I am a feminist because I grew up in a house in which my mother and sister and I were victimized by a violent man. I know intimately the destructive effects of patriarchy.

I am a feminist because as a man I feel obligated to work to end patriarchy, which means I also feel an obligation to respond to it by educating myself and other men about it.

I am a feminist because I worked for nine years as a … and six of them as a counselor to violent men. I saw them in session and went to court with them and talked some of them out of maiming and killing their girlfriends, wives, mothers, sisters, … I now work as an educator in a country that has a long way to go down the road of finally ending the subjugation of women.

I am a feminist because I do not buy the stereotypes that equate women struggling for freedom and independence with angry bitches out to blame or demean men.

I am a feminist because I believe in the right of each of us to live as we see fit without constraint by outdated ideologies or unfair financial obstacles, and I fully support my sisters everywhere in the world where they fight to make their lives fulfilling and rich.