Role Models

This is a REALLY GOOD IDEA.   Harriet J at Fugitivus has a 'list' called "Stuff What Boys Can Do".  It's a collection of personal anecdotes in which men have been allies against misogyny.  I'd love to see it as a Wiki kind of thing for people to add to. She says=

This list is for men that want to help but don’t know what to do. It is also for anybody who wants to share a story of something good that they saw.

There's a LOT of stuff there, so it's great reading for when your faith in humanity needs an IV.  Some will make you choke up, here are a couple that are funny.

Silvia:

I know some nice men. I have an old friend who is rather asocial: he is quite shy and feels it necessary to prove his masculinity around other men, and does so by almost becoming a parody of macho attitudes. I like him a lot, have worked with him very fruitfully, and put up with his shit because I know that underneath he is a decent fella. He’s married to a woman called Mary.

One day he was out with two of my male friends. They’re men who respect women as colleagues and equals. My first friend, let’s call him M, was ogling every single woman they passed in the street: cor, get a load of those tits! wouldn’t you like a bit of that! she’s stacked! and so on and on and on. My other two friends didn’t respond, but became more and more embarrassed and annoyed that their obvious unenthusiasm wasn’t reaching him. They reached the pub and bought a drink. M was still making crass observations about the breasts of woman patrons.

Finally one of my friends, who’d had more than enough, leant over the table and asked pleasantly: “And what are Mary’s breasts like, M?” For a moment it looked as if M was going to punch him; then he turned bright red and muttered, they’re ok. Finally it got through to him that he’d been talking about real people. And he shut up. According to my friends, he hasn’t made comments like that since. At least, around them.

Geek Girls Rule:

...we had one bouncer, B, who went sort of above and beyond. B was 6′7″ and a good 290 lbs, easily. He had multiple facial piercings and tattoos, a beard and a network of scars on his face from getting hit with a beer stein.

You all know that guy who starts hitting on you by invading your personal space, and keeps getting closer if you say no, all the while asking you “why not?” B used to watch for these guys, and if he saw them doing that to girls, he would walk up to the bar and do that to the guy in question. It usually took less than a minute for the guy in question to start freaking out. At which point B would say, “Yeah, well guess how you made that girl feel.”

We rarely had repeat offenders.

LOL! It's surprising how many of these are just the simplest little things, but leave a huge impact. Go and read the rest. 

How about it, readers, you have any experiences of your own to add?