The Sydney Feminists

Everybody’s Auntie, nobody’s fool … Dear Auntie, I’ve been reading a lot about feminism lately, but my bf is against it because he had a fight with a feminist last year. He gets fired up when I try to talk to him about it. Why does he get so angry? Any advice would be great. Oh. And he has a daughter and calls activists “social justice warriors.” Ally Wow, what a catch. Sorry babe but tsk, tsk, tsk, *saddles up feminist high horse on top of soapbox.* Oh Ally’s BF, is hanging onto your anger for one feminist worth disregarding billions of people’s basic human rights? Can you see how your inability to hold an adult discussion is indicative of your male privilege?? It’s an impotent no, to both. Scorning and dismissing things that don’t affect you directly is the height of entitlement. Being white and male means you don’t experience the everyday challenges/dangers of being female or black. Refusing to respect that you are exempt from these types of t...

It feels like a lifetime ago that I was supporting my best friend in leaving an abusive relationship.   It had honestly never occurred to me that the battle would begin after she had moved out. I should clarify, though, that she was the abuser, and he was the abused. Prior to that point, my feminism had already been waning. A lot of it had to do with the fact that I had been misinformed in my feminism from the start, to the point where my beliefs and actions had begun to feel quite extremist. There was another part, though, that was rooted in the fact that my male friends had started to consider me a sort of safe space, and an overwhelming number of them had been approaching me to describe relationship situations that were causing them significant harm. With these revelations, I became more and more disillusioned with what it meant to be a feminist. I started to notice the way domestic violence helplines were gendered, so that the only helplines targeted to men had already ...