The men's rights movement (MRM)
is a branch of the
men's movement
The men's movement is a social movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, primarily in Western countries, which consists of groups and organizations of men and their allies who focus on gender issues and whose activities range from self-help a ...
. The MRM in particular consists of a variety of groups and individuals known as men's rights activists (MRAs) who focus on
social issue
A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's control. Soc ...
s, such as specific government services, which adversely impact, or in some cases, structurally
discriminate against, men and boys. Common topics discussed within the men's rights movement include
family law
Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations.
Overview
Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include:
* Marriag ...
, such as
child custody
Child custody is a legal term regarding '' guardianship'' which is used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent or guardian and a child in that person's care. Child custody consists of ''legal custody'', which is the ri ...
,
alimony
Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide ...
and marital property distribution;
homelessness
Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...
; reproduction;
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death.
Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
;
domestic violence against men;
false accusations of rape;
circumcision
Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...
; education;
conscription
Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...
;
social safety net
A social safety net (SSN) consists of non-contributory assistance existing to improve lives of vulnerable families and individuals experiencing poverty and destitution. Examples of SSNs are previously-contributory social pensions, in-kind and foo ...
s; and health policies. The men's rights movement branched off from the
men's liberation movement
The men's liberation movement is a social movement critical of the restraints which society imposes on men. Men's liberation activists are generally sympathetic to feminist standpoints.
The men's liberation movement is not to be confused with ...
in the early 1970s, with both groups comprising a part of the larger
men's movement
The men's movement is a social movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, primarily in Western countries, which consists of groups and organizations of men and their allies who focus on gender issues and whose activities range from self-help a ...
.
Many scholars describe the movement or parts of the movement as a
backlash against feminism.
Sectors of the men's rights movement have been described by some scholars and commentators as
misogynistic
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practis ...
,
hateful,
and, in some cases, as advocating
violence against women
Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence (GBV) or sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), violent, violence primarily committed by Man, men or boys against woman, women or girls. Such violence is often considered hat ...
.
In 2018, the
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...
categorized some men's rights groups as being part of a hate ideology under the umbrella of
male supremacy while stating that others "focused on legitimate grievances".
In 2024,
UN Women
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity charged with working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women is charged with advocating for the righ ...
claimed that men's rights movements as a whole are
anti-rights movements
Anti-rights movements are movements, groups or campaigns that actively work against the recognition, protection, and advancement of human rights. These movements can target a variety of rights and marginalized groups. They often use misinformation ...
.
[
]
History
Forerunners
The term "men's rights" was used at least as early as February 1856 when it appeared in ''Putnam's Magazine
''Putnam's Monthly Magazine of American Literature, Science and Art'' was a monthly periodical published by G. P. Putnam's Sons featuring American literature and articles on science, art, and politics.
Series
The magazine had three incarnation ...
''. The author was responding to the issue of women's rights, calling it a "new movement for social reform, and even for political revolution", which the author proposed to counter with men's rights. Ernest Belfort Bax
Ernest Belfort Bax (; 23 July 1854 – 26 November 1926) was an English people, English barrister, journalism, journalist, philosophy, philosopher, Men's rights movement, men's rights advocate, Socialism, socialist, and historian.
Biography
Er ...
wrote ''The Legal Subjection of Men'' in 1896, deriding the women's rights movement as a farcical effort by women—the "privileged sex"—to prove they were "oppressed."[
* Reprinted as ]
Three loosely connected men's rights organizations formed in Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
in the interwar period
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...
. The ''League for Men's Rights'' was founded in 1926 with the goal of "combating all excesses of women's emancipation". In 1927, the ''Justitia League for Family Law Reform'' and the ''Aequitas World's League for the Rights of Men'' split from the ''League of Men's Rights''. The three men's rights groups opposed women's entry into the labor market
Labour economics seeks to understand the functioning and dynamics of the Market (economics), markets for wage labour. Labour (human activity), Labour is a commodity that is supplied by labourers, usually in exchange for a wage paid by demanding ...
and what they saw as the corrosive influence of the women's movement on social and legal institutions. They criticized marriage and family laws, especially the requirement to pay spousal and child support to former wives and illegitimate children, and supported the use of blood tests to determine paternity. ''Justitia'' and ''Aequitas'' issued their own short-lived journals ''Men's Rightists Newspaper'' and ''Self-Defense'' where they expressed their views that were heavily influenced by the works of Heinrich Schurtz, Otto Weininger, and Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels. The organizations ceased to exist before 1939.
