Does it make sense for men to speak about it?

Should men speak on feminism?

In the finale of Things Men Say, a YouTube show which features guys speaking like guys on a particular topic, the topic was feminism.

Without any woman in sight, the gentlemen including the fantastically talented Ajebutter 22 spoke about feminism.

This episode caused a bit of stir among some certain people on Twitter because it sort of felt odd that guys were speaking on feminism. Most of their opinions on the matter weren’t really different from that of the average Nigerian male.

Men speaking on feminism

It is quite evident that a lot of men do not know what feminism is about. Most of what we know are catch phrases and sound bites which we use wrongly to assess the movement.

Also, feminism is branded as an ultra movement of men-hating women who push the ‘men are scum’ narrative by any given chance.

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Others see them as agents who want to disrupt the African family structure and upturn the power structure as men as the leader and head of the family.

It is pretty much obvious that many see feminism as some sort of poisonous ideal. So, should men speak on feminism?

Lack of knowledge on the topic

The knee-jerk reaction would be to say yes. Men will never know what it means to be a woman so their knowledge of what affects women will never be total. Yes, this is true but if we expect society to move from a patriarchal place to a structure that equally favours men and women, then both sexes have to be involved.

And to do so, men have to know what feminism means and not the street version peddled by misogynists. Men have to read books and attend seminars on the subject. Without adequate knowledge on the matter, men tend to sound lost when speaking of feminism.

Read up and study the essential literature on feminism. This is how men can be part of the discourse. Relying on misconceptions does not help to push the conversation further.