Ho-ley cow.
I’ve been visiting masculinist sites, looking for friends to populate my links with, because all of my links right now are fat liberation/body acceptance/feminist blogs. In my search, I realized something that should have been apparent since I looked up masculinism on Wikipedia;
Some of these people, ah, aren’t inclined to think kindly of women. And by that I mean fiery burning napalm hate.
I’m currently reading an entry from menz.org.nz, otherwise known as MENZ Issues. It was founded by the Men’s Center of North Shore, Inc., and is now an open forum for men’s issues in New Zealand. The post is called “Feminism and World War III”, and my heart sinks even before I begin reading the comparisons between feminism, psychological warfare and WWII propaganda. My roots with civil rights and equality started with feminism, so I was dismayed, but not exactly surprised, by the article. I’m sure that particularly zealous feminist groups have employed tactics used in psychological warfare, but that can be said of any prominent, publicized group with an agenda. People who agree with the message call it informative. People who don’t call it propaganda.
As I said, the article didn’t really shock me. The comments did. Some of them were thoughtful commentaries on child support, fathers’ rights, and divorce bias. However, interspersed with these were statements of intense anger directed towards women. I’ve copied and pasted some of them here, but I strongly encourage you to follow the link above and read them in their original context.
“I am no longer a man but a slave to the capricious and irrational and irresponsible women that populate this country. I can honestly say that I do not even like women anymore, and never want to have a relationship with one again. I really believe, based upon considerable study (and I am a scientist – ecologist), that most if not almost all women are disposed this way.”
“Here is a question for you. Besides giving birth and raising children have women EVER contributed much to civilisation?”
“It seems all women are capable of doing is ripping civilisation down with irrational and dishonest behaviour that has attacked Western civilization at the root.”
“Wisdom, reason, common sense, objective analysis of facts and data in compliance with the Scientific Method are all MALE traits. They all rely on LOGIC AND REASON. Not emotion.”
“All women are psychopaths. That’s not a nice thing to say because psychopaths are not nice, but it is true. When a girl enters puberty, a huge amount of resources are redirected from development of the central nervous system (including the brain) to the reproductive system.”
“I disagree with Dave that women want to have relationships with men. Women want to control and manipulate men. That is not the same thing as a relationship. A relationship requires mutual exchange of thoughts and ideas and information and cooperation and negotiation. Women are incapable of thought or ideas or exchanging information or cooperating or negotiating.”
I’m guessing that the authors of these comments are mostly disenfranchised fathers who have been raked over the coals in divorce court and now have to pay child support and alimony to someone who broke their heart. I’ve said some pretty nasty things about men just because of petty little breakups with boyfriends. I can’t imagine the rage and pain caused as you watch someone you built a life with be supported by your country’s legal system as they take away your children, your house, and a pretty big chunk of your money.
Look, guys, I understand (as much as a single, childless woman can understand the pain of a divorced father). But I think that the kind of thinking expressed in the comments listed above is harmful to everyone involved. And now I shall rant about it:
I don’t think it’s ever okay to lump every person of a certain distinction into one negative description. First of all, that takes away the voice of the individual. Second, it makes people feel like they’re on separate sides of a “war”, and a war between the sexes is the last thing we need. Wait, that’s dumb. War is the last thing we need, and it doesn’t matter what type. Unless you’re a small arms dealer, in which case, war is great news. That’s a whole different can of worms.
What I don’t get is the sense in anger and hate. Okay, I’ll admit that being angry helped me complete my hike in record time today, but what good does being angry at a certain sex do? You close yourself off from an entire world of human experience and information, not only by limiting yourself to one worldview, but also by turning people of that group off when they read nasty comments like those above. That goes for feminists who rail about men being brutish and domineering; or straight people who bellow and snort and thump their bibles at gay people; or anyone who makes racist jokes.
If it sounds like I’m screaming “Why can’t we all just get along?”….well, yeah. I am.
Learning about your rights and fighting unfair practices can be done without saying things that widen the gulf between the two “sides”. It’s hardly fair to turn your back on an entire group of people just because a few of them hurt you. Individuals! People are individuals!
I am a woman. I’m also a daughter. And a writer. And a wildlife enthusiast. I love getting dirty and banged up and riding with the windows down while I blast zydeco music till my ears hurt. I fight against inequality caused by gender differences, but I don’t blame it on men. Hell, I’m not even really mad at the systems that reinforce harmful gender roles and pit the sexes against each other. I just want to change it.
However, I can talk all I want, but it’s nothing without feedback.
What I really want is to hear from the masculinists floating out there in the web-o-sphere: How do you feel about the comments listed from the MENZ article, “Feminism and World War III”? Do you agree or disagree with these views? Why or why not? What are some issues facing men that don’t get as much press as divorce court and paternity laws? Comment and let me know what you think.
-Vanessa
Glorious Taco 