So you may have already guessed it, but I’m a feminist.

What I’m not is a man-hating banshee that applauds the verbal or physical abuse of men.  I try to abide by a code of human decency that says each of us deserves respect and kindness, and it is no kinder for a woman to abuse a man than it is for a man to abuse a woman. I don’t believe that men should be punished or “taken down a notch.”

Nor do I believe that feminism should be limited to advocacy by women alone. The word contains the “fem” prefix, but to focus more on the Latin than the actual intention leaves everyone unsatisfied, so why dwell on it? The underlying principles of feminism are not unlike those for racial, spiritual, and sexual equality. Feminism is important because it addresses gender-based inequalities, and it is as important (but not necessarily more important) than the issues we still confront with race, religion, and human sexuality. And as with race, religion, and human sexuality, the feminist cause cannot and should not be limited to participation by women if it is to be successful.