Split from men's liberation movement
The modern men's rights movement emerged from the men's liberation movement
The men's liberation movement is a social movement critical of the restraints which society imposes on men. Men's liberation activists are generally sympathetic to feminist standpoints.
The men's liberation movement is not to be confused with ...
, which appeared in the first half of the 1970s when scholars began to study feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
ideas and politics. These scholars acknowledged men's institutionalized power while critically examining the consequences of hegemonic masculinity
In gender studies, hegemonic masculinity is part of Raewyn Connell, R. W. Connell's Gender theory, gender order theory, which recognizes multiple masculinities that vary across time, society, culture, and the individual. Hegemonic masculinity is d ...
, believing that both men and women suffered in a patriarchal
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...
society. The men's liberation movement was led by psychologists who argued that femininity and masculinity were socially formed behaviors and not the result of gene
In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...
s. They tried to balance the two ideas that men were responsible for oppressing women, but also being oppressed themselves by strict gender roles.In the mid-1970s, this movement began to focus on the oppression of men and less on the effects of sexism on women. In the late 1970s, the movement split into two separate strands with opposing views: the pro-feminist men's movement and the anti-feminist men's rights movement, which sees men as an oppressed group.In the 1980s, the men's rights movement focused only on the ways that sex roles discriminated against males rather than the oppression it inflicted on both genders. Author Herb Goldberg claimed that the U.S. was a "matriarchal society" because women have the power to transgress gender roles and assume masculine and feminine roles, while males are still constrained to the purely masculine role. Reneé Blank and Sandra Slipp in 1994 compiled the testimonies of men who believed they were discriminated against based on their sex and race. This occurred in a time where women were entering the work force and obtaining managerial positions.A major concern of the men's rights movement has been the issue of fathers' rights
The fathers' rights movement is a social movement whose members are primarily interested in issues related to family law, including child custody and child support, that affect fathers and their children. Many of its members are fathers who de ...
. In the 1980s and 1990s, men's rights activists opposed societal changes sought by feminists and defended the patriarchal gender order in the family, schools and the workplace. Sociologist Michael Kimmel
Michael Scott Kimmel (born February 26, 1951) is an American retired sociologist specializing in gender studies. He was Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Stony Brook University in New York and is the founder and editor of the academic jou ...
states that their earlier critiques of gender roles "morphed into a celebration of all things masculine and a near infatuation with the traditional masculine role itself".
Organizations
One of the first major men's rights organizations was the Coalition of American Divorce Reform Elements, founded by Richard Doyle in 1971, from which the Men's Rights Association spun off in 1973. Free Men Inc. was founded in 1977 in Columbia, Maryland
Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most-populous community in Maryland ...
, spawning several chapters over the following years, which eventually merged to form the National Coalition of Free Men (known since 2008 as the National Coalition for Men). Men's Rights, Inc. was also formed in 1977, the National Organization for Men was founded in 1983, and Fathers and Families was formed in 1994. In the United Kingdom, a men's rights group calling itself the UK Men's Movement began to organize in the early 1990s. The Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF) was founded in 2005, and in 2010 claimed to have over 30,000 members.
Men's rights groups have formed in some European countries during periods of shifts toward conservatism
Conservatism is a Philosophy of culture, cultural, Social philosophy, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, Convention (norm), customs, and Value (ethics and social science ...
and policies supporting patriarchal family and gender relations. In the United States, the men's rights movement has ideological ties to neoconservatism
Neoconservatism (colloquially neocon) is a political movement which began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist Democratic Party along with the growing New Left and ...
. Men's rights activists have received lobbying
Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...
support from conservative organizations and their arguments have been covered extensively in neoconservative media.
Fringe political parties focusing on men's rights have been formed including, but not limited to, the Australian Non-Custodial Parents Party (Equal Parenting), the Israeli Man's Rights in the Family Party, and the Justice for Men and Boys party in the UK.
