What happened when a male student gave a talk on men’s issues to his university’s Feminist Society?

February 16, 2016 by Inside MAN 78 Comments

At times it seems as if the debate around gender on university campuses has rarely been more volatile and polarised. On the one hand, there are frequent reports of intolerance on campus towards non-feminist views, with student men’s societies being blocked by feminist campaigners and last year’s plans to mark International Men’s Day at the University of York vetoed by a joint letter from students and professors. On the other, the NUS and feminist campaigners claim sexist “Lad Culture” is rife on university campuses.

So in light of all this, you might think it would be a brave man indeed who would offer to give a talk on men’s issues to his university’s Feminist Society. But that is exactly what third-year Surrey University psychology student Mike Parker did to mark International Men’s Day in November last year.

Here he describes what happened — it may both surprise you and give you reason for hope that the gender war may not be as intractable as at times it may appear.

Up until November last year, all my discussions around the contemporary issues facing men had been online. A very small corner of a particular website where, for the most part, I could expect most people to agree with me. Not exactly the most productive past time, I know. So when my University’s Feminist Society, of which I am an occasional member, invited me to give a talk on men’s issues I leapt at the opportunity. I asked my subscribers on YouTube and great organisations like the Mankind Initiative, SurvivorsUK and insideMAN what I should cover, before devoting time probably better spent on my degree researching and structuring a talk.

‘Culture of silence’

So, with the muffled sound of a jazz band playing below us, giving an inappropriately chirpy air to a talk about domestic violence, sexual assault, suicide and depression, I presented my case to a surprisingly full room of feminists as to why they should care about men’s issues. I titled my talk “Silent Sufferers” because, as far as I can tell in both politics and general life, men and their issues are systematically ignored. There is quite simply a culture of silence when it comes to men’s issues. Perhaps after that night, though, they’ll be a few more voices speaking out for them.

To be sure, I did not pull any punches. I opened by talking about domestic violence, and laid out the rather damning critique of the feminist theory in domestic violence research that researchers like Prof. Murray Straus have presented. I explained the suppression of data and the harassment of researchers whose findings acknowledge female perpetrators and male victims, by people calling themselves feminists, and in the name of feminism. And to the credit of the society, they simply took this on board. No heckles, no complaints, no “how dare you!”s. Just an acceptance of “this happened”. Later, during the discussion, I asked if anyone had any disagreements. When they said no, I was surprised. “No-one found any of this controversial?” I asked. “Well it was all controversial”, someone replied “But you presented us with good evidence so we can’t really disagree with you.”

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I couldn’t have asked for a better result, to be honest. To have people admit to simply being convinced by sheer weight of evidence is rare in any situation, and many of my online comrades in men’s issues think it is impossible when it comes to feminists. In fairness, the odds were perhaps stacked in my favour. I’m a regular member of the society, and my particular “studenty”, pro-feminist and leftist brand of men’s liberation might be a bit more palatable to them than the political opinions of many online men’s issues advocates. But then I would argue that for anyone to have any effect they need to integrate into other groups and make bridges, so perhaps the ease of convincing them was just a sign of this particular approach working.

In reality I realise that this will change little. As well intentioned as the people in the room were, and no matter how convinced they were that action was needed, none of them are in any position of power. They do have a few projects which, either on the initiative of someone else or by my insistence, have been broadened to include men’s issues. It’s a start, but it’s unlikely to change the culture of silence overnight. But though they cannot change anything directly, they can start to change the narrative. Perhaps the next time someone talks about rape or domestic violence only as a woman’s issue, or say that men need no help at all, one of them will perk up with a “well actually” and be able to use the evidence I gave them for a good cause. Perhaps, even if it’s only at one small pocket of one small, distinctly south England university, the culture of silence has been broken.

