Some time ago I was contacted by a journalism student with what I thought at the time were pretty lazy questions. So I let it slide, and didn’t answer in time. I realize now that this was a mistake, since navigating the Men’s Movement related sites can be a bit tough to do. Sure, there is The Spearhead and A Voice For Men (and MND, SYG, etc), but these sites cycle so many articles so fast that its sometimes difficult to get a handle on the main issues.
So, I decided to answer the questions with some writing of my own. Her questions are in bold:
How has the feminist movement negatively impacted society?
It would be more productive to ask in what ways has Feminism helped society? It would certainly be a much easier and quicker answer. But since you asked I can give you a brief run down from an MRA perspective.
First, Feminism has largely achieved its goal of the destruction of the Family. You may think I’m employing hyperbole here, but I am not. From its very inception Feminism has sought to destroy the family unit as a first step to ‘deconstructing’ society, and Feminist icons have never been shy about stating as much either.
It’s important to see the interconnected-ness of most of the social ills facing society, so rather than list them (and thus appear to simply blame “everything” on Feminism), I will attempt to outline how things came to the way they are. I will largely leave up to you the reasons why.
Feminism often refers to marriage as a “comfortable concentration camp”, and portrays the lack of achievement (at least, achievement of things women seem to hold in high regard) of the female sex as having come about by design. Their pet conspiracy theory – that all men of all social classes in all societies everywhere, and throughout history, collectively worked together to ‘hold women down’ – has been used to “justify” all manner of evil acts.
The first one relevant here is No Fault Divorce. By succeeding in getting the idea of ‘fault’ removed from one’s entitlement to property, essentially No Fault Divorce gives women license to cheat with impunity, in addition to receiving reward for cuckoldry. It’s also important to note that never once did this “egalitarian movement” called Feminism allow one iota of women’s control over the familial sphere to degrade. If anything, Feminism utilized Chivalric impulses in men to garner even more (some would say totalitarian) control over “Family Matters”.
One of the methods used to cement this power, was the co opting of Domestic Violence shelters into the feminist fold. Erin Pizzey, the founder of the first battered women’s shelter in history, has repeatedly stated that feminists had her ousted from the shelter, issued death threats to her until she had to leave the country, etc. Curiously, after this “egalitarian” movement became involved in DV, suddenly men were no longer victims, but always the perpetrator.
These shelters continuously used the phrase “women and children” (echoing the paternal past nicely) when referring to DV victims.
Now, they could cry “think of the children” (with echoes of Goebbels) as an attack against men. And they did…viciously. Now, we live in a time when men are literally afraid to approach lost children, for fear of accusation against them! That is the product of the hateful misandry-laden DV industry.
But they didn’t stop there. They have begun to attack boys too, in the hopes of heading off these boys developing self-esteem, or free will and independence. In New York, Atlanta, Denver, and Austin, DV shelters have taken to putting pictures of prepubescent boys on the side of busses, with the words “future abuser” on them.
Feminism also ushered in a highly intolerant age for ‘misbehaving’, resulting in skyrocketing rates of imprisonment. The U.S. now imprisons a higher percentage of their population than Soviet Russia did, and the majority of those imprisoned are there for things like marijuana possession or failure to pay child support. Add to this hyper-regulated environment a single mother birthrate of 41% (yes, 41% of all children born in the US are born to unmarried women) along with all the attendant social problems, and you see social collapse as a very real possibility.
But we can’t stop there. We have to look at Affirmative Action as well, which severely limits the future of a whole lot of men. They are the ‘unpopular’ group of men known as “White Males”, and while we all ‘know’ white males are privileged, it seems the data is simply not showing that to be the case. In fact, Feminist “research” in any area having anything at all to do with measuring white males against anything else, that data is always presented in such a way as to make the white male look as bad as possible; which, so far, has served to distract from the fact that the biggest beneficiary of all is the White Female.
And that’s if the man can get a job at all. Education is increasingly necessary in this ever more credentialist society. Feminist lobbying for restrictions on means companies can employ when screening applicants have led to there being little more than prior experience, or a degree, that can be used as criteria. Yet the education system is notoriously anti-male, cries to the contrary answered by referencing the educational attainment of boys, and the lack of reasoned response by educators (keep in mind, this is a 30 year old phenomenon).
Has the feminist movement negatively impacted the family unit?
Yes.
The feminist movement has done nothing but ‘negatively impact’ the family unit. The entitlement complex indoctrinated into women from birth is a result of “You Go Grrl!” type feminism coupled with Disney-esque adoration. This has resulted in women’s expectations of men rising to incredible heights, and a distorted sense of worth in women. Where marriage used to be more about getting ahead together, now it is much more mercenary at the outset.
Boys, in particular, are negatively impacted in the family as well. Contrary to feminist ideology, boys are not born with an arrogant sense of entitlement. But boys generally do get their sense of self worth by the same way girls still measure the worth of boys as well; from accomplishment…a concept virtually outlawed in feminist society. Given that some 40% of boys go through the first 8 years of school never having a male teacher, and grow up in single mother households, in a society that has vilified male achievement, it’s a wonder our society still stands.
And no wonder it is currently standing on wobbly legs.
