Not All Men? Sure. But Still Way Too Many Men

Article here. Excerpt:

'While such a response may seem relatively inconsequential, it’s more emblematic of larger issues and can get in the way of rectifying them. I’ve taken this experience into my consciousness around gender, and I’ve noticed that it is far too often the case that when people — particularly female-identified folks — express their frustrations with patriarchy and how it manifests in our society, they are met with responses like “not all men.” I can only imagine how much personal damage “not all men” can cause when used in response to people sharing the harmful experiences they’ve had with men in their lives: articulating frustrations and experiences that span lifetimes. Clinging to the idea of “not all men” is not only unavailing, but also serves to minimize the very real harm that men have caused and continue to cause every day.

To be clear, “not all men” is, technically, factually true. For example, “not all men” perpetuate violence. That being said, however, the proportion of men who are complicit in causing harm is still alarmingly high; and when it comes to lived experience, a woman might not know any other fellow woman who has not been sexually assaulted, raped, or harassed by a man.¹ One Promundo report found that, “Though the majority of men do not harass, bully, or approve of violence, many — 20 percent to 33 percent — do.”² Calling attention to the “good guys” does nothing to get those 20 to 33 percent of men who harass, bully, and/or approve of violence to change their behavior to the benefit of themselves and those around them.'