It’s my deep seated belief that as men, it is our personal responsibility to do everything we can to make those who identify as female feel as safe as possible around us at all times.
We can start by listening to women when they say they’re afraid or feeling unsafe. Let’s do this without judgement, shame or blame and let’s take them seriously when they’re being vulnerable and sharing their truths.
Then we can actually do something about it by calling out our fellow men when we witness them engaging in predatory, misogynistic, sexist and harmful behavior. We can respect a woman’s right to wear whatever she wants and have sex with whomever she wants, or doesn’t want, by removing the idea that just because she’s dressed a certain way or has had X numbers of sexual partners we’re somehow entitled to her or they’re”asking for it”.
We need to be really fucking honest with ourselves and get curious about our own behaviors and take responsibility for any wrongdoing or harm we’ve caused women, intentional or otherwise. We also need to take a real honest look at the programming we’ve been subjected to that leads us to act, think or feel in a way that makes women feel unsafe.
And…we can be open to the idea that maybe, just maybe, we don’t have all the answers and that our privilege and limited world view can get in the way of us seeing this clearly. Let’s ask the women in our lives to give us feedback on these things as well and really listen to them when they do.
Lastly, we need to become more vulnerable with women in an authentic and compassionate way and open ourselves up to meaningful connections that don’t come from a place of entitlement or privilege.
To all of the female identifying people who read this…I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated women in the past and I’m sorry for all of the harm any man has ever caused you. Please feel free to correct me, add to this or point out anything that I may have missed. ♥️