Feminism vs. Egalitarianism

For a while now, I’ve identified as a feminist. I’m not a misandrist — I don’t believe that women are better than men — but I do believe that we need to be treated equally.

However, though women are often suppressed in society, so are men. So, what does that make me? A feminist? An egalitarian? Can I be both?

You hear lots of stories about strangers who pinch women on their butt, and how this needs to stop. You don’t hear stories about strangers who pinch men on their butt, because when the men are brave enough to come out and say that they have been violated, the public laughs at them and tells them to stop being such a wuss.

You hear lots of stories about women having eating disorders, and you forget that many, many men have eating disorders, too. Only they have no support, so they say nothing and they starve to death.

You hear lots of stories about women shouting, “Me, too,” but forget about the men who whisper the same thing.

You hear lots of stories about women being raped, but you don’t hear the people who say that men can’t be raped.

You hear lots of stories of women getting praised for saying that they refuse to conform to gender stereotypes, but none about the men who are brave enough to do the same and get ridiculed by their peers.

I believe that women are oppressed in business environments, for example. A woman who is assertive is labeled as a “bitch,” while a man who is assertive is labeled as a…