A Post for the Guys…

This post is especially for the guys. I would like to ask you all to please go and read this article:

On Being a No-Name Blogger Using Her Real Name – Kate Harding

Ladies may read it as well, but I wager it’s all nothing you haven’t heard or thought before.

I am not using my real name. However many of you know my real name, or I have enough information on here for anyone who knows me, to know that this is my blog. I did have my real name on my Twitter too but changed that, however I use my first name regularly there. I have toyed with using my real name everywhere, as I really want to be transparent in my blogging/tweeting etc, I want my name to be connected to my writing, but I have had some troubling experiences in the life of my blogging. I have been lucky so far, I’ve not had anything truly frightening, but I have had some upsetting experiences.

However I don’t want those to take my joy of writing, tweeting, sharing photos and videos away from me. I want to stay transparent and open, I’m proud of that. I want to share my experiences and the wisdom I gain along the way, and dammit my opinions too.

So that’s why I’m asking particularly the guys to read the Kate Harding article linked above. Because when you fellas let it slide when some douchebag makes our lives miserable, or insults us, or “drunk tweets” feral sexual comments about us, or harasses us in blog comments, or rolls their eyes when we get upset about something and so on, you’re giving those misogynistic fuckers the message that it’s ok. And that encourages them to take it to the next step, and the next, and beyond.

But I would also like to take this opportunity to thank those men who DO stand up and say “Oi, that’s not right.” when these things happen. I would like you to know how much it matters to women when you do that. Not just because you’re seen as being on our side, but because it gives us a feeling that we are safer having your support. That not every man is out to crush us down, shut us up, force us into our “place”. That there is hope for change for women who wish to be seen, who don’t want to be invisible.

So thank you.