a problem, there is a greater likelihood that the problem will be solved.