Men's Rights Movement
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About
The Men's Rights Movement is a social and political movement which aims to combat perceived disadvantages toward men, which can be seen as a reactionary phenomenon to advancements of feminism in modern society. On the web, the movement has been often debated and criticized for being anti-feminist and misogynistic.
History
The earliest known appearance of the term “men’s rights” in print can be traced to a 1856 issue of Putnam’s Magazine[1] in article highlighting the proliferation of the women’s rights movement in the United States. In 1926, the League of Men’s Rights was founded in Vienna, Austria with the stated mission of “combating all excesses of women’s emancipation," arguing against women’s entry into the labor market and family law that required alimony and child support payments to former spouses and illegitimate children. In the 1970s, an anti-feminist segment of the men’s liberation movement split off to form the men’s rights movement, which aimed to raise public awareness of male oppression and disadvantages. Throughout the 1970s, several men’s rights organizations were formed, including the Coalition of American Divorce Reform Elements, the National Coalition of Free Men and Men’s Rights Inc.[2]
Goals
Men’s rights activists claim that there are several areas where men experience disadvantages in society. Many argue that child support laws are unfair since men are forced to pay for unwanted children, while women can choose to have abortions. Divorce, child support and child custody laws are typically denounced for being biased toward women. MRAs also contest what they see as the feminization of modern education system, in which women outnumber men in staffing, as well as widespread practice of circumcision and perceived female bias in rape statistics.
Criticism
MRAs are often criticized for being misogynists, rape apologists and privilege deniers. Many feminists argue that most disadvantages listed by MRAs are actually a result of attitudes created by the patriarchy, a society in which men hold a majority of the positions in authority. Some MRA leaders have been accused of being motivated by a hatred for women, including founder and publisher of the men's rights blog A Voice For Men[13] Paul Elam[14] and men's rights author Warren Farrell.[15]
Online Presence
MensRights.com,[4] one of the earliest known websites relating to the topic, has been providing pamphlet information about the movement since as early as January 1998. As of October 2013, the site serves as a educational resource focused on perceived disadvantages men face in divorce proceedings (shown below, right).[6]
In October 2004, Urban Dictionary[12] user Erant submitted an entry for “MRA,” which defined the group as “a bunch of whiny pedantic morons.” On April 28th, 2005, the feminist blog Pandagon[8] published an article titled “Overview of the anti-feminist/men’s rights movement,” which compared the men’s rights movement to conservative Christian dogmas. On March 18th, 2007, the men's advocacy blog Men’s Rights Blog[9] was launched. On October 13th, YouTuber proudguy uploaded a slideshow video explaining the men’s rights activism as a reactionary movement against feminism (shown below).
On March 19th, 2008, the /r/MensRights[3] subreddit was created for discussions related to the men's rights movement, masculism and anti-feminism. In the first six years, the subreddit accumulated over 80,900 subscribers. On October 27th, the MensRightsMovement[7] website was launched, which features resources related to the social movement. On November 5th, 2009, the women’s interest blog Jezebel[11] published an article criticizing men’s rights activist groups as being misguided and exaggerative. On July 7th, 2012, the “Men’s Rights Activism” Tumblr[5] blog was created as a satire of the movement. On November 29th, YouTuber StudioBrule uploaded footage of feminists demonstrating outside a men’s rights movement event (shown below).
Manosphere
Main article: Manosphere
The "manosphere", a pormanteau of the words "man" and "blogosphere" [22], is a term used to describe the large variety of men's rights blogs throughout the Internet. Critics have accused the manosphere of excluding homosexual, bisexual, and transgender people.[23]
#Meninist
On October 13th, 2011, Twitter user @zinggzingga[25] posted a tweet criticizing a perceived gender bias in discussions of body image issues using the hashtag “#meninist" (shown below).
The hashtag remained relatively obscure until December 2013, when Twitter users began using it to share tongue-in-cheek jokes expressing male-oriented frustrations. On December 16th, the BBC[24] published an article about the trending hashtag.
On December 18th, 2014, BuzzFeed published a compilation of #Meninist tweets, many of which contained image macros and comics criticizing feminism and perceived double standards between the sexes (shown below).
In January 2015, the online retailer Tee Spring[27] began selling "#Meninist" T-shirts and hoodies, leading various Twitter users to post photographs of themselves wearing the #Meninist apparel (shown below, left). On January 19th, Twitter user Emily Reynolds[29] posted an edited photograph in which a #Meninist shirt is replaced with "#I'm A Whiny Pissbaby" (shown below, right). That day, BuzzFeed[28] and Time[31] published articles about #Meninist tweets and apparel.
