Video here.

Richard Reeves explains why men's issues are so unpopular to campaign for. Are men's and women's rights a zero-sum game? Does Richard Reeves think that you can improve men's lives without hurting women ?

Article here. Excerpt:

'If 21st-century politics is shaping up as class war, the American midterm elections have concretised a troubling facet of this political landscape: this class war is also a sex war.

Writing about the dynamic as a feminist is uncomfortable in the extreme because it’s difficult to do so without being accused of misogyny. This is not least because among the very online Right, there really is more than a tinge of misogyny to the term most commonly used to denote progressive-leaning Virtual women: AWFLs.

Coined by Right-wing commentator Scott Greer, AWFL stands for “affluent white female liberals”, and generally connotes not just the demographic but its perceived characteristic worldview — a mixture of progressive moral piety, self-righteousness, hypocrisy and unexamined class snobbery.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Kristina Charlotte Hirsch filed a lawsuit against Beatty this week seeking damages with the claim Beatty “used his role, status, and power as a well-known Hollywood Star to gain access to, groom, manipulate, exploit, and coerce sexual contact from her over the course of several months.”

Hirsch is seeking “exemplary and punitive damages for psychological, mental and emotional distress” and says she still suffers from “issues of trust and control.”

This is what happens when you remove the statute of limitations, which is what the fascists in California have done. These days, a woman can come out of nowhere and hurl rocks at an 85-year-old man with a wife and children, knowing it’s impossible for him to have any kind of due process.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'In short, smart men have nothing to fear about gender parity - on the contrary, they should embrace it. That said, it is understandable that those who managed to become the status quo because of privilege, nepotism, or deception rather than actual merit, may worry about gender party, or any other intervention that reduces the gap between talent and achievement. To anyone who got to the top without deserving it (which tends to exclude both competent women and men) meritocracy is a threat.

In this post I have deliberately avoided any reference to the moral or social justice case for gender parity. Not because it doesn’t matter (it does), or because I don’t care about it (I do), but because it is clear to me that many people are simply not motivated enough by this argument. So perhaps appealing to their instrumental, pragmatic, and selfish interests is a better way to open their eyes.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A new report reveals that most of the top colleges and universities in the United States have inadequate protections for students accused of wrongdoing as proposed changes to the federal government's interpretation of a longstanding law raise concerns.

The nonpartisan Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression released its fifth annual report titled "Spotlight on Due Process" Tuesday, examining the procedures in place to protect students accused of sexual assault and violating other policies at colleges and universities in the U.S.

The report examined the disciplinary policies of the 53 top American colleges and universities as ranked by U.S. News & World Report in 2017. It found that 44 out of 53 schools studied received a grade of "F" or "D" for at least one of its disciplinary policies based on the presence of safeguards for students facing allegations of wrongdoing.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Feminism apparently has an answer for every problem. As long as you don’t ask for a precise definition of what a female is.

Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party since 2014, has announced that she would be pursing a “feminist foreign policy” henceforth.
...
Silly constitutional barriers aside, Sturgeon is certain that feminist foreign policy will lead the way towards a brighter future for the world. She, along with her SNP colleagues, don’t quite know what that means yet, but we are all waiting with bated breath to find out.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced that a new ‘allyship training’ package will be available to every secondary school in London to educate and empower young Londoners to take a stand and help prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG).

Lessons on building healthy relationships, calling out sexism and discussions on attitudes and behaviours towards women and girls will feature in interactive workshops funded by the Mayor in the capital’s secondary schools. This ‘allyship training’ is part of the Mayor’s wide ranging public health approach to ending the epidemic of VAWG.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A report – The State of UK Boys – has been published to mark the launch of the US initiative in the UK, pulling together findings from a range of academic research over the past 20 years – with insights from 15 researchers in the field of gender, masculinities and boyhood.

One of the report authors and fellow of Equimundo, David Bartlett, said: “How boys and men behave makes an enormous difference to the lives of girls and women, and individuals of all gender identities, in all areas of their lives.

“From sexual harassment and gender-based violence, to the gender pay gap and relationship breakdown, the attitudes and behaviour of boys and men are hugely influential.

