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  Date / Time: 8/6/2009 4:51 PM UTC

  Feminism and The Black Man's Movement
  

  For some reason, Black men seem to feel a woman who describes herself as "a feminist" is a male basher that hates men. To these fellows, a woman who would dare upset the well estblished imbalance of power by requesting an equal share, respect and opportunities for females is viewed as someone whose goal is to destroy the Black family, and Black men in particular. Nothing could be further from the truth.
  
  Taking a stand against male oppression and fighting for women to have the right to make choices for her own life does not mean that such a woman is against you. Being pro-woman does not mean that one is anti-male.
  
  According to the dictionary, feminism is "the movement for the full social, political and economic equality of all people." When viewed in those terms, how could any decent man be against the feminist movement?
  
  For thousands of years, society has been constructed to place men in a position of superiority over women. Our social structure has placed males in control, which means men have conveniently had things their way for generations. Men have been judge jury and executioner over what is right and wrong for women generations. Men will of course resist and resent any female that would have the gall to say that the old way ain't benefitting her, so she has no interest in participating in that system.
  
  Why I Decided to Become a Feminist
  I am compelled to write this post after many months of listening to Black men complain about "the natural order of things" as they relate to Black women subjugating themselves to men. That, along with the Biblical quotes used to justify persecution of adult women and the sexuality of both women and girls inspired me to investigate the reasons so many Black men felt entitled to have things the way they wanted.
  
  Several blog posts followed including The Male Struggle for Control of Female Sexulity, Are Black Men Judgmental Haters of Black Women?, and the upcoming radio broadcast How Religion Messes Up the Minds of Men. The last straw was delivered to my e-mail box in the form of a link to an Internet radio program.
  
  The guest was a middle aged Black man who purports to be a leader in the men's rights movement. What possible rights could men want that they don't already have? I wondered to myself. I clicked the link only to be saddened and dismayed at the majority of the guest's statements, as they expressed a toxic anger and deep rage at Black women.
  
  Let The Shit Fly
  The guest led off the interview by expressing his belief that the Black woman has failed to address the needs of Black men, especially her own sons. He provided no facts to back up his rather brash statement. Nor did he elaborate on which needs men have that Black women failed to address, but he didn't need to. The statement was like throwing gasoline on an already burning fire, and was enough to start the finger pointing and blaming of Black women by the Black male callers, which proceeded unabated throughout the 2 hour show.
  
  I continued to listen as he railed on, stating that all hell broke loose in America when the 1970s feminist movement came into being. His opinion was that all the dysfunction in the Black community, the collapse of every institution such as our churches, schools, families and communities was due to the distortion of gender roles brought about by feminists. He felt Gloria Steinheim's statement: "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" was a declaration of gender war.
  
  Let me stop here and interject my thoughts.
  
  When the honorable guest spoke of what Black women failed to do for Black men, I wondered where the Black men were in this equation. I mean, on one hand women are angrily charged with failure when we TRY to raise a young black man. We're told "a woman cannot raise a boy into a man!" But we try valiantly anyway, since Dad is nowhere around, preferring his crack pipe, White woman, or his boyz to the day to day responsibility of his son's psyche and success in life.
  
  "This is where Black women have failed!" he shouts. "Black women are not raising their sons into good Black men!"
  
  To read the rest if this article, log onto http://www.survivingdating.com/?p=919
  
  • Tags:
  • black men
  • feminism
  • black feminists
  • religious oppression
  • oppression of women
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