The Issue of Misandry – 21st Century Social Conspiracy

Preface:

This thread has been in the works for about 8 months now. Seven of those months in formulating my ideas and the last month discussing them with staff and other members. It’s going to turn out much different than I had thought to be honest.

Originally I was going to link to an article that discussed various observations and linked source material that seemed to show Misandry was in full swing back in 2000 when it was written. I have chosen to not use this source as the opinions contained within, mixed with the good information don’t pain the picture I wanted to have.

So this thread will focus on my personal thoughts and hopefully open a discussion into what is Misandry, is it really prevalent in our society and has Feminism turned into something very different from it’s original purpose.

This is not an anti-women thread, this is not a misogynist talking and the biggest reason I’ve never discussed this before is because of the very real backlash I’ve received in real life for speaking my mind or asking questions on these issues.

What is Misandry?

The most basic definition of Misandry is a socio-political mindset that encourages the hatred of men and the creation of what some would call Matriarchal society. It is the firm belief that all men are bad and that a women’s view point is the end all, be all of answers.

It is the complete opposite of Patriarchy in the sense. That’s the most basic definition and not the kind of Misandry we see in today’s world, unless you visit places like Jezebell. What I see the most of today is a situation where men’s culture is constantly ridiculed and looked down upon, yet women’s culture is applauded and encouraged.

This is clearly visible in a variety of ways and I will begin with popular media such as TV and movies.

TV, Movies & Advertising

How many sitcoms portray the men as being subservient to his all-knowing wife? How many show him to be some kinds of bumbling idiot, who cannot for the life him, do anything without approval or assistance from the ‘strong’ women in their lives?

Everybody Loves Raymond and King Of Queens come to mind right away, but even in contemporary shows like The Big Bang Theory, we see these messages put across to our young people.

How many products are advertised to men with the only benefit being it will make your lady happy? Sure women’s magazines have those too, but those are written by women for women, where the opposite is written by women FOR men.

The point is that there are no more masculine role models for young boys anymore. The whole culture of men has been changed by women to be more feminized in general. Now I’m not saying being sensitive and having female qualities in a man is a bad thing, don’t get me wrong, I’m gay and quite feminine in some of my demeanor.

The problem is that the idea of a manly man or a traditionally masculine man is no longer present. When it is shown it’s made fun of and made out to be something negative that we should strive to move away from.

Another issue within our media is the portrayal of men as being the evil doers in the world. Shows like Law and Order portray in almost every case, men as being the sole persons responsible for sexual assault and domestic violence.

One double standard is a meme I’ve seen posted a few times on the net.


You cannot deny that what this graphic says is entirely true. The same would happen if a bunch of men lined up to see a new version of the spice girls or something of that nature. The double standard in this sort of respect within our media is prominent and hardly challenged.

The culture of portraying men as the enemy, teaches young women to disrespect men and hold their opinions and values above theirs. Much like misogynists used media to push their insane opinions on women before the WRM, feminists are beginning to do the same.

Justice Systems & Laws

I need not remind anybody in most cases how the laws for custody, alimony and various other legal proceedings that include marriage or children seem to have been written exclusively to assist women.

We have governments who subsidize single motherhood. I don’t remember where I read it, but certain welfare and social benefits in certain states include specifically that you will lose benefits if a MAN is living in your home. You could have 10 women though, and that would be fine, but ONE single man and benefits disappear entirely.

We see men accused of rape and convicted without any real due process. We see abortion laws that cater specifically to women and give no rights to the man as to the fate of his old flesh and blood.

Economically speaking, there have been situations where lobbying efforts by feminist movements have created disparity. Let’s look at this example form the stimulus.

Source

A "man-cession." That's what some economists are starting to call it. Of the 5.7 million jobs Americans lost between December 2007 and May 2009, nearly 80 percent had been held by men. Mark Perry, an economist at the University of Michigan, characterizes the recession as a "downturn" for women but a "catastrophe" for men.

Men are bearing the brunt of the current economic crisis because they predominate in manufacturing and construction, the hardest-hit sectors, which have lost more than 3 million jobs since December 2007. Women, by contrast, are a majority in recession-resistant fields such as education and health care, which gained 588,000 jobs during the same period.

The National Organization for Women (NOW), the Feminist Majority, the Institute for Women's Policy Research, and the National Women's Law Center soon joined the battle against the supposedly sexist bailout of men's jobs. At the suggestion of a staffer to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, NOW president Kim Gandy canvassed for a female equivalent of the "testosterone-laden 'shovel-ready' " terminology. ("Apron-ready" was broached but rejected.) Christina Romer, the highly regarded economist President Obama chose to chair his Council of Economic Advisers, would later say of her entrance on the political stage, "The very first email I got . . . was from a women's group saying 'We don't want this stimulus package to just create jobs for burly men.' "

The article is quite lengthy and gives a pretty good picture at how lobbying doesn’t just work for corporations and special interest groups, but whole sects of society like gender.

