Men that are Feminist (or could be)

Why is the idea of feminism such a polarizing concept? Bet you didn’t know these guys were feminists. Some people believe that men can’t be feminists. The UN just announced a campaign called He for She, designed to get men involved in women’s rights

Ben Affleck- The future Batman star, encourages his wife and mother of his child to act. The father of two is making a point to raise his daughters as proud feminists. (This was before their break up but I’m sure his attitude towards raising his girls hasn’t changed)

 “Well, [they’re] a little young for a sort of Gloria Steinem doctoral thesis, but without getting into exactly what it means politically to be a feminist, our daughters understand what my wife understands full well, which is it’s important to be strong, present, and powerful, and accept nothing less than a man would — in fact, ask for more. And, you know, that’s part of what I admire so much about my wife, and I know that through her example, my children will absorb that.”

Joseph Gordon Levitt- Another star of the Batman realm, Joseph Gordon Levitt posted a new video where he not only explains why he’s a feminist, but also gets into some of the debates raised in the “Women Against Feminists” Tumblr blog. 

Pharrell Williams- Pharrell embodies the entire notion of male feminist. This year he came to the realization that just because you have male genitalia doesn’t mean you should understand the need for equality among the sexes. “I’ve been asked, am I a feminist? I don’t think it’s possible for me to be that… I’m a man. It makes sense up until a certain point. But what I do is — I do support feminists. I do think there’s injustices. There are inequalities that need to be addressed.”

In September he endorsed a feminist party leader in Sweden during a concert. “Let’s give women a shot for once in a while to try to run this world,” he yelled at the concert. And earlier this month, Pharrell previewed Gwen Stefani’s “Spark the Fire” during the Odd Future Carnival in Los Angeles, playing the song from his cellphone. “It’s about feminism,” he told the crowd.

Aziz Ansari- Ansari combines his irreverent humor with cutting-edge social science to give us an unforgettable tour of our new romantic world confronts America’s racism, politics, fear of feminism and gay rights more now than he did at the start of his career. And it makes sense that the comedian appreciates a strong woman seeing that he worked closely with Amy Poehler in Parks and Recreations.

His stand up special Aziz Ansari: Live at Madison Square Garden covers misogyny, Internet cruelty, dating, and even factory farming, is hilarious and smart. He believes that people shouldn’t be afraid of the word ‘feminist.’ “Most people are a feminist and yet don't want to identify with that word.”

Ashton Kutcher- I commend new dad, Mr. Kutcher, because of his stance on changing tables in men’s bathrooms. It's not every day that the world gets up in arms about the institutional and social barriers faced by male parents. Everyone knows that parenting is hard.  So when we structure everything around the assumption that women are the primary caregivers, like "NEVER" putting changing stations in public restrooms for men, for example, it happens by default. The buildings say it's mom's job.