Article here. Excerpt:

'The spark was a column in The Cornell Daily Sun by student Julius Kairey, which we featured at College Insurrection. That column, titled The Truth About “Rape Culture” took issue with the statistics behind claims of an epidemic of sexual assault, and the related rush to strip the accused of due process rights:

I would be less concerned about the exaggerated statistics about “rape culture,” and thus less inclined to criticize it, if it were not causing concrete harm to students. But the belief that rape must be prevented by “any means necessary” has been used to justify the elimination of key protections for students accused of rape in campus judicial systems. Some want the claims of the alleged victims of rape to be accepted as true, and not scrutinized in a fair legal proceeding. Just two years ago, Cornell stripped those accused of sexual offenses of the right to retain an attorney in University proceedings and the right to cross-examine their accusers. A student accused of a sexual offense at Cornell is now not able to directly ask the person who is making a potentially life-ruining accusation a single question about the incident. This is an inexcusable erasure of the fundamental right to confront one’s accuser, a right that has existed for all of our country’s history. Such rights are not superfluous. They protect us against arbitrary action by those who hold the levers of power.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The event, which will bring together women from organisations across the country, takes place on June 9, which also marks 100 days to go until the historic vote.

It comes as Scottish ministers Angela Constance and Shona Robison become full Scottish Cabinet members, joining Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop.

The event will look at issues such as gender equality, female representation on boards, the improvement of childcare and employment law, and issues of the economy and social justice.
...
“We are expanding child care to 600 hours from August this year for all three and four-year-olds and the most vulnerable two-year-olds. Scottish female employment rate is now the highest of any UK nation, and the inactivity rate is the lowest. The Scottish Government also wants to see women make up at least 40% of public and private boards in Scotland.

Report here. Excerpt:

'Ah yes. The eternal question. Subsequent readings of today’s "Deep Thoughts with Roseanne” haven’t really brought us any closer to an answer:

"Males must cease sex"

"Neuter boys at birth"

"Store sperm til employed"'

So … does any of that make sense? To anybody?

Yeah, we didn’t think so.'

I did some housekeeping tonight and had to take the site off-line for a couple hours. It had some trouble coming back to life but after a few tweaks, it was back. If anyone notices or thinks they notice something "misbehaving", don't hesitate to send me an email at admin-at-mensactivism.org and I'll look into it. But at the moment, it seems to be doing just fine. (Knock on wood...)

Oh yeah, and for those of you who mark it: Happy Easter! Thoughts go out in particular for parents of both sexes (but as MRAs know, the vast majority of such are dads) and their kids who have been shafted by the "family court" system into not having the opportunity to be with their kids this year. Keep the faith, guys.

Article here. I vigorously reject all accusations of shameless self-promotion. :). Seriously, one of IBT's editors asked me to write about this recent made-for-TV stunt from a "body objectification" POV, so I did. Excerpt:

'The MTV Movie Awards included an event that has had the web buzzing ever since it exploded onto our screens. Winner of the MTV Best Shirtless Performance award, Zach Efron had promised that if he won it, he would remove his shirt. As he began to do so, Rita Ora ran up behind him and tore his shirt wide open. The audience thought it was hilarious, and so, apparently, did Zach.
...
Despite the obviously-staged nature of this stunt, the reader may want to consider this: Had Rita been the one undressing and Zach the one to run up behind her and tear her shirt off, what would have been the popular reaction to it? Would there be so much glee, or would there be general condemnation from people who do - and do not - consider themselves feminists? Far lesser events have elicited protests outside a studio's headquarters.
...
We've not yet even touched on how men's bodies are objectified to the point of disposability in dangerous occupations such as construction, emergency services work, and military service, nor even how the recent uptick in anabolic steroid use among teenaged and pre-teen boys that signals an unhealthy early preoccupation with their physiques. Since the vast majority of ordinary workplace, EMS, and military injuries and fatalities are suffered by men, should not society's efforts to make males aware of their "non-object" status be considerably more pronounced?
...

