BalanceOctober2016 - 19

HE SAYS

Inside Martin's mind
Disagreeing with other people's views, doesn't mean we're in the
opposite camp. It's good to be different, says Martin Daubney
photography by
WILL IREL AND

L

et's play a quick game of identity
politics bingo. Are you a feminist?
No? So if you're not, does that
make you an anti-feminist? Sexist?
Or a woman-hater, even? OK, by the same
token, if you are a feminist, does that
make you a man-hater? It seems harsh.
Yet we live in a world that is obsessed
with identity politics. For the first time in

officers (or anybody else) is a terrible thing.
But when five white Black Lives Matter
protesters recently blockaded City Airport
because they decided air pollution was
'racist', I disagreed with what they did, not
because I'm racist, but because I thought
they were idiots.
As we all know, idiots come in all sizes,
genders, religions and colours. Some think

human history, everything we say, do or
post on social media, is used to instantly
label us: Sexist! Racist! Misogynist!
Homophobic! Transphobic!

I'm an idiot - and they might be right.

WH Y DO WE DO THIS?
Since the beginning of time, men and
women have wanted to feel a sense of
belonging. We all want to 'fit in'. From
ancient tribal feuds, to simply being on
#TeamJen during the Brangelina
hook up (and subsequent
divorce), our sense of
kinship - and adversity
- defines us as humans.
But this divide and
conquer mindset has an
ugly side. What if you
don't 'belong?' What
if you're not 'with
us?' Surely that
means you're
'against us,' right?
On a macroscale,
we see this closemindedness
manifest itself
in wars based on
nation, race, religion
and politics. And on a
more individual scale,
we see it on social media.
Take Black Lives Matters.
Everybody can agree that
the killing of black people (or
indeed, any people) by police

I GET CALLED ANTI-FEMINIST
BECAUSE I CAMPAIGN ON
SERIOUS ISSUES THAT
DISPROPORTIONATELY
AFFECT MEN
AND BOYS

October 2016 BALANCE

FEMINISM FIRST
Earlier this year, a study by the Fawcett
Society, a leading feminist charity, showed
that only 7% of all Britons - and a mere 4%
of men - labelled themselves as feminist.
So does that mean that 93% of Brits
are anti-feminists? Or just that they don't
want to be labelled as one? Hopefully, it's
the latter. I don't identify as a feminist.
Yet I get called anti-feminist all the time,
mainly because I campaign on serious
issues that disproportionately affect
men and boys, such as suicide and poor
educational attainment. In the eyes of
some, that means I'm obviously 'against'
women, if I'm 'for' men and boys.
On the one hand, this strikes me as
hilarious, mainly as my wife is a feminist.
How can I hate feminists if I love one, live
with one and made two children with one?
In Theresa May, we have a woman
who's been called 'our most feminist
Prime Minister ever'. Next month, Hillary
Clinton is likely to become America's first
female President. Meanwhile, Germany's
Angela Merkel is effectively Europe's
President. To that, I say: 'Go, girls!' - I don't
care about what's in their trousers. I care
about what's between their ears.
We should feel proud of who we are,
and be less quick to label others. And
besides, how boring would the world be
if we all agreed with each other? What on
earth would we all talk about? B

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BalanceOctober2016

BalanceOctober2016 - 1
BalanceOctober2016 - 2
BalanceOctober2016 - 3
BalanceOctober2016 - 4
BalanceOctober2016 - 5
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