“So, we need to raise a generation of boys who are able to build and sustain healthy, respectful, caring relationships with people of all genders, and not be influenced by restrictive gender stereotypes.”

Article here. Excerpt:

'A recent survey of 1,000 hiring managers in the United States found that one in six, or about 16%, have been told to stop hiring white men.

Additionally, 14% of hiring managers said they have also been told to deprioritize hiring white women.

The survey, published by Resume Builder and Pollfish on Wednesday, found that 52% of hiring managers believe their company practices “reverse discrimination” – passing over members of racial and gender majorities in order to meet diversity benchmarks.

In addition, the survey found that 48% of hiring managers have been asked to prioritize diversity over qualifications, and 53% believe their job will be in danger if they don’t hire enough diverse employees.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'On October 27, Glasgow City Council unanimously backed a motion stating that women should be at the heart of all aspect of city planning, becoming the first city in the UK to embrace 'feminist urbanism'.

Feminist urbanism advocates for a type of urban planning that promotes inclusivity and puts the needs of women, non-binary and genderfluid people at the forefront of the way we think of the urban landscape. Because, perhaps unsurprisingly, our cities are far from being gender-neutral.

Scholars of feminist urbanism argue that men have historically been in charge of designing the cities we live in, and they did so thinking of their own needs and habits, often overlooking or sidelining issues of safety and accessibility affecting women and sexual and gender minorities.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A narrative has emerged over the last decade in popular culture and politics that portrays men and boys (particularly white, heterosexual ones) as in “crisis”, victimised by feminism and social justice movements, and now “left behind” or suffering so-called “reverse discrimination”. From the misogynistic memes that swirled around the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial, to the male MPs attempting to debunk the “bad press” men have been getting, to the description of #MeToo as a “witch-hunt” on flagship radio programmes, this argument has been steadily building up steam.

Article here. Excerpt:

'A woman convicted of shooting a homeless man who asked her to move her Porsche and allegedly threatened her was sentenced to no jail time in connection with the crime, according to a local affiliate report.

Katie Quackenbush was ordered on Thursday to serve 11 months and 29 days probation for the Aug. 26, 2017, shooting death of Gerald Melton, 54, on Nashville’s famed Music Row, police and FOX 17 Nashville reported. Quackenbush had originally been charged with attempted murder for the early morning shooting, but was instead found guilty of misdemeanor reckless endangerment, the outlet reported.

Melton was initially critically wounded, but survived his injuries. The woman fled the area and later told police she was defending herself when he threatened her life, according to the report.'

Article here. No comment. If I start, I'll end up writing a 10-page essay. Excerpt:

'Pope Francis said on Sunday the fight for women's rights was a 'continuous struggle', and condemned male chauvinism as deadly for humanity and female genital mutilation as a crime that must be stopped.

Speaking to reporters on the plane returning from a four-day trip to predominantly Muslim Bahrain, he also praised women he has appointed to managerial jobs in the Vatican, saying they had improved things there.

He made no mention of campaigns to let women move on beyond that and become clergy - the pope and his predecessors have said the question of women priests is closed.

Francis was responding to a question about women protesting in Iran but turned to the topic of women's rights in general.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The phrases “mansplaining”, “manspreading” and “manterruption” all highlight men’s problematic behaviour towards women. These new terms describe institutionalised sexism in action: men patronisingly explaining my own work to me, or taking up personal space on the Underground, or interrupting my talk. By naming the behaviour, we can readily identify with it and call it out.
...

Article here. Not an MRA issue per se, more a men's issue. I am sure some percentage of women experience such feelings but I conjecture men have it in greater numbers. Your mental health is very important. It's hard to live life happily much less have the energy to fight feminist excess if you feel lonely/depressed/isolated. There's nothing wrong with seeking out friendships and activity partners deliberately for just the sake of it. Excerpt:

'The best research confirms it: Americans are now perilously isolated. In a recent comprehensive study by scientists at Duke University, researchers have observed a sharp decline in social connectedness over the past 20 years.