There’s no real defining moment as to when I became an MRA. It was quite a bit before the term came into being, that much I know. One of my earliest childhood memories is of asking my mother why the radio always blames boys for everything. I suppose you could count that as day one.
Both of my parents were concerned with social justice, my mother was (and is) a devout feminist, and my father was a Social Worker among Canada’s northern communities until his death 20 years ago. My parents divorced when I was a young child, and my father was – at best – a bit player in my time growing up. My stepfather paid the bills in the meantime.
This, I suppose, goes a little way toward explaining why I feel the need to bring attention to many problems resulting from such a destructive society. I am not a religious man in any real sense, having nearly burst into flames the last time I tried to cross the threshold of a church (kidding), but I see value in a spiritual, and caring approach to life. There is ample evidence to suggest it is dogmatic thinking, not religion, that leads to destruction. And dogmatic thinking is endemic to the ‘secular’ left every bit as much as in the ‘religious right’.
So, my abhorrence of rigid thinking and intellectual laziness has led to me having almost no definable political leaning. Where’s my damn pigeonhole?
Like the Men’s Movement itself, I have no horse in the race. I have no ideological leaning other than legal and social equality (of opportunity), and the desire to eliminate injustice – and even then I do not presume to know the answers, only that the right questions aren’t being asked.
And if you get right down to it, that’s how all of this stuff is continued by the mainstream media. They refuse to ask the right questions, or accept the buillshit answers and move on. It’s been the goal of the MRM to remove this option from them for the past decade or so, and we have begun to see some real success.
But it’s my estimation that it is time to transition to a new mode of thinking. A growth mode. We have gained the attention of the masses, and interest will grow or wane from here on out largely in accordance with the message they receive. Our political opponents grasp this as well, and are currently involved in a campaign to discredit, and/or co-opt the men’s movement. Either outcome is fine for them, since the key goal is the maintenance, or intensification, of current practices.
How do we combat this? Easy. We learn to market ourselves better. We develop a consistent message and we hold to it. We define a sociopolitical subculture, and its goals.
Plain and simple, we brand our movement. And we start by branding our ‘hubs’. We can’t define our own movement any more than Feminists can. What we can do is define and brand our websites, videos, and other aspects.
And to this end, Paul has asked me to take on a role of Director of Marketing for A Voice for Men, a role I enthusiastically accepted. A lot will happen in this regard, with the introduction of products for sale (and hopefully worn/used as much as possible), new graphics, presentation discipline, and more. Without going into too much detail, A Voice For Men will become central to the men’s movement, and will lead explorations into new media and the future of broadcasting.
