Once upon a time, you may recall, women were denied the right to vote, couldn’t own property, were prevented from having careers of their own. Well, it turns out that all of these pesky “restrictions” weren’t really restrictions at all! They were protections that men provided women out of the goodness of their hearts. Men protected women from the terrible burdens of voting and property-owning and so forth, because they just cared about women so much.
Or at least that’s what a lot of Men’s Rights Activists seem to think, judging from this highly edifying discussion in the Men’s Rights subreddit.
![rogersmith25 325 points 1 day ago As I read /r/mensrights[1] more and more, it is becoming increasingly clear to me that the primary female privilege is empathy. If a woman or girl is hurt, people care. If women are kidnapped, there is international media attention. If women are killed, their deaths are highlighted. If there is a conflict between a man and a woman, then people will jump in to defend the woman. If women are under-represented in an area, people want to take action to make things "equal". If a man is hurt, it's funny. If men are kidnapped, we hear silence. If men are killed, their deaths are glossed over. If there is a conflict between a man and a woman, people will attack the man. If men are under-represented in an area, the president will call it a "victory" (as he did regarding the female majority in colleges). Basically, people are programmed to have more empathy for women than men. 200 years ago, that empathy manifested itself in keeping women safe from harm by having them stay home to raise the family rather than die on battlefields or toil in mines. It was empathy not misogyny that kept women from having careers. Present-day, work is safe in offices, so today we have campaigns for women to earn more money and yet have more "balanced" lives where they can both raise a family and earn an "equal" career and, in other words, "have it all". permalink save report give gold reply [–]sierranevadamike 82 points 23 hours ago wow... as a history major, I never looked at the "repression" of women throughout history as empathy rather than misogyny. I NEVER considered this option.. blew my mind.. thank you](https://i0.wp.com/www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/empathy1.png?resize=567%2C594&ssl=1)
It wasn’t just sierranevadamike who was “blown away” by rogersmith25’s comment: the Men’s Rights mods were so impressed that they reposted it and pinned it as the top post in their subreddit.
Apparently every day is “Opposite Day” on the Men’s Rights subreddit.
EDIT: Here, courtesy of Cloudiah, some more pictures of girls and women protected from that big nasty world out there.
@Ally: I didn’t read your comment as being really angry. That said, when someone like the latest troll flounces in and says something offensive (like the benevolent protectors meme, which is fucking offensive on many levels) then you have every right to be angry in your comments.
You have every right to be angry at your end of the computer as well, just in case you were wondering if you had the right to feel your emotions. You sure do, and that is another thing that abusers try to take away – our rights to feel what we feel, so we end up questioning our emotional responses (was I too upset without grounds, did I upset the other person, maybe I shouldn’t have gotten so cross, etc…).
If you’re anti-abortion then don’t have one. Not sure why you think your opinion has anything to do with what other people do with their bodies, though.
The protector meme pisses me off as well. My father was the controlling “over protective” type. He literally did just about everything for me. As you can imagine, it hurt me far more than it ever helped me. I’m 32 and I’ve never held a job for more than 3 months. Hell, I’ve only ever had ONE job. To be fair, I’m also dealing with depression/anxiety. Still, I feel so ashamed at the fact that I always feel so helpless and lack practical skills. I have a “protective” father to thank for that.
Note that anti-abortion post also reveals she hates trans women (as well as cis women who are incapable of pregnancy):
Yeah, thank you for your support, insanitybites. You make a great “LGBTQ ally”.
I have never wanted or expected a male protector in my life. Yes, I love it that Mr K is very protective of me, but I feel the same way about him. It’s not only lesbians or asexual women who don’t expect or want a man in that role (or any other). It’d be lovely to be shielded from potential poverty, but relying on a man to do that? Leaving out all the other issues, it’s not smart. Not smart at all.
Seven billion and counting and it’s a “culture of death”? Seven billion despite the fact that most pregnancies miscarry naturally?
That is fucking hilarious!
The only culture of death I see is the one causing runaway climate change.
Apart from anything else, the “men are our beloved protectors” theory has a teensy bit of a problem in that, OK, so who are they protecting you from? Oh, look, it’s men again.
Check out this gem:
Yeah, because bodily autonomy isn’t about being able to make choices about your body – it’s about literally controlling all bodily processes at will like some kind of different lifeform.
Stating the fucking obvious here: women wouldn’t have needed male protectors if they had been able to inherit, use financial systems, hold down jobs, and had a egal system that recognised and punished crimes against women. The protectionism was an inbuilt feature of the oppression.
FFS.
I interpret MRA and anti-feminist labels as meaning “I have no idea about any of the subjects taught at universities and I will pull things out of my arse” aka they show the other person is an idiot.
In other news, GWW is now pulling the trick of demanding citations from people arguing against her, when she’s already provided statements with no citations. Just wow, there’s no learning opportunity that isn’t ignored.
That “culture of death” comment is hateful to all women, including the ones who can get pregnant and give birth. Being told that the reason your life has value is because you can serve as an incubator is not a compliment.
@Ally: I read that bit as slut shaming, because clearly only sluts sleep with men and have unwanted pregnancies.
Aaaaaand here’s a really creepy and triggering article about misogynist men (which includes sympathy for PUAs): http://insanitybytes2.wordpress.com/2014/08/14/of-misogyny-and-madness/
Excerpts: (TW for suicide and misogyny)
So, um, that last bit Ally quoted, does she realize that she quite clearly stated that PIV sex is a bodily violation? Better be careful there, conservative lady, the men you’re desperately trying to pander to won’t like that at all.
So what if an abortion is damage control, an unwanted pregnancy can be very damaging to a woman’s life.
But your life only has value while you are an incubator. Once you’ve had your baby, if you’re poor, then you should starve. If you are poor and childless, don’t have children until you can afford to feed them.
OK, second to last bit, the one about bodily autonomy.
To clarify, the “culture of death” comment is transmisogynistic because it implies that only women can have uteri.
And offensive to all women, including the fertile ones with uteri. Let’s not pretend that she doesn’t hate those of us who fall into that category too.
Yeah, I’m not denying that, just pointing out a certain aspect of that comment.
I wonder if she’s on /r/redpill?
Ally, it’s about people who can get pregnant, that’s the one criterion that matters here.
I wouldn’t touch reddit with someone else’s 30 foot pole, so I have no idea if the conservative ladies who want to save the world from feminism hang out there.
Not ot mention that “culture of death” is a favorite phrase of anit-abortionists in general.
It’s extra funny when they start talking about a culture of death immediately after discussing their hopes that America will bomb some other country.
You know, the US President always has lots of men protecting him. He must not be allowed to own property or vote or have a career. Only fair, right?
Brain bleach: 🙂
http://youtu.be/XbuaUYMwOP8