“I want to see a man beaten to a bloody pulp with a high-heel shoved in his mouth, like an apple in the mouth of a pig.” — Andrea Dworkin
“I haven’t the faintest notion what possible revolutionary role white heterosexual men could fulfill, since they are the very embodiment of reactionary- vested-interest-power. But then, I have great difficulty examining what men in general could possibly do about all this. In addition to doing the work that women have been doing for generations, possibly not exist? No, I really don’t mean that. Yes, I really do.” — Robin Morgan
“Women have their faults / men have only two: / everything they say / everything they do.” — Popular Feminist Graffiti
“We identify the agents of our oppression as men…….ALL MEN HAVE OPPRESSED WOMEN…..We do not need to change ourselves, but to change men……The most slanderous evasion of all is that women can oppress men.” — The Redstockings Manifesto
In America, men and women undeniably have equal rights; however, radical feminists seek to create fear among women, claiming that a sinister power, “The Patriarchy”(a mythical cult that consists of all white men and gathers on the weekends to plan their oppression tactics) has control over society. With these ridiculous claims and a full arsenal of buzzwords, these modern day feminists inspire young women to fight back against The Patriarchy™ with tactics ranging from complaining on their blogs to verbally attacking white men for, well, being born that way.
I apologize to those who see this as a straw man, because not all feminists have fallen to this insanity, but this vocal minority is the most provocative. As these women continue to attack the very foundations of sexes and their roles in society, men are disregarded and invalidated due to the organs that they were born with. If, instead of promoting equality, these feminists are trying to destroy the way men are viewed in society, they are succeeding, and men are facing issues that could end in their lives being ruined. Here, we will take a look at the negative effects that the increasingly relevant ideas of radical feminism have had on the lives of men. This means looking at what it now means to be a man in society and the debasement of men. Feminists disregard men in modern American society in several areas, especially in education, collegiate level interaction, employment, and domestic violence cases.
Before I continue, I would like to clearly state that I fully and wholly support all of the ideas that I discuss. I feel that feminism was a very necessary aspect in the development but has mutated into a disgusting attempt to claim victim-hood in every issue imaginable. I maintain that the past grievances of feminism were valid and that men and women in modern American society have the same rights. Finally, I hold an egalitarian view and would personally fight and lend my support to any group that was treated unfairly by the law, as long as their grievances were backed by fact rather than emotions.
Despite the growing belief in America that the “Patriarchy” impedes women’s progress by not allowing them to pursue their academic dreams (This is a very real issue in other countries[1]), Women dominate college demographics. Women are more likely than men to attend to college, perform better academically, and be admitted into majors other than science and engineering, contrary to what feminists want you to believe.
In 2010, 36 percent of women will receive a college degree as opposed to the 27 percent of men that will achieve these honors[2]. Women outnumber men in college enrollment as well by a ratio of 1.4 to 1[3]. Why is this gap so large? Are men just lazy? Are they just offered jobs by the Patriarchy™ before they finish college so they just don’t end up finishing school? The authors of The Rise of Women, Thomas A. Diprete and Claudia Buchmann, attribute this to engagement in the early stages of schooling. This is attributed to girls having “better average social and behavioral skills than boys,” causing a gap to arise at an early age. Acting as a catalyst to this, 98.1% of all kindergarten teachers are women and 81.4% of middle and elementary school teachers are women[4]. This overwhelming amount of female teachers typically harms male students because of the female-targeted teaching methods these teachers employ and the general bias they have towards their female students. Boys and young men do succeed in schools with intense academic climates, where competition and stricter learning appeal to characteristics found in most men. However, such institutions are few and far between, and the public school system has been lax for years.
Gender stereotypes are also at play here, leading men to believe that they can drop out of high school and still earn a living in construction, manufacturing, and travel, but this is no longer a valid option[5]. Even though feminists claim that men have a much easier time getting through school and succeeding at college, men suffer from many gender-specific issues. Some solutions for these problems are diversifying teachers for younger children and specialized guidance to keep young men challenged and interested in higher learning.
As the senior class begins choosing their respective colleges and prepares for college life, it grows increasingly important that they understand what the college experience has turned into after fostering fifty years of feminist thought. At some point in those decades, the feminists ran out of real issues, and decided to create their own. This includes the insidious Gender Studies classes in humanities, which do nothing but perpetuate the man hating aspects of radical feminism, as well as the horrific ideas of what feminists have called “The Rape Crisis,” or rather their attention seeking sensationalism that trivializes real issues.
Many new classes have reared their heads in the humanities, and Gender Studies is the ugliest of them all. Not only does this course create the illusion of a science based study of gender and sexuality, but also it fosters negative and often aggressive attitudes towards men among its female dominated classes. Students state that the course work they studied “was systematically anti-male, overlooked men’s issues, and ignored any research that contested a ‘women good, men bad’ line of reasoning”[13]. These are college level courses, that students choose to major in, and they are drumming their biased, negative views into students minds. These classes equip students with “sexism goggles” which allow them to see how all the every day interactions around them are tinted with sexist undertones[14]. This turns a man simply opening a door for a woman into a man slyly implying that no woman is strong enough to open a door for herself. These classes foster such ridiculous and biased opinions, pushing away men yet drawing in droves of women who want to claim oppression. Over 60% of the degrees in humanities are awarded to women, and a far higher percentages in Gender Studies course[15]. These classes demonize men while brainwashing women into thinking that they are victims of sexism in standard, everyday interactions.