Mike Parker is currently a third year psychology student at the University of Surrey. He is also a walking online cliche, covering men’s issues and his Humanist beliefs on YouTube when he should really be studying. Visit his YouTube channel here

A member of the Surrey University Feminist Society gave their response to hearing Mike’s talk, you can read it here

CitymanMichael

I found the YouTube video fascinating and extremely well done to provide rational debate in what most MRAs would deem an irrational place.
Kudos also to the UoS Feminist Society for hosting Mike’s talk.
The most interesting view which I picked up was where Mike covered the idea of right/left politics and correctly recognised that the majority of MRAs are right wing, although generally politics is not usually discussed within the Movement as most MRAs know that the Movement should progress along apolitical lines.
- Alexandar Kurbanov
  
  Most MRA are right wing citation needed.
- Neroke2013
  
  Sorry you’re going to have to back up the right wing claim with some actual facts
- Tag
  
  not to my recollection though i spend most of my time on reddit. right winger seem to be the minority with libertarian semi frequently having it out with liberal mras. and like 80% of mras dont like or want traditional gender roles. of the 20% that do half only want them because ‘they are better than what we have now’.
  - CitymanMichael
    
    There is obviously no data on political leanings of MRAs, but my anecdotal experience of MRAs in the ‘Manosphere’ leads me to believe most are towards the right.
    When I think of MRA on YouTube for example, I think of Hoff-Sommers, Stefan Molyneaux, Bernard Chapin etc – all of whom would be regarded as right wing.
    
    I did state however that most MRAs agree that the Movement should be apolitical, and I also subscribe to that notion.
    - kevin reilly
      
      I would also consider most feminists to be extremely right wing fascists. and there is plenty of proof of this, when you look at some of the quotes/actions form youtube feminists such as : Adrea Drwokin, Gloria Steinem etc. I guess this might be why many mras are also right wing, although certainly not as right wing as feminists.. Fight fire with fire as they say.
      - Unreal
        
        Feminists are right wing?? You might want to lookup that definition again.
    - Tag
      
      http://imgur.com/piqFLQX
      
      /u/Lrellok did a political compass test a year ago
      - CitymanMichael
        
        Aha!, thanks Tag, at least some data on political leanings within the MRM. Pity there is not more.
        My original thoughts were simply mirroring those which Mike Parker made in his talk to the Feminist Society (as he states on the video) – HE had found that most MRAs were to the right and that had also been my impression. However, I am now less convinced than before and shall take more interest in this subject. It would be good, though, to have more data, but thanks again for providing that.
    - http://counterfem2.blogspot.com fidelbogen
      
      You still need to explain what is (or isn’t) an “MRA”. Is this a category which people place themselves into voluntarily, or is it a category which others are free to stick people into, willy-nilly?
      
      And this ‘manosphere’ which you speak of – what is that? Is it another one of those involuntary categories?
      - CitymanMichael
        
        As in almost all political descriptions MRA and Manosphere are made of elastic. That is to say that terms like those and others, right, left, liberal, democrat, feminist, authoritarian etc. can mean different things throughout a range.
        This from the web – Manosphere is most often used as a catch-all term to refer collectively to all individuals and groups with some interest in issues affecting men – is probably how I would describe it, although I do note that the term is frowned upon by some within the MRM.
        Men’s Rights Activist/Advocate is again elastic, but I consider it as any person who is interested in, and promotes for, men and boys issues.
    - Tag
      
      Also i just want to note that hoff-sommers is both a democrata and not a mra, molyneaux is a libertarian cult leader, and bernard chapin got through out hte the mrm by pual elam him specifically becuase he had the mentality that if you are not right wing you cant a be a real mra
      - CitymanMichael
        
        Yep, & Paul Elam wrote an article about left/right and MRM or MHRM as he calls it. When I think of the UK, the newspapers which most promote feminism are Guardian & Independent (left). The newspaper which is most likely to promote men’s issues is the Telegraph(right). It is a very interesting subject.
      - Tag
        
        Right and its not because the mrm is right wing in many respect the mrm would traditionally be found on the left. but any gender movement thats not feminism gets shot down by left wing out lets. it more the one side (the left) wants to scream and call us sexist bigots with out hearing us out and the other side is willing to listen or let us say our piece in peace (the right).
        
        So itn ot the mrm is fundmentally right wing. hell listen to dean esmay on honey badger radio talk about this in their fire side chat sersies
    - Trollicus
      
      I’m very very liberal.
      
      I’m also very, very MGTOW.
      
      I gave feminists exactly what they wanted, I went away.
    - Trollicus
      
      I consider most modern feminists to be far right wing fascists who promote disinformation, lies and outright bigotry.
- http://counterfem2.blogspot.com fidelbogen
  
  Explain precisely what an “MRA” is, apart from what the acronym narrowly intones.
  
  Provide evidence for the “right-wing” claim.
  
  Explain precisely what “right-wing” actually means.
William Baker

This is just one example, in the vast majority of other cases of
such….rabid gender feminists and SJW’s crash the talks, often
succesfully muzzling them
Richard Lacy

This is what activism looks like. Well done!
Anthony Zarat

I don’t know why feminism went so badly off track. I am happy to hear that there is hope for respectful dialogue in some instances.
- http://counterfem2.blogspot.com fidelbogen
  
  Feminism did not go “off track” (badly or otherwise). It was always “off track”, from day one.
Jonothan Mcknight

Wow, tolerance from feminists, that is amazing. Sir, wherever you are is the place to be.
Darren Ball

Well done all concerned. Feminism is a movement to end patriarchal attitudes and every gendered problem faced by men and boys has its roots in patriarchy. There is no contradiction here: men’s issues should be feminist issues.
- kevin reilly
  
  The men’s rights movement is a movement to end matriarchal attitudes and every gendered problem faced by men and boys has its roots in matriarchy. Men’s issues along with women’s issues will be solved if everyone joined the men’s rights movement..
  - Darren Ball
    
    Thanks for your post Kevin. Sometimes the best way to prove a point is to consider if the opposite point could possibly be true, and your post does that nicely. The idea that we live in a matriarchy is too absurd to contemplate.
    
    In additional to the ample examples I gave you of our patriarchy, there’s the whole marriage thing: the bible tells wives to obey their husbands, brides are given away to the groom by their fathers, wives have traditionally taken their husband’s name and this is then passed on through their children, husband is a farming term, etc.
    
    I don’t see how there can be any debating that our society is based on patriarchal attitudes and traditions. What we can debate is who is adversely affected by this and how.
    
    Just because patriarchy favours women in some ways, for instance it seems that courts might be more lenient on women, doesn’t make it a matriarchy. In the same way, most fathers are more protective of their daughters than they are of their sons, but they’re still their father.
    - Bora Bosna
      
      You misunderstood kevin’s post. He switched patriarchy with matriarchy to point out how ridiculous your past was. Similar things are done to feminist statements where you replace “men” with “blacks”, “jews” etc. to point out how insanely sexist, racist some feminist statements are.
      
      What you describe is not even close to feminist patriarchy theory. The situation with brides and grooms, with surnames etc. only guarantee responsibilities for men and protections and provisions for women. This is not what feminist patriarchy theory claims. It claims that all women are oppressed by all men for the sake of men’s benefit.
      - Darren Ball
        
        “What you describe is not even close to feminist patriarchy theory”
        I never said it was, did I?
        You’re one of those people who has an argument then tries to shoehorn it an where it doesn’t fit.
- BASTA!
  
  “Patriarchy” is a hate speech construct and nothing else. An incident of hate speech against men occurs every time this word is used in order to victim-blame men’s issues back at men, and outside of esoteric anthropology threatises this word is never used for any other purpose. With the above comment of yours, you have committed an act of hate speech against men.
  - Darren Ball
    
    Basta,
    
    The post I submitted on the parallel thread to this one, where the University’s Feminist Society gave their response, gives more explanation than I gave here, but basically your definition of patriarchy is too narrow.
    
    In a patriarchy, the Government is the father (patriarchy means rule by the father), women are the daughters and men are the sons. So criticising the patriarchy is not criticising men – it’s criticising an ideology to which both men and women subscribe.
    - Bora Bosna
      
      No. Feminist definition of patriarchy is simply way too wide.
      In reality we have a much softer “patriarchy”: last names are through men but you can change your last name if you want; and in the past property rights were male oriented because men were financially responsible for women whereas women could legally keep their own money and property to themselves.
      We are not ruled by fathers or men, women make up 55% of voters and somehow they vote for men.
  - Bora Bosna
    
    Agreed. Simply replacing “men” with “women”, “blacks” or “jews” in these kinds of speech shows how sexist they are.
- Estwald
  
  …men’s issues should be feminist issues.
  
  “Will you walk into my parlour?” said the spider to the fly.
- Bora Bosna
  
  Feminist patriarchy theory has been disproved.
  Patriarchy theory is routinely used to demonize men and boys to widen the empathy gap even further. For example the Duluth model of domestic violence that Mike criticized in his talk, which defines men as the perpetrators, is based on patriarchy theory.
  Every gendered problem faced by men and boys has its roots in gynocentrism, male disposability, the empathy gap and exacerbated by feminist legislation.
http://www.goldenleafcounselling.com Jennie C-K

Well done Mike! the issue of domestic violence towards men is always something brushed under the carpet. Women know that society is biased towards a view that “men are stronger” and because in the past, women were protected as the “weaker vessel”, it was assumed that they would always be the main victims of domestic violence. The truth is very different. As we arguable become more “homogenised” in the West as far as gender as concerned, women are likely to be increasingly perpetrators of domestic violence. Personally, I feel that there is always more than one way to “skin a cat”, and although I grew up with a somewhat dominating father, I learned how to get the better of him in other ways (!)
Charlie Hurd

Nice job. Fortunately, the rabid anti-male segment of feminism was quiet.
doomdidoom

Perhaps there’s still hope for humanity after all? Well done!
baldViking

Is there any video of this talk? Would love to see and share it.
- insideMAN
  
  Yep, it’s on Mike’s YouTube channel, here’s the link to the video:
  
  Here’s the link to his channel:
  
  https://www.youtube.com/user/CaptainMikul/feed
  
  Cheers,
  
  Dan, Features Editor, insideMAN
  - baldViking
    
    Oh. Should’ve done more digging. Thanks insideMan! ?
    - insideMAN
      
      Ha, cool ?
twominuteplank

This is great, and I’m amazed you were “allowed” to speak at all. Here in Canada, the privileged and entitled middle-class individuals who enjoy our heavily-subsidized post-secondary system (who, naturally, know better than anyone about “oppression”) would physically prevent you from entering the building, or pull the fire alarms if you made it to the podium.

Such is their culture of inclusive tolerance.
insideMAN

This is just to say how good it is to see so much positivity about this empathetic dialogue between Mike and his university’s feminist society, it’s also really great that this piece has been given so much support. Thanks again Mike for giving what was obviously a very well-researched talk and for writing it about it for us. Dan
Fly Free

When Is tarted reading this, I honestly did not think it would end the way it did. I’m very glad that Left Leaning MRAs are able to start a dialogue…at least to a limited degree. Perhaps this will gain us a bit more acceptance and less vitriol within the movement.
- http://counterfem2.blogspot.com fidelbogen
  
  Pardon me, but are you seeking “more acceptance and less vitriol” with the *feminist* movement? Are you courting the favor of feminism, then?
  - Fly Free
    
    Ah, a clown to the last. You fell into your own trap of mistaking “Feminism” for Women. Plus, how is it you figure *I* am trying to gain anything with them as I am not the writer of the article. Also, how is getting people who are not able to see their own misdeeds a bad thing? If you’re suggesting that tempering them from within is a bad thing, Christina Hoff Sommers disagrees with you and she has at least 30 years more activism time than you.
    
    Take the mad-dog down to at least a 9 there, Fidelbogen. This isn’t AVFM where you have the ability to silence anyone not radical enough for your tastes.
disqus_ArQv6e31it

Amazing because this is what usually happens.

Ryerson Students’ Union blasted for denying men’s issues group application
“Just last week the Ryerson’s Feminist Collective started a petiton on Change.org called
“Say Yes to Equity on Campus.” The petition urges the RSU to reject the men’s
issues group’s appeal and to reiterate its stance on women’s issues.”
http://www.ryersonian.ca/ryerson-students-union-blasted-for-denying-mens-issues-group-application/

Ryerson University men’s issues group fails to get ratified
http://theeyeopener.com/2016/01/mens-issues-group-fails-to-get-ratified/#comment-72455

On American campuses, freedom from speech
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/on-american-campuses-freedom-from-speech/2015/11/13/98d33faa-8966-11e5-9a07-453018f9a0ec_story.html

Restoring free speech on campus
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/restoring-free-speech-on-campus/2015/09/25/65d58666-6243-11e5-8e9e-dce8a2a2a679_story.html
disqus_ArQv6e31it

Amazing because this is what usually happens. Where are the politicians who should be fighting this insanity and lawlessness?

