A donor recently asked me what developments I’d like to see in the MHRM in 2015, which gave me food for thought.
I’d like the people who are concerned about men’s rights and confine their activities to reading and typing – engaging in online discussion forums, commenting on articles on MHR websites, writing to newspapers, writing to political representatives etc. – to make 2015 the year in which they read and type less, and DO more. As someone who spends a lot of time reading and writing about men’s issues, I include myself in their number.
How many hours a week do you typically devote to reading and typing about men’s issues? Multiply that by 52, and you have the annual hours you’re committing to those activities. What if, in 2015 and beyond, you spend that time DOING rather than reading and typing? Your contribution to the struggle for men’s human rights would surely increase by a very large factor. There will remain a huge number of people still limiting themselves to reading and typing, so your departure from their number won’t be missed.
You need to step out of your comfort zone for the sake of the men and boys whose human rights are being relentlessly assaulted by the actions and inactions of the state.
A few suggestions on what you might do in 2015:
SPEND LESS TIME RE-INVENTING THE WHEEL
Recently the Labour party announced plans to introduce legislation requiring companies to publish their ‘gender pay gaps’. Discussions in the media centred on feminist narratives, and received little challenge. I’ve been interviewed on the subject on BBC radio several times in recent months, but I’d sooner gnaw off a foot without the benefit of anaesthetic than write any more about the subject. Intelligent people, when exposed to our arguments, realise they have merit, and that feminists are liars. Our challenge is surely to direct intelligent people to our materials, rather than endlessly re-writing them.
SPEND LESS TIME ENGAGING WITH FEMINIST NARRATIVES
In the five years I’ve been interested in gender politics, I haven’t encountered a single feminist able or willing to engage in a rational discussion, and I don’t imagine I ever shall. A substantial proportion of feminist narratives are designed with one aim in mind – to incense MRAs to the point that they waste time and energy refuting them. Those refutations have an enormous ‘opportunity cost’ – the time and energy which could be better spent engaging with people who are currently unfamiliar with our arguments.
We need to be far less reactive, and far more proactive.
SPEND LESS TIME WRITING TO POLITICAL REPRESENTATIVES
Though it pains me to say this, I think people who engage in this activity are wasting their time. If anyone knows of a case of an MP or peer doing anything substantive in terms of men’s issues – other than speaking in a debate, which failed to impact on legislation – after receiving a communication from a member of the public, would they please let me know?
SPEND LESS TIME WRITING TO NEWSPAPERS AND MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS
The BBC is so institutionally anti-male and feminist-driven, that you may as well try to derail a high-speed rain by throwing tennis balls at it, as get the BBC to recognize a legitimate complaint on men’s issues. A Newsnight programme on Intimate Partner Violence featured only the customary ‘male perpetrator / female victim’ paradigm. We wrote a lengthy and detailed formal complaint outlining 50+ breaches of the BBC’s editorial guidelines. It was treated with utter contempt, as were our appeals.
AWARENESS BUILDING
I don’t anticipate the mainstream media becoming sympathetic to men’s rights issues in the foreseeable future, although I was recently interviewed for two hours by a major international news magazine on the topic of male suicide. I don’t expect many of my points will make it into the final article, but hope springs eternal.
Time spent in men’s rights forums does little or nothing to build awareness among the general public. There’s already plenty of material on websites such as AVfM and J4MB for members of the public to become very well informed about assaults on men’s rights, the evil nature of feminism, and so much more. The key awareness building challenge is to get people with little or no understanding of these matters to visit such websites. So, how might you do that? Some suggestions:
– Distribute leaflets door-to-door, at busy airports, rail stations, bus stations, city and town centres… In some of these places you’ll be giving reading material to bored people with time on their hands. Distribute just 300 leaflets a day, and by the end of the year you’ll have introduced 100,000+ people to the assaults facing men and boys. If 100 AVfM supporters in North America were to engage in this activity, 10 MILLION people would be made aware of the MHRM and AVfM in the course of just one year.
– Affix small posters to public signs etc., as Dan Perrins does with AVfM posters.
– Never miss an opportunity to talk to friends, family, and complete strangers about men’s rights. We recently got a new supporter after I engaged with him in conversation in my gym (yes, I go to a gym regularly, I know that will surprise many…).
PRACTICAL SUPPORT FOR PEOPLE RUNNING ORGANIZATIONS AND WEBSITES
J4MB is fortunate in having the support of a number of professionals and retired professionals who offer their time and expertise at no charge. We had substantial contributions to our recently-published general election manifesto. If there’s a website or organization you wish to support in a practical way, why not contact them to establish what support they’re looking for? Even if you don’t currently have the required skill set, maybe you could acquire it, perhaps online. Some possible areas:
– Fundraising
– Photography
– Video and audio recording and editing
– Graphic design
– Financial management / accounting
– Writing documents, proofreading, copy-editing
– IT, social media
– Marketing
– General administration
– Public speaking
– Public relations, dealing with the media…
FINANCIALLY SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS AND WEBSITES
I was impressed with the arguments put forward by Angry Harry in a recent AVfM podcast. J4MB would simply not exist without donors, nor AVfM as the remarkable asset it is to the MHRM. I make a modest personal donation to AVfM every month, and at J4MB we’re very grateful for regular monthly sums. Given that the core of our strategy is contesting general elections, which are held every five years in the UK, monthly donations are invaluable for helping us build a ‘war chest’. Just £10 per month would give us £600 towards our campaign costs for 2020. You can make a donation towards our campaign costs for the 2015 general election here. Thank you.
Will 2015 be the year in which YOU read and type less about men’s rights, and DO more? I do hope so, and with that thought, I wish you compliments of the season, and a happy New Year.
Onwards and upwards…
