Today marks the 100th celebration of International Women’s Day
(IWD). It’s striking that the centenary should fall on the same
year in which women world-over find themselves at the forefront
of significant political and social events. For example, 2011
has seen the launch of UN Women headed by former Chilean
president, Michelle Bachelet. Also, Brazil’s first woman
president took seat in January and Congo, a country that has
been labelled the most dangerous country for women to live in
saw a landmark trial and subsequent sentencing of a colonel
responsible for 63 rapes. However, I want today to take the
opportunity to highlight that women aren’t the only ones that
are concerned with the effects that patriarchy has on society.
An increasing amount of men are joining the feminist movement
because they too would prefer an equal society. They too think
that empowering women is beneficial also to future generations
of boys and girls. Black men are also joining the movement
because they realize that concurrent patri