By Clara F.
Feminism has come very far especially in the past few decades, in regards to men identifying themselves with the movement. We see men walking alongside us toting signs and pussy hats at our women’s marches, we see men fitted in feminist-themed apparel on Instagram and Twitter. Feminism has become almost synonymous with Liberalism and the Democratic party, for both men and women with these alignments. So, how do we gauge whether this is hurting or helping the feminist movement?
Obviously, I am excited that many men see this movement under a lens of absolute importance and wish to do all they can do to aid the powerful women at the forefront of feminism. But is there a line that should not be crossed? Should men be able to knight themselves with the title of feminist? Is men’s feminism selective? The story of Abby Shapiro would point to yes, absolutely.
And then, It was Abby Shapiro’s Baby Shower.
For those of you not in the know, Abby Shapiro is a popular conservative life vlogger, YouTuber, and influencer, who primarily makes lifestyle videos on youtube. And yeah, she IS Ben Shapiro’s sister. THAT Shapiro. She went to the University of Southern California and was later trained in classical singing in opera. In 2014, a video of Abby singing opera was uploaded to youtube- In 2017, this video resurfaced on sites like Reddit and 4Chan. Thus, her internet infamy began. Users pointed out and obsessed over her looks (her boobs), and berated chats with sexual remarks and comments. But these are incels, right? These could never be men that align with my views- out of sight, out of mind. These are the type of men that WOULD say those things.
Slowly but surely with the rise of political youtube commentators, Ben Shapiro starts to see more and more notoriety for his commentary videos. Of course, many Republican and Conservative aligned people love his stuff. He covers hot topics like the LGBTQ+ community, Feminism, and popular rap lyrics he thinks are gross. But with Ben’s success on the rise, people google him. And when they google him, pages and pages of mentions pop up in google’s 0.3456 second search time. Mentions including his hot sister. And her social media accounts. And Abby Shapiro is famous again. Except, not amongst the “reject” “incel” types, the ones hiding out in chat rooms under racist aliases, the face we associate with online sexual harassment. These men are upstanding and liberal, and they respect all women, except the ones they want to teach a lesson.
This goes on for a few years, decrees that they can fix her if only they could fuck her, pictures of her partner with comments about how good she would look naked. But Abby Shapiro (her boobs) truly gained national attention; “breaking the internet”, when she posted pictures of her baby shower this February. For weeks, these pictures were strewn across the internet, on every platform, everywhere you would look- you would see both satires and not, detailing her sex appeal, her shape, and how these types of comments are acceptable because she does not align with liberal ideology. This was a male Feminist’s way to settle the score- to show her what would happen if she chose a route that was not third-wave Feminism. These comments were obviously not consented to nor would be likely to be consented to; as much of Abby’s content is about presenting yourself in a conservative manner, and how to dress modestly as a woman.
Abby Shapiro’s views do not cater to me at all. I would even go as far as to say that I find her very unlikeable. I am not a fan of hers, and even more so not a fan of her brother. But when I see liberal, “Feminist” men, and their blatant sexual harassment of Abby on social platforms simply because they don’t agree with her opinions, I realize that these men are exactly the same as the conservative, republican, “don’t dress like a slut” men that they antagonize oh so much. They merely protect, respect, and listen to women that they find personally likable, or that they believe are deserving of respect.
To wrap this up…
Some men in Feminism, are making Feminism about them. They are protecting Feminist women who do not wish to or need to be protected, by sexually harassing, demeaning and dehumanizing a woman they see as a threat, unlikeable, or even too sexy to be worth respect. Of course, this is not all men who align with Feminism, not even close. However, we as women who align with Feminism, do work in Feminism and live in Feminism, need to create boundaries in what is acceptable and not when we allow men into our spaces. The overall respect for women always comes first in Feminism, no matter if they are preaching modesty, promoting staying in the home, or even preaching personal desires to serve men for all of eternity (dun dun dun!). So the next time you see a man disregarding or disrespecting a woman who goes against his opinion, notice his political alignment. And then, don’t be surprised at either answer.