Online presence
The men's rights movement has become more vocal and more organized since the development of the Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
, where activists tend to congregate. Men's rights websites and forums have proliferated within the online manosphere
The manosphere is a varied collection of websites, blogs, and online forums promoting masculinity, misogyny, and opposition to feminism. Communities within the manosphere include men's rights activists (MRAs), incels (involuntary celibates), ...
. While some of the groups have adversarial relationships with one another, they tend to be united in their misogyny
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...
, promotion of masculinity, and opposition to feminism.
Men's rights proponents often use the red pill and blue pill metaphor from the film ''The Matrix'' to identify each other online; those who accept the idea that men are the oppressed victims of a misandrist society are said to have "taken the red pill". Paul Elam's site '' A Voice for Men'' (AVFM) functions as a central point of discussion and organization for men's rights issues. Other sites dedicated to men's rights are ''Fathers Rights Foundation'' '' MGTOW.com'' (Men Going Their Own Way), and several Reddit
Reddit ( ) is an American Proprietary software, proprietary social news news aggregator, aggregation and Internet forum, forum Social media, social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit content to the ...
forums such as /r/MensRights and /r/TheRedPill.
Ideology
Many scholars consider the men's rights movement a backlash
Backlash may refer to:
Literature
* '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi
* ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston
* Backlash (Marc Slayton), a comic book character from ...
or countermovement to feminism.
The men's rights movement generally incorporates points of view that reject feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
and profeminist ideas. Men's rights activists (MRAs) say feminism has surpassed its original goals and is now harming men. MRAs believe that men are victims of feminism and " feminizing" influences in society, and that entities such as public institutions now discriminate against men.
Men's rights activists argue that society has historically benefited women and femininity at the expense of men, an idea termed gynocentrism. MRAs believe that patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...
is a feminist myth and that feminism creates unfair advantages for women, causing men to become a disadvantaged group. They argue that men are not only oppressed, but also degraded and vilified; this idea of misandry or hatred of men is commonly used by MRAs to dispute feminist accusations of misogyny
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...
. Feminism is portrayed as having degenerated from its original purpose as a movement for basic equality into an outlet for vindictive, irrational women to gain power and express their hatred of men.
MRAs dispute that men as a group have institutional power and privilege and believe that men are victimized relative to women, including in regard to what had been considered feminist concerns, such as domestic violence
Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...
, pornography
Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...
, prostitution
Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...
, and sexism in mass media. The movement is divided between those who consider sexism equally harmful to both men and women and those who view men as disadvantaged relative to women, who benefit from "female privilege".
Men's rights groups generally reject the notion that feminism is interested in men's problems, and some men's rights activists have viewed the women's movement as a plot to deliberately conceal discrimination against men and promote gynocentrism. Warren Farrell
Warren Thomas Farrell (born June 26, 1943) is an American political scientist, activist, and author of seven books on men's and women's issues. Farrell initially came to prominence in the 1970s as a supporter of second wave feminism but has ...
and Herb Goldberg have argued that women hold the true power in society through their roles as the primary caregivers of children, and that male power is an illusion.
Sociologist Michael Messner states that the early men's rights movement "appropriates the symmetrical language of sex roles" first used by feminists, which implies a false balance
False balance, known colloquially as bothsidesism, is a media bias in which journalists present an issue as being more balanced between opposing viewpoints than the evidence supports. Journalists may present evidence and arguments out of pr ...
of institutional power between men and women. Masculinities scholar Jonathan A. Allan described the men's rights movement as a reactionary movement that is defined by its opposition to women and feminism but has not yet formulated its own theories and methodologies outside of antifeminism
Antifeminism or anti-feminism is opposition to feminism. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, antifeminists opposed particular policy proposals for women's rights, such as the right to vote, educational opportunities, property righ ...
.
Topics
Men's rights proponents are concerned with a wide variety of matters, some of which have spawned their own groups or movements, such as the fathers' rights movement
The fathers' rights movement is a social movement whose members are primarily interested in issues related to family law, including child custody and child support, that affect fathers and their children. Many of its members are fathers who de ...
