Welcome to More Than Men
By Sasha
We live in a diverse world and I think we can all agree that any time a group’s makeup is less diverse than the world at large there are reasons for it. Here in the United States we have more diversity than most places, but when attending nerd events, atheist events, and skeptic events I keep finding myself in the majority. Why is that? I believe it is because something about those groups is making women and racial and sexual minorities feel like the group is Not For Them or are experiencing things that make them feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. I would like to change that.
I was raised with conservative and backward views about gender, sexuality, and race. I rejected those in my teenage years but it took a lot of work to actually realize and overcome the default “common sense” assumptions I had internalized. Taking a cold, hard, skeptical look at what I thought about those issues was often uncomfortable, frequently embarrassing, and humbling. It was work, but I did it because I didn’t like the life and the community that those beliefs had allowed me to have. I still work every day to overcome the privilege to not think about differences that society has given me because I am white, male, straight, cisgendered, and able-bodied. I think there are a lot of men like me who would be a lot happier in life if they did the same, and I know that that sort of empathy and kindness is the truly humanistic thing to do.
So, welcome to the More Than Men Project . This is a forum for People with privilege to talk about diversity, why it matters, and how we can make it happen. I don’t want to get all “White Man’s Burden” on you, but it’s a little ridiculous that the only people consistently talking about (for example) sexism are women. These issues matter to every one of us because we need more than men to make a community.
We will be blogging regularly and are developing a podcast and a video campaign. Please take a moment to learn about the guys who are making this happen and please read about how to contribute . We need your help.
- Sasha Pixlee