On Monday, Martin Luther King Day here in the United States, this was posted in the Men’s Rights subreddit, where, as you can see, it was quite popular with the assembled Men’s Rightsers:
How wrong is this? Let me count the ways.
1) It’s wrong because Men’s Rights “Activists” aren’t “warriors for peace,” or justice, or even for their own backwards notions of men’s rights. MRAs, like a lot of men insecure about their own worth, love to claim credit for the accomplishments of great men in the past (without accepting any responsibility for the terrible deeds of the terrible men who lived before them).
But even in terms of claiming credit where no credit is due this is especially ridiculous. Aside from a tiny handful of “fathers rights activists,” who’ve bizarrely chosen to try to advance their cause by vandalizing paintings and/or dressing up in superhero costumes and climbing up buildings, and one troubled man who killed himself in hopes that his death would spur other MRAs to acts of terrorism directed at courthouses and police stations, MRAs don’t risk anything with their “activism,” insofar as they engage in anything that can be called activism at all.
There’s nothing heroic, or risky, about posting anonymous rants online about how women are all a bunch of hypergamous bitches, or sending some vague threat to the feminist villain of the day.
Indeed, MRAs face so little risk that some are forced to invent stories of persecution — like John Hembling’s tall tale of being confronted by a mob of boxcutter-wielding feminists, thoroughly discredited by The Daily Beast — in order to cast themselves in the role of the persecuted victim-turned-hero.
2) It’s wrong because the person posting this message, and attempting to suggest some sort of link between the civil rights movement of Martin Luther King and the Men’s Rights movement today, is someone who also posts in the White Rights subreddit, a haven for the same sort of hateful white supremacists who hurled racial epithets — not to mention actual rocks and bottles — at King when he was alive.
When one Redditor pointed this out, and noted (correctly) that numerous white nationalists post in the Men’s Rights subreddit, they were quickly downvoted for their troubles.
The original poster explained that he only posted in White Rights about “real cases of white discrimination.”
Another poster offered an example of what he saw as one such case of “real” anti-white discrimination:
Yeah, that was totally a real thing.
3) It’s wrong because it’s wrong. As in, factually incorrect. Warren Farrell is talking out of his ass, again. Here’s a slightly longer version of his quote, which you can find on his web page. (It’s originally from The Myth of Male Power.)
Men are likely to be not only the warriors of war but also the warriors of peace. Almost all those who risk their lives, are put in jail, or are killed for peace are men. While some of the peace warriors—Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Dag Hammarskjold—are remembered, most are forgotten. Remember Norm Morrison?
Well, no, Warren, I don’t remember Norm Morrison. But I think you’re forgetting a few people too. Like half of the human race.
Women have been involved in peace and social justice movements as long as women have been active in the public sphere. Ever hear of Women Strike for Peace? Code Pink? At every large demonstration I’ve been at that has involved civil disobedience, I’ve seen both men and women arrested, with some of the women old enough to be grandmothers or great-grandmothers. The idea that women don’t put themselves on the line for peace or social justice is patently false.
This is really kind of basic stuff. But with MRAs, alas, you always need to go back to the basics.
But the post in the Men’s Rights subreddit was all about co-opting the civil rights movement, so today I thought I would remind anyone who might have forgotten — or who never knew — that it wasn’t just men who put themselves at risk in the struggle for civil rights.
You can click on the pictures for more information.
If women are so bad at being activists, then why are they so worried about feminists?
Yep, there’s a reason why MRAs can’t think of any female “warriors for peace”. Hint: it’s not because there aren’t any.
Yep, MRAs, Aung San Suu Kyi was at no risk. I’m sure she spent the whole of her “house arrest” lounging around eating bon bons. /sarcasm
WTF? I just don’t even..
Just one more example of how blinkered and stupid these people are. Black women were right out in front during the entire Civil Rights Era (we had no choice about it as it directly affected us.)
Although I don’t like being ignored, this is one instance where I prefer that MRAs not turn any f their attention towards us.
I’m usually lurking about this site and I’m always surprised at my surprise. Just when I think MRAs can’t get any lower or dumber, a new article makes me rethink my standards.
Its so spineless . That’s all I can think to say .To invoke the names of the brave and heroic men in our world for their pathetic so called movement. Really do they have no shame at all?
The early labor movement was full of women. Hell, the “Bread and Roses” strike of 1912 is named for a poem about working women, because it was spearheaded by women.
And that’s not even getting into the ways women were deliberately excluded from justice movements, like black women being told their role was to provide coffee (and maybe sex) to the men marching for civil rights, or the early labor unions who argued than men needed a fair wage so women wouldn’t “have to” work any more.
Lastly, I want to add one of my favorite photos to the lineup: Gloria Richardson vs the bayonet. (Sadly, if you Google her, you can learn more about the exclusion of women from the civil rights movement)
When suffrage comes up, they tend to try to align it with the White Feather thing and pretend that all suffragettes (even outside the UK) wanted me to go die in wars. Or they claim that for all the suffragettes’ hard work, it still fell to men to change the law and allow us to vote, therefore men really deserve the credit.
