03/06/2025
International Women’s Day is in 2 days. And while I’m all for celebrating women, I need to clear the air first. So I wrote an Open Letter to All Good Men ✉️ (read the entire thing at Matriark.com).
“Picture this:
A man—let’s call him Mr. Man—builds a huge building, lives in it comfortably, and whether through negligence or intention, sets parts of it on fire. Women rush in with buckets, trying to put out the flames and making sure everyone inside survives. Meanwhile, other men and women steal their buckets, trip them, or criticize how they’re fighting the fire. But the women keep going.
Mr. Man ignores the fire because he lives in the safest rooms. And when women tell him what’s happening, he shrugs. Not my fault, he says.
So the women, exhausted, go to workshops to learn how to be firefighters. They teach each other how to build stronger, fireproof walls. They organize conferences to share firefighting techniques and commiserate about how tough it’s to live in a burning building. They ask some of the male residents to be allies. The allies nod, sympathize, and buy the women new buckets while avoiding Mr. Man and the fire altogether.
Then, some people start blaming the women for the stress they’re under. They tell them they should be grateful to have a building at all, despite the fires. Others move toward Mr. Man’s part of the building, hoping to find safety at his side, and start adding to the fire to keep everyone else from crowding their space. So much time passes that fighting the fire becomes just another part of daily life.
And Mr. Man? He goes on, untouched, oblivious, never facing the consequences of what he’s done.”
SOUNDS FAMILIAR? Head to Matriark.com to read the entire letter – this is an open post for all. Sending love,
Patricia
📸: “1920s 1930s Woman Camping Crouching” By Vintage Images
