The fastest way to spot a male feminist is to be a woman in conversation with one. If he hasn’t communicated his love of gender equality and woman-on-top sex positions through his choice of subway reading material (Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham) or taste in apparel (Hillary 2016 messenger bag), he will certainly find a way to bring it up within the first 30 seconds of meeting you. But if you don’t give him the recognition he craves, he might be obliged to make his stance clear by posing in a 2016 calendar as a “fabulous, feminist-identified” man.
A new Kickstarted project is trying to raise money to fund a “Feminist Men of New York Calendar,” which will feature a portrait of a New York–based male feminist for each month, along with “a short biography and personal statement on why he is a feminist.” The calendar will also mark important dates in women’s history, such as the Day That Guy From Your Sophomore Year Dorm Realized He Could Get Laid by Pretending to Care About Gender Equality, and Can I Please Have a Cookie for Recognizing Your Struggle Day. Also, Father’s Day.
The creator of the calendar, who undoubtedly harbors good intentions even if the project seems a little misguided, will only produce it if it reaches its $1,800 goal (it has about $500 more to raise). If you are mature enough to overcome how annoying it is when men demand recognition for the work women have been doing for decades, the proceeds generated by the Feminist Men of New York calendar will go to a reproductive-health charity. And congratulations, you are clearly a better woman than I.
