In a case of spectacularly bad timing, Fox News happened to choose the day before the Zimmerman verdict was handed down to publish an op-ed proclaiming “the White American Male” to be the most oppressed creature on Planet Earth. In a piece entitled “Men — The New Second Class Citizens,” professional antifeminist Suzanne Venker declared that
From boyhood through adulthood, the White American Male must fight his way through a litany of taunts, assumptions and grievances about his very existence. His oppression is unlike anything American women have faced.
What is revealing about this quote, besides its complete disconnection from reality, is that Venker makes no other references to race in the rest of her piece, which runs through a number of tiresome and oh-so-familiar MRA talking points about the alleged oppression of men.
Venker complains about schools being biased towards girls, from grade schools that force students to sit still to colleges with their infernal Title IX. She whines about “sit coms and commercials that portray dad as an idiot.”
Quoting antifeminist psychologist Helen Smith, a friend of and sometime contributor to A Voice for Men, she suggests that women can get their boyfriends or husbands locked up on a whim just by claiming abuse.
I’m surprised she didn’t talk about the evils of “friend zoning.”
But when Venker refers to “men” in all of these complaints, she is evidently thinking only of white men — why else would she switch so seamlessly from talking about the alleged oppression of “men” to proclaiming “the White American Male” the ultimate victim?
There’s really no other word for this than, well, racist.
The day after Fox published Venker’s nonsense, we were of course reminded (as if any of us really needed to be reminded) of the very real oppression faced by “the Black American Male.”
Trayvon Martin didn’t die because he happened to see a show featuring a bumbling sitcom dad. He died because George Zimmerman saw a young black man in a hoodie walking home from the store and assumed, apparently because Martin was young and black and wearing a hoodie, that he was up to something sinister.
Trayvon Martin didn’t die because he was male; he died because he was a black male. His killer walked free not because his victim was male, but because his victim was a black male.
Suzanne Venker did us all a favor by revealing the unconscious racism underlying so many Men’s Rights complaints. The Men’s Rights movement is not only a movement that is overwhelmingly made up of white men; it’s a movement that’s almost exclusively about white men, and their largely imaginary oppressions, as well. We might as well call it the White Men’s Rights Movement.
WTF is this world coming to!? We have white chicks who are defending MRM now lol!? Someone give me an aspirin plz! But this is typical of Fox though to air stuff like this. The MRM is stpupid as RooshV said. Those guys aren’t headed nowhere.
Bravo. I’ve noted this myself in an article I entitled “The intersection of misogyny, racism, homophobia, and transphobia in the MRM” where I likened them to the “white power” movement.
Can we amend that to the Straight White Mens’ Rights Movement? Because they aren’t exactly dripping with empathy for gay guys either.
Mra arglebargle + Right wing media = A match made in heaven.
Where else would one find an audience so ready and eager to believe that straight white guys are naturally meant to run things, and anything that threatens their total dominance is upsetting the natural order of things and will inevitably destroy society?
inb4 Obsidian Files starts yelling that we’re just as bad.
They are rascist right down to their little white toesees. But call them on it and they whine and howl and run off to play with vox day.
I don’t know if I would consider that worse than the oppression of the countless African-American women who were enslaved, Suzanne. But then, much like you mean “white men” when you say men, you mean “white women” when you say women, don’t you? Racist crap.
Ugh. People I was around today were talking about the case, and how we can’t really know what happened, and it had nothing to do with Trayvon’s race. According to them, people are overreacting and making it about race when it wasn’t. But they were stumped when I asked them why there is a trend of people being found innocent when the victim is a person of color. I hope I at least made them start questioning their insistence that it isn’t about race.
Women – the old second class citizens because of thousands of years of oppression and control.
(White) Men – the new second class citizens because Title IX and VAWA.
Sometimes you hear an argument so convincing, you can’t even look it straight in face because you’re afraid you’ll vomit all over it.
Worse is implied, but the statement is unlike. And I suppose this is true. White males have to share schools with non white males, which they did not used to have to do. So not only do they taunt one another mercilessly but there are witnesses to their behavior and ohmydearpawsandwhiskers they actually have to effing compete with non white non males!!!
Teh horrorez!
Echidne give this white male supremacy lament an excellent going over.
Yes, the straight white male is practically an endangered species. WON’T SOMEONE THINK OF THEM, FOR ONCE?
I really wish there was a sarcasm font.
When Dr. Helen Smith is the most convincing authority in your article you know you have a problem.
Falsoncer: shhh, please don’t summon him. I’m starting to think socialkenny comes from the same skidmark in the PUA sphere.
^Falconer.
She does look like her mascara had run. Maybe she was moved to tears by the plight of the MRAs?
Another one of those completely not oppressed women in Indiana have been arrested for feticide as it appears she spontaneously or medically aborted.
Eh, I’m still undecided on whether socialkenny is here in good faith or to spam PUA shit. In this case though…
“Someone give me an aspirin plz!”
Will Advil suffice?
Ok I am totally off topic now, but ket’s backed this fucked up train up. Arrested for a possible spontaneous abortion, as in the medical term for a miscarriage? Arrested, because she miscarried.
Not that I doubt you, but got a link?
And not only must the White American Male fight his way through a litany of taunts, assumptions and grievances about his very existence, he has to endure the rigorous torture of [gasp!!] sitting still at a desk in school!! Boys need to be ACTIVE, dontchaknow, unlike those icky girls who are innately ultra-passive and inactive.
Aaaaaawww, she’s the Tammy Faye of the MRA
“Does anyone here have info on girls and boys in schools? Like her claim of bias in favor of girls?”
Give me a minute, it’ll be US stats, but I found this for NWO at one point.
Basically if those uppity women and POC would accept their proper subordinate place in society and stop trying to get an education and a job all would be right with the world, and oh by the way do as I say not as I do!!
Here is the Indiana linky http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/07/16/indiana-woman-charged-with-feticide/
Her claim is that boys should not be required to sit still in class and the recent doing away with recess favors girls cuz I guess they don’t need recess. Never mind the fact that in the many years when girls and POC were forbidden school the withe boys were indeed expected to sit still and do their work.
I’m sure she finds the laws set up to protect women from discrimination from banks also cruel to white men too? You know because it stops banks from denying loans based on gender. Now less men will get loans from the bank all because woman are getting loans.
This is the second woman Indiana has charged with Feticide. The previous was a woman who ate rat poison in an effort to commit suicide.