Some say these are all isolated events and that men deserve what they get for the years of oppression to women. Which brings me to my next point:

What Feminism Should Be In 1st World Nations

I am not against feminism for the people who need it. Women in Saudi Arabia, in Africa and those other nations where they are not treated as equal on even the most basic of levels need the support of strong women with good morals and ideals to help them rise above those draconian viewpoints.

However women’s ‘suffrage’ doesn’t truly exist anymore in America, or Canada or Europe for the most part. Excluding the sex trade of course and the obvious things people will cry foul about, the goal in our society should be Egalitarianism.

Equality, not subservience or control, but true equality is what we should strive for. Women and men on both sides should be railing against the media for pitting us against each other in this way. My goal today is to open the conversation.

I want you to read this and not get angry, not get lost in the rhetoric of us vs them. I want you to read this and really think about it and ask yourself an important question:

Are men discriminated against for being men and is there a huge disconnect between that problem and the conversation being had within our media and politics about it?

What say you ATS?

~Tenth

reply to post by tothetenthpower


S&F. Interesting viewpoint.

reply to post by EA006


Thanks for the post , I'd love to get your thoughts on this though.

~Tenth

reply to post by tothetenthpower


But how can we stop this from spiralling out of control as long as the TPTB is still in power they'll keep doing it as divide and conquer. They're doing this so don't see who is the real enemy.

Originally posted by starwarsisreal
reply to post by tothetenthpower

 

But how can we stop this from spiralling out of control as long as the TPTB is still in power they'll keep doing it as divide and conquer. They're doing this so don't see who is the real enemy.

Women said the same thing back when they needed to rise up together and claim their own rights.

Only through a national conversation, by people who were not afraid of the social repercussions of speaking their mind, did anything ever get done. I don't know the solution that fixes the problem, but I do know that starting a conversation and exposing what is going on, will no doubt help.

~Tenth

reply to post by tothetenthpower


I think a lot of this is geared toward the decline of the family. Children without a strong sense of family and values are much more easily manipulated by TPTB. Instead of being raised by parents, children are more and more being raised by day-cares. Once they get in to the public school systems, it's a game of winning "hearts and minds"... a game that is rigged to favor "the house"...

I see this brought up from time to time in several forums. Its usually from males who are witnessing a balancing out of society and are becoming scared they are being marginalized. There is also a tendency for those males to have a predisposition towards misogyny it seems (no insinuations about the OP are being made).

Society and its values are guided by the subconscious tendencies of its inhabitants. In the past those tendencies have been very "masculine", and it showed in a great suppression of the "feminine". However recently peoples tendencies have begun to more incorporate the feminine and the masculine, and that is being reflected in the way society expresses itself, such as on sitcoms mentioned in the OP. These sitcoms do well in ratings, thus are kept on and keep being produced.

You see media is RESPONSIVE to the collective unconscious of society. It does not drive it, it is led by it; it is reflective of it. Producers want only money and profit, and the only way to do that is to follow what is popular and desirable by the public and what gets the ratings. And those things that get the ratings are those things that people can subconsciously associate themselves with on some level, basically they want to see their own subconscious projected consciously.

I think this whole issue comes down to this:

The collective unconscious is slowly shifting towards more acceptance of the feminine aspects within the individual, but some are seeing this as a personal attack on their own masculinity which they strongly subconsciously (or consciously) identify with. Thus the natural shifting towards a greater balance in society is perceived as a direct attack on their own personal being, and "misandry" is cried, and conspiracy theories abound to try and fill the void of reasonable explanation as to what could possibly motivate such an attack.

Balance is the key though, between "masculine" and "feminine". Ultimately those two things are just arbitrary terms boxing in neutral aspects that have no gender, and when one is removed or suppressed, the individual, society, or civilization, cuts out a piece of themselves and becomes less complete.

reply to post by madmac5150


Yes, the destruction of the two parent home and the encouragement of single motherhood or fatherhood has certainly contributed.

Not that families need to be gender specific like male/female or whatever, I've raised 4 in a same sex house hold, but me and my husband raised them together and that's what made a huge difference in how they turned out if you ask me.

I'm not saying single parents can't raise as good of a child, but it's certainly not ideal.

~Tenth

Wonderful,y thought provoking, and a viewpoint I'd never considered before.

I do believe there are a LOT of double standards for both sexes. Men aren't supposed to cry or show strong emotions, while women are expected to be emotionally driven. Women are considered the. "Ideal parent" in custody disputes, when in fact the father may be the better parent. Men are seen as violent and dangerous, while women are dainty anew weak.

I believe the feminist movement has completed it's goal...women now vote, can pursue almost any career, and have as much (if not more) legal rights than men. This is the case in the majority of the US, although I recognize some women still are paid less than their male counterparts in the business world. But we don't want things to swing the other way, from misogyny to misandry, either. I see that trend beginning to develop....and that's a bad thing.

I've never understood the angry feminist viewpoint that seems to consider men "the enemy." Fact is, men and women are different. Men tend to be physically stronger, while women tend to be more nurturing. When you take the best traits of both sexes, they mesh well...and that is what I believe we are meant to do. We compliment each other, like cheese and crackers.

