sacha wrote:
I was with a very close friend of mine last night (Englishman). I attempted to get him up to date with PZ, Watson, and the baboons (He's been in Europe for over a month and a half, and too busy to do more than what was necessary online). I told him that at this point it has become bizarre that Steven Novella is continuing to defend her and keep her on the SGU when it seems that the only others defending her are baboons and their sycophants, and those in the sceptic community who are opposed to her have become quite numerous and vocal, especially since A+theism.
I mentioned the A Voice For Men podcast in which they discuss Watson, told him a bit about Girl Writes What and in passing, I said something to the effect of "of course, I'm a MRA" and he replied "A MRA? I thought you were simply for equality"
I assumed that considering myself a MRA was common knowledge to him, as we have spoken about my support for men, and anger at their treatment in many different facets of US* society, at length, he has seen my reaction whenever there is blatant misandry in adverts and the media, and he has been with me numerous times when I have made it extremely clear that I refuse to keep quiet when someone perpetuates the belief that it is perfectly fine to refer to men in ways that would never be tolerated if it were men referring to women the exact same way. He has seen me speak up when women find humour at the expense of men, but would be outraged at the “misogynistic†men who would dare to laugh at a woman's expense, He has heard me ask men why they tolerate this behaviour, and he has heard the stories of why I will not go out with a group of women under any circumstances, as I've never been with a group of women when the topic of discussion did not very quickly turn into a man-bashing party.
Over the years, he has also heard me tell the tales** of either overhearing, being directly told, or having first-hand knowledge of what many women are willing to do to men who simply did not want to continue a relationship with them, or never wanted to start one after having sex with them. A level of vindictiveness only the truly psychotic men even come close to.
So I was surprised that he did not consider me an MRA, and *I realised that the majority of my experiences with misandry were all in the US, and that the vast majority of women baboons are from the US, and although I have always felt more comfortable with men, and have always had a distrust of most women (with very good reason, even if one only looks at how they treat other women) and often found I had very little in common with them, I don’t remember the behaviour by the majority being anywhere close to what it is in the US, and there is a very distinct difference in the women who have moved to the US from other countries.
My response to him was that in Merkinland, I feel the need to counteract what society deems appropriate when it comes to men, by being vocal in my support that men (and boys) have become the oppressed, and that they are the ones in need of vocal advocates, especially those who are women, and although my world view is one of advocating gender equality, in the US, the men need me more.
It’s possible that the disconnect in the perception of why one would consider themselves an MRA on this thread, has everything to do with what part of the world is most familiar to them.
**I've heard everything from cutting up or burning all of his clothing, to extreme stalking and harassment, to reporting false accusations of rape, and not just once or twice. The amount of times I have heard women advise their friends who are hurt by the fact that their boyfriend chose to end the relationship with them to "ruin his life" is far more than I can count. These examples are not even including the women who go to court to take every last cent of their husband's money in a divorce, even when he was very good to her the entire marriage, and was as kind as possible when explaining he wanted to live without her, or those women who go to court and tell lies in order to stop him from seeing his children, when they know, almost always, courts in the US rule in their favour.
In the US, women who become vindictive towards men who want out of a relationship are not the minority, and I could write a tome about most women and their reaction after casual sex, even when they knew ahead of time, that is all it will ever be.
"hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" is not an exaggeration.
Just to be clear, of course I have known women who would never even consider behaving that way. I recently spent the evening with a casual friend, and her friend, and had a great time, the times men were mentioned, it was always in a positive light, (of course one of them was raised by parents who are not Merkin, and the other is Brazilian.)
Hm. I wonder if it really is the culture here. If it is, it still seem like the ultimate deciding factor is individual personalities. Some will embrace it, and others will reject it.
I dated a woman from Barbados once, and she had an awesome attitude. She wasn't the epitome of femininity either, though. (Had her hair cut shorter than mine, and her idea of fun was climbing trees and wrestling. Seeing bruises on her was common.) On the other end, one of the students at my school, a girl from Morocco majoring in fashion design, who models on the side, (maybe that says something) said that once she dates a man that makes a certain amount of money, she is
incapable of dating anyone that makes less. Repulsive, is the only word I can think of for that. She's pretty attractive, but her air smells. I'd never even consider dating someone like that, and not just because I'm a broke art student. :lol:
That post on how misogynists are made is interesting. I stopped and wondered, but I still resist the label. By default, I mistrust everyone equally initially. (Okay, maybe not. Authority figures earn more distrust from me.) Any greater level of distrust, from a first impression, will be related to my brief assessment of whatever they're wearing on their sleeve that day. Sure, there are certain types of women that I automatically decide are not worthy of my trust, but there are also certain types of men...
Anyhow, thanks for sharing.
