Gender Equality Crusaders

Hi! Welcome to GEC!

If the name doesn't give it away, you can find a basic idea of what this site is about by visiting the What is this? page.

So, why did we choose "Gender Equality Crusaders" for a name?

Hear me out on this. The writers are feminists, by the dictionary definition of the word. The problem with the word "feminist" is that too many people confuse the word with misandrist.

We don't hate men here. In fact, one of the writers is a man.

So then we looked at "masculinist" as a possible label for ourselves. It seems to avoid the same problem that feminist has, judging by the beginning of its Wikipedia article. According to that page, masculinism is made up of "political, cultural, and economic movements aimed at establishing and defending political, economic, and social rights and participation in society for men and boys. These rights include legal issues, such as those of conscription, child custody, alimony, and equal pay for equal work."

And hey, we are all about that. Of course men should have a fighting chance at child custody battles, and the required enlistment for the draft is unfair to men and women. There's just one problem.

The dictionary definition of a "masculinist" is... a little different. "An advocate of male superiorty or dominance." Not quite what we had in mind.

So we had to find some kind of middle ground. All three of the writers are interested in the rights of both genders, and none are against the rights of either side. Women should be paid as much as men. Men should be taken seriously as domestic violence victims. This is all common sense to us. So what could we say to show that we care about equality between the genders?

Then it hit us. After a particularly bad joke, the title was born. We're fighting for this. We're going to go against the odds by encouraging men and women to actually talk to each other about their rights. Yes, it's insane. And yes, it might get ugly. But that's what makes "crusaders" such a fitting label for us.

And please, if you have anything to say on the subject, even if it's something somewhat controversial, let us hear it. The whole point of this site is to get men and women talking to each other about their rights.

We've been picking at each other for decades about these things. "Men are pigs" if they show any hint of sexuality, even though female sexuality is somehow healthy and pure (and yet the word "slut" still exists). "Women are bitches" if they get angry about anything, even if it's completely reasonable for a man to be angry about the same thing. It's about time we stop pointing fingers and start rationally explaining our concerns to one another. Sexuality is a human thing, not a man or woman thing. Being upset about certain things makes perfect sense, genital endowment be damned.

So even if all you, as a reader, have to contribute to the discussion is some particularly outdated and sexist ideology about how men think of sex every seven seconds or how women are terrible at math, leave a comment about it. If absolutely nothing else, we'll be able to see how much progress we've made when someone else corrects you and calmly explains why you might be wrong. Everyone learns something and the world gets just a teensy bit less sexist.

Thanks for your interest, and please, stick around. This might be progressive or it might be a bloodbath waiting to happen. Either way, it should be fairly interesting.

- Alicia, Nelrond, and Valerie