, concerned specifically with divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...
and child custody
Child custody is a legal term regarding '' guardianship'' which is used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent or guardian and a child in that person's care. Child custody consists of ''legal custody'', which is the ri ...
issues. Some, if not all, men's rights issues stem from gender roles
A gender role, or sex role, is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex.
Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. The specifics regarding these gende ...
and, according to sociologist Allan G. Johnson, patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...
.
Adoption
Men's rights activists seek to expand the rights of unwed fathers in case of their child's adoption. Warren Farrell argues that in failing to inform the father of a pregnancy, an expectant mother deprives an adopted child of a relationship with the biological father. He proposes that women be legally required to make every reasonable effort to notify the father of her pregnancy within four to five days. In response, philosopher
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
James P. Sterba agrees that, for moral reasons, a woman should inform the father of the pregnancy and adoption, but this should not be imposed as a legal requirement as it might result in undue pressure, for example, to have an abortion.
Anti-dowry laws
Men's rights organizations such as Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF) say that women misuse legislation meant to protect them from dowry death and bride burnings. SIFF is a men's rights organization in India that focuses on abuse of anti-dowry laws against men. SIFF has campaigned to abolish Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code
The Indian Penal Code (IPC) was the official criminal code of the Republic of India, inherited from British India after independence. It remained in force until it was repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in December 2023 ...
, which penalizes cruelty by husbands (and the husband's family) in pursuit of dowry or for driving a wife to suicide. SIFF states anti-dowry laws are regularly being abused to settle petty disputes in marriage and that they regularly receive calls from many men who allege their wives have used false dowry claims to imprison them.
Child custody
Family law
Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations.
Overview
Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include:
* Marriag ...
is an area of deep concern among men's rights groups. Men's rights adherents argue that the legal system and family court
Family courts were originally created to be a Court of Equity convened to decide matters and make orders in relation to family law, including custody of children, and could disregard certain legal requirements as long as the petitioner/plaintif ...
s discriminate against men, especially in regards to child custody
Child custody is a legal term regarding '' guardianship'' which is used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent or guardian and a child in that person's care. Child custody consists of ''legal custody'', which is the ri ...
after divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...
.[ Also available throug]
HeinOnline.
/ref> They believe that men do not have the same contact rights or equitable shared parenting
Shared parenting, shared residence, joint residence, shared custody, joint physical custody, equal parenting time (EPT) is a child custody arrangement after divorce or separation, in which both parents share the responsibility of raising their ...
rights as their ex-spouse and use statistics on custody awards as evidence of judicial bias against men. Men's rights advocates seek to change the legal climate for men through changes in family law, for example by lobbying for laws that make joint custody
Joint custody is a form of child custody pursuant to which custody rights are awarded to both parents. Joint custody may refer to '' joint physical custody'', ''joint legal custody'', or both combined.
In joint legal custody, both parents of a ...
the default custody arrangement except in cases where one parent is unfit or unwilling to parent. They have appropriated the feminist rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...
of "rights" and "equality" in their discourse, framing child custody as a matter of basic civil rights. Men's rights activists argue that the lack of contact with their children makes fathers less willing to pay child support
Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (state or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is ...
. Others cite the discredited parental alienation syndrome
Parental alienation syndrome (PAS) is a term introduced by child psychiatrist Richard Gardner in 1985 to describe signs and symptoms he believed to be exhibited by children who have been alienated from one parent through manipulation by the ot ...
(PAS) or parental alienation
Parental alienation is a theorized process through which a child becomes estranged from one parent as the result of the psychological manipulation of another parent. The child's estrangement may manifest itself as fear, disrespect or hostility tow ...
as a reason to grant custody to fathers; they claim that mothers alienate children from their fathers and make false accusations of abuse in order to seek revenge against fathers.
Scholars and critics assert that empirical research does not support the notion of a judicial bias against men and that men's rights advocates distort statistics in a way that ignores the fact that the majority of men do not seek custody, and the overwhelming majority of custody cases are settled outside of court.
