How Feminism Conned Society (Conclusion)

The new video from Girl Writes What is as great as ever, though it takes awhile to build up to its sublime peaks. I hope she doesn't mind me taking the digital scissors to her piece to get to the good bits all the sooner but a shorter, more concise statement is easier to recommend to the masses. Brevity is the essence of wit, after all:



Full video here: http://youtu.be/w__PJ8ymliw

Top Ten Routes To Trigger Alert

Some favourite search terms that have recently caused troubled souls to end up seeking virtual shelter at my door:

1. "Byron and women"
2. "buffys fuckt by spike at bar"
3. "genital mutilation christopher hitchens"
4. "fully exposed uncircumcisedwomen pussies images"
5. "xander giles misandry"
6. "how to know if a guy is a rapist"
7. "rape is the solution"
8. "how often do 55-60 year old lesbians make love in a month"
9. "pussies shaved"
10. "is catherine kieu becker a heroin feministe?"

I really can't be sure my blog addressed all of these concerns to their owners full satisfaction, but it's nice they popped by, anyway.

*

28,000,000 Africans To Be Genitally Mutilated By UN

The news a week or so back that the UN & WHO plans to encourage the genital mutilation of 28,000,000 African men to ensure that they don't contract HIV (That's right: circumcised men can't catch AIDS) made me think a post about the whole bizarre phenomena might not be amiss.

Being English, circumcision has always seemed a rather strange, foreign & frankly barbaric practice to me. Until a couple of years ago, I, like many others, believed it an almost exclusively Jewish religious practice, & had literally no idea that as many as 60% of all American males had undergone genital mutilation.

Which is what it is, of course: mutilation. There is no difference between taking a scalpel & cutting off part of the healthy genitals of a female infant & taking a scalpel & cutting off part of the healthy genitals of a male infant. Male & female circumcision are carried out in many parts of the world by the same religions, or were until relatively recently, & for similar reasons. There is no society that practices female circumcision that does not also carry out the same practice on its males. The only difference being that female circumcision is illegal in just about every nation in the world & considered by us all to be just about the worst thing imaginable, whereas male circumcision is legal everywhere, & at most a source of amusement.

How did this come about? How did one of these come to be seen as the ultimate horror to all civilized folk & the other a respectable 'medical procedure' in the most powerful country in the world? Why did America of all places adopt such a practice when the rest of the developed world continued on as perfectly happily without it as they always had before?

To answer this, we have to go back a hundred years or more. In Europe, Victorian-era fear of sexuality, & the popularly held belief that masturbation resulted in physical & mental illness, led to straitjackets, electric shock devices, & the apparatus pictured above becoming commonly advertised in the backs of newspapers & widely implemented among the upper & middle classes - the logical end result of 1600 years of legalized Christianity.

In America, though, a different approach became widespread thanks largely to John Harvey Kellogg, an American medical doctor - & yes, the guy who invented the cornflake. Wikipedia tells us:

He was an especially zealous campaigner against masturbation; this was an orthodox view during his lifetime, especially the earlier part. Kellogg was able to draw upon many medical sources' claims such as "neither the plague, nor war, nor small-pox, nor similar diseases, have produced results so disastrous to humanity as the pernicious habit of onanism," credited to one Dr. Adam Clarke. Kellogg strongly warned against the habit in his own words, claiming of masturbation-related deaths "such a victim literally dies by his own hand," among other condemnations. He felt that masturbation destroyed not only physical and mental health, but the moral health of individuals as well. Kellogg also believed the practice of this "solitary-vice" caused cancer of the womb, urinary diseases, nocturnal emissions, impotence, epilepsy, insanity, and mental and physical debility; "dimness of vision" was only briefly mentioned.  Kellogg worked on the rehabilitation of masturbators, often employing extreme measures, even mutilation, on both sexes. He was an advocate of circumcising young boys to curb masturbation and applying phenol (carbolic acid) to a young woman's clitoris.

