Be still, my beating heart.
Our imaginary boyfriend Mark Ruffalo has proven (again) that he is much more than an excellent actor and first-class dreamboat.
He’s also an activist. Issues he’s been vocal about include but are not limited to: the dangers of fracking, climate change, water preservation, clean energy sources – and feminism.
If you’ve never listened to him talking about his pro-choice views, or watched him respond charmingly to the Cosmo reporter who asked him questions that would normally be aimed at his Avengers co-star Scarlett Johansson, you mightn’t know it, but Ruffalo, 47, is a feminist, and a vocal one.
He posted a truly great response to the online trend for young women to pose with signs describing why they don’t need feminism.
We could just quote bits of it, but it really warrants being posted in full.
Does Ruffalo ruffle you (geddit?)? Post continues after the gallery…
“My response to the ‘I am not a feminist’ internet phenomenon….
“First of all, it’s clear you don’t know what feminism is. But I’m not going to explain it to you. You can google it. To quote an old friend, ‘I’m not the feminist babysitter.’
“But here is what I think you should know,” he wrote on his Tumblr account.
“You’re insulting every woman who was forcibly restrained in a jail cell with a feeding tube down her throat for your right to vote, less than 100 years ago.
“You’re degrading every woman who has accessed a rape crisis center, which wouldn’t exist without the feminist movement.
“You’re undermining every woman who fought to make marital rape a crime (it was legal until 1993). You’re spitting on the legacy of every woman who fought for women to be allowed to own property (1848),” he continued.
“For the abolition of slavery and the rise of the labor union. For the right to divorce. For women to be allowed to have access to birth control (Comstock laws). For middle and upper class women to be allowed to work outside the home (poor women have always worked outside the home). To make domestic violence a crime in the US (It is very much legal in many parts of the world). To make workplace sexual harassment a crime.”
“In short, you know not what you speak of. You reap the rewards of these women’s sacrifices every day of your life. When you grin with your cutsey sign about how you’re not a feminist, you ignorantly spit on the sacred struggle of the past 200 years. You bite the hand that has fed you freedom, safety, and a voice.
“In short, kiss my ass, you ignorant little jerks.”
Preach, Ruffalo.
Here are some more of the Internet memes Ruffalo is responding to…
Read more: Who’s beating the drum for feminism?
We need more women like Jemima Kirke to talk openly about abortion.
Single Aussie men aren’t as scared by feminism as you might assume.
Top Comments
Ok. I find this all a bit odd. There are some really lame reasons some people don't identify with feminism but there are also some decent ones too. Some women prefer to call themselves humanists but still fight against sexism. Some women feel that feminism has historically glossed over class and race differences or even been actively racist and classist. In a post about knowing history that history seems unknown. I hope my daughters calls themselves feminist but I wont call them jerks if they don't.
But mainly this post annoys me because does anyone at all know history anymore? Honestly any of us. I mean can anyone sharing this post name a suffragette? (I can name two but I had to rack my brains). And though it says marital rape was legal till 1993 what juridstiction are we talking about there? I don't know when it was legal till in Victoria (my home state of Australia) or anything about the story of that struggle to change the law and whether the women who fought it identified as feminists.
It feels weird to be all "jerks don't know history" when I reckon 90% of the people sharing Ruffalos post know no more history than what the post says. (and hey isn't celebrity culture a part of that short history we live in?)
You know what would be awesome.... some history - which by sharing we would decrease the jerkiness of the world. This post doesn't do that. Its just part of this trend on the internet to shit on people. Which is extra sad coming from feminism against other women.
Rant over. I also like Mark Ruffalo.
They think they don't need feminism because feminism has done such a good job. Sadly in many ways the job is still incomplete - equal pay statistics in their own countries prove so, let alone the horrific treatment of women in and out of marriage in so many countries like Papua New Guinea. Someone needs to get these girls a better education. And perhaps the drastic loss of real news availability due to most news sources now writing headlines and articles for their clicks, is showing its impact.