Men’s Rights Activists generally like to pretend that the world is some kind of feministy dystopian hellscape for men. No so the gentle MRA philosopher who calls himself Cooter Bee. In a recent post on A Voice for Men, he admits frankly that
In absolute terms, men have never had it better. Our lives are longer than ever before. Especially in the western world, we are not nearly as plagued by violence and disease as our grandfathers. Never in history have we had as much economic opportunity or as much latitude to choose our own careers and our ultimate station in life.
Well golly. Sounds like life is pretty good for us dudes.
We are clearly neglected and abused relative to women, but is that really a legitimate comparison? Is that any more meaningful than measuring how we are doing compared to squirrels or dolphins? There are a few men who do cross-over and become women but I never heard of even one who did it to gain access to all the goodies that go with being an entitlement skank. I know of few men who would be anything else despite the supposed unfairness.
So what is the beef? Could it be that even though men are doing better than ever that the level of ingratitude is also disproportionately high?
Uh oh. Do I smell some “we hunted the mammoth to feed you” coming up?
Let’s face it. Men are and always have been where it’s at when it comes to sustaining this world. In former days, men used to get some credit for it. Not now. Scorn, vitriol and blame are the thanks we get for making this world livable. Biting the hand that feeds you was always a no-no. Perhaps that’s what eats me.
Hmm. Given that most women work, and that women make up roughly half the work force, it seems to me that most women are actually feeding themselves. Statistics on all this are readily available.
I am starting to tire of all the stats and data.
Statistics? We don’t need no stinkin’ statistics!
Isn’t the fact that we don’t like what is going on enough reason to change it?
So you’d rather fight against imagined ingratitude than real injustices?
Ironically, after acknowledging that he’s primarily motivated by feelings, not fact, Mr. Bee accuses women of not being able to deal with gender issues rationally:
Talking equity among men is useful because men are capable of equity. Exceptionally few women are capable. Talking about equity to a typical woman is like talking particle physics to a baboon.
We want it the way we want it and so it should be done. No other justification is significant.. We have it good but want it to be better still.
Well, at least he’s being honest about it, I guess.
EDITED TO ADD: The comments on this post on AVfM are, of course, a treat. Here are some choice excerpts from my favorite one, posted by a fella calling himself DruidV:
[D]id any of you ever stop to consider the very first expendables in this gendercidal war against us?
You know, those accomodating Men of the sixties and seventies who were just trying to do the “right” thing. Those Men, who reluctantly but dejectedly gave up their lives and livelihoods so that millions of poor, oppressed wimmin could enter the work force (and completely FUBAR it, btw) in the name of ekwality.
Was there ever any kind of token memorial statue erected by the wimmin, to honor these displaced Men who were forced to hand it all over to their future political enemies? Was there even ONE?
Ever?
My grandFather just happened to be one of these very first Men to be displaced from his job by a woman, at the hands of the government. He never fully recovered from the loss, to be sure. But hey, who gives a shit right? As long as some loud-mouthed, 1960′s hatchett wounds could feel “liberated”, umm sorry-I meant to say “Empowered(tm)”, it made no difference how many Men were sacrificed…
So, yeah, let’s get working on that memorial, folks! I wonder if we could get Maya Lin to design it?
@Holly Pervocracy
Excellent job dismissing a womans violence like I said you would.
Okay, I saw that video. She’s in the wrong, but I’m not going to cry my heart out over the fact that he was covertly photographing her for some Register-her shit and she sorta batted at him.
If I cry my heart out over anything it’s the MRM getting to be BIG HUGE VICTIMS now that one of their members endured a traumatic batting-at from an evil feminist.
Isn’t April 15 a really bad day to protest Washington? Everyone is pissed off at the federal government on that day. I’m guessing there will be a couple of demonstrations. The guys who are pissed because FEMINISM are going to have even less chance of being noticed.
Yep, and the American right is going to be focused on scapegoating Obama for every malady under the sun, because they want to, y’know, DEFEAT HIM in the next election. They’re not going to be interested in stupid distractions, like blaming wome- OOPS, feminists.
Ithiliana:
“Gacked from FeministPhilosophers who gacked it from Jezabel who linked to the university media center on a study showing that respondents had a hard time distinguishing between excerpts from men’s magazines (in the UK) and statements by convicted rapists:
http://www.surrey.ac.uk/mediacentre/press/2011/69535_are_sex_offenders_and_lads_mags_using_the_same_language.htm?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter”
This is seriously frightening.
@Kendra, the bionic mommy
Probably slogans of men being falsely accused and how it affected their lives, or death as the case may be.
Maybe how men recieve far greater sentences for the same crime.
How about how mens children are routinely kidnapped from the after divorce?
What about quotas in education and employment?
Perhaps how men are portrayed as child abusers event thought women working alone commit the vast majority of child abuse.
There really is no realm of modern day society where men are demonized, criminalized, ostracized or generally treated like a third class disposable item. Take your pick of any realm of modern day society.
@Holly Pervocracy
First you dismissed her actions, now you’ve excused her actions.
You are a perfect example of the modern day woman.