In his Plain Facts for Old and Young, he wrote: “ A remedy which is almost always successful in small boys is circumcision, especially when there is any degree of phimosis. The operation should be performed by a surgeon without administering an anesthetic, as the brief pain attending the operation will have a salutary effect upon the mind, especially if it be connected with the idea of punishment, as it may well be in some cases. The soreness which continues for several weeks interrupts the practice, and if it had not previously become too firmly fixed, it may be forgotten and not resumed... ” 

As an alternative to this he also recommended

“..the application of one or more silver sutures in such a way as to prevent erection. The prepuce, or foreskin, is drawn forward over the glans, and the needle to which the wire is attached is passed through from one side to the other. After drawing the wire through, the ends are twisted together, and cut off close. It is now impossible for an erection to occur, and the slight irritation thus produced acts as a most powerful means of overcoming the disposition to resort to the practice ”

Well, the long & the short of it is that Kellogg's ideas took off, & in America became the norm. Circumcision became accepted for men raised there - as it had been for Jewish men for countless generations - as something your parents did to you as a child 'For Your Own Good' - because they cared for you - & continues to this day to be referred to as a 'medical' procedure, even though for practically all of the infant boys who are made to suffer the ordeal, there is no medical reason or benefit to it whatsoever, & in fact introduces life-threatening dangers: in America more than 117 boys die of complications arising from circumcision each year.


Returning to the initial topic, here's the thing:

HIV is spread by the exchange of bodily fluids. Circumcision does nothing to prevent the exchange of bodily fluids. Why then is the WHO supporting this program? If you still have to use a condom after being circumcised so as not to catch AIDS, why bother circumcising African men in the first place?


The U.S has the highest rate of HIV infections in the western world, yet also has the highest rate of male circumcision of all developed countries: clearly, circumcision does not prevent the spread of HIV. It seems likely that whatever health benefits show up statistically are more likely to be related to the religious life an orthodox Jew or Muslim is practising rather than the act of circumcision itself. It seems also likely that the impetus for the WHO program is coming from sources with a religious &/or imperialistic agenda. The whole thing is very strange, very scary, & very suspicious too.

Please don't mutilate your children. And please don't support the mutilation of other peoples children, either.


http://www.who.int/hiv/topics/malecircumcision/en/

http://www.avoiceformen.com/featured/politics-money-and-ideology-whos-circumcision-plan/

Can't Get Enough Of Girl Writes What

Latest video from the presently reigning coolest woman in the world, GirlWritesWhat. Let me take this opportunity to state, for the record, that I agree with & support everything I have ever heard her say one hundred & ten percent. That means I could backtrack 10% & still be 100% behind her. Hear her roar:

Lord Shiva & Parvati

"The inseparability of the male and female entities in the Universe was recognized by Indians as early as the Vedic times. This beautiful sentiment is manifested through the representation of Goddess Parvathi (Uma) and Lord Siva (Maheswara), known as “the parents of the Universe”, as UmaMaheswara or Ardhanareeswara (half-man, half-woman). This representation indicates that while both the female and male forms have their own individual identities and strengths, they are still interdependent. They complement each other and, it is only by combining their individual strengths that they are able to create and nurture life in the Universe. This divine couple is considered by Indians as an example to be emulated by all human beings.

"Import of Western thought on individualism over the last few centuries has led to the erosion of many wonderful Indian values, including the one of male-female unity. Equating individualism with independence has caused many cracks in the much-envied Indian family structure. Radical feminist ideas, which are based on anti-male, anti-family ideologies, have resulted in a gender war. Consequently, divorce rates, numbers of fatherless children, violence against men and numbers of men committing suicides are all on the rise. The time has come to remind ourselves of our pride-worthy Indian values and to restore stability in the society by promoting harmony between men and women."


-  Uma Challa, https://uchalla.wordpress.com/. 

On Not Being A Victim

by Mary Gaitskill

In the early 1970s, I had an experience that could be described as acquaintance rape. Actually, I have had two or three such experiences, but this one most dramatically fits the profile. I was sixteen and staying in the apartment of a slightly older girl I’d just met in a seedy community center in Detroit. I’d been in her apartment for a few days when an older guy she knew came over and asked us if we wanted to drop some acid. In those years, doing acid with complete strangers was consistent with my idea of a possible good time, so I said yes. When I started peaking, my hostess decided she had to go see her boyfriend, and there I was, alone with this guy, who, suddenly, was in my face.

He seemed to be coming on to me, but I wasn’t sure. My perception was quite loopy, and on top of that he was black and urban-poor, which meant that I, being very inexperienced and suburban-white, did not know how to read him the way I might have read another white kid. I tried to distract him with conversation, but it was hard, considering that I was having trouble with logical sentences, let alone repartee. During one long silence, I asked him what he was thinking. Avoiding my eyes, he answered, “That if I wasn’t such a nice guy you could really be getting screwed.” The remark sounded to me like a threat, albeit a low-key one. But instead of asking him to explain himself or to leave, I changed the subject. Some moments later, when he put his hand on my leg, I let myself be drawn into sex because I could not face the idea that if I said no, things might get ugly. I don’t think he had any idea how unwilling I was–the cultural unfamiliarity cut both ways–and I suppose he may have thought that all white girls just kind of lie there and don’t do or say much. My bad time was made worse by his extreme gentleness; he was obviously trying very hard to please me, which, for reasons I didn’t understand, broke my heart. Even as inexperienced as I was, I sensed that in his own way he intended a romantic encounter.

For some time afterward I described this event as “the time I was raped.” I knew when I said it that the statement wasn’t quite accurate, that I hadn’t, after all, said no. Yet it felt accurate to me. In spite of my ambiguous, even empathic feelings for my unchosen partner, unwanted sex on acid is a nightmare, and I did feel violated by the experience. At times I even flat-out lied about what had happened, grossly exaggerating the violence and the threat–not out of shame or guilt, but because the pumped-up version was more congruent with my feelings of violation than the confusing facts. Every now and then, in the middle of telling an exaggerated version of the story, I would remember the actual man and internally pause, uncertain of how the memory squared with what I was saying or where my sense of violation was coming from–and then I would continue with my story. I am ashamed to admit this, both because it is embarrassing to me and because I am afraid the admission could be taken as evidence that women lie “to get revenge.” I want to stress that I would not have lied that way in court or in any other context that might have had practical consequences; it didn’t even occur to me to take my case to court. My lies were told not for revenge but in service of what I felt to be the metaphorical truth.

_______

When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I could not bear to watch movies or read books that I considered demeaning to women in any way; I evaluated everything I saw or read in terms of whether it expressed a "positive image" of women. I was a very PC feminist before the term existed, and, by the measure of my current understanding, my critical rigidity followed from my inability to be responsible for my own feelings. In this context, being responsible would have meant that I let myself feel whatever discomfort, indignation, or disgust I experienced without allowing those feelings to determine my entire reaction to a given piece of work. In other words, it would have meant dealing with my feelings and what had caused them, rather than expecting the outside world to assuage them. I could have chosen not to see the world through the lens of my personal unhappiness and yet maintained a kind of respect for my unhappiness. For example, I could have decided to avoid certain films or books because of my feelings without blaming the film or book for making me feel the way I did.

I have changed a lot from the PC teenager who walked out of movies that portrayed women in a demeaning light. As I've grown older, I've become more confident of myself and my ability to determine what happens to me, and, as a result, those images no longer have such a strong emotional charge. I don't believe they will affect my life in any practical sense unless I allow them to do so.

I am not idealistic enough to hope that we will ever live in a world without rape and other forms of sexual cruelty; I think men and women will always have to struggle to behave responsibly. But I think we could make the struggle less difficult by changing the way we teach responsibility and social conduct. To teach a boy that rape is "bad" is not as effective as making him see that rape is a violation of his own masculine dignity as well as a violation of the raped woman. It's true that children don't know big words and that teenage boys aren't all that interested in their own dignity. But these are things that children learn more easily by example than by words, and learning by example runs deep.

___

A few years ago I invited to dinner at my home a man I'd known casually for two years. We'd had dinner and comradely drinks a few times. I didn't have any intention of becoming sexual with him, but after dinner we slowly got drunk and were soon floundering on the couch. I was ambivalent not only because I was drunk but because I realized that although part of me was up for it, the rest of me was not. So I began to say no. He parried each "no" with charming banter and became more aggressive. I went along with it for a time because I was amused and even somewhat seduced by the sweet, junior-high spirit of his manner. But at some point I began to be alarmed, and then he did and said some things that turned my alarm into fright. I don't remember the exact sequence of words or events, but I do remember taking one of his hands in both of mine, looking him in the eyes, and saying, "If this comes to a fight you would win, but it would be very ugly for both of us. Is that really what you want?"

His expression changed and he dropped his eyes; shortly afterward he left.

I consider that small decision to have been a responsible one because it was made by taking both my vulnerable feelings and my carnal impulses into account. When I spoke, my words came from my feeling of delicacy as well as from my capacity for aggression. And I respected my friend as well by addressing both sides of his nature. It is not hard for me to make such decisions now, but it took me a long time to get to this point. I only regret that it took so long, both for my young self and for the boys I was with, under circumstances that I now consider disrespectful to all concerned.

