Let me first start by saying I obviously have nothing against campaigning for a better tomorrow, and I believe the following campaigns that I mention have merit, however I am getting a little fed up of the sexism that is being involved. It is as if these changes being requested are only for the good of women, and men obviously never have to deal with anything like this, because.. well they are just men who already have far superior lives to women, and are, of course, the root of all the problems.
For example, take the recent rather popularised campaign of Caroline Criado-Perez to improve the reporting controls in twitter — an amiable target what with all the despicable trolls around — however, through all the reporting and her own announcements it is as if this will only be for the benefit of women. Obviously this follows because she is described as a feminist campaigner, but why does being feminist automatically mean you discriminate against men? Why does being a troll automatically mean you are male? True, the statistics might show that on average trolls are more likely to be male, however just because that fact exists does not mean all men are trolls; it also does not mean that men are free from Troll fishing themselves — far from it.
The same is true of another recent campaign Shelve It, again introduced by feminists. Their idea, I find, a little lacking in merit. If they were truly worried about the effect magazines have on the youth in Birmingham then my first port of call would be to hide away the over dramatised, celebrity-focused, weight-loss-addicted, sex-obsessed "women's" magazines. These proliferate far further than certain "Mens mags" and do far more damage in my mind, as they are seen as acceptable, which is why similar articles wind their way into magazines that target younger girls. I do agree that magazine covers are ridiculous, for both men and women — and if some need to be covered up, then so be it — but it should be based on a rule that includes all magazines, not just targeted at a few titles that the campaigners obviously dislike personally.
In my mind the things that should red flag a magazine for covering up should include:
- Air-brushing of any appearance.
- Only showing fake-people i.e super slim, glowing teeth or over-toned to the point of explosion.
- Sensationalised headline titles.
- Overt or unartistic nudity.
It is the false impressions that are damaging children of today, they sure as hell damaged my generation. Kids need to know more about what real life is like, what real people are like — not what magazines, media and porn show the world to be.
So my complaint put simply — if you are to campaign, whatever it is... please make your campaign fair to all. Even if your efforts are to highlight something that is particularly affecting one gender, I will bet right now, that you will be overlooking and neglecting a seeming minority. You can also bet, if that minority has "typical" male traits, then it is likely you will never have heard of their existence in the first place.
