Everybody wants to be a hashtag hero, and Emory philosophy professor George Yancy is no exception. So he’s come up with a cool new hashtag and the powers of truth and justice at the New York Times have given him the real estate to promote it.

Men, listen up.

In light of a year of disturbing revelations from the #MeToo movement and from last month’s profoundly troubling Brett Kavanaugh hearings and his eventual confirmation to the Supreme Court, it is time that we, men, act.

Certainly, some of us men have spoken out on behalf of women. But many more of us have remained silent. Some have kept silent out of fear of being judged, fear of criticism or censure, others out of genuine respect. In fact, silence has become the default stance of many men who consider themselves “allies” of women. But given all that has transpired, staying out of it is no longer enough.

I’ve decided not to cut corners. So, join me, with due diligence and civic duty, and publicly claim: I am sexist!

And so . . . wait for it . . .

In fact, perhaps it is time that we lay claim to a movement — #IamSexist. Think about its national and international implications as we take responsibility for our sexism, our misogyny, our patriarchy.

Think about it? Fair enough. Let’s begin with the “men, listen up” opening. Who, George, are you to seek our attention? A lot of people these days seem to believe they’re entitled to other people’s attention because whatever they have to say is so important, so true, that it must be heard.

Most of them are children who have been reared on the misguided belief that their opinion matters. After all, mommy said so. Their teachers said so. All the grown-ups around them have rubbed their tummies and told them their opinion deserved respect for no other reason than it was their opinion.

But you, George? You’re supposed to be an adult. You’re a professor. Granted, philosophy, but still. Is there a reason why your opinion is of greater value than any other adults? Are you the leader of the Men Tribe? Was there an election and nobody told me?

So if you’re nobody special, nobody whose opinion others inherently gravitate toward, seek out because you’re a “thought leader” among males, then perhaps it’s the strength of your argument that will sway others to use your hashtag.

Some have kept silent out of fear of being judged, fear of criticism or censure, others out of genuine respect.

Perhaps that’s true, but your list of reasons for men not joining your sleepover party may miss a few things. Some of us don’t blubber for sad, weak, downtrodden women, who need men as their allies, their white knights, their saviors, because they are so fragile, so delicate, so pathetic, that they cannot manage without the firm hand of a strong man. Some of us think that women are our equals, or at least can be if that’s what they choose to be. Some of us don’t think they need our acquiescence if not assistance in allowing them to be equal.

And some of us think that men (you remember us, the people you tell to “listen up”?) get to be men just as women get to be women.

We have heard many accounts from women of what it is like to live under the yoke of our self-serving construction of a violent, pathetic and problematic masculinity. It is time that we stop gaslighting their reality.

In your world, George, women are “gaslighted” by the overwhelming power of your toxic masculinity. You are so strong, so hard, so powerful, that women collapse under your gaze. You’re such a he-man, George. Women wilt in your patriarchal presence.

If you are a woman reading this, I have failed you. Through my silence and an uninterrogated collective misogyny, I have failed you. I have helped and continue to help perpetuate sexism. I know about how we hold onto forms of power that dehumanize you only to elevate our sense of masculinity. I recognize my silence as an act of violence. For this, I sincerely apologize.

You should apologize, George. Not because your “silence” is an “act of violence,” a nonsensical assertion if ever there was one. Not because of your “uninterrogated collective misogyny,” if that’s what it’s called in your sad delusions. And certainly not for seeing a pretty woman and being attracted to her. That’s kinda how our species has managed to perpetuate itself.

No, George, you are not “innocent.” Yes, George, you need to apologize because you are, most assuredly, sexist. You think you matter, whether to men or women. You think men should lay down their masculinity because you issue a “clarion call.” You think women give a shit about how you feel, as if their equality somehow depended on George’s tears. You think it’s somehow about you.

I know that if you are a woman, you don’t really need me as a man saying to you that you are not paranoid when it comes to male violence, sexual and otherwise. I speak not for you but with you.

You speak for no one but yourself, George. And whether anybody wants to speak with you is up to them. You have no say in the matter.