Patriarchy has become such a large part of our popular culture that not many of us dare to question it. Almost all abusive words involve women, almost all adult jokes are sexist and you fear breaking your “bro code” by interrupting those jokes even if you believe they are wrong. You keep telling your sisters and your girlfriends how “harami” men are and how women are better human beings but you do not dare to ask your male friends to become better human beings instead, for the fear of being ostracised and left out. You put a lot of burden on women to become the better gender and that is not fair. I must tell you that patriarchy is not doing any good to men either. It is a structure we all need to fight against, together. It is high time that we form an alliance.
There has been a lot of conversation around #MeToo lately, and you know what, I am tired! It is high time people stop putting the onus on women, we have done our bit. We have come out with our stories and many husbands, brothers and fathers have been shocked too, to hear the stories of their wives, sisters and daughters. The responsibility is now on men. You should really act now and should realise that bro code is not something to be proud of. Start talking, engage in dialogue, ask your friends to behave properly, ask them not to objectify women if they make sexist jokes. It may seem weird and difficult to start interrupting your friends initially, the same friends with whom you have laughed at the very jokes for ages, but you need to find your way around to deal with that. You need to talk and you need to express. Be a feminist, trust me it’s a good thing 🙂
You may be wondering why you must take that pain, that you did not ‘create’ patriarchy, so why should the burden be on you. You may not have created it, but you are perpetuating it, promoting it. If you start acting now, if you start interrupting in between the sexist conversations now (no matter how difficult it might be for your masculinity); the world will be a better place in the next ten to twenty years. Maybe your daughters won’t have such stories to share – stories of dehumanisation and of being ostracised. You need to come forward and help us. We are done!
PS: You will contribute to the humanisation of 50% of the population. Think about it!