Men's rights advocacy: Yea or Nay?

Not exactly a dialogue --
The Spearhead: Dealing With The Reality On The Ground
In Mala Fide: Why Laura Wood and other conservatives and traditionalists just don’t get it
The Thinking Housewife:  Does Society Need Men’s Rights? (read Max's contribution) and The Liberation of Men and The Man-Hater and the Frigid White Housewife.

Dr. Fleming has dismissed men's rights advocacy, though he has not yet, as far as I know, written an article explaining in detail. First one needs to distinguish PUAs from those who supporters of Men's Rights. There may be some men who are in both groups, but this is not true of all MRAs. Dr. Fleming seems to believe that being a MRA is equivalent to playing the victim. Instead, men need to do what a man needs to do. What concrete actions does he suggest? iirc, exercising authority within the household and avoiding women who are not good for them. This is not dissimilar from what Laura Woods has written.

I believe Dr. Fleming's conclusion is based on his contempt of movements in general as a means to achieving political ends. He prefers a  more "natural" way of proceeding, which is grounded upon the individual reforming himself and being virtuous towards those around him. Building community from the ground, rather than imposing it from above using modern mass methods.

In view of the disadvantages to men offered by "Marriage 2.0" (the institution of marriage as it exists now--individual and social expectations, along with American divorce laws), some have suggested a marriage strike. Is this attitude absolute? For some, it is--they avoid marriage and maybe even women altogether, while others, those who are more inclined to the PUA lifestyle, are content with relationships with casual sex while avoiding any sort of commitment.

Do we want to claim that the men's rights movement is tainted by liberalism, and that those involved are only seeking radical autonomy? I think these are bad generalizations. Some participants at The Thinking Housewife, in their zeal to attack radical autonomy (or disordered self-love), have fallen into the error of mischaracterizing the motives of of MRAs (as can be evidenced by the responses of various people to the posts at THT). Some MRAs may follow or endorse a hedonistic lifestyle. But not all are--as far as I can tell, the movement as a whole does not seek specific ends other than to redress injustices. They seek seek reform of laws and courts--especially with respect to divorce, child custody, rape, sexual harassment, affirmative action and so on. Some may actually believe in radical equality, expecting men and women to share the same burdens. Others may be only using this as a rhetorical device against professed feminists to attack their consistency. We need to distinguish between means and ends -- what ends are MRAs seeking, and how do they wish to attain them? We should not be surprised if there is a wide range of ends. But MRAs appear to be united on addressing the injustices perpetuated against men by the system.

Still, it is not enough to "turn the laws back." I think the traditional conservatives and Christians are correct that long-lasting legal and social reform cannot be accomplished without a spiritual renewal. It may be that any men's rights movement is destined to be ineffective given the distribution of power in our society and the resulting resistance of the system to reform. (Power has never been in the hands of all men, but of the few.) But I can't fault these men for doing their best to educate other men about the bias of the system and seeking change, and despite the odds, they may be able to achieve some small victories, if they can find a few sympathetic judges and politicians.

(Idiocy and Hatred in the Men’s Rights Movement; Paul Elam, On Jury Nullification and Rape)
Male Authority and Domestic Violence

The Colonization of Male Space

Begun on December 15.

Welmer takes issue with a Catholics Come Home commercial. What does Leon Podles think? Does it portray the Catholic Church in a way that returning to the Church becomes attractive to "masculine" men? Does Jim Caviezel's Christ appeal to men? But using images from the The Passion of the Christ may be too controversial. It is impossible to directly convey the richness of a deep interior life centered on Christ. How about an ad that shows a variety of male saints? The celebration of the OF in many Uhmerican parishes does exhibit traits of worship being feminized. (Has Leon Podles criticized Catholic liturgy specifically, or contrasted the EF with the OF?) It seems to me that how men are to achieve union with God must be elaborated, and thus can be done with illustrations from lives of the saints. But laymen also need to understand their role as fathers and husbands, and that sort of catechesis requires an explicit rejection of radical egalitarianism and cultural Marxism.

Welmer: "FYI, I am a Catholic. My childhood church used to hold funding drives for Marxist guerrillas in Central America, and hosted PFLAG and gay pride meetings. A number of priests in the area dropped dead of AIDS in the late 80s/early 90s. I mean, it’s one thing if they’re attracted to men and remain celibate, but it’s entirely different if they’re calling themselves priests while having anonymous sex in the local park and picking up gay prostitutes on Broadway.

Things may be a bit more under control, but the old sinners remain very much in control behind the scenes. I don’t think it will truly change until they are all too old to work or dead, which won’t be for at least another 20 years."

The Thinking Housewife takes a look at what's going on over at The Spearhead, crticizing some of those who leave comments there: Misogyny Unleashed.

What should one expect from what often turns into a male gripe session for some? Is this ok when women do it? Who doesn't lament bad experiences with members of the opposite sex, looking for a sympathetic ear and validation? Who isn't prone to exaggeration and bad generalizations when hurt and angry? No doubt there are lot of men posting who are still angry at their ex-wives and girlfriends. If they were treated badly, especially if children were involved, who can blame them?

As for the purpoted "misogyny"--what can men do in response to bad behavior by women and to feminism? Some of the answers given by men online:
1. There is the extreme solution, taken by some, of shunning women completely.

2. Socializing only with those women who meet certain standards, and judging promiscuous women appropriately.

3. Pushing for political change and a reform of legislation so that divorce laws, etc. are more fair.

4. The PUA strategy of using women, and waging this sort of war on womankind so that they reform their behavior (or to have fun until the party ends when society falls).

Let's just look at #1 and #4 -- they may be some hatred of women there, but if most men, especially those who are in demand by women, were to choose one of these two roads would there be many feminists left down the road? I'm not looking just at the failure to propogate an ideology due to the lack of reproductive success resulting from men not marrying women (as many single woman may still turn to artificial insemination to have children, or one-night stands), but the loneliness of older women may lead younger women to question their life strategies. I don't think this is the likely outcome, but I don't think any "secular" solution will be effective. (Even the changing of misandrist laws is not sufficient to discredit feminism as an ideology that feeds on pride.)

The Spearhead: John Bagot Glubb

The Fate of Empires by Sir John Glubb

GX @ The Spearhead writes: Don’t watch Anime or Read Manga: It Will Rot Your Brain.

There is some discussion of Evangelion thrown in the comments. The post is for mature readers only -- some of the language used by the author and some of the commenters isn't suitable for polite company.

What, then, of the power of audiovisual art and books to inspire? Is the AV medium really that effective, in comparison to poetry and literature? Does it do more than reinforce attitudes? It would seem that the AV medium can be an effective means of conditioning certain viewer to have various attitudes and behaviors. But does the prevalence of anime and mange in Japan explain why some Japanese men are the way they are? Or does the author of the post overreach?

The Spearhead: Gloria Steinem: 65 More Years of Feminist Revolution

Zed @ The Spearhead: The Baby Bomb: How the Boomers were Used to Demolish a Culture

If there is anything missingn from the narrative, it is the story of the alliance between government and the wealthy, the oligopoly, and the centralization of political and economic power.