Keep up the hatred! Next year is gonna be a zinger!
NWO, do you know what a law is?
I really recommend everyone watch NWO’s video, by the way. It’s sort of amazing.
It’s very MRM-like, in that:
1) It shows the guy committing a crime or at least rule violation (he’s somewhere that seeing him filming inspires people to call for security), and he doesn’t give a shit.
2) It’s not entirely clear what the “assault” consists of, but it looks like the woman tries to either knock the camera out of his hand or hits him while trying to cover it with her jacket. It does not look brutal.
3) He addresses her as “young lady” in the most condescending fucking “someone needs a spanking” tone imaginable.
4) It’s then replayed with analysis of the women’s animalistic herd-like behavior and DRAMATIC SLOW MOOOOOTION.
My deepest fucking sympathies to the man who got batted-at, and I wish him a speedy fucking recovery.
NWO, you’re pro-rape. I don’t know how to say this without screaming or throwing things, but RAPE HURTS MORE THAN BEING BATTED AT WITH A JACKET.
Maybe this is unfair or whatever, but until you give a shit about that, I don’t give a shit about this poor little baby and his little victimization.
Looks like we do agree about one thing.
Slavey, the contrived and paranoid “ills” of modern society don’t affect a single, childless, nobody from Texas such as yourself, whose only activities involve being chained to his computer all day whining on blog comment boards in between stretches of made up “work”.
Beside all the non-cited falsehoods that are at the heart of your so called “activism”, there is the glaring fact that it’s so damn pathetic.
oh good, it’s WHAT ABOUT THE MENZ part 2198327, NWOslave edition.
OK MRA douches, I’m really sorry when some asshole woman is an asshole, but those women don’t represent WOMANKIND. Only the most radical of radfems judge all men by the criminal population, so why do MRAs regularly regender crazzzy radfem rants?
IT IS ILLOGICAL. BEEP BOOP.
Holly – link to the video please?
@Holly Pervocracy
“My deepest fucking sympathies to the man who got batted-at, and I wish him a speedy fucking recovery.”
Does condescending make you feel morally superior? I don’t recall a time you haven’t condescended to me. Although, since I’m a man you feel justified. Or you can make excuses like calling me a misogynist which not only justifies your actions but thrills you as well. Let’s just hope no man dares to slight your delicate sensibilities lest he be charged with sexual harrassment.
I think I’ll try a little condescending before I turn in. I forgive you for your emotional outburst, no doubt your moonblood in on you and rational thought eludes you.
Xardoz – It’s the Vimeo on this page: http://annmariewhaley.com/2011/12/05/lisalyn-r-jacobs-charged-arraigned-for-assaulting-daddy-justice-at-vawa-hearing-in-d-c-senate-building/
(Also funny: the way MRAs think women exaggerate a little ass-grabbing like it’s some big deal, but when one of theirs gets batted at with a jacket it’s definitely felony assault.)
Yay! I scored 11/16 on identifying rapists’ quotes. That means I… think… like… a rapist.
Shit.
NWO: That wasn’t condescension, that was sarcasm. It’s kind of a non-trivial difference.
NWO: Also, if you think hurt feelings are all that’s needed for sexual harassment charges, why aren’t you being served left and right?
NWO: She was charged yes? And we are all up in arms about the injustice, no?
Wait, we aren’t, unlike your ranting about how a guy who left to get a weapon so he could come back and whale on people who weren’t attacking him anymore was completely justified because you think this is war and any woman who punches a man ought to be knifed, and and any woman with a knife deserves to be shot.
So you aren’t possessed of any moral high ground. Some guy offended her and she swatted at him…. By your logic she underreacted. She ought to have hit him with a chair, or something.
omg the bob dylan playing on the video is priceless…
Pecunium – I think we also have to factor in how he was dressed.
Men who dress that way should expect to get batted at with jackets. It’s what’s coming to them and they have no right to complain when the inevitable happens. He should have known to dress some other way I won’t ever specify because he ought to know.
NWO’s not even trying anymore, is he?
I think his tinfoil hat might need to be reinforced or maybe refitted.
““one of the girls from VAWA”
I don’t think NWO knows what a law is. I think he honestly believes that VAWA (like Title IX!) is an organization. Maybe even an agency.” “
I think he thinks it’s some sort of secret shadow government, actually. LIterally,.
You want me to say that the “legislating morality with our votes” argument for suffrage was stupid, because women are no more or less moral than men, and this sort of “romantic feminism” is basically dead now AS FEMINISM, though the “ladies will help society” thing is still kicking around some forms of conservativism? (Incidentally, the pure moral white womanhood will vote purely and morally and whitely argument was why a lot of the Klan supported women’s suffrage, for fun historical trivia – not all suffragettery was leftist or feministy even then)
Okay, the “legislating morality with our votes” argument for suffrage was stupid. It also wasn’t the only one. I actually hope you respond to this cause I want to see what sort of word salad it triggers. Please?
This “assault” has been all over the man-o-sphere, it’s not just NWO. Although he’s a particularly bad person to pretend to be outraged about it.