Thursday, April 6, 2017

What are the critiques of each movement?

Sources:
 http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/anne-theriault-/mens-rights-movement_b_5049999.html

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/10831043/Modern-feminism-has-got-it-wrong-about-men.html


According to the Huffington Post, the Men's Rights Movement is garbage. "let's get one thing straight: men, as a group, do not face systematic oppression because of their gender. Am I saying that literally no men out there are oppressed? No, I am for sure not saying that." This is a common point that people bring to attention when critiquing the Men's Rights Movement. While I disagree personally, recognizing that there are many areas where men are in fact systematically disadvantaged (custody battles, child support, college scholarships etc.) this tends to be the first point brought up by people when presented with the idea that men need fighting for, in addition to women. This is likely due to the mainstream nature of feminism; when most people are presented with an idea perpendicular to the norm, they are quick to question it's validity, and point out why the common belief is the common belief. How can men be oppressed, if women have always been the oppressed ones in the past? (the key word, in this discussion)!

Later on in this piece, the Huffington Post blames the woes of men on the Patriarchy, and it's promotion of masculinity. We are told that men learn to avoid doing anything that makes them appear feminine - such as seek help in an abusive relationship, and that this is why there are nearly zero resources available to men who need help after such events. Yes, it is argued that men don't get resources because surely, we wouldn't use them if they were variable, because it would hurt our egos and make us feel feminine. 

An author from the Telegraph, in UK, published a piece on their website about why she believes feminism is silly. She states tat she is bemused by "twitter feminists" and tells about one in particular who posted a photo of a man on a subway, captioned "creepy - disgusting". She critiques this, saying that is contains no meaningful or intelligent ideas and therefor is useless in making any progress. Many people see "twitter feminists" on the internet sharing similar photos, statuses, updates, and so on - and it sheds a bad light on the feminist movement. These people who call themselves feminists are actually just sharing angry photos and perpetuating the problem - causing a divide. This is a common misconception about feminists - that they're all angry men haters. Of course that is false; the idea is created because of the "twitter feminists" who share angry photos on the internet without contributing any intelligent conversation to the matter.

Whether you are on one end of the Mens/Womens rights spectrum or the other, is is easy to criticize each movement. Feminists are angry, focused on menial problems,  hate men, living in the past. MRAs are bitter neckbeards, who hate women, are misogynistic, and want men to rule the world. It is easy on both ends to point out the problems that each movement conveys (mainly perpetuated by radical "members"). Why does each movement produce such radical views that differ from the actual fundamental focus points that each movement holds?

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