@carlgnash, I'm thrilled to hear your voice in the #womenspeakout tag — thank you @limabeing for inviting this kind of discussion. In the original WSO post the guidelines were set for only women could post to the tag (I thought that was the vision at the time), but I wish I could go back and edit that to say "Everyone who wants to speak up for women, please do!!!"

It can be hard to come to terms with privilege, especially when it's something you take for granted, or when you have also come from hardship. All of us have challenges, and yet some of us have it easier than others because of who we are. I've become more aware of my own privilege as a white woman, and purposely try to uplift diverse voices to bring balance to this. I think awareness comes in layers, and the more diverse voices we listen to, the broader our perspective.

Though I can speak out freely here, when face to face with a man abusing his privilege (generally unknowingly), I shrink and hide, hurt and anger eating me from the inside. I think we need more men speaking out for women, because many men are so programmed to disregard the voices of women it may be the only way this issue can really change is if male voices help it to do so. Thank you so much for posting this!