Men! Stand by your women!
Why are there not more brothers/boyfriends/fathers/husbands at these protests?
It’s by no means a safe form of activism, Maria MacLachlan and Julie Bindel were physically attacked, to name but two. Yet many of these women turn up unaccompanied by a single man. I realise some people have very good reasons to protect their identity. Feminism is not very popular at the moment! But come on, these things should be at least twice as big. As always, proud to stand with these brave women.
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I walked next to this sign for far too long though.
Up until last week, I was speaking to my husband about all this, and he was very understanding. Then he suddenly got angry and said, don't keep telling me all this stuff, it's not a big deal and you're being manipulated by right-wing media. It was bizarre, I had no idea he felt like that. So I was careful not to tell him the things I was seeing every day online. Then, last night, I mentioned something I'd seen on your substack about the erasure of women's rights, just in passing, and he was really dismissive about it, like it didn't matter. I challenged him on that attitude and he went absolutely ballistic. He shouted and bellowed at me for half an hour, so loud my ears rang, said he was 'sick' of hearing about women's rights etc., and that most of it was made up and even the news stories I showed him that could be verified - like NHS Trusts removing the word 'woman' - were insignificant in number and barely worth getting upset about. I'm not joking, he was violently angry. I've never seen him like that before and we've been married two decades. I was really frightened and distressed, I went to bed and cried for hours. So, why are there not more men supporting us? Well, I guess because many of them may feel the same way as my husband. THEIR rights are not being threatened, so who cares? And maybe they rather like it when women have their rights curtailed or taken away, because it works to their advantage, keeps them dominant. Before last night, I probably wouldn't have thought like that. But I've seen what lies under the surface, and it's really shaken me. Sorry to put so much personal stuff out there today, but I've got nobody to talk to about these worries. I can't say anything publicly, for obvious reasons, and now I can't even talk to him about any of this. I've effectively been silenced EVRYWHERE, even in my own home.
Hell of a picture - hell of a day.
I was not there sadly, but a sincere 'Well done' to all who partook in it!
The tone seemed perfect - strong and firm but with wonderful absurdist, yet directed humour and a peaceful strength of which 'the opposition' would do well to take note.
I felt childishly envious at watching from a distance, but I knew that the movement was in exceptionally good hands.
I thank and admire each and every one of you.
M