Radical Feminists disrupt CAFE Ottawa inaugural meeting

A men’s rights advocate spoke at the University of Toronto
The fire alarm went off, but free speech prevailed
http://www.macleans.ca/education/uniandcollege/a-mens-rights-advocate-spoke-at-the-university-of-toronto/

DC Gamergate Meetup Disrupted by ‘Feminist Bomb Threat’
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/05/03/dc-gamergate-meetup-disrupted-by-feminist-bomb-threat/

Protesters shut down U of O professor’s men’s rights talk
http://metronews.ca/news/ottawa/1000093/protesters-shut-down-u-of-o-professors-mens-rights-talk/

Why are our universities blocking men’s societies?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11670138/Why-are-our-universities-blocking-mens-societies.html

SFU feminists oppose campus men’s center
- JerryH
  
  Indeed, that is the current face of feminism, pure hatred and ignorance.
- Michael Cochrane
  
  see, this is why It’s not a good idea that I attend these talks….because I’d walk up to these twats and rip that horn out of her mouth, yank that shit out of that fucker’s hands
  and get an air horn and blast it right in their fucking faces….
BASTA!

Since the author declares himself as a “pro-feminist” and is actually a member of that feminist society he spoke to, I don’t believe a single word he wrote.

This whole thing, if it even actually happened, was staged from beginning to end. It was intended to fabricate false evidence that feminists are capable of accepting facts. The plan was to strengthen the tone argument, the “we would consider your opinion if you weren’t just a bunch of angry misogynists” argument, using a fabricated proof that when the tone is right then feminists can be reasoned with.

Not buying this. He pretended to present men’s issues, they pretended to agree, but the whole show had exactly zero effect on their actual position and policy, and tomorrow they all resume doing what they’ve always been doing: harming men at every opportunity. We will be seeing shows like this more often as feminism is forced to invest more and more energy in building and maintaining the façade of reason.
- David Sherratt
  
  In Mike’s defence, he did upload the speech to the feminist society. He’s not the type to lie about this stuff.
  However I think his example is unrepresentative of what’s normally going on at universities and even if feminists refused to disagree with him, it doesn’t mean they’re going to do anything about the issues.
- insideMAN
  
  Hi Basta,
  
  Thanks for leaving a comment, but you are incorrect in your assessment that Mike’s article and his talk were staged or contrived. insideMAN can vouch for the fact that he approached us some time before the planned talk with a genuine and conscientious interest in researching which issues to raise at the event, we were very happy to be asked and to help.
  
  It seems to me that both Mike and the feminist society he spoke with are genuinely seeking dialogue and solutions, rather than opposition and point scoring, as such they offer a desperately needed example of how to move beyond the entrenched and un-productive conflict that characterizes so much of the debate around gender.
  
  insideMAN is committed to fostering positive and helpful conversations about the many important issues that affect men and boys — for us, it isn’t important whether feminists, non-feminists, or anti-feminists are having those discussions, what is important is that they begin to happen more freely, openly and productively, so it’s great to see the example that Mike describes. It also seems to have struck a real chord with others too — the article has had around 5,000 hits so far and counting, as well as a hugely positive response elsewhere. It seems many other people also want to move beyond “Punch and Judy” gender politics.
  
  In case it may be of interest, here is a link to a video Mike also produced calling for donations to the excellent Mankind Initiative, a charity that supports male victims of domestic violence, which is facing the closure of its helpline due to lack of funds.
  
  Mike’s video raised in the region of £1,800 for the charity, you can watch it here:
  
  Thanks again for taking the time to comment.
  
  Dan
  Features Editor, insideMAN
  - Declan Lyons
    
    Did iM attend the talk? Was it recorded and is it available for viewing?
  - Declan Lyons
    
    Please ignore my request. Ibfound the link further down.
- http://counterfem2.blogspot.com fidelbogen
  
  I see a ray of hope here. If feminism is forced to invest so much energy in building a facade, it’s gonna suffer an energy deficit and become one very tired beast.
Leonardo Cornejo Bernal

Proof that there are still branches of feminism that are not tainted. Unfortunatelly that is not the majority or the mainstream.
- http://counterfem2.blogspot.com fidelbogen
  
  ALL branches of feminism are tainted.
  
  If they are not tainted, they are not feminism.
  
  That’s pretty much . . . basic.
crydiego

I always thought that rank and file feminists would be on the side of men just like the majority of men support equality for women. The problem is the political value of feminism is earned through defining men and boys as flawed. Billions in funding is at risk if men are not seen as evil.
- http://antimisandry.com/forums/?referrerid=2062 Douglas
  
  I would agree that many who THINK they are feminists are on the side of men, but in reality they can’t be both feminists and be on the side of men: that is incongruent with the core tenets that is feminism.
  
