

In that same speech, she challenged men to take that responsibility: And she knew that required men to change, to save ourselves. She wanted an end to the harassment, rape, battery, child sexual assault.

It is because we believe in your humanity, against all the evidence.”ĭworkin wanted to help men claim our humanity, not just for our sake but because she wanted to stop men’s violence against women. Have you ever wondered why we are not just in armed combat against you? It’s not because theres a shortage of kitchen knives in this country. If I did, my political practice would be different than it is. If I did, I would have no reason to be here.

“I don’t believe rape is inevitable or natural. Here is what Dworkin said when she addressed a men’s conference and asked them to work against rape: I think Andrea Dworkin loved men because she loved people, and men are people - men are human beings - no matter how hard we sometimes seem to want to prove otherwise by our behavior. I am a man who has read all of Dworkin’s books, and here is how it looks to me: I don’t think she hated men. Dworkin’s prolific and powerful writings, particularly her critique of pornography, made her a target for some of the ugliest attacks leveled against any feminist over the past four decades, and the label man-hater was at the center of the campaign to marginalize her and her ideas. Of all the lies told about feminists, one that always made me particularly angry and sad is the claim that Dworkin - and by extension, any woman with a similar critique of men’s violence - hated men. I have lost count of the number of times since her death earlier this month that I have heard feminist writer Andrea Dworkin referred to as a man-hater.
