I am a man – I am a feminist!

I see no reason why men cannot be feminists. I am not a woman. I am not black. I am not religious. I am not disabled.  But I do possess empathy.

What I stand for is tolerance, freedom and equality. That is simple enough.

That makes me a feminist. I believe that women should be treated equally. That is fair and just. That means equal pay for equal jobs. It means equal employability. It means changing some of the rules to ensure equal participation. It means women in positions of power.

I do not see this as contentious. Women are just as able and intelligent. What has prevented equality has been the structure of society. Women need equality in education and the work-place. In order to achieve that there has to be some changes. The foremost of these appears to me to be child-care. It is about time that governments addressed this area.

In order for women to have an equal opportunity to rise to top level jobs and positions of power there has to be good affordable child-care. As soon as a couple have a family one of them has to take responsibility and time off. This usually falls on the female to the detriment of their career. When the family has grown up it is too late. The damage has been done.

This is a cause worth fighting for.