The Lonely Existence of Mel Feit, Men's Rights Advocate

Article here. Excerpt:

'His name is Mel Feit and he's the founder of the National Center for Men, a men's rights group based in Coram, New York.

"Men's rights," may sound oxymoronic—and perverse, something akin to "white rights"—but to Mel and his band of brothers it's no joke. They believe men's equal rights are challenged by unfair child support obligations, a family law system that privileges mothers in child custody cases, the trivialization of female-on-male domestic violence, the cultural vilification of male sexuality, and social customs that impose an outdated (and crippling) expectation of masculinity on men.

The NCM has advanced its many causes through counseling services, helping men find family law experts, staging protests at women-only establishments, and using the media to trumpet their movement.

While "movement" might overstate the influence these groups have—they comprise only a handful of organizations—the idea of them nonetheless riles some feminists. Amanda Marcotte, author of It's a Jungle Out There: The Feminist Survival Guide to Politically Inhospitable Environments, offered these scorching words, which pretty much sum up feminism's response to these guys:

MRAs may have a handful of semi-accurate observations, but the fact that they blame feminists for men's problems and not patriarchy shows that they are not interested in real solutions. 'Men's rights,' a term that resembles 'white power' in its belligerence and pseudo-victimization, is a reactionary movement, and the propping up of a few pseudo-liberal leaders doesn't change that. There is already a movement for people of both genders who want to end stifling gender roles: It's called feminism.'

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Nothing in there makes me think there's any future that has feminists seeing the POV of MRAs. Capitulating to them isn't an option. There is no reasoning w/ feminists. By now that ought to be clear. Inviting feminists to your coffee and tea get-together for MRAs is an utter waste of time. Feminists have no place in MRA gatherings.

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