 ___________

Originally published in Harper's Magazine, March 1994. The full article, which is long but very much worth your time, can be found here:
http://genedseminars.umb.edu/engl273-2/spg09/documents/HarpersMagazine-1994-03-0001592.pdf

The Reformed Buddhist

Just a shout out to & plug for a new blog I've discovered, TheReformedBuddhist.com by Muso, an entertaining sort who writes in equal parts about Zen Buddhism & Men's Rights - a unique mix which brings with it some insights that resonate with me.

A recent post, Socially Acceptable Bigotry: Men are Humans Too, had this well-put together list of present-day imbalances & inequalities facing men that I felt deserved a repost:

Unsheltered Homeless (2009) [1]
Women – 12,000 – 4%
Men – 240,000 –  96%

Life Expectancy (2006) [2]
Women – 80.8 Years
Men – 75.7 Years

Suicides (2008) [3]
Women – 7,585  - 19%
Men – 28,450  - 81%

Deaths by Homicide (2004) [4]
Women – 3,856 – 20%
Men – 14,717 – 80%

Deaths from Cancer (2004) [4]
Women – 269,819
Men – 290,069

Deaths from HIV/AIDS (2004) [4]
Women – 3,357
Men – 8,756

Federal Funds for Sex Specific Cancer Research [5]
Women – Breast Cancer – $631,000,000  - 40,000 Deaths
Men – Prostate Cancer – $300,000,000  - 33,000 Deaths

Deaths on the Job (2010) [6]
Women – 355  - 7%
Men – 4,192  - 93%

Injuries on the Job (2007) [10]
Women – 36%
Men – 64%

College Enrollment (2009) [7]
Women – 58%  - 11,658,000
Men – 42%  - 8,770,000

Affirmative Action Education Programs (Gender Specific) [8]
Women – Yes
Men – No

Unemployment Rates (2010) [9]
Women – 8.6% –  6,199,000
Men – 10.5%  - 8,626,000

Average Hours Worked Per Week (2010) [11]
Women – 36.1
Men – 40.2

High School Graduation Rates (2005) [12]
Women – 72%
Men – 65%

Incarceration Rates (2009) [13]
Women – 114,979  - 7%
Men – 1,502,490  - 93%

Child Custody Rates [14]
Women – 11,268,000 custodial mothers
Men – 2,907,000 custodial fathers

US Military Deaths From 1950 – 2010 [15][16][17]
Women – 139  - 0.01%
Men – 100,063  - 99.9%

Federally Funded Battered Shelters [18]
Women – 2,000+ $300,000,000 per year
Men – None – $0

Federally Funded Health Offices and Research 1970 – Present (not including cancer research) [19]
Women Only – Office, Projects and Programs 70+ – Funds – $100,000,000,000
Men Only – None – $0

Forced Selective Service
Women – No
Men – Yes

Drug and Alcohol Addiction and Abuse Rates (2010) [20]
Women – 5.8%
Men – 12.2%

 
I like the cut of his jib. 


There's a lot of good stuff over there, some of which you will most likely be familiar with, but dealt with extremely well, clearly & comprehensively, & with a lot of good humour thrown in. Like the writer, it comes from a good place.

*

The Top Ten

It's been a few years now I've been on this road, whatever this road is, & in that time I've read anything & everything I can on the subject of misandry in our society, along with the kinds of feminism it originates with, false-rape accusations, the domestic violence & sexual harassment industries, political correctness, biological differences between the sexes, evolutionary theory etc etc. I am of the opinion the following ten are the most accessible, fair-minded, well-researched & persuasive books I have so far found, & the ones I recommend to anyone who asks. There is no-one I can think of in our present society who would not benefit from reading one or all of them.

So, in no particular order of preference:

Who Stole Feminism? by Christina Hoff Sommers
The War Against Boys by Christina Hoff Sommers
Why Men Rule: A Theory Of Male Dominance by Steven Goldberg
The Myth Of Male Power by Warren Farrell
Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind The Pay Gap, And What Women Can Do About It by Warren Farrell
Spreading Misandry: The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture by Paul Nathanson & Katherine K.Young
Legalising Misandry: From Public Shame To Systemic Discrimination Against Men by Paul Nathanson & Katherine K.Young
Brain Sex: The Real Difference Between Men & Women by Anne Moir & David Jessel
The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine
Heterophobia: Sexual Harrassment And The Future Of Feminism by Daphne Patai

There are other books out there, of course, but each of these says a specific essential point better than anything else I've read, & you won't go far wrong with them.


I used to be a feminist. These are the books that helped me change my mind.