[LINK] "Men’s Rights Activists: A Letter to Marilena"

[rfmcdonald]

I thought on International Women's Day I'd share an old Wonkman post about the misogyny behind the men's rights movement. Positioning the male gender as disadvantaged by feminism is somewhat ridiculous.

It must be understood that MRAs have, at their absolute nuclear core, some useful and practical things to say. (Routine circumcision has a questionable moral basis; the sentencing gap deserves further exploration; we don’t do a very good job of handling male rape victims; etc.) Many of their arguments are actually quite strong and cannot simply be dismissed out of hand.

But there are some damn good reasons why you should want nothing to do with these guys.

Bluntly stated, it is absolutely undeniable that many self-identifying Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs) simply hate women. Some MRAs have no problem with women whatsoever. Some MRAs merely resent women. (“She belongs in the kitchen” and other trash like that.) But large numbers openly, vocally and explicitly hate women. It shows in the language they use, the culture they consume and promote, in their stated attitudes about women, in their own self-image, and most of all in their politics.

And it’s not just that these men are kind of gross. It’s that the MRA movement provides a means by which they can organize and seek legitimacy. Instead of a bunch of isolated cranks writing nasty anonymous letters to women with blogs and newspaper columns, it’s an echo chamber within which the cranks can organize, spread their vitriol more efficiently, and actively work to dismantle anything which offends their delicate, delicate sensibilities.