Now, as many people know, I was once drowned in the liberal kool-aid. I believed in the wage gap, the patriarchy, male privilege, rape culture, and all of those things commonly taught at university. I even called myself a feminist, and was extremely apathetic towards men's issues (because, let's face it, the indoctrination at college doesn't include talking about problems that men face in society). Fast-forward to now: I know the wage gap isn't real, I don't believe in rape culture, I don't think there's a super societal structure keeping women down, and I actually care about men's rights. I no longer call myself a feminist (I prefer egalitarian), and I'm no longer liberal (granted I'm still left-of-center, but only by a slight margin).
What. The hell. Happened?
Did I let my male fragility get the best of me? Did my male privilege blind me to the hell-hole for human rights that is the United States? Did the patriarchy come to my door and brainwash me? No, no, and definitely no. I am totally serious when I say that absolutely no men were required in these socio-political changes. My bros didn't encourage me to start 'raping bitches' left and right, my wages weren't raised just because I was a man, I wasn't living the high life because the patriarchy ensured that my needs were highest on their priority list. Indeed, those responsible for the shift in my beliefs were women. Liberal women, conservative women, libertarian women, moderate women, black women, white women, women who were feminists, women who weren't feminists, women who were men's rights activists, and everywhere else in between. Now, I eventually was introduced to male figures (Armoured Skeptic, Steven Crowder, Gavin McInnes, Dave Rubin, etc) but this was after my point-of-view completely changed from where it was before. So I feel that it's important to highlight the women who put me on a path towards discovering men's issues and why men's rights are still important in 2017.
Shoe0nHead (https://www.youtube.com/user/Shoe0nHead)
The woman, the myth, the legend, the YouTube personality that started it all. My first encounter with her was a video she made about how there are only 2 genders (don't worry I'm not going into my reaction I just wanted to give you the jump-off point). So I watched more of her stuff and came across her video named "Feminism is about equality". In it, she made so many great points that I will recap here: feminists are so condescending to women who don't identify as feminist, the vast majority of men and women in the US don't identify as feminist (most believe in equality though), there are indeed many feminists who hate men, men get screwed over in divorce/child custody cases and get their genitals mutilated without consent--but somehow this isn't seen as systematic oppression even though it very clearly is--and just because your movement's intentions are good doesn't mean you're automatically absolved from any moral responsibility. Other highlights include "Internalized misogyny", "The pink tax", "Questions for men answered by woman", and "Domestic violence against men". Now back to the gender thing, in that same video Shoe also introduced me to a bigger influence on my transition towards men's issues.
Blaire White (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDmCBKaKOtOrEqgsL4-3C8Q)
Blaire White is a trans-woman who operates an anti-feminist, anti-SJW YouTube channel, where she discusses men's issues and other social topics such as Black Lives Matter. She is a funny woman who has so many good videos it's hard to say which is the best. But in falling down her rabbit hole there were some very strong highlights: "Feminism simplified", "There is no rape culture...stop", "MTV Hates men (unless they're trans)", "Feminists don't hate men?", "Tumblr vomit", and "Triggered to death by Milo Yiannopoulos". Now in addition to Blaire's very strong arguments about why being a man isn't an easy ride, she brought up important facts like men are the most likely victims of every single violent crime and that they're more likely to commit suicide. She also stressed the very important fact that there are male and female brains, and that societal conditioning really has little effect on our natural behaviors since so much of our behavior is governed by our biological make-up. That became an important thread through the rest of my research into women against feminism.
Christina Hoff Sommers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TR_YuDFIFI)
Otherwise known as Based Mom, CHS is a feminist, but one that not only supports men, but has brought to light many of the issues facing them. Through this woman, my world really started opening up as I learned that men are more likely to die on the job, men are more likely to be homeless, men are being falsely accused of rape more frequently, and that not only does the "patriarchy" not hate women, but women are more likely to go to college and get a degree, women are exceeding men in education at every level, and that women fresh out of college don't make less than men, they make more. Christina has been a very open critic about modern feminism because of its demonization of men and masculinity (which she explores in her books "Who Stole Feminism?" and "The War on Boys"), as well its promotion of false wage gap statistics, rape statistics, and general dishonesty in saying that women are completely powerless in society, when in fact they are just as capable of success and power as men. She also helped me differentiate between 'equity' feminists like her and Camille Paglia, and 'gender' feminists like Gloria Steinem and Andrea Dworkin. This is when I really started to notice the extreme cognitive dissonance between what we think the world is like and what feminism means within it. CHS helped me become woke, but not as much as these next two women.
Karen Straughan (https://www.youtube.com/user/girlwriteswhat)
Karen is a men's rights activists and is part of a group known as the "Honey Badgers" (women who fight for men's rights). This woman is amazing, and she blew the top off society's actual treatment of men. Video highlights include "Feminism and the disposable male", "How feminism conned society", "Feminism, y'all gotta own this shit", "Feminist shaming tactics", "The tyranny of female hypoagency", and "Toxic Masculinity and TOXIC FEMININITY". She is a very eloquent speaker, and she presents her ideas in the most clear and honest way, that I really started to understand that men actually don't have it so good, that feminism exploits behaviors and attitudes we already have towards women (such as catering to their needs, their survival, and their identity), and that men value companionship, fatherhood, intellect, and loyalty far more than we give them credit for. Honestly, she is just awesome, not because she's an advocate for men, but because she points out that caring about men's issues and being a misogynist are not in any way related, and that men's rights activists are not a hate group meant to oppress women and/or pull focus away from women's issues. She simply wants men back in the cultural conversation towards gender.
Cassie Jaye (https://www.youtube.com/user/Cassiejaye)
This is the woman who cemented my interest in men's rights. She is the director of "The Red Pill", the controversial movie about the men's rights movement that feminists have been vehemently protesting since its release earlier this year. She fully explored why there needs to be a movement for men if they supposedly have every single advantage in life granted to them by the patriarchy. But what I saw wasn't a damning portrait of men, it was an eye-opening experience about how awful men can be treated in our society--and no one does a damn thing about it. She helped me see that if America really is an oppressive patriarchy completely catered to the needs of men: they're doing a shit job of showing it. Men are 43% of all domestic abuse victims, but there is only one shelter in the US that doesn't turn away male victims. Men are more likely to be homeless, men make up the majority of combat deaths, men are the majority of the drug addicted, and male rape is not a rare occurrence. Karen Straughan also makes a cameo in the film where she makes a solid point: if feminism isn't about hating men, then why is the source of everything evil known as the "patriarchy" (male connotations), whereas the saving grace of our society is "feminism" (female connotations)? Cassie Jaye was so moved by what she found out, that she stopped calling herself a feminist. And now knowing what I do, I see why.
Like I said, these women are just the major figures, but I HIGHLY encourage you to look-up these ladies as well: Erin Pizzey, Lauren Southern, Roaming Millennial, Julie Borowski, Peach Balie, Kisara Vera, Whitney Dahlin, Toxic Femininity, Barbara4u2c, ABitofBritt, RageAfterStorm, MyNameIsJosephine, and most definitely Camille Paglia.
I am very sad when I look back at how hateful I used to be towards my own gender. But I see that male struggles are valid and need to be addressed. I'm also sad that women have to be the ones fighting for our rights in order for anyone to take them somewhat seriously. Because, as it is very clearly shown in "The Red Pill", whenever men talk about men's issues they're accused of having "male fragility", "internalized misogyny", "toxic masculinity", and are "racist, sexist, anti-gay". I hope to help men who are suffering in any way I can, because knowing what I do now, I can no longer turn my back and pretend they don't exist.
No comments:
Post a Comment