To men, for International Women’s Day

We need you.

We need you to listen. When we tell you about a problem, we don’t want you to jump to a solution for us. We just want to say it out loud to solve it ourselves knowing that you will support us.

We need you to talk. To raise the issue of gender. Don’t worry about saying the wrong thing. Saying the wrong thing is better than saying nothing at all. It’s the only way to start the conversation.

We need you to value our differences. Realise that we bring a different perspective and encourage us to bring our personalities to work, to not feel like we have to put on a “male suit”.

We need you to argue. We need you to push back against our ideas, to challenge us to do more than we think we can.

We need you to fight. We need you to stand up for us, to be our allies, to be our comrades in arms. This isn’t a fight between men and women; it’s a fight for equality, for what is right.  The rise of women does not equate to the demise of men.

We need you to believe in us. So we can work together as equal partners, shaping the future for the next generation.

Men, We need you.

International Women’s Day 2015 is on Sunday, 8 March.

Author: Belinda Parmar is the founder of Little Miss Geek and CEO of Lady Geek, a campaigning agency which aims to make technology more appealing and accessible to women. 

Image: A couple is seen in silhouette under a partly cloudy sky as they sit along the Mediterranean Sea beach front on the Promenade Des Anglais in Nice December 2, 2014. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard