Thoughts on the Direction of the Men's Movement

Ray sent in an interesting essay for men's activists to consider: "I have been surfing the net for some time searching for the reasons for the unprovoked physical batterings, the sexual discrimination, the false police report(s), the hatred that I and other men have experienced. The decade of the 90's saw a great escalation of all of the above for many men, not only in America, but throughout the world. I have seen with my own eyes the change from a time when a query on the subject of domestic violence brought only responses from the virulent radical feminists to a time when the truth about the actual statistical dimensions of domestic violence are begining to be known (we're still not seeing the complete/real story). I am witnessing a time when slowly, more and more web sites are popping up like hunted animals, cautiously sticking their heads out of their holes lest some savage predator seize on them and rip ther entrails out. Such is the nature of the territory surrounding the truth about the issues the "MEN'S MOVEMENT" struggles just to cope with day by day." Read More to continue...

You've come a long way Mr., but there's no gaurantee that the ray of hope at the end of the tunnel isn't just another light on the front end of the train of radical feminism waiting to flatten you and your wallet again.

It is understandable that with this degreee of acrimony being exhibited toward the entire male population of the world that I notice a significant level of vulgarity and profanity on some "men's web sites," and although I respect that this too can be protected speech under the U.S. constitution, I have to ask myself some tough questions:

1. Is there a code of ethics in the MEN'S MOVEMENT that promotes a higher degree of professional behavior/speech than that which we have seen being used to vilify the nobility of men, or are we just reacting to course behavior with course behavior? Are we content to just brawl like fish wives? "Are we conceeding the high ground (moral or otherwise) when dispationate well reasoned discourse disintegrates into vulgarity and profanity? Are men so frustrated and disempowered that some are left only with the option to vent through profane and vulgar avenues of communications?

2. Is the above shortcoming due to a lack of leadership in the MEN'S MOVEMENT? I'm not inviting any radical feminist visualizations of head butting contests (my neck is still sore from the last one I was baited into, impressing the worthiness of my superior genetic material to male challengers and available females). ...just kidding. Civilized men (& women) now routinely practice the ability to cooperate and make unselfish reasoned decisions that are respectful of the human rights of all men, women and children.

In conclusion, in addition to posting news articles, where people write in to men's web sites and comment on a story when it breaks, why not seize the initiative and write our own relevent stories for discussion that are born out of the unaddressed issues in the MEN'S MOVEMENT (and there are many) that need confronting and discussing? Instead of reacting to the news of others I encourage the MEN'S MOVEMENT to research, to dig deeper, to be journalistically proactive and create our own stories around the issues that burn inside us, and then present them. There is an old proverb (thousands of years old) that says, "as iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another." Welcoming the thoughtful input of the masses to discuss the issues that affect us as men is a mighty tool in the hands of the MEN'S MOVEMENT for insight and positive direction, and should be employed to its fullest. The pen is mightier than the sword, and I for one am ready to start slingin' some ink.

Ray

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http://news.mensactivism.org/articles/02/07/20/130208.shtml