Suggestion

Can men be feminists?

It is a question that comes up often because the definition of feminism has been played with for so long, but it is real and yes, of course, men can be feminists. Women's issues need all the support they can get and why should that be limited to just women when there are indeed men out there who make an effort to educate themselves on the issues.

Though the final decision should come down to women, male feminists should be welcomed. Recently, there have been groups popping up that include men who identify themselves as feminists and, in some cases, are often forced to defend themselves and their intentions.

John Brougher, founder of malefeminists.com and the vice president of marketing and nonprofit communities at NGP VAN, a technology company, said in an article for CNN.com that, "My feminism is a simple belief in equality. I'm a feminist because I believe that men and women are and should be equal, but we're not treated equally right now...sexism doesn't just hurt women, it breaks our very humanity."

Another form of support from male feminists comes from a group called MA'AM (which stands for  'Men Against Assholes and Misogyny' and 'Men Aligned Against Misogyny') created by Jen Kirkmen.On this site, Kirkman publishes submissions from men who identify themselves as male feminists. The letters are often of men who have had an incident change their perspective or enhanced and open their minds to the idea.

Lastly, the soundtrack to the feminist movement has always had an important role and that has been dominated by the women who write the songs that talk about the experience first hand, but there have been male musicians and bands like Atmosphere, Lucero and Fugazi who have managed to write songs and have been able to pull off similar sentiments.

In Fugazi's tune "Suggestion," they call out misogynistic actions by singing, "You spent yourself watching me suffer. Suffer your eyes, suffer your words, suffer your hands. Suffer your interpretation of what it is to be a man."