Hey y’all. First off, we’re going to expand the Monday roundup just a tad, to start regularly including interesting links from off the AVoiceforMen site. If you have other interesting links of interest to the movement, feel free to send them our way or drop a comment and we’ll see about including them in the Monday roundups.
For example, while he does not self-identify as an MRA, but rather as a humanist who is skeptical of all ideologies, Justin Vacula (who once allowed us to reprint one of his articles, and got in much trouble in Gender Ideologue circles for allowing us to do so) is hoping to attend a Women in Secularism conference. He’s holding a fundraiser to help him get the money to attend. I threw in $20 myself. One of the bonuses is that if someone will pony up $200 he’ll wear the t-shirt of that person’s choice to the conference.
Wouldn’t it be great to have him wearing an AVfM t-shirt? It would be nice to finally see men’s advocates having open and mutually respectful dialogue with women at events like this; years of bitter experience have shown this to be impossible thanks to Gender Ideologues, but maybe it can start changing? Hope never dies and all that. Anyway, Justin mentioned to me that if multiple AVfM participants pool their money to bring it to $200 he’ll wear our shirt. Well I threw in $20 to the kitty, you want to add to it and mention it to him?
Either way it should be terrific. We just hope Justin has a camera on his person at all times so no one can falsely accuse him of anything dirty when all he is is a sweet, gentle guy who seeks to promote discussion. (Oh, predictably, certain people are enraged at the very idea that someone who’s skeptical of some forms of the ideology of feminism might actually try to attend, and are going so far as to compare this to terrorism. Well, like I said, hope springs eternal and all that.)
Also, thanks new AVfM contributor Amit, we recently discovered a fascinating group called “Save Indian Family Foundation” (SIFF), which has a lot of interesting news for men and families in India. For example, the unnoticed problem of women terrorizing their husbands and their husbands’ family by abusing Indian law. We don’t know a lot about SIFF yet but a review of the site so far shows a whole lot of promise. Gynocentric hysteria in India has had us suspecting for a while now that the situation for men must be at least equally dire if not moreso, and from some of the materials at SIFF, it’s starting to look like we may have been correct about that.
Oh, and it just so happens that Amit became the 1,000th person to register for the AVfM Forums! Have you visited the forum yet?
Also, at the University of Ulster, a study has recently been released showing that there is a systemic bias against boys in education across Northern Ireland, and while we can’t say for sure, we wouldn’t be surprised if much of what they find also holds true elsewhere, like the rest of the UK, Canada, Australia, etc. You can read the full study here in PDF form and draw your own conclusions, but it certainly looks like a lot of that fits what we’re seeing in schools in other countries.
In other news, while this isn’t exactly “news,” a common trope in the advertising industry is that women control 80% of all discretionary spending in America. This factoid is used endlessly by all sorts of people, including some Men’s Rights Advocates/Activists, to “prove” all sorts of things. But it appears to be what’s known as a “woozle,” that is, a non-fact which people believe to be true because they continually see false evidence that it’s so–usually, multiple sources uncritically making the same assertion. I’m not a Men’s Rights Activist But… is a fun blogger who frequently talks about these things. One of them I helped him identify was the “women control 80% of spending” woozle, which turns out to be an assertion that someone just pulled out of their butt many years ago and no one ever questioned. Whatever relation it bears to reality is entirely coincidental. “I’m not an MRA but…” may soon be writing an article for us on the concept of Woozles in general, but, in any case, if you ever heard or wondered about that “women control 80% of spending” business, be sure to see this terrific article in the Wall Street Journal about it.
By the way, I mention that this particular woozle is of interest to the men’s community not in any sort of triumphalist “haha, you see, women are not that powerful!” manner. No, I mention it because I think it’s important that when MRAs make assertions, they make them as factual as they can. The actual picture for who controls spending in the world is complex; as the linked story in the WSJ shows, women are enormously economically powerful, it’s just that the question is complex and there is no one answer. Furthermore, however, it should also tell advertisers that they’re possibly making a mistake in thinking that gynocentric advertising is always their best move. Sometimes it might be, sometimes it might not be. And advertising with publications that have unapologetically pro-male content may be a better investment than advertisers might currently believe.
In still more interesting news: it is a common trope among Gender Ideologues that any time you have sex with a woman who’s drunk, you’ve raped her. No, I’m not making that up. Yet multiple anecdotal stories and formal studies have shown that a large percentage of women enjoy sex while drinking. For example, while it’s not the first survey to show this, a recent survey of German women shows the majority of them prefer to have sex while drinking alcohol. Does this mean a majority of German women enjoy being raped? Or does it mean that maybe our cultural definitions of what constitutes “rape” are outrageously sexist and twisted and even Puritan? It certainly seems like it treats men as dangerous beasts and women as children.