Academics critique the rhetorical framing of custody decisions, stating that men's rights advocates appeal for "equal rights" without ever specifying the legal rights they believe have been violated. Scholars and critics assert that the men's rights rhetoric of children's "needs" that accompanies their plea for fathers' rights is merely to deflect criticism that they are motivated by self-interest and masks men's rights advocates' own claims. Critics argue that abusive men use allegations of parental alienation to counter mothers' legitimate concerns about their and their chlldren's safety. Deborah Rhode argues that, contrary to the claims of some men's rights activists, research shows that joint legal custody does ''not'' increase the likelihood that fathers will pay child support or remain involved parents. Michael Flood argues that the fathers' and men's rights movement seems to prioritize re-establishing paternal authority over the children, rather than actual involvement, and that they prioritize principles of equality over the positive parenting and well-being of the children.
Circumcision
Observers have stated that the ' intactivist' movement, an anti-circumcision movement, has some overlap with the men's rights movement. Most men's rights activists object to routine neonatal circumcision
Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...
and say that female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM) (also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision) is the cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva for non-medical reasons. Prevalence of female ge ...
has received more attention than male circumcision.
The controversy around non-consensual circumcision of children for non-therapeutic reasons is not exclusive to the men's rights movement, and involves concerns of feminists and medical ethics
Medical ethics is an applied branch of ethics which analyzes the practice of clinical medicine and related scientific research. Medical ethics is based on a set of values that professionals can refer to in the case of any confusion or conflict. T ...
. Some doctors and academics have argued that circumcision is a violation of the right to health and bodily integrity
Bodily integrity is the inviolability of the physical body and emphasizes the importance of personal autonomy, self-ownership, and self-determination of human beings over their own bodies. In the field of human rights, violation of the bodily int ...
, while others have disagreed.
Divorce
Men's rights groups in the United States began organizing in opposition to divorce reform and custody issues around the 1960s. Up until this time, husbands held legal power and control over wives and children. The men involved in the early organization claimed that family and divorce law discriminated against them and favored their wives. Men's rights leader Rich Doyle likened divorce courts to slaughterhouse
In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a mea ...
s, considering their judgements unsympathetic and unreasonable.
Men's rights activists have argued that divorce and custody laws violate men's individual rights to equal protection. Law professor Gwendolyn Leachman writes that this sort of framing "downplays the systemic biases that women face that justify protective divorce and custody laws".
Domestic violence
Men's rights groups describe domestic violence committed by women against men as a problem that goes ignored, under-reported, and under-researched, in part because men are reluctant to label themselves as victims. They say that women are as aggressive or more aggressive than men in relationships and that domestic violence is gender-symmetrical. They cite controversial family conflict research by Murray Straus and Richard Gelles as evidence of gender symmetry. Men's rights advocates argue that judicial systems too easily accept false allegations of domestic violence by women against male partners. Men's rights advocates have been critics of legal, policy and practical protections for abused women, campaigning for domestic violence shelters for battered men and for the legal system to be educated about women's violence against men. In the early 21st or late 20th century, the National Coalition for Free Men sued the Minnesota state, calling for funding to women's domestic violence programmes to be removed under the idea that they "discriminate against men".
In response to such claims, family violence scholar Richard Gelles published an article entitled "Domestic Violence: Not An Even Playing Field" and accused the men's rights movement of distorting his research findings on men's and women's violence to promote a misogynistic agenda. Many domestic violence scholars and advocates have rejected the research cited by men's rights activists as flawed,[Pdf.]
/ref> disputing their claims that such violence is gender symmetrical,[Pdf.]
/ref> saying that their focus on women's violence stems from a political agenda to minimize the severity of the problem of men's violence against women and children and to undermine services to abused women.
Education
Men's rights adherents describe the education of boys as being in crisis, with boys having reduced educational achievement and motivation compared to girls. Advocates blame the influence of feminism on education for what they believe is discrimination against and systematic oppression of boys in the education system. They critique what they describe as the "feminization" of education, stating that the predominance of female teachers, a focus on girls' needs, as well as a curricula and assessment methods that supposedly favour girls, have proved repressive and restrictive to men and boys.
Men's rights groups call for increased recognition of masculinity, greater numbers of male role models, more competitive sports, and the increased responsibilities for boys in the school setting. They have also advocated clearer school routines, more traditional school structures, including gender- segregated classrooms, and stricter discipline.
