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sevWell, I've been promising my "What about the Men?" series for awhile. I honestly still don't have time to give it the attention it needs, but at this instant, the baby is asleep and I'm happy to skip my shower and write instead, so at the very least, I can begin.
And where shall I begin? Oh, right here, with my imaginary friend "Dave McAlly."
If you see yourself in Dave, you might have contributed a bit to him -- or you might not have. I think that Dave has a lot of characteristics and experiences that are very common for liberal men. (Why "Dave"? because it was the fourth most popular name for boys the year I was born, and it seems like every third liberal guy I know is named "Dave.")
Like I said in my previous post on this topic, the process of coming to believe in social justice is one of personal consciousness-raising. Dave's a stand-in so I don't have to try to grab every man I know and have this conversation with him separately. It might seem a little impersonal. But the whole reason that Dave happened was I kept having these little conversations with you guys in my head, and those conversations were often just a little too personal for me to have with you in person. So, here's Dave to save us both.
sev: Hey, Dave? Welcome to my series. It's about you.
Dave: Huh? Where am I? Where did I come from?
sev: Well, you're a composite of many of the men I know. Most of them consider themselves feminist allies, fit my description of a feminist ally, or both.
Dave: So ... I'm your imaginary friend?
sev: Um, yeah, kinda. But you're a good guy! I like you a lot. Can you describe yourself?
Dave: Let's see ... I'm about thirty-something, or maybe twenty- or forty-something. I'm probably white, and definitely liberal. I can pass as able-bodied, straight, and middle-class, though I may or may not actually be any of those things.
sev: He's well intentioned, and even more importantly, he really does succeed at making the world a better place a lot of the time. Please be kind to him; I'm about to put him on the spot by publicly going through some painful, embarrassing, and sometimes enraging experiences he's had. And that's not easy on anyone, even an imaginary person.
(more soon, I hope.)
The "What About the Menz?" series:
And where shall I begin? Oh, right here, with my imaginary friend "Dave McAlly."
If you see yourself in Dave, you might have contributed a bit to him -- or you might not have. I think that Dave has a lot of characteristics and experiences that are very common for liberal men. (Why "Dave"? because it was the fourth most popular name for boys the year I was born, and it seems like every third liberal guy I know is named "Dave.")
Like I said in my previous post on this topic, the process of coming to believe in social justice is one of personal consciousness-raising. Dave's a stand-in so I don't have to try to grab every man I know and have this conversation with him separately. It might seem a little impersonal. But the whole reason that Dave happened was I kept having these little conversations with you guys in my head, and those conversations were often just a little too personal for me to have with you in person. So, here's Dave to save us both.
sev: Hey, Dave? Welcome to my series. It's about you.
Dave: Huh? Where am I? Where did I come from?
sev: Well, you're a composite of many of the men I know. Most of them consider themselves feminist allies, fit my description of a feminist ally, or both.
Dave: So ... I'm your imaginary friend?
sev: Um, yeah, kinda. But you're a good guy! I like you a lot. Can you describe yourself?
Dave: Let's see ... I'm about thirty-something, or maybe twenty- or forty-something. I'm probably white, and definitely liberal. I can pass as able-bodied, straight, and middle-class, though I may or may not actually be any of those things.
sev: He's well intentioned, and even more importantly, he really does succeed at making the world a better place a lot of the time. Please be kind to him; I'm about to put him on the spot by publicly going through some painful, embarrassing, and sometimes enraging experiences he's had. And that's not easy on anyone, even an imaginary person.
(more soon, I hope.)
The "What About the Menz?" series:
no subject
on 2009-07-07 09:53 pm (UTC)