The men's rights movement (MRM) is a branch of men's movement [Not to be confused with the pro-feminist Men's liberation movement]. The MRM in particular consists of a variety of groups and individuals who focus on general social issues and specific government services which adversely impact, or in some cases structurally discriminate against, men and boys. Common topics debated within the men's rights movement include the alleged favor given to women in family law including but not limited to matters such as child custody, alimony and marital property distribution. The movement also concerns itself with parenting, reproduction, suicides, domestic violence against men, circumcision, education, conscription, social safety nets, and health policies. The men's rights movement branched off from the men's liberation movement in the early 1970s, with both groups comprising a part of the larger men's movement.
Since its inception, the men's rights
movement has received substantial criticism, with some scholars describing the
movement or parts of it as a backlash against feminism. Claims
and activities associated with the men's rights movement have been criticized
and labeled hateful and violent. In 2018, while noting "some corners
of the men's rights movement focused on legitimate grievances," the Southern
Poverty Law Center categorized some men's rights groups as being part of a
hate ideology under the umbrella of 'male supremacy' (see androcentyrism and
patriarchy). The movement and sectors of the movement have been described
as misogynistic.
The modern men's rights movement emerged
from the men's liberation movement, which appeared in the first half
of the 1970s when scholars began to study feminist ideas and politics. The
men's liberation movement acknowledged men's institutionalized power while
critically examining the consequences of hegemonic masculinity. In the
late 1970s, the men's liberation movement split into two separate strands with
opposing views: the pro-feminist men's movement and the anti-feminist men's
rights movement. Men's rights activists have rejected feminist principles
and focused on areas in which they believe men are disadvantaged, oppressed, or
discriminated against. Masculinities studies scholar Michael Kimmel notes
that their critiques of gender roles 'morphed into a celebration of all things
masculine and a near infatuation with the traditional masculine role
itself.' In the 1980s and 1990s, men's rights activists opposed societal
changes sought by feminists and defended the patriarchal gender order in the
family, schools and the workplace.
Some men's rights activists view men as
an oppressed group and believe that society and the state have been
effectively 'feminized' by women's movements, i.e. entities like public
institutions now discriminate against men. Sarah Maddison, an Australian
author, has said that Warren Farrell and Herb Goldberg "argue
that, for most men, power is an illusion, and that women are the true power
holders in society through their roles as the primary carers and nurturers of
children".
One of the first major men's rights
organizations was the Coalition of American Divorce Reform Elements,
founded by Richard Doyle in 1971, from which the Men's Rights
Association spun off in 1973. Free Men Inc. was founded in 1977
in Columbia, Maryland, spawning several chapters over the following years,
which eventually merged to form the National Coalition of Free Men (now
known as the National Coalition for Men). Men's Rights, Inc. was
also formed in 1977. Fathers and Families was formed in
1994. In the United Kingdom, a men's rights group calling itself the UK Men's
Movement began to organize in the early 1990s. The Save
Indian Family Foundation (SIFF) was founded in 2005, and in 2010 claimed
to have over 30,000 members.
Men's rights groups have formed in some
European countries during periods of shifts toward conservatism and
policies supporting patriarchal family and gender relations. In the United
States, the men's rights movement has ideological ties to neoconservatism. Men's
rights activists have received lobbying support from conservative
organizations and their arguments have been covered extensively in
neoconservative media.
The men's rights movement has become
more vocal and more organized since the development of the internet. The manosphere emerged
and men's rights websites and forums have proliferated on the
internet. Activists mostly organize online. The most popular men's
rights site is A Voice for Men. Other sites dedicated to men's rights
issues are the Fathers Rights Foundation, MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way),
and subreddits like r/MensRights. Men's rights proponents often
use the red pill and blue pill metaphor from a scene in The
Matrix to identify each other online and in reference to the moment
they came to believe that men are oppressed. There tends to be much
hostility between the different subgroups. Critics say the r/TheRedPill is a
subreddit dedicated to men's rights. However, others from within the
subreddit claim they focus on personal and interpersonal improvement, and not
men's activism. Some critics, outside the subreddit, believe r/TheRedPill
is not a part of the men’s rights movement and that MGTOW (Men Going Their Own
Way) are men who have no patience for either /r/TheRedPill or men's rights.
Fringe political parties focusing
on men's rights have been formed including, but not limited to, the
Australian Non-Custodial Parents Party (Equal Parenting), the Israeli Man's
Rights in the Family Party, and the Justice for Men and Boys party
in the UK.
Most men's rights activists in the
United States are white, middle-class, heterosexual men. Prominent
advocates include Warren Farrell, Herb Goldberg, Richard Doyle, and Asa
Baber. Several women have emerged as leading voices of the MRM,
including Helen Smith, Christina Hoff Sommers and Erin
Pizzey.
Issues
Men's rights proponents are concerned
with a wide variety of matters, some of which have spawned their own groups or
movements, such as the fathers' rights movement, concerned specifically
with divorce and child custody issues. Major issues include adoption, anti-dowry
laws, child custody, circumcision, criminal justice, divorce, domestic
violence, education, female privilege, government structures, health,
homelessness, incarceration, military conscription, paternity fraud, rape,
reproductive rights, social security and insurance, and suicide.
Prominent Men’s Rights Activists
Noteworthy activists include Karen
DeCrow, Marc Angelucci, Warren Farrell and Herb Goldberg.
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