According to the seminal African-American writer bell hooks (her name is not capitalized), feminism is for everybody.
Yet sometimes this simplest of ideas – that social change and gender justice benefit us all – can seem outrageous. What, after all, does feminism have to do with men, and why should men get involved in the fight for gender equality?
This is a question I often face from both male and female students during lectures at Wits University in Johannesburg, where I work. Feminism, some students insist, is a western-colonial plot designed to undermine ‘traditional’ African society. Some recycle 1970s clichés about bitter man-haters who turn to feminism because they can’t get sex. Others insist that women should stay in the kitchen and bedroom where they belong. Pleasingly, these are claims I rarely have to respond to as they are swiftly countered by other students.
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