I need feminism because there are too many men who react with anger and behave as though they are being personally victimised when women express that they somtimes feel unsafe around some men, or feel frustrated that some men expect sex in return for kindness or free drinks.  Everyone knows that ‘not every man is like that’, but personal experience and society as a whole force us to be cautious, and their unjust anger over this fact simply makes many of us feel even more unsafe. 

I need feminism because there are far too many people (of any gender) who, rather than even considering trying to understand why we feel the way we do, respond to our caution and frustration with aggression and insults to our intelligence.  More often than not, these are people who have never been and never will be in the kinds of situations that have given us personal reason to feel they way we do. 

I don’t doubt that you - general you - are a fantastic guy who wouldn’t expect me to put out because you bought me dinner, but you don’t negate the countless other men who came before you who felt disturbingly entitled to my body and my friends’ bodies in one circumstance or another, and you and your winning personality don’t make my caution and frustration over this invalid.

I need feminism because I am made to feel objectified, unsafe and uncomfortable, often on a daily basis and all because of my gender, and I am still accused of being stupid, presumptious and a man-hater when I voice and explain my discomfort.