In fact, on that topic, we recently had a great article by Russell Lindquist (who blogs here and vlogs here) on the subject of rape, and makes the stunningly controversial, breathtakingly audacious assertion that we should ignore gender, denounce rape, and defend all victims. What are you, crazy, Russ?
Speaking of other great material on AVfM from the last week:
Our domestic violence policy advisor and Editor At Large Erin Pizzey recently did a great interview with Warren Farrell and the folks at StudioBrulé. Although the initial live interview was plagued with technical glitches, StudioBrulé (whose YouTube channel you should subscribe to here) has begun uploading a cleaned up, edited version of that interview, in easily-digested segments. Here’s the first of it:
…and you can watch the rest here: Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6. Erin, as usual, is fearless.
Speaking of Fearless Erin, she’s got some more thoughts for us on violence, hatred, and thuggery from self-identified Feminists, which she’s seen and experienced many times in her decades-long career of trying to help victims of domestic violence. Here’s her thoughts on the matter, which we suggest you share with anyone who will listen.
Also, remember I mentioned Amit Desphande and SIFF above? He also recently penned a piece on the growing problem of misandry in India that you should see.
AVfM firebrand John the Other has noticed a new postering campaign in his home town of Vancouver. These posters are outrageously sexist, and he has some choice words for that sexism in Tip for 2nd Class Citizens.
Men’s Rights Activists have recently come under fire from traditionalists. We find this unsurprising, as we have long noticed that just as Gender Ideologues who call themselves “feminists” often dismiss male disposability even while depending on it, many conservative traditionalists openly admire and praise male disposability. Which is better? Neither one that I can see, although I guess we can give the traditionalists some props for at least occasionally mouthing nice words about men and boys. In any case, Rod Van Mechelen looks at tradtional women and their white knights, and finds their views lacking in respect for the humanity of men and boys.
Andy Man, of the fast-growing MRA London also recently put together a breathtaking essay and video that you really must see: Who taught you to hate yourself? I have no words. Show it to everybody who will watch.
Sweden is increasingly looking like one of the most frightening countries in the developing world for men and boys. Joakim Ramstedt has a look. I’m not sure I’d willingly let my sons set foot in that country. Although Lucian Vâlsan explains why Croatia looks frightening in its own way.
By the way, how do you do actual men’s rights activism? TCM shows one effective ways, at least if you’re in or near a university.
Neil Lyndon, whose career was nearly destroyed by Gender Ideologues, recently graced our pages with this amazing essay on the legacy of one of the most prominent of the 2nd wave feminists of the early 1970s. Don’t miss Big Sister: The Legacy of Germane Greer (and if you use Twitter, be sure to follow Mr. Lyndon here. We’re very much hoping he’ll grace our pages with further contributions in the future! (By the way, The Moderate Voice also allowed me to reprint his article. As a side note, TMV is a pretty good site that’s good about allowing me to post Red Pill content like this, so anyone who comes over there and leaves an occasional polite, supportive comment or two would be appreciated, so they know we aren’t a bunch of misogynisty rapey haters.)
Are you against genital cutting of children? So are we. The intactivists have launched a massive campaign you may want to be a part of.
Victor Zen is looking for his privilege. Maybe you can help him find it.
Our great friend Suz, also known as DriverSuz, who blogs at Shining Pearls of Something, wrote a sterling piece we just had to reprint, and which you shouldn’t miss: An anonymous letter from a mom to her future daughter-in-law. That essay, which has been pointed to and reprinted many places, has set off a virtual firestorm of controversy. Good on ya Suz.
Finally, a couple of items from our growing AVfM forums you may want to check out:
Men’s Rights Activists are constantly plagued with trolls with an anti-MRA bias who say outrageous things that most MRAs would never agree with, which the enemies of human rights for men and boys often exploit via quote-mining: “Look, seee these disgusting things those MRAs say!” Well we’ve decided to make it easier for them to find these false and outrageous and hateful quotes, and have started a Quote Miner’s Graveyard to highlight statements made by phony MRAs that the enemies of human rights frequently use to poison the well against us. If you spot such poison, be sure to join the forum and point it out there.
Also, the growing AVfM forum has a new section: the Volunteer Hub. Got a project you want help with? Want to volunteer for projects we may be doing? Join the forum and speak up!
Well that’s it for this week. So much time, so little to do! (Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it.) Let’s get going. Yee-haw!
