Freeborn Adam

The following came, via twitter, from a woman friend @hannahnicklin whose arm is currently in plaster. She has apparently been receiving comments, from “men”, generally over 50, on a near daily basis that go along the lines

Man 1: makes a ‘you’re sexy’ growling noise. Man 2: eh, you wanna be careful, she’s got a cast on her arm, she’s sorted. Hilarity ensues.

Some of the responses to this post seemed to indicate that some men feel as if they need to apologise for this behaviour. I want to make it clear, to those who indulge in such hilarity, that I feel no need to apologise for your behaviour in any way shape of or form. I barely relate to you as being of the same species as me, let alone the same gender. “Men” who find humour in the intention infliction of harm on another by virtue of gender, or indeed any other characteristic, have no place in a reasonable society. There was a day when we could simply open the gates and turf you out and let nature take its selective course, but unfortunately those days are gone. You are not men. You do not have the balls to be called men. You are simply a waste of the valuable space you occupy.

There was a humourous note to all this

“funny, do you do rape jokes too?” “wouldn’t rape you if you asked me to, luv” “I think you may have misunderstood the concept of rape,mate”

Now, that is funny. Any “men” need it explaining to them?

If you are a man and agree with my thoughts above, you might like to help make a stand by signing the UKFeminista campaign here.

My twitter account username is Freeborn_Adam in homage to John Lilburne, a 17th century “domestic extremist” who, among other things, promoted the concept of freeborn rights. This, from the ubiquitous wikipedia

“Freeborn” is a term associated with political agitator John Lilburne (1614–1657), a member of the Levellers, a 17th-century English political party. As a word, “freeborn” means to be born free, rather than to be born in slavery or bondage or vassalage. Lilburne argued for basic human rights that he termed “freeborn rights”, which he defined as being rights that every human being is born with, as opposed to rights bestowed by government or by human law. John Lilburne’s concept of freeborn rights may have influenced the concept of unalienable rights mentioned in the United States Declaration of Independence.

I think I might change “party” for movement, but you get the picture.

Hello World! About time I kept a little bit more detail about my work, projects, interests etc on the web, so time for a wordpress blog