Article here. Excerpt:

'As part of its support for National Parental Alienation Day, National Parents Organization is joining Jason Patric, founder of Stand Up for Gus, for a press conference at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 25 on the south lawn of the Los Angeles City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, California.

Michelle Glogovac, Chair of National Parents Organization’s California Executive Committee, will be joined by other members of our California Executive Committee at this event, which is intended to increase awareness of the impact parental alienation has on children and parents.

Link here. Is it even appropriate for the parliament to solicit public input through privately run online forums, by sponsored sites with their own agendas? Excerpt:

'Netmums is hosting an online forum for people to post their experiences of gender-based violence and opinions on how this subject is broached with their children.
...
Chair's comments

Dr Hywel Francis MP, Chair of the Committee said:

"We would like to thank Netmums for hosting us on this forum and hope that you will use this opportunity to inform our inquiry.

We are conducting an inquiry into violence against women and girls in the UK and are interested to hear from any individuals who may have experiences of any kind of gender-related violence, including non-physical forms, as well as parents’ experiences and opinions on how this subject is broached with their children."'

Article here. Excerpt:

'At the University of Bristol the stagnating number of female academics in multiple degree subjects has become an increasingly important and concerning issue. Over 65.4% of Bristol students, according to my March 2014 survey, perceived a noticeable imbalance of female to male lecturers. I agree. My research led me towards an obvious concern for Bristol students: gender inequality of academia in all subjects.

With The Independent reporting that 63.9% of female undergraduates are leaving universities with “good” degrees, a lack of visibility of female academics at the University of Bristol — especially in the more scientific faculties — is in stark contrast to the number of undergraduates in the same subjects. More and more articles are appearing asking “Where are the men?” seeking to discover why the gender gap of undergraduates is weighted in women’s favour, but few have even commented on the fact that women are still struggling for visibility as academics. Women are avoiding the academic world and important questions must be asked about whether this is evidence of institutional laziness on the part of universities.
...

Article here. Excerpt:

'Professor Janice Fiamengo had planned to speak on men’s issues and rape culture as part of a talk organized by the Canadian Association for Equality (CAFE). The lecture, called “What’s Equality Got To Do With It? Men’s Issues and Feminism’s Double Standards,” was intended to dispel the notion of rape culture, according to Fiamengo, as well as discuss issues such as suicide by young men and custody rights after divorce. But some student activists decided Fiamengo’s lecture was not appropriate, so they took it upon themselves to shut it down.

The entire display is chronicled in a 50-minute YouTube video that shows protesters booing, yelling and blowing a vuvuzela throughout Fiamengo’s attempted address. The lecture organizer tried to reason with protesters, but it didn’t work. Campus security tried to intervene, with little success. Finally, the event moved to another room, but shortly after, the fire alarm went off.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The most striking thing about William D. Cohan's revisionist, guilt-implying new book on the Duke lacrosse rape fraud is what's not in it.

The best-selling, highly successful author's 621-page The Price of Silence: The Duke Lacrosse Scandal, the Power of the Elite, and the Corruption of Our Great Universities adds not a single piece of significant new evidence to that which convinced then–North Carolina attorney general Roy Cooper and virtually all other serious analysts by mid-2007 that the lacrosse players were innocent of any sexual assault on anyone.

Unless, that is, one sees as new evidence Cohan's own stunningly credulous interviews with three far-from-credible participants in the drama who themselves add no significant new evidence beyond their counterfactual personal opinions.

They are Mike Nifong, the disbarred prosecutor and convicted liar; Crystal Mangum, the mentally unbalanced rape complainant and (now) convicted murderer, who has dramatically changed her story more than a dozen times; and Robert Steel, the former Duke chairman and Goldman Sachs vice chairman, who helped lead the university's notorious rush to judgment against its own lacrosse players.

Link here. Excerpt:

'The female journalist asked the PM if he trusted the state government, which she said had been "proven to be corrupt".

Abbott reacted angrily to the question, lecturing the woman who asked it and suggesting she "withdraw".

