The Modern Feminist Manifesto

By Arnold Ahlert (bio)

When they liberated the women of Afghanistan, I was silent.
I am not an Afghan woman.
When they liberated the women of Iraq, I was silent.
I am not an Iraqi woman.

Though the women in many Muslim nations are oppressed and brutalized, I reman silent.
I am not a Muslim woman, nor do I live in any of these nations.
Though a 54 year-old British woman faces 40 lashes and six months in jail in the Sudan for naming a teddy bear “Mohammed,” I reman silent.
I am not her, she is not my problem.

Once I was part of a movement dedicated to stamping out injustice against all women.
But times have changed.
Now all I care about is preserving legalized abortion.
I can–and will–remain silent about everything else.

I am an American feminist.
Hear me “roar.”