There are a lot more documented cases of violence and threats of violence by feminists than by MRAs.
Just thought I’d drop that little fact on your dumb circle jerk and give you some much needed perspective-
Bye cupcakes …
In the thread prior to this one, I also pointed out the brocialists of the Occupy Movement who wanted women to keep quiet about sexual assault inside the Occupy camps because going to the cops would undermine the anarchist message.
kitt33: Citations, not anecdata, desperately needed.
Kitt33,
Make believe is still not the same as a fact.
Got anything reality based to share?
Feminism in the 1960’s came from the way women were treated within the anti-war movement. Just as female abolitionists before them, they realized that until women had a voice, they could not work for the other changes they knew were needed. These guys really should study history before they pontificate on it.
What about the women of the Arab Spring who had to endure “virginity tests”, rape and being arrested as prostitutes? I guess they don’t exist either.
Oh yeah I have heard that before too . That women only have more equality/rights although sure they fought for it, is that men had to allow it . And you know they didn’t have to if they didn’t want .
What were they going to do ? Put all of us in prison ? Wait…I’m sure that is part of their re-do history fantasy life.
This one pitiful guy said(I don’t know why I keep getting pictures in my head of donkeys but think of the voice of Eeyore ) when talking about feminist, if truly about equality would be accountable for their part in helping with men’s issues and be fighting to help resolve them. He said “we helped you .”
Well at least the feminists have actual causes /have actual activist /and an actual movement.
kitt33 declared it authoritatively so that is all is needed to prove that it is true.
Not.
And isn’t it here just on one blog post recently an “MRA’ who suggested killing women in large #’s just to equal things out as far as male death toll in wars for the last 100 years?
Wow what PEACE keepers these guys are .
‘There are a lot more documented cases of violence and threats of violence by feminists than by MRAs.
Source please, Kitt33? And stats should probably include all the online threats made towards any woman who dares to put forward the idea of having one woman represented on a British bank note, or any other fairly innocuous suggestion.
It cracks me up that so many MRA types believe that being born male somehow entitles them to share credit in the achievements of great men, just as women must somehow share the culpability of crimes committed by women.
Just because Martin Luther King had a penis, and Warren Farrell has a penis, does not mean Warren Farrell has anything in common with Martin Luther King.
You know, I easily believe that more feminists than MRA:s have committed acts of violence. The reason is that feminists probably outnumber MRA:s, at least if you take into account how long each movement (or “movement”) have been around, like a thousand to one or so.
I should add that I easily believe this if we only counts acts of physical violence. If we take into account death and rape threats made online, I don’t believe it for a second.
While I also breathlessly await citations from kitt33, I wouldn’t actually be surprised if there were more documented cases of feminists committing violence than MRA’s, because feminists actually get off their asses and do things every once in a while. MRA’s may idolize men who murder their wives or set themselves on fire in courthouses, but how many of those men identified themselves as MRA’s? MRA’s harass women on the internet and whine about how no one will do the heavy lifting of activism for them. That’s about it. Anyone who has the gumption to do anything, even something horrible, doesn’t bother with them.
As for threatening violence, see above re. internet harassment. I think this is one area where the MRA’s have feminists beat.
I like that a white guy who killed a black guy and got acquitted for it is an example of anti-white bigotry.
“Men are likely to be not only the warriors of war but also the warriors of peace. Almost all those who risk their lives, are put in jail, or are killed for peace are men. While some of the peace warriors—Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Dag Hammarskjold—are remembered, most are forgotten. Remember Norm Morrison?”
Almost all? Just listing recent women attacked and/or jailed for speaking out that are in my personal consciousness, as an individual who doesn’t really follow political news at all, I can come up with Pussy Riot, Chelsea Manning, and Malala Yousafzai. Not to mention all the women involved in the various Arab Spring protests.
(I’m actually not sure how the MRAs would respond to Manning. Do they claim her for the “mens” side, despite being a trans woman? Do they doubly reject her?)
Gah, Warren Farrel. What a sack of crap. The first I ever heard about a mens rights movement was from people talking about him online. I looked up what he said in that book of his and read a few passages, and was instantly repulsed. The fact that such a bigot and blatant rape apologist is considered to be the most “academic” and “respectable” of the manosphere is very telling.
But, in happier news… http://planetransgender.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/worlds-first-successful-uterus.html
Ain’t science amazing? 🙂
“I’m going to make an extremely dumb assertion, which I refuse to back up in any way – facts are for misandrists!”
“Fact”? I don’t think that word means what you think it means…
Oh .. O.K, I didn’t know that’s what feminism is . I thought purposely adding to death tolls /maiming /and suffering would fit under another definition .
There seems to have been an uptick lately in articles claiming that feminists and suffragettes didn’t achieve anything – it was the men what gave us our rights. Nice of them.