"That is an entirely unjustified smear," Mr Abbott said.

"Let me not mince my words madam. An entirely unjustified smear. Frankly I think you should withdraw that and apologise because there is no evidence whatsoever."

In an odd reversal of roles the PM then challenged the reporter to produce evidence to support her claim.

Journalist Stephen Mayne questioned the PM's aggressive response on Twitter.

"What on earth is Tony Abbott doing going the knuckle like that against a female reporter in Western Sydney? Stop morally lecturing the media," he wrote.
...
"Abbott's bullying of a woman journalist - "Madam" - is par for the course. What an oaf he is," Mr Carlton posted.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'In the quest for women’s equality, the rhetoric has come to be interpreted as literal truth: Women are no different than men and they should not be treated any different.

This is false and it could literally kill you.

The differences between men and women are becoming an elephant in the room in the medical community and few people are willing to talk about it. But the facts are clear; our bodies are vastly different and treating us the same could hold back medical research.
For example, men’s organs are softer than women’s, much less firm and do not hold shape as well. Women have more stem cells than men and the cells are different, reported “60 Minutes” in a Feb. 9 segment.

The differences do not stop there. They may explain why women have a much higher rate of Alzheimer’s disease, breast cancer and osteoporosis, or why men have a much higher rate of prostate cancer, color blindness and heart disease. Masculinity may be why autism rates are four times higher in men.

Article here. Excerpt:

'“Men’s rights”, a code word for opposition to women’s rights (usually women’s right to be free of violence, to be autonomous in their sexual and relationship decision-making, and to be treated as equals in education and labor ), is a popular topic on Reddit, and recently the forums dedicated to it decided to survey their members to get a demographic picture of them. Stephanie Zvan has a summary. Most of it is unsurprising. As with most reactionaries, MRAs refuse outright to admit that they simply oppose equality and come up with half-witted, belabored rationales for why positions and beliefs that functionally serve as opposition to equality are somehow not anti-equality. With MRAs, they insist that women’s gains towards equality are instead women’s gains towards dominance, allowing them to treat every move towards equality as an infringement on their rights. The survey reflected that, with most MRAs arguing that women are the dominant sex, socially and legally, in American society. No big surprise there, nor is there any shock that they are nearly all—98%—white. (Probably 99%, since the “other” category, I suspect, was white people who snootily declare they don’t see race.) They were all conservative, too, with 84% identifying as “strong conservative” and another 11% identifying as “independent”, which is, like “libertarian”, a code word for a strong conservative who thinks of himself as an iconoclast. (Another 2% were just plain “conservative”, bringing the likely number of conservatives to 97%.) No surprises there.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The UN's spokeswoman on violence against women has blasted the "pervasive" and "routine" sexist culture in the UK.

Rashida Manjoo said there is a "boys' club sexist culture" in Britain that influences perceptions of women and girls in the country possibly leading to bullying and harassment.

Following a 16 day visit to Britain, Manjoo also warned Government cutbacks have hit violence against women services and confirmed reports she was blocked from entering controversial immigration detention centre for women, Yarl's Wood.
...
In an initial report on violence against women, the South African human rights expert said legal and policy responses focused on harmful practices, such as early and forced marriages but ignored the harms coming from a "a sexist culture that exists in the country".

She added: "Have I seen this level of sexist culture in other countries? It hasn't been so in-your-face in other countries.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, and it will be used to promote a big lie — namely, that we live in a “rape culture.”

The term “rape culture” was coined by politically correct (PC) feminists in the 1970s. It refers to attitudes, beliefs, and values that allegedly normalize sexual violence against women and encourage the act of rape by men. America is called a “rape culture” because sexual violence is deemed to be so pervasive that all women live in constant danger from all men. The violence or threat of it occurs on a continuum running from sexual glances to physical rape. The fact that so many people are unaware of the rape culture surrounding them only points to its omnipresence; that is, the rape culture is supposed to be as common as air and taken as much for granted.