Rape is an incredibly difficult topic to approach. Due to its personal nature and the deep emotional scarring that victims are left with, rape cannot be taken lightly by anyone and having personally dealt with issues related to this, I feel that “Rape Culture” is a very important topic in any feminist discussion.
First of all, rape culture is the idea that sexual assault has been normalized by our society, thus integrating it into our culture. I cannot express how wrong this is. Rape is seen as the worst of the worst; literal witch hunts are conducted in order to catch rapists; the law acts swiftly and with no mercy in these cases, and there is a massive support system for victims.
However, in their attempt to play the victim and sensationalize another issue, radical feminists have coined the term “rape culture.” This idea grew on college campuses, that all men were out to get women and that all men would support rape. This only served to weaken the relationship between the sexes because it created an irrational distrust of men. Different feminist groups are using rape accusations to “raise awareness” of rape culture, bringing their issues into the public to show how devastating rape is.
While this sounds like a noble cause, these women have falsely accused many men of rape. One example of this is Columbia student Emma Sulkowicz’s accusation of student Paul Nungesser, where Emma decided the proper action to take after Paul was acquitted was to turn her false accusation into an art project two years after the event. She carried to her mattress to every class, claiming that she would continue to do so until her alleged rapist leaves the school. So rather than going to the police to try to punish her rapist, she started a public campaign. Not only did she trivialize actual victims of rape by creating a show where she was the center of attention, she also publicly announced that Paul was the accused, effectively ruining his future career and generating a misplaced hatred for him. To add to this, her dragging around of the mattress is overseen by a faculty member and is part of her graduation requirement. In her frustration from Paul refusing to leave, she convinced three other girls to “come out” and claim that he assaulted them as well, collusion which was fortunately caught by the college and dismissed. However, through the bullying and negative attention that Emma’s display got, Columbia has since changed its procedures in dealing with these issues to be more “feminist”[16]. This is not just an issue at one college, but rather a cultural issue among radical feminists. More examples are the Lena Dunham scandal, students who file false allegations and flee the state, and these serial accusers who have ruined man, many lives.
For this issue to be fixed a few changes must be made. First, college boards should not be the ruling body on rape accusations. Students should go to the police, whose job is to actually investigate the matter rather than immediately take the action that will make the college look better. Second, everyone should be taught to come out when an incident does occur and go to the authorities, because they will take it very seriously. Third, everyone must understand that rape means non-consensual sex and can happen to anyone. Rape does not mean “I was drunk”; rape does not mean “I want attention”; and rape definitely does not mean “I regret that one time 3 months ago…” This goes for both sexes, especially because CDC’s 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey states that in the one year period of 2010 the Center for Disease Control estimates that 1,270,000 women were victims of rape pdf pg 28 while there were 1,267,000 male victims pdf pg 29.
Over 60% of the homeless population is made up of men and one-fourth of these are veterans. This is an egregious offense to the dignity of man. These are men who have been unlucky in life or served their country but returned to a place that no longer accepted them.
Men simply do not receive support once they are considered a failure in society’s eyes, nor do they have the same options that women do. The man-hating practices of third-wave feminism have done a large part in contributing to the suffering of these men. One example occurred in Canada last year, where Earl Silverman committed suicide after being attacked by feminists. Silverman ran the only shelter in Canada for male victims of homelessness and domestic violence. He sought funding from the Canadian government for years but was ignored. Many feminists communicated with him personally, telling him that men could not suffer from domestic violence and that there was no reason for men to need assistance in seeking employment. They accused him of crying “male tears” and that his cause was not needed because men already benefited so much from society. He was forced to close his shelter and later ended his own life[6]. This one example is to show how little care or even awareness that men’s suffering receives. That needs to change; people must realize that many men are freezing in the streets with not nearly enough support to succeed.
Another area where feminists are waging war against men is in their perceived “wage gap.” Many feminists claim that women are only paid seventy-seven cents for every dollar that men earn. These numbers come from a study done that compares the average pay of women to the average pay of men in the same general field. In reality, men and women are paid equally for equal work.
With all of the factors controlled, the American Association of University Women found that the wage gap narrowed to 6.6 cents. While any gap is still bad, the amount of this that can be attributed to discrimination is still unknown, however, the studies used stated that the 23-cent wage gap “may be almost entirely the result of individual choices being made by both male and female workers.” The 6.6. cent discrepancy can be explained by the job groupings used in the study. For example, sociology majors (68% women) and economics majors (66% male) were bundled into the same category. This created an issue because the average salary for an economic major is $70,000 while sociology majors earn $40,000, and of course grouping these two together shows an inaccurate inequality of pay[7]. In reality, the pay gap is minuscule and does not leave much room for discrimination. Measures have been taken to make sure that wages remain equal, and women can now legally sue their employers if they find that they are discriminated against. Radical feminists must stop fear mongering by blaming the patriarchy and confusing their opinions with fact in order to stop attacks on males and understand the logic behind their issues.
