The revolution is my boyfriend.

WHY I am a feminist

In the documentary film, Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist, Bob Flanagan recites a poem he wrote on why he is a masochist. I’m doing the same thing but my version’s on why I am a feminist. Although it might not be as lyrical and creative as his, this will do for now.

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Because I’m gay. Because I love women. Because of Greek goddesses. Because of amazons. Because dominatrixes are hot. Because feminists are not man-hating lesbians. Because of the 1960′s civil rights movements. Because of subversion. Because of female novelists. Because of Joan of Arc. Because of Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Barbra Streisand and all other gay icons. Because I can think for myself. Because I know what’s right from what’s not. Because I demand equality and respect for everyone. Because we need to conquer all differences, whether it be in class, race, gender, and sexual orientation.

Because of this patriarchal world of ours. Because of double standards. Because of social expectations. Because of oppression, stereotyping, treating women as sex objects. Because of the male gaze. Because of crude sexist jokes. Because of conservatism, chastity belts and abstinence. Because of tyrannical, white men that have ruled this world for centuries. Because of witch hunts. Because of Sigmund Freud. Because of social apathy. Because of indifference. Because of Marilyn Monroe and the salivating men she has on her command. Because of misogynistic hiphop videos. Because of women pretending to be bisexual, when they’re actually not. Because of men’s continuous exploits of women.

Because of the way people refer to women as either “bitches”, “whores” or “sluts”. Because of the phrase “Bros before hos”. Because of the phrase “That’s what she said”. Because of MFF threesomes. Because of degrading straight porn. Because of debasing male fantasies. Because men are unwilling to debase themselves. Because men are unwilling to eat their own love juice. Because of how everyone romanticizes the pimping lifestyle. Because of the glorification of Tiger Woods. Because of the way people talk of other people’s mothers. Because of the blatant misogyny in mainstream entertainment. Because of USA’s huge influence on people all over the world. Because of human ignorance. Because of Japan’s attitude towards sex. Because of the lolita complex. Because of tentacle sex.

Because society continues to oppress and repress its women. Because of people’s expectations of what you should be like if you are a woman or a man. Because a woman is called a “slut”, if she’s promiscuous but a man is called a “stud”, if he does the same. Because men use the fact that they are men as an excuse for their bad behaviour. Because women are more forgiving than men. Because they say blue is for a boy, pink is for a girl. Because of man-created myths about women. Because women are not complicated mysteries, once you get to know one.

Because we need more real female role models. Because I am strong. Because we are strong. Because I am frustrated. Because I want change. Because no one else seems to care. Because no one else seems to be angry about this. Because, at this time and age, no one else seems to understand the plight of women, what women face and go through, around the world.

Because of my mother. Because of my sister. Because of my female friends. Because of kind and caring mothers. Because of saints. Because of transexuals. Because of lesbians. Because of grandmothers. Because of womanhood. Because of womanly instincts. Because of a woman’s devotion, compassion and understanding. Because of a woman’s intelligence, strength and limitless capabilities. Because of the comfort in confiding to a woman your secrets, admitting to a woman your sins and sharing to a woman all your problems. Because all of us came from a woman’s womb. Because I understand. Because I live, you live, we love.