  I cover this in more detail on a blog:
  “Why many women think they are feminists — and why they are wrong.”
  http://antimisandry.com/blogs/douglas-272.htm
Pierre Savoie

Men’s issues stay in the real: the reduced enrollment of males in universities, shorter lifespan. Feminists around here opted for sympathy-garnering but fake causes: the Wage Gap, the phony “rape epidemic on campus”. They are discrediting themselves.
j24601

Mike is a useful idiot to the feminist project, and nothing more. Feminism has NOTHING to offer men and boys in their struggle with a misandrist hegemony, because feminism is the true heart of the beast. Until we all, men AND women wake up to this we will not succeed in addressing the problems faced by men and boys in “advanced” western societies today.

(Also posted on a linked thread)
- Müntzer
  
  I disagree.
  It is seductive to assume that, if only we can destroy feminism, all our problems will be solved.
  Unfortunately that is unlikely to be true.
  Feminism did not start the custom of making men completly depended on external factors for their self-esteem and crippling them emotionally.
  That has happened before it ever came along.
  Sure feminism is now in the way of achieving those goals because they have developede a taste for the status quo (which also tells us which ‘feminism’ we are talking about: the sponsored kind).
  But removing the obstacle is not achieving the goal.
  For that something far more uncomfortable than fighting feminism is needed:
  Every man will have to ask and answer the question what he wants from his life and what he is willing to give up.
  The question has been posed to women 50 years ago and they are still struggling with it (and ‘feminism’ is in part also a mechanism of shifting this dissatisfaction with one’s own life choices onto somebody else), so odds are we will have to struggle to find our answer as well.
  In the end, we can only hope that we find a solution where everybody is just a bit happier than before. But we won’t achieve it by destroying feminsim.
  If your answer to ‘What do I want?’ is ‘Destroy feminism!” you are jumping too short.
  - j24601
    
    ‘It is seductive to assume that, if only we can destroy feminism, all our problems will be solved.’ and the rest…
    
    What a response! There is no suggestion of this in my comment and I can’t see where your reply relates to my post!
    - Müntzer
      
      I am sorry if i offended you.
  - Bora Bosna
    
    He didn’t say that he thinks if we destroy feminism all problems will be solved.
    - http://counterfem2.blogspot.com fidelbogen
      
      Correct, he did not say that. I wish that people would work on their reading comprehension.
  - http://counterfem2.blogspot.com fidelbogen
    
    Anti-feminism is simply the ice-breaker which clears the sea lanes.
    
    Did you not get *that* memo?
Jesse James

I often find that women, and men, who call themselves feminists don’t realize that they are not. Strict, dogmatic feminism of the type that dominates legislation and women’s studies and sociology departments the world over are strict misandrists. I’m sure some are great. The overwhelming majority are carbon copy man hating machines.
A new definition, and ideology, that encompasses the whole of human existence with fairness is needed. Feminism will not be it. A word, and ideology, which passes as it’s hallmark the sole oppression of women by all men is not the winning candidate.
When I tell women, and men, that if they honestly believe in either the equality, or complimentary nature, of men and women then they are NOT a feminist.
- Müntzer
  
  I think you hit on an important problem, but i do not think that it will go away by rebranding or spawning something new.
  I, for example, grew up with a mildly feminist mother.
  And the tenants are quite appealing and could be shortened to ‘opportunity and justice for all’.
  That is not so bad.
  And i come to the MRM precisely because i have been brought up in feminism:
  I don’t want what my father had (working 60+ hours per week, never seeing his children and generating most of his self-worth from performance and earning money burning himself out akll the while) but i am not blind for the incongruities of my mother (the money my father brought home, while ‘our money’ to him was always ‘his money’ to her) or the shortcomings of feminism.
  In a way the radical feminists are to me a wayward sect. While the main movement, under many names (socialism, feminism, civil rights movement, etc.) has worked for an equality of opportunity (not outcome) and a better life for the overwhelming majority of people, they have regressed, lost their way, whatever.
  And the MRM is now here to correct that.
  We are the second ingredients needed to complete emancipation.
jtoe

What, no lunatics howling at the moon and smearing red paint on themselves? Did you spike the punch with ritalin?
Elliott Gaal