On February 3rd, Twitter user @feastsoflove[30] tweeted several pictures of a male student being slapped for wearing a "#Meninist" hoodie with the caption "My classmate wore a menimist [sic] hoodie today and I started hitting him" (shown below). In 72 hours, the tweet gained over 4,200 favorites and 2,500 retweets. The following day, the photos were submitted to a post on the /r/TumblrInAction[26] subreddit, where it gathered more than 4,600 votes (90% upvoted) and 1,400 comments. Many commenters expressed outrage at the boy being attacked, while others pointed out that the tweet was likely satirical.
Fake Rape Reports
On December 17th, 2013, Redditor ShitlordDon linked to a Google Docs[16] reporting form he had seen on 4chan to the /r/MensRights[17] subreddit, claiming that feminists at the Occidental College in Los Angeles, California created the document for students to accuse others of sexual assault anonymously without having to provide evidence. Within 48 hours, the post gained over 1,000 up votes and 590 comments, some of which encouraged others to use the form to submit false allegations.
That day, the feminist blog Man Boobz[18] published an article about the Reddit post, claiming that MRAs were flooding the form with bogus rape accusations despite the disclaimer on the page which states that no one accused would be charged solely based on the submitted information. On December 18th, Gawker[19][20] published an article reporting that Occidental College had received roughly 400 reports in a 16-hour period, according to the school’s director of communications Jim Tranquada. On the following day, the Internet news blog The Daily Dot[21] published an article about the false reports, noting that the report form is one of many initiatives recently launched by the administration to combat sexual assault on campus, including a 24-hour hotline and the position of Survivor Advocate, a nationwide rape crisis intervention program.
Related Memes
Misandry
"Misandry" is a term referring to hatred and prejudice against men. On the web, the word has been adopted by men’s rights activists and is often mocked by feminists on Reddit and Tumblr.
Who Needs Feminism
In December of 2012, Men's Rights Activists began posting parodies of the Who Needs Feminism? photo campaign, which featured photographs of people holding up a paper or white board but the text explains why they’re against feminism or how feminism has negatively affected them.
Don't Be That Girl
In July of 2013, the Canadian men's rights group Men's Rights Edmonton began posting "Don't Be That Girl" parody posters (shown below, left) in response to the "Don't Be That Guy" anti-rape ad campaign (shown below, right) launched in Vancouver in 2011. The parodies were subsequently criticized for being an offensive and rape apologist campaign.
#MensRightsMovies
#MensRightsMovies is a Twitter hashtag associated with parodies of famous movie titles that are intended to poke fun at the mens rights movement.
Indiana Jones and the Last Fedora #mensrightsmovies
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) October 22, 2013
Search Interest
External References
[1] Cornell – A Word For Mens Rights
[2] Wikipedia – Mens Rights Movement
[3] Reddit – /r/MensRights
[4] Wayback Machine – MensRights
[5] Tumblr – Men's Rights Activism
[6] MensRights – Mens Rights – Advocating Gender Rights
[7] Mens Rights Movement – Mens Rights Movement
[8] Pandagon – Overview of the anti-feminist mens rights movement
[9] Blogspot – Mens Rights Blog
[10] Wayback Machine – Mens Rights
[11] Jezebel – The Misguided Message Of Men's Rights Groups
[13] A Voice For Men – A Voice For Men
[14] The Register – Mens rights activists – Symantec branded us a hate group
[15] We Hunted the Mammoth (formerly Manboobz) – What mens rights guru warren farrell said about
[16] Maxient (previously on Google Docs) – Sexual Violence Anonymous Reporting Form
[17] Reddit – Feminists at Occidental College created an online form
[18] We Hunted the Mammoth (formerly Manboobz) – Mens Rights Redditors flood Occidental Colleges online rape reporting form
[19] Gawker – Reddit Forum Encourages Users to Spam College With False Rape Reports
[20] Gawker – Mens Rights Trolls Spammed Us With 400 Fake Rape Reports
[21] The Daily Dot – Mens rights activists troll college
[22] Wikipedia – Manosphere
[23] The Washington Post – Inside the 'manosphere' that inspired Santa Barbara shooter Elliot Rodgers
[24] BBC – #BBCtrending – Feminism v Meninism
[25] Twitter – @zinggzingga
[26] Reddit – My classmate wore a meninist hoodie today and I started hitting him
[27] Tee Spring – Official Meninist Shirt
[28] BuzzFeed – People Are Wearing Anti-Feminist
[29] Twitter – Emily Reynolds
[30] Twitter – @feastsoflove
[31] Time – This is What Happens When you Show Off Your Meninist T Shirt
