re: dear men — you are loved.
dear friend,
I was gently reminded that today is International Men’s Day!
In honor of all the men in my life, I felt inspired to bring back an old post from my former blog that I said goodbye to two years ago before I started it up again here.
However, although this is a reuploaded post, it has been thoroughly edited and revised — because apparently I didn’t care as much about grammar and editing in general back in the day, lol. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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“All men are racist, sexist, homophobic pigs!”
“Women earn $1.77 less than men do for the same exact job!”
“Women hold up half the sky!”
These lies, and many others like them, have been screamed into our ears for the past decade with the switch of a channel, whispered into our thoughts with the simple line of a very “fem-powering” song we sang when we were younger, and probably even before that.
And yet, somehow, not a single person batted an eye at them. Nobody questioned their validity, pursued the trail to the end to see how hearing these things would impact the next generation to rise up.
Alongside altered statistics, manufactured to seem like some legitimate, factual piece of information, how were we supposed to know the difference between the truth and the lies?
Well, it’s as simple as this: we weren’t.
I mean, I sure as heck didn’t — and I would know.
Growing up in public education throughout my adolescent and teenage years, I didn’t realize how seriously indoctrinated I was until a guy friend offended me when he said something I would have called “misogynistic” back then. Now, I can’t remember exactly what he said, but it got me thinking like I had never done before;
And, honestly? Thank God it did!
* * *
“Only dead fish follow the stream.”
— unknown
I read this quote while scrolling through Instagram a little bit ago — even screenshotted it because I used to have a thing for “deep quotes.” It wasn’t until just recently, however, that I realized the tragic truth of it in today’s very metaphorically dead society.
I remember stalking the Twitter account of the guy friend that offended me one night and happened to stumble onto a page he’d retweeted several times before.
The Meninist was what the account was called; and ohhh boy, was the person that ran this page very politically incorrect! I’ll admit that sometimes he posted things that could be considered... well, shocking to many, to say the least.
I remember getting “triggered” and closing out of the app, angry and confused as to how a seemingly “sexist” page could be so popular!
Days passed — weeks, even. And for some odd reason, the claims that this page had made would not leave my head. They haunted me, and deep in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but wonder:
What is the t r u t h ?
To my own surprise, I kept “stumbling” back onto the page. Every day that I did so, my heart softened bit-by-bit, piece-by-piece, to the Meninist’s cause.
Even though they claimed to be a parody account, sometimes they would post very legitimate and very tragic statistics of the gender that was, and still is, really being oppressed; the straight males of our modern-day society.
This infographic was not one of the things they posted but it was similar enough for me to feel the need to share with y’all:
I cannot recommend this documentary by former Feminist, Cassie Jaye, to show you the verity of these tragic statistics!Politics had always interested me, but during those days that my heart became soft, my trip down the “rabbit hole” began; my “red pill” moment, so to speak.
Since discovering the real inequality between male and female in our society today, I’ve begun to treat men with the same respect as I do with women.
Needless to say, I no longer am a dead fish, and do not stand by the title of “Feminist” anymore.
I do not assume that all men are racist, sexist, misogynistic pigs that are only after one thing anymore; I see men as the unique and awesome human beings that God created them to be. And I am absolutely an advocate for them — especially in the light of so many things going against them, when the world screams that there isn’t.
In saying that, here’s to all of the bold and strong men reading this post, both young and old, both different and yet equal under God to us women.
Here’s to the fathers, the husbands, the protectors, the caregivers, the falsely accused, and the heroes in our lives.
With this message, I vow to each and every one of you my utmost support and say thank you for being able to take on so much, and yet, earn so little credit;
you are all so loved, valued, cherished, and priceless.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
much love and more,
