As is inevitably the case in a modern study of literature, one must face the F word. And while Feminism is quite unsavory on the surface (especially to men who have been raised in the South), like a creme brulee, once cracked, yields intoxicating treasures. Here is a field which, like Liberation Theology, is all about the oppressed. You can argue with whether or not women are truly oppressed anymore, but when you realize how desperately good literature relies upon the Canon of the past (if sometimes only to subvert it), and when you realize that the Canon is composed of works written by dead white guys, you begin to understand how new being a female writer really is.

It also hit me that for almost two millennia, in order for women to "be absolved" or interface with God at all, they had to go through a man! Unless, of course, they became nuns. It has since become less difficult for me to understand the Feminist movement. Women eschewing society's idea of what it means to be feminine makes sense when you understand three things.

The first is that in order for women to be free to choose what it means for them to be women, they must throw off any pressures which force them to be a certain way. This is why some of them quit shaving their armpits, don't worry themselves so much about having children, and otherwise act like what seems to us men "more masculine". The problem is that in a binary system where they can only be male or female, as soon as they try for a moment to step outside of what it means to be female, they are immediately perceived as male. And while this "stepping out" of the female mold may be as simple as performing a mental exercise (i.e. imagining shaving their heads and not wearing makeup instead of having to actually do it), it is necessary for them to do so in order to look objectively at their situation.

The second is that the end goal of Feminism is not to permanently throw away all of society's ideas of what it means to be female. One purpose of Feminism is to attempt to objectively sift through all the things being female entails now that they are free from the pressures of a patriarchal society. As long as they understand why they want to become "stay-at-home moms" and as long as it is a conscious, voluntary choice on their part, accepting a more traditional female role does not violate the tenants of Feminism.

The third (how silly of me to have exactly three points) is that while Feminists seek an equality of rights, this does not entail androgeny. We are physiologically (and perhaps spiritually?) different, and in an ideal society, these differences are celebrated healthily.

The question for me becomes: how can a man participate in the Feminist struggle?