Samantha Clark

Unpopular opinion, women can also be trash.

It’s a hard pill to swallow when the “men are trash” ideology is pushed heavily in the mainstream media. Whenever I scroll on Twitter, I’m guaranteed to see at least one tweet saying how men are trash. There are even accounts created with the sole purpose of exposing trash behavior of men.

But men aren’t the only ones with trash behavior.

The “men are trash” narrative pushes down the fact that women can also do wrong.

During Kris Jenner’s marriage to Robert Kardashian, she began an affair with former pro soccer player and now animator Todd Waterman. She wrote about this affair in her autobiography “Kris Jenner… and All Things Kardashian” but used the pseudonym “Ryan” for Waterman.

After the book was released, Waterman came forward and said he was the man Jenner talked about in her autobiography.

According to People.com, Jenner said that “probably one of my biggest regrets in my life is that that marriage fell apart” in an interview with Fox News Channel’s “OBJECTified.”

In 2006, Rihanna released the song “Unfaithful” that tells the story of a woman cheating on a man and how it’s hurting him.

“I love that song, because we always put it out there that guys cheat,” Rihanna said in an interview with MTV News. “And finally someone put it in perspective: Girls cheat too.”

Specific behavior from men and women are trash, but we can’t target an entire gender as a way to unleash our anger and deal with it.

Instead of alienating men through social media backlash, we should invite them into the conversation about what the problems are and how we can fix them. Problems can’t be solved unless everyone is involved in the discussion.

Merriam-Webster defines feminism as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes; organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.”

If the true goal of feminism is equality, we can’t attack men every chance we get. It’s not effective. Just as women want to be heard, we have to allow ourselves to listen to men.

Yes, men have done some awful things. Look at Tiger Woods and Tristan Thompson. They’ve done horrible things to their partners.

We need to remember that not all men are Tiger Woods and Tristan Thompson. Not all men cheat, and men aren’t the only ones who cheat.

I’m not trying to invalidate the wrong acts men have done and people’s personal experiences. I’ve had my fair share of dealing with bad male behavior, but I also have good men in my life that prove to me that no, not all men are trash.

Removing the phrase “men are trash” from our vocabulary doesn’t mean men shouldn’t be held accountable for their actions. Accountability is important, and men and women should be held accountable for their actions.

Actually opening a dialogue that addresses the problems and how to fix them is what will lead to real change.