Don’t give up. You’ve raised awareness. Keep it up.
Link_Xp4444

This is honestly quite good to see. I must say that I am honestly surprised you got through that situation unscathed… I mean, just recently a male feminist who probably identifies with the left *very* politely and courteously stated on Twitter that while he absolutely loves to support and spread the word of women’s rights, he honestly didn’t feel comfortable with Feminist-idol Clementine Ford’s use of doxxing tactics, which have led to something of a “doxxing culture” where posting personal details on your opponents is seen as more acceptable than it used to be. He simply stated that he didn’t feel posting these details was very positive to the Feminist cause because it showed their ideology in a bad light. So you know, he just politely stated that he didn’t think doxxing people who disagree with them was a very good thing to be doing – that it could make Feminists look bad, which it often times does. Well, do you know what happened? He was viciously attacked by his so-called allies! Yes indeed, he was accused of ‘mansplaining’, told that he wasn’t a *real* Feminist because he didn’t perfectly subscribe to the whole Listen and Believe culture, was threatened with violence, and so on. I think he might have even gotten a rape threat or two in all of those Tweets. All of that unpleasantness because he thought that Clementine Ford’s actions which frequently result in large numbers of men getting death threats, fearing for their safety, possibly have to change their phone number or mailing address or even move to a different area, and so on made Feminism look bad in the eyes of the public. Again, this happened to a guy who seems to be quite similar to you in his beliefs and political stance.

Well, who knows? If some Feminists are beginning to show tolerance for a dissenting opinion, perhaps some Men’s Human Rights Activists in the future can have these talks without being interrupted. It would be nice to see a few debaters from A Voice for Men come onto college campuses and debate the need for Men’s Centers on these colleges to discuss male issues such as suicide, the workplace death rate, child custody, the empathy gap, homelessness, lack of mental health funds, lack of funds for men’s cancers, the education gap, domestic violence, rape and so on in a comfortable environment. It would be nice to have these centers to discuss said serious issues without everyone automatically assuming that these men will do nothing but play video games, watch porn and turn the center into a den of the Patriarchy.

Anyway good on you for bringing these issues to the light. For every person whose opinion you change brings the possibility that they in turn will change the opinions of their friends, and their friends will change the opinions of their other friends, and so on.
Robjam01

I applaud you, I really do. They may not have power now but in years to come who knows where they will be and who they can influence. A light bulb might just come on.Remember, feminists in huge positions of power now and making countless lives a total misery were once where they were.
Groan

Well done Mike. and Inside Man. I personally think we are just at the very beginning of taking gender issues seriously ,as opposed to simply acting chivalrously toward women. So any and all should debate the issues and we may well learn something. Though I don’t believe most feminism is anything more than a heresy of Marxism, the logic of the theory should allow for both change in roles and that males not in the positions of power can be powerless. My observation is that self proclaimed feminists don’t believe in their own theory as they take up essentialist views of male as incapable of change. In fact just read an article where Nicola Horley (REFUGE)trashes a new approach to addressing abusers behaviour on the grounds they cannot change. Of course what she should have said is that “Duluth” based programmes are now proven to be failures but psychologically based programmes are having success and show good results.
Javiroll

It maybe that these women were actually wanting to learn the truth rather than heed to the propaganda.
Jack Strawb

I couldn’t have asked for a better result, to be honest. To have people
admit to simply being convinced by sheer weight of evidence is rare in
any situation, and many of my online comrades in men’s issues think it
is impossible when it comes to feminists.

Let’s be honest: Contemporary feminism in fact depends on wholesale ignoring and suppression of facts. That you were politely received by some friends and acquaintances does nothing to remedy that.
Pingback: What happened when a male student gave a talk on men’s issues to his university’s Feminist Society? | DAMAN()
http://antimisandry.com/forums/?referrerid=2062 Douglas

How comprehensive are your notes? If they are good enough to follow, I would be pleased to see just what you presented and how it was worded to be so palatable. Managing to get feminists to listen at all is an achievement.

Although the die-hard feminists that are the true misandrists won’t be affected, those many men and women who just follow feminism because it seems like a good idea at the time can be affected by a reallisation of the plight of men and boys .. and how for decades the biggest obstacle in gaining equality for men has been the very feminist organisations that they support.

For a more typical view of the UK’s higher education system, from a college professor:
“A witch-finders’ charter”
http://antimisandry.com/advice-sexism-misandry-discrimination/59777.htm

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