Reaching Out to the Men's Rights Movement

So, season one of my series Men's Rights Memes just wrapped after twenty-two episodes. In it, I took down several common arguments made by, of course, Men's Rights Activists. I stand by everything I said in those episodes, but I do want to respond to one common criticism that I, or rather the series, has received.

Put simply, I was kind of a dick. I referred to Men's Rights Activists as 'petulant children,' 'dumb neckbeard fucks', and a host of other extremely witty names. And, again, I stand by that, but other people said that my tone was too harsh, and that MRAs would be less likely to take me seriously when I was insulting them. All right, then. I see where you're coming from. I think that debates can only work if both parties make a conscious effort to be civil. I was making an attempt at comedy with that series. If I did offend any MRAs, I apologize. It's not my fault you're all despicable misogynistic assholes. Oh, shit, I did it again.

Anyway, I'd like to take the opportunity to extend an olive branch to the MRM.  In an effort to atone for my sins, I want to propose a plan that would make your movement legitimate. That's right, I'm going to help Men's Rights Activists. Please, don't click away from this post. I assure you this is not the Twilight Zone.

This will primarily deal with the MRA canard that there is a bias in family courts. Now, that's a false claim, as proven in Episode Four of my series. But if they're going to keep whining about it, I might as well give them some pointers. If you really care about granting custody to fathers, here's what you have to do.

First, stop aligning yourself with the Pick-Up Artists. For those who are blissfully unaware, PUAs are a special kind of fucked-up. Their entire movement, if it can even be called that, revolves around putting women down and tricking them into bed. Part of that involves ditching her if she becomes pregnant. You heard that right. Pick-Up Artists are literally advocating for deadbeat dads.

That doesn't exactly match up with the stated goal the MRM, now does it?

Next, come up with what I call Positive Parenting Action Plans. Essentially, devise a template. Write and publish a list of things that men can do to make their lives and their homes more conducive to child-rearing. That way, they can go to a custody court and demonstrate to the judge that they have taken steps to be a capable father.

Maybe focus on that instead of calling your ex-wife a whore on Facebook.

Men's Rights Memes Episode Two: No Fat Chicks

Hello and welcome to episode two of Men's Rights Memes, the show where I take the piss out of disingenuous misogynist fuckholes. Without further ado, here's this week's offending image.

I found this thing on the MRA hate site A Voice for Men, which is curated by Paul Elam. I should probably link to their homepage here, but honestly, I don't want to give them any more publicity than I have to. Based on the content they've put out, I'm beginning to think that bad press is part of their marketing strategy. The MRM is like the Sharknado of political movements.

The meme we're looking at today is actually fairly easy to refute, so let's get right to it.

This drivel seems to be an attempt to poke fun at the fat acceptance portion of the feminist movement. It occurs to me that I've never written about that before, and today seems as good a time as any to give you my opinion on it. Rest assured, this does tie into my takedown of the meme. We'll take a slight detour and then loop back around.

I don't necessarily think that fat positivity is the way to go, as there are legitimate health concerns associated with obesity. Therefore, I done think its right for a society to encourage the practice of being fat. However, if somebody wants to eat a lot of food, or partake in other activities that might result in weight gain, then all the power to them. It's none of my business what you choose to eat or do with your body. I can't require you to look or act a certain way. As long as you're not hurting anyone, rock on.

That is, I think, the opinion of most feminists. We are advocating for personal freedom, and trying to fix a culture which would shame people into changing. This despite the fact that fat shaming doesn't work. In fact, it merely causes discomfort, which the fat person might attempt to remedy by eating. Fat shaming worsens the problem, it doesn't fix it.

Now onto the meme itself. This is yet another straw man from the men's rights movement. That, or yet more stupidity. That seems to be a recurring theme with the MRA. I can't tell if they really believe the bullshit they're spouting. The creator of the meme implies that feminism forces you to be fat, as if it's part of the feminist agenda to give women heart disease.

But, as I outlined above, this is not the case. Feminists have a live and let live attitude here. We just want you to stay out of fat people's business. Just be cool. There need not be any coercion involved. Just...don't be an asshole, man.