I don't support a patriarchal OR matriarchal society, because I don't believe one sex should dominate the other. I believe in equality FOR ALL, regardless of race, religion, creed, gender, sexuality, or type of toothpaste used.

S&F cTenth. Excellent thread.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Sadly the biggest problem is people generally turn the other way like focusing who is the next American Idol buying pricey items that got them in debt etc. I lost faith on my generation (I'm a generation Z 18 years old) I wonder if the younger generation would fare better. Honestly I got disillusioned by society like Women treating men like crap or men treating women like as if they are disposable sex objects.

reply to post by CaticusMaximus


As one that lived from that time to this I have to say that you couldn't be more wrong. It wasn't just women that fought for their rights, we men did too. It didn't emasculate us. We were proud of what we all accomplished together. What emasculated us was total disregard for males when it came to legal matters. Women had ALL of the rights. That's not equality, that's domination. "Oh, boohoo, you guys control forever." Um, I didn't. And I'm on your side. It's nice to see things actually getting more equal lately.

Is Tenth wrong here?



I don't think so. That pretty much spells out the double standard.

reply to post by CaticusMaximus

I see this brought up from time to time in several forums. Its usually from males who are witnessing a balancing out of society and are becoming scared they are being marginalized. There is also a tendency for those males to have a predisposition towards misogyny it seems.

It think this is what is thrown at men like myself who want to discuss these issues. We are labelled misogynists and our cries of inequality are seen as a mask for our actual hatred of women.

It's an ad-hominem to the highest degree. ( not that I think you were stating that about me.)

I am marginalized as a man in a lot of different things I do. My government treats me differently, my law enforcement treats me differently and the media treats me like my opinion and behavior should be vetted by women before it's taken on or done.

A woman can hit on me in public without any real repercussions, I can't do that.

So, there's a problem, it's a real one and if we refuse to talk about it any longer, it's only going to get worse.

~Tenth

I have a lot to say on this, however, I am not feeling my best today so I will keep it short and sweet. I agree with almost everything you said. Especially the way men are portrayed on television. T.v. dads are not the example I want set for my sons.
Where I disagree is with it not being a problem for women anymore. Women are disadvantaged in some areas, men are disadvantaged in others.
It shouldn't be an us against them fight and as long as people see it that way we will never progress but remain in a power struggle.

This is a consequence of the past inequality and social pressures enforced upon women by man.

Women and men are more free today to live their life without that rigid social expectation of how as a particular gender, they should behave.


We will only ever be treated as equals, as individuals to each other once we start abolishing the use of grouping and dividing individuals by gender,sex,skin colour etc when in most cases the use of that 'grouping' has no purpose but to enforce a division in equality

When was the last time that a man and potential future father was able to legally block a woman from aborting their unborn child? The woman has the option as a matter of "choice" to end the pregnancy. The father has no rights to save the unborn child's life, even though it "takes two to tango"... and he is the parent as well...

Great thread.

I believe this is one of the reasons why this is happening:



Another objective is the usual divide and conquer tactic so popular with TPTB.
Then there's another related issue, I guess you could call it the gender confusion agenda, the destruction of traditionally stable gender roles as well as the dismantling of the nuclear family, we can't have young boys and girls running around content with themselves..

Sexual confusion and gender confusion reigns supreme.

You should try living in Sweden, it's beyond insane here at this point.

There's so many related issues and facets to this, hopefully someone a little bit more eloquent can elaborate.

Originally posted by intrepid

Is Tenth wrong here?

Originally posted by tothetenthpower

So, there's a problem, it's a real one and if we refuse to talk about it any longer, it's only going to get worse.

I agree there are double standards. Thats come from millennia of imbalance of "masculine" and "feminine".

Those double standards will right themselves though, when the collective of humanity, or in this case western society, becomes more balanced and begins to reflect more so into daily life. But that will take a long time of successful, internal balance on an individual personal level in the majority for those old habits to change.

I highly doubt that will come about in your or my lifetime. Though there will be progression (hopefully), its going to be a very slow process rooting out the very rigid tendencies of bygone millennia, and there is going to be backlash and rejection and the pendulum swinging back and forth until an equilibrium can be reached.

To change the world we really just have to change ourselves. The external is a reflection of the collective internal. The only way the external is going to change is if the internal does first, just as the reflection in a mirror wont change on its own, neither will society until the individuals themselves do.

Are men discriminated against for being men and is there a huge disconnect between that problem and the conversation being had within our media and politics about it?

No, men are not being discriminated against by our culture at large.

Men control the media.

The heads of almost every media conglomerate are male.

Men control politics.

The vast majority of seats of political power in the United States are held by a males.

If sexism isn't the reason for this bias in a society that is roughly 50-50 male to female, then what accounts for these discrepancies?

reply to post by MichaelPMaccabee


If you think that these individuals do what they do and are what they are because they are male OR give a damn about men I'll have to disagree. Money, power, control. NOW we're talking about what they consider important and I doubt they would care if a person that could amp that up for them was male or female.