![So you hate women for what is basicaly nature in motion? Fle: Monk ing (307 KB. 1016665) I hate thar argument, I hane that agument so much and I ill tell you him to move, to roll over, to stand up, to yel and scream for help to do something People say tht ike #roLo and#8WAG or Its just mature Why are you mas people like sex? Shop being a taggut anon lt feeis good so why not do t? Does not buming to death leel beter han burming to death?I wold say yes it does Just because something is in your nature, lust because 5retrg ispot of your instretsNast because eets goor doesn't meen you shoud do The soman empire fell due to women they caused ts colapse Augustus one of romes greatest leaders knew this about women and considered unnestreined temale seualiny a threat to the state oControl of female sesuainy was regarded酪necessary for the statily of he state. as enoded most eer spicuous y in the absoue vignty ofthe vesas[278] A estai uhú vielated her vow was enambed alive ia ftual fat mmesed sone aspects of a Ronan funeral her lover was esecuted|27이 Ferale sexuality einer If semale seauality runs wid do you know who they go for? Norway's mass murderer Anders Behring Brew gets undreds of love letters a year …·-·-·--. @gr8shay He can r--- me, idm @ImNotTwitFamous: He coulda r--- someone but y'all would bail him out pic.twitter.com/YA40TCtVqi" summa @summer parsons @ImNotTwitFamous ITS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO R--- BECAUSE ANYONE WOULD LOVE IT lil baby @tittygap @ImNotTwitFamous i would pay him to r--- me 40s Reply to 123 23505048 These men, psychopsths and ruthless kers. Barbarians and savages. These sre the men who get temale c---- sonked. This is who they pick I hate women because if they ave set free they will ruin this world and send us beack to the jungle. 46 No 236570962238723 File 1444 Here is some proof for you James homes the idiot thought he was barman Look at these attractive women who adore him and sand him pictures of themselves in hopes theyiil have his aipha kBer semen sent to them in of prison Is some glediators were considered the peak of male atractiness women adored and tawned over the violent murderous gids You think hey f------ want your? You hink they want the other f------ osers on this site, you weak pencil necked f------ cowards you think you get women homy? You think they pat wet over your whose more attractive a malie mode? Or the f------ manac who stabs a hoke in his stomach and f---- befoe giving him a sed c-- facial why 하 you tink muscles are atractive? A man with larger stronger muscles can rtet more par, and anage and violence onto anoter hunan berg its an ndicator of how goed they ave at kiing others. Some skinny itie s--- or sone fat neckbeard cant do thet They want murdesers, they want pangsers, they want thugs hey wast psythopathic killers Chillisation cent eist if women get what they want. You wat tre local gangster preducing more kids who will just end up e him? How do you expect society to SHOCKING PHOTOS FROM INSIDE THE AURORA MOVIE THEATER CRIME SCENE AND SHOOTER'S HOME JAMES HOLMES CELL to has been seetenced to lfe inprison whout parole, decorated his cellu](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/001/162/438/795.jpg "Sexual Liberation - why women regress humanity as they breed with who they want")
![A meta-analysis1 of 57 studies? of sex differences in general population samples showed that males obtain higher means from the age of 15 through to old age. Among adults, the male advantage is 5 IQ points. The scientists wrote: "[From] 15 years onwards [.] males consistently obtain higher means than females and all of these differences are statistically significant" and "The advantage of boys begins to appear at the age of 14 and increases in size among adults. A graphical representation of the meta-analysis: Adult lQ Distribution in the Raven Progressive Matrices Female Male 2x more mentally retarded females than males 2x more males than females at IQ 130 approx. 15x more males than females a 145+ -4 .3 -2 -1 2 40 55 70 85 100 115 130 145 160 36 52 68 84 100 116 132 148 164 0.003 0.135 2.275 15.866 50.000 84.134 97.725 99.865 99.997 STANDARD DEVIATIONS WECHSLER I STANFORD-BINET I CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE A meta-analysis of 15 studiest of child samples on the Colored Progressive Matrices showed that among children aged 5-11 years boys have an advantage of 3.2 IQ points. Paul Cooijmans5 writes "In the high range, my own observation to date is that at or above the 98th percentile [Top 2%, IQ 130-1 there are about twice more males than females, while at or above the 99.9th percentile [Top 0.1%, IQ 145+] there are about 15 times more males." A survey' of 1142 women found that 37% were willing to swap their IQ in order to be their ideal dress size. And 41% would rather have bigger breasts than a high IQ "Sex differences on the progressive matrices: A meta-analysis" by Richard Lynn and Paul Irwing, University of Ulster University of Manchester 257 studies, 31 countries, 195 tests,80928 participants. 15 studies, 11 countries, 42 tests, 60168 participants Founder of six I.Q, societies,administrator of "The Glia Society" and "The Giga Society",constructor of high-range mental tests creator of the world's hardest I.Q, test MyVoucherCodes (UK) survey, 1142 women aged 18-25, conducted during National Eating Disorder Week B-But all my female primaryschool teachers told me that women' are as intelligent as men. Now l am confused. Does that mean lcan't become the most cutest brain'surgeon anymore?](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/001/162/432/a5b.jpg "Stats are important.")
Top Comments
Myconix
Jul 04, 2013 at 07:06PM EDT
Some Guy
Feb 06, 2015 at 03:33PM EST