An Open Letter to Chris, Kanye, and the Other Men Who Don't Like Women.

Originally published on www.kesifelton.com

March 31, 2016

Both of you are known for your frequent social media tantrums, the most notable of which interestingly shows a pattern of targeting women. At this point, the unchecked anger behind your respective incidents has revealed an elephant in the room: that there is a deeper issue that needs to be addressed. I am not trying to say that you don’t like women…this has to do with the fact that you don’t like women. You don’t respect women, you don’t see women as equals, and more importantly, you don’t see women as complex human beings. In all honesty, the way you treat women, especially on social media, is disrespectful.

Pertinent to the more recent situation involving Chris Brown and Kehlani (…and Kyrie Irving… and PARTYNEXTDOOR), if it is one where a woman has done something wrong, let her be held accountable for her actions in a way that she can actually learn from her faults rather than feel belittled and humiliated. It is not up to you to publicly shame her or take away the validity of what she may be going through (Chris’s handling of Kehlani’s suicide attempt is a whole different conversation).

The biggest issue here, though, is that men like you, men who are successful and are with/ have been with the Kim Kardashians and Amber Roses and Karrueche Trans set examples for young men (contrary to popular belief, the concept of a role model is not exclusive to women). There are plenty of young men who strive for that lifestyle. And when you use your platform to bash those women, you are saying that treating women with such little respect is okay. There is a common misconception that if a man respects the woman he is in a relationship with, that automatically equates to him having respect for all women. A man respecting his girlfriend, wife, etc. is (hopefully) a given. What separates boys from men is unconditional respect for all women.

–kf