One primary characteristic of men's rights groups is the view of boys as a homogeneous group that shares common educational experiences; this means that it fails to account for how responses to educational approaches may differ by age, disability, culture, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, and class.
In Australia, men's rights discourse has influenced government policy documents. Compared to Australia, less impact has been noted in the United Kingdom, where feminists have historically had less influence on educational policy. However, Mary Curnock Cook, the British Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) chief executive, argued that in Britain "despite the clear evidence and despite the press coverage, there is a deafening policy silence on the issue. Has the women's movement now become so normalised that we cannot conceive of needing to take positive action to secure equal education outcomes for boys?"
Governmental structures
Men's rights groups have called for governmental structures to address issues specific to men and boys including education, health, work and marriage. Men's rights groups in India have called for the creation of a Men's Welfare Ministry and a National Commission for Men, or for the abolition of the National Commission for Women. In the United Kingdom, the creation of a Minister for Men analogous to the existing Minister for Women, has been proposed by David Amess
Sir David Anthony Andrew Amess ( ; 26 March 1952 – 15 October 2021) was a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Southend West from 1997 until Murder of David Amess, his murder in ...
, MP and Lord Northbourne
Baron Northbourne, of Betteshanger in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1884 for Walter James, 1st Baron Northbourne, Sir Walter James, 2nd Baronet, who had earlier represented Kingston upon H ...
, but was rejected by the government headed by Prime Minister Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
. In the United States, Warren Farrell
Warren Thomas Farrell (born June 26, 1943) is an American political scientist, activist, and author of seven books on men's and women's issues. Farrell initially came to prominence in the 1970s as a supporter of second wave feminism but has ...
heads a commission focused on the creation of a White House Council on Boys and Men as a counterpart to the White House Council on Women and Girls, which was formed in March 2009.
Health
Men's rights groups view the health issues faced by men, and their shorter life spans compared to women globally, as evidence of discrimination and oppression. They claim that feminism has led to women's health issues being privileged at the expense of men's. They highlight certain disparities in funding of men's health issues as compared to women's, stating that, for example, prostate cancer research receives less funding than breast-cancer research. However, women and minorities had typically been excluded from medical research until the 1990s. Viviana Simon states, "Most biomedical and clinical research has been based on the assumption that the male can serve as representative of the species." Medical scholars warn that such false assumptions are still prevalent. Contrary to antifeminist assertions, empirical findings suggest that gender bias against females remains the norm in medicine. Farrell argues that industrialization
Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...
raised the stress level of men while lowering the stress-level of women by pulling men away from the home and the family, and pushing women closer to home and family. He cites this an explanation why men are more likely to die from all 15 leading causes of death than women at all ages. He argues that the U.S. government having an Office of Research on Women's Health but no Office of Research on Men's Health, along with the U.S. federal government spending twice as much money on Women's health, shows that society considers men more disposable than women.
Scholars have critiqued these claims, stating, as Michael Messner puts it, that the poorer health outcomes are the heavy costs paid by men "for conformity with the narrow definitions of masculinity that promise to bring them status and privilege" and that these costs fall disproportionately on men who are marginalized socially and economically. According to Michael Flood, men's health would best be improved by "tackling destructive notions of manhood, an economic system which values profit and productivity over workers' health, and the ignorance of service providers", instead of blaming a feminist health movement. Genevieve Creighton & John L Oliffe have stated that men engage in positive health practices, such as reducing fat intake and alcohol, to conform to positive masculine ideals. Some have argued that biology contributes to the life-expectancy gap. For example, it has been found that females consistently outlive males among primates. Eunuchs, castrated before puberty, have shown to live with varying differences, more than other males, pointing to testosterone
Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and androgen in Male, males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testicles and prostate, as well as promoting se ...
levels playing a role in the life-expectancy gap. Luy and Gast found that the female–male life expectancy gap is primarily due to higher mortality rates among specific sub-populations of men. They therefore state that social programs should be narrowly targeted to those sub-populations, rather than to men as a whole.