As for the balance between men and women, it’s no secret that women hold utter control in the family. The idea of taking all of a man’s possessions and removing him from his children’s life is so common as to become a stereotype, and one that is unquestioningly accepted by everyone, including feminists.
Men are put in the ‘dog house’. Men must perform for women, be useful, try not to be too embarrassing in the process, etc. These stereotypes could not exist without being common, and that says a LOT about the common balance of power in most relationships. Men only ‘joke’ about it because it’s so emasculating otherwise.
Could it be argued that feminism is an anti-men hate movement?
Wikipedia: “A hate group is an organized group or movement that advocates and practices hate, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or other designated sector of society. “
There have been a few MRAs that have written on this subject. Erin Pizzey (that DV shelter founder from a while back) said this of feminism:
“Feminism, I realised, was a lie. Women and men are both capable of extraordinary cruelty. Indeed, the only thing a child really needs – two biological parents under one roof – was being undermined by the very ideology which claimed to speak up for women’s rights. “
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1215464/Why-I-loathe-feminism—believe-ultimately-destroy-family.html#ixzz1AW6gqCxA
Fidlebogen at The CounterFeminist does not mince words either on the subject. This is how he opens his article on Feminism being a hate movement:
“To remove man-hating from feminism would be to extract the DNA nucleus from a living cell, the fuel rod from a reactor, the teeth from a rottweiler. I would assert that man-hating is feminism’s moral center of gravity, and that without man-hating or at least some degree of disaffection toward males, feminism could not logically continue to exist—it would flounder without purpose, and disintegrate. “
http://counterfem.blogspot.com/2006/10/is-feminism-hate-movement.html
This would be nothing but bluster and hot air except for the small problem of very high profile feminists saying pretty much exactly the same thing:
“I feel that ‘man-hating’ is an honorable and viable political act, that the oppressed have a right to class-hatred against the class that is oppressing them.”
Robin Morgan – former president of the National Ourganization for Women (NOW) and editor of MS magazine
“I believe that women have a capacity for understanding and compassion which man structurally does not have, does not have it because he cannot have it. He’s just incapable of it.”
Former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan.
“My feelings about men are the result of my experience. I have little sympathy for them. Like a Jew just released from Dachau, I watch the handsome young Nazi soldier fall writhing to the ground with a bullet in his stomach and I look briefly and walk on. I don’t even need to shrug. I simply don’t care. What he was, as a person, I mean, what his shames and yearnings were, simply don’t matter.”
Marilyn French; The Woman’s Room.
“All sex, even consensual sex between a married couple, is an act of violence perpetrated against a woman.”
Catherine MacKinnon
Does the feminist movement violate the identity of men?
Not only does it seem like feminism is has made its mission to violate the identity of men (for instance, there’s no shortage of feminists telling men how “real men” should act, think, dress, look, smell, etc.), but Feminism is highly averse to the very idea of men figuring stuff out for themselves. It seems the greatest reason for existence many feminists can come up with for their movement, is to suppress ours.
Feminism as an ideology does not allow for dissent, and since it’s built upon a stack of bald-faced lies, any questioning of basic feminist principles is harshly rebuked, rather than welcomed. This is the surest sign of a totalitarian regime based on injustice.
Totalitarian regimes thrive on subverting individual identity across the board.
Is equality between men and women achievable?
Given the performance of women over the last 50 years, I would say no, it is not. The main problem with power is the temptation to use that power to benefit yourself, and people like you. The truest test of leadership is the ability to treat even the most (to you) distasteful people in a manner of at least surface equality. Women have made no bones about their self interest politically, with pundits and politicians alike openly declaring women will vote for a certain candidate based solely on that candidate’s sex. And the record is clear that women have largely pursued an agenda, not of equality, but of unmitigated self-interest to the detriment of the rest of society.
Men are not blameless here, as their desire to please women has also led them to enable these slanted pursuits, again to their own detriment. And women will not be the ones to reverse this trend; their hypergamous instincts not only do not allow them to fully ‘see’ men they don’t value as mating material, but it prohibits them from seeing non-useful men at all. Moreover, they are most to be repulsed by men that complain.
But the long and short of it, is that given women’s history with political power in North America, I think you would have a hard time arguing women having the vote is a good thing. I truly do. And that’s not my fault, its women as a whole that shit the bed on that one.
If you search the internet for feminist groups there are several hits but a lot fewer when looking for the counterbalance. Is it important for more men to speak out about the negative effects that the feminist movement can have?
Of course it’s important. It’s actually vital to the survival of our society. I know that sounds hyperbolic but you have to remember that destroying this society has been the very reason for the existence of feminism since the 1960’s. And it’s doing a remarkably good job of it.
Many men have thrown up their hands in disgust already. Some have expatriated, some have “gone ghost”, but men are turning off from society – and women – in ever increasing numbers. And while this is a logical response, it’s not the best solution.
Feminism and the social memes it has inserted into the public consciousness are incredibly destructive, and countering that is job one. Much of the MRM is composed of broke guys with no money for a social life, but they have a computer and a net connection. If those guys can work together and get enough momentum that places like the NY Times are finally, finally starting to pay attention, just think what would happen if people with access could do.