Because beating men is hilarious.
More than 830,000 men fall victim to domestic violence every year. A man is the victim of domestic abuse every 37.8 seconds in America[8]. So why this topic is never discussed? Why are things like “kill all men” and other feminist attacks on the idea that men are people overlooked? It is seen as something that is normal, commonly accepted, and even humorous. Men are not taken seriously when it comes to domestic abuse because many believe that females cannot harm a man, or that the guy deserves it. Jan Brown, creator of Hopeline, a domestic violence hotline, stated that “domestic violence is not about size, gender, or strength. It’s about abuse, control, and power, and getting out of dangerous situations and getting help, whether you are a woman being abused or a man”[9]. It doesn’t matter if they’re bigger or stronger, men need to seek out help if they feel they are in an unhealthy relationship.
Unfortunately society has not made it easy for men to talk about their troubles. More often than not, men are told to “man up”, they are called names that degrade their image, and they hear “It doesn’t matter if she hits you, you can handle it.” This also comes into effect when men do call the police on a women abuser, usually ending with the man being arrested[10]. This belief is disgusting and downright horrible for a man’s well being. While an abuser attacks a man’s physical being, the overall unaccommodating response tears apart his mentality and self esteem. This would not be an issue if the common belief was true and men were not abused, at least not nearly as much as women. Except that this is not the case, in the 71 percent of nonreciprocal partner violence instances, the instigator was the woman, contrary to the belief that women use physical force to simply stop violence. To add to this, The Department of Psychology at California State University, Long Beach, created a bibliography[11] that examined 286 scholarly investigations, 221 empirical studies and 65 reviews and/or analyses depicting that which we are reluctant to discuss — the uncomfortable reality that women are just as physically aggressive, if not more so, than men in their relationships with male partners.
Further, while injury occurs often when violence is initiated by men, in relationships with reciprocal violence men were injured more often (25 percent of the time) than women (20 percent of the time)[12]. This is not to say that women should be forgotten about and left to defend themselves, if anything awareness should be raised for domestic violence even more than it already is, but men need to be included in the discussion too, because they are also victims of scarring violence and need to be taught that it is okay to come out and talk about this issue. Both boys and girls need to be taught about appropriate and non-violent behavior when resolving issues with a significant other.
Third-wave radical feminism is detrimental to societal progress and needs to be stopped immediately. Not only is it hurting men’s position in society but it has also turned all women into perceived victims. Men need to defend their rights as well as their image, and that also means defending their loved ones from the negativity generated by radical feminists. As Jesuit students, we need to respect all women in our lives and view them as equals. This simply means treating someone kindly and with the respect and care you would give anyone, regardless of their sex, color, age, financial situation, or orientation. We also need to understand that not all movements are good but find the positive aspects and fight for those. We must defend our rights and not allow any radical group to make decisions based solely on an inherent part of us. This is precisely what radical feminism is striving to accomplish by fear-mongering about men and contriving inequalities between the sexes in order to create a society where women reside above men in the hierarchy. We, all people, not just men, should try to eliminate such toxic ideas, and elect to fight for egalitarianism, the equality of both sexes, not submission of one in favor of another. However, none of these opinions matter according to feminists, solely because of the fact that I was born a straight white male, something I have no control over and sets social justice back a good fifty years.
[1]http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/02/world/meast/cnnheroes-jan-afghan-school/
[2] https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/21/new-book-explains-why-women-outpace-men-education
[3] ibid
[4] http://www.menteach.org/resources/data_about_men_teachers
[5] https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/21/new-book-explains-why-women-outpace-men-education
[6] http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/04/28/earl-silverman-who-ran-mens-safe-house-dies-in-apparent-suicide/
[7] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christina-hoff-sommers/wage-gap_b_2073804.html
[8] http://www.mintpressnews.com/woman-aggressor-unspoken-truth-domestic-violence/196746/
[9] http://www.jehannedarc.org/domestic.html
[10] http://wordpress.clarku.edu/dhines/files/2012/01/Douglas-Hines-2011-helpseeking-experiences-of-male-victims.pdf
[11] http://www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm
[12] http://www.mintpressnews.com/woman-aggressor-unspoken-truth-domestic-violence/196746/
[13]http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/sep/14/gender-studies-male-blaming-bias
[14] http://www.pellebilling.com/2011/07/gender-research-is-often-sexist/
[15]http://www.humanitiesindicators.org/content/indicatordoc.aspx?i=47
[16] http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2014/12/22/rape-accusations-follow-him-around-campus-and-beyond/TpcbdNs0AjDyDR9woHtbWN/story.html
