Why as a man, I need Feminism

     "I am a feminist." This statement has caused several kinds of reactions when coming from me, a male. Ranging from an inquisitive if not suspicious "why?" to sweet praise borne not out of understanding, but rather out of amazement if not amusement. And yet the one reaction I've always wanted to hear, the self-evident "So what? Think you're special? Who isn't?", is one I've sadly yet to experience. We are a month away from 2013 now. 

So, why am I a feminist? Major reasons include a profound yearning for social justice and equality, as well as the desire for a more pragmatic society which prioritizes merit beyond superficial differences.  But I am also a feminist from a male empowerment perspective. The all too common and often times confrontational question "what about men and their rights?", whenever someone is talking about the plight of women, can be very easily answered by "feminism is the solution." So ultimately, I not only want to be a feminist, but as a man I need to be a feminist.

On Liberalism and Democracy

  

    We live in an era of buzzwords, where words are thrown out without much thought and analysis on what they mean for maximum impact. Words like "fascist", "racist", "liberal" are said left and right in obscure ways that leave me confounded. With the events that we are living, in the MENA region in particular, "democracy" too has become a rather popular word.

However what I personally find unsettling is that "democracy" is not accompanied by its critical sibling, "liberalism."

The purpose of my first note is to draw the nuances between democracy and liberalism but also illustrate how they complement each other and that having one without the other can indeed be dangerous. I will refer to Isaiah Berlin's Two Concepts of Liberty heavily to explain my argument, as it was his work that opened my eyes on the subject.

The note will be focused on broad ideas that serve as foundations rather than specific laws, institutions and political arrangements. While the latter are of course necessary, they still need a certain mindset and perception for them to be developed properly.