Ever since we created a facebook group titled male feminism, the group has been expanding and in less than a week, we have close to seventy members. However, I feel it is time that the theory of male feminism is understood correctly, atleast the version I believe in.

For starters, I will look at feminism. Nancy Cott defines feminism as the belief in the importance of gender equality, invalidating the idea of gender hierarchy as a socially constructed concept. Feminists are persons of either sex who believe in feminism – and of course practice their beliefs. A man can be a feminist.

Historically, a number of men have engaged with feminism. Philosopher Jeremy Bentham demanded equal rights for women in the eighteenth century. In 1866, philosopher John Stuart Mill (author of “The Subjection of Women”) presented a women’s petition to the British parliament and supported an amendment to the 1867 Reform Bill. Academics like Michael Flood, Michael Messner, and Michael Kimmel are involved with men’s studies and pro-feminism.

A number of feminist writers maintain that identifying as a feminist is the strongest stand men can take in the struggle against sexism. They have argued that men should be allowed, or even be encouraged, to participate in the feminist movement. Thus there are conventionally two formsof engagement of men in the feminist movement. There are either male feminists (Male feminism) or pro-feminists (Pro-feminism).

Pro-feminism refers to support of the cause of feminism without implying that the supporter is a member of the feminist movement. The term is most often used in reference to men who are actively supportive of feminism and of efforts to bring about gender equality.

Male feminism on its part is rather than a male copycat of female feminism; a movement that teaches men to be more human toward women and train their eyes to behold them as human beings rather than as sexual objects of prowess and prey. Male feminism is not a movement for gay and effeminate men. It is important to make this clear.

Male feminism informs men that they have been deprived of human development by the cultural suppressions of their feminine nature and their emotions, all for the sake of masculine pride and its rewarding privileges, men are more of a victim of patriarchy than women. Male feminism seeks to eradicate the phobia of the feminine and teach men that the union of their masculine and feminine nature will mutate into an androgynous being. Male feminists believe that women have “masculine” characteristics as well and the fact that they realise this leads to the development of a more ambidextrous brain from the expressions of their masculine and feminine characteristics.

Thus male feminism is based on the realisation that society is better off when men and women are equal though biologically different.

When I set off to the western region of Uganda on official duty, my brief did not include discussions of “sex” at girls-only schools! But I found myself engrossed in a conversation of the controversial subject but not in the pleasant of terms. I listened more than I talked and only wished we could be more open about these matters as a society!! A story told to me by a nurse at a girls-only school among the many I had gone to visit did not only shock me but also pulled me out of the sanitized environments within which I have been discussing these matters for some time now.

The nurse’s conversation started in the most unlikely of ways. Having heard that I had come on a mission related to Law, Justice and Human Rights, this middle-aged woman felt moved to share a tale of her experience dealing with the criminal justice system. And then the shocker!! She had been arrested as an accomplice in murder! Murder of a child by the mother, who was a senior four student of sixteen years of age! This girl had produced the baby and with the help of a friend dumped the baby in a school pit-latrine where the baby was heard crying by other students who alerted the nurse. Police got wound of the story and arrested the student, the friend to the student and the nurse for the murder.

So, how did this happen? The nurse narrated that as other senior four candidates were taking passport photographs for attaching to UNEB forms, this girl stayed in the dormitory with a friend. Then, she went into labour and produced a bouncing baby boy. The friend helped her by cutting the umbilical cord thus helping her deliver properly. Then, confused with what to do next, the “mother” asked the friend to help her clean the place and then dispose of the baby. Scared of the act, the friend first refused but the “mother” insisted that they had to “save face” before other students came. And they both took the baby and all the “mess” (placenta and the other related issues) to the latrine where after dropping them, they cleaned the place.

So, how did the nurse know? She told us that she was alerted by a student who went to the latrine only to hear a baby crying from down (you know where). And then on discovering that there was a baby, the nurse alerted the Head Mistress who in turn called the police. Meanwhile, the nurse went to the dormitory where she found the “mother” very weak. On probing her, she adamantly denied any delivery forcing the nurse to examine her. On examination, the nurse confirmed her fears and literally forced iodine into her “womanhood” to stop the bleeding and also as a way of getting her to describe what she had just done. As painful as iodine can be on a wound, the “mother” of sixteen years of age succumbed and told the nurse the full story.

Before they knew it, police had arrived arresting the nurse, the “mother” and the “mother’s” friend. The hapless trio spent three days in custody until the “mother” told of the father of the now deceased baby. And everyone except her was shocked! The man responsible had since the incarceration of the trio visited the police cells among the sympathizers to see the prisoners almost at every turn of the hour and he was a brother-in-law to this girl. The police did not hesitate to bring him in, temporarily releasing the trio. The nurse however disclosed that he has since left prison having “settled” the matter.

And leaving this girls-only school, here I was faced with the reality, having argued for women’s rights to gender-equality vehemently and that abortion is wrong, evil and selfish and actually a violation of the right to life of the unborn!! An under-age impregnated by a trusted relative, incapable of emotionally and psychologically handling the new role of motherhood and does the ultimate sin and commits the mother of crimes; Murder! In my view, this is possible and is widespread in Uganda because of our very heavy and hypocritical moral approaches to the issue of Sex! From abortion, contraception to safe sex methods, we employ double standards as regards youths, of adolescent age who have not reached eighteen years of age. The lack of knowledge coupled with the fear of stigmatization and the illegality of certain recognized contraceptive methods and outright denial of realities have pushed us this far.

And back in a sanitized environment, I thought to myself, should we open up to these young-excited adolescents and tell them that there is such a thing as safe sex? Or shouldn’t we consider extending medical services, even reproductive ones to them? Perhaps, even consider how we deal with matters of sex when talking to these adolescents? Just why wouldn’t we empower these adolescents to say No to the sexual advances of their trusted relatives? And give them a home when pushed out of their daily homes for having decided not to allow!!!! Isn’t it time we re-considered the policies in place and the approaches we are taking in solving what is becoming a widespread problem and heavily pushed under the carpet?