Homelessness
Glen Poole, author of the book ''Equality For Men'', argues that homelessness is a gendered issue, saying that in Britain, most homeless people are male. A 2018 study focused on three Pennsylvania emergency departments found little difference in the number of men and women who self-reported as homeless; however, the study did not claim to reflect the homeless population in the United States as a whole. In 2022, most homeless individuals were male. Men are also more likely to be unsheltered than women. This may be partly due to the administrators of the homelessness system prioritizing vulnerability, age, or risk of violence over serving men and women equally. However, many reasons are found outside the homelessness system, like men being over-represented in the criminal justice system and more likely to drop out of school than women. For information on the homeless population of the United States as a whole, see Homelessness in the United States
In the United States, the number of homeless people on a given night in January 2024 was more than 770,000 according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Homelessness has increased in recent years, in large part due to an ...
.
Incarceration
Men's rights campaigners believe that men receive harsher treatment than women in criminal justice systems around the world. They cite the disproportionate number of men in prison as evidence of this. In the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, India and across the European Union, 90–95% of prison inmates are male. Studies have shown that, compared with women who commit similar crimes, men are more likely to be incarcerated, receive longer prison sentences, and have to serve a greater portion of their sentences. According to Warren Farrell, a man convicted of murder in the United States is twenty times more likely to receive a death sentence than a woman convicted of murder. There is also evidence that female sex offenders are treated with more leniency than their male counterparts. Farrell believes society considers women to be naturally more innocent and credible, and criticizes battered woman and infanticide
Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of re ...
defenses. He criticizes conditions in men's prisons and the lack of attention to prison male-to-male rape by authorities.
Military conscription
Men's rights activists argue that the sole military conscription
Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...
of men is an example of discrimination against men. Historically, most societies have only required men to be conscripted. According to David Benatar, "perhaps the most obvious example of male disadvantage is the long history of social and legal pressures on men, but not on women, to enter the military and to fight in war, thereby risking their lives and bodily and psychological health. Where the pressure to join the military has taken the form of conscription, the costs of avoidance have been self-imposed exile, imprisonment, physical assault or, in the most extreme circumstances, execution." Around 80 countries worldwide still use conscription in various forms, and most of these have a male-only draft. As of 2018, only two countries – Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
and Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
– required women to be conscripted under the same formal conditions as men.
In the United States, all males ages 18–25 are required to register for Selective Service
The Selective Service System (SSS) is an independent agency of the United States government that maintains a database of registered male U.S. citizens and other U.S. residents potentially subject to military conscription (i.e., the draft).
...
. Failure to do so can result in fines, imprisonment, and ineligibility for student loans and federal employment. Women are not required to register. In 1971, draft resisters in the United States initiated a class-action suit alleging that male-only conscription violated men's rights to equal protection under the US constitution. When the case, '' Rostker v. Goldberg'', reached the Supreme Court in 1981, they were supported by a men's rights group and multiple feminist groups, including the National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...
. However, the Supreme Court upheld the Military Selective Service Act, stating that "the argument for registering women was based on considerations of equity, but Congress was entitled, in the exercise of its constitutional powers, to focus on the question of military need, rather than 'equity'". The 2016 decision by Defense Secretary Ash Carter
Ashton Baldwin Carter (September 24, 1954 – October 24, 2022) was an American government official and academic who served as the 25th United States secretary of defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the B ...
to make all combat positions open to women relaunched debate over whether or not women should be required to register for the Selective Service System
The Selective Service System (SSS) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government that maintains a database of registered male U.S. Citizenship of the United States, citizens and o ...
. In the case '' National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System'', the Southern District Court of Texas ruled the male-only draft unconstitutional.
Paternity fraud
Men's and fathers' rights groups interest in "paternity fraud" or mistaken paternity falls into two main categories: men who are compelled to provide financial support for a child that has been proven by DNA testing not to be their biological offspring, and men who have been led to believe that the children they are raising are their own, and have subsequently discovered otherwise. They hold biological views of fatherhood, emphasizing the imperative of the genetic foundation of paternity rather than social aspects of fatherhood. They state that men should not be forced to support children fathered by another man, and that men are harmed because a relationship is created between a man and non-biological children while denying the children and their biological father of that experience and knowledge of their genetic history. In addition, they say non-biological fathers are denied the resources to have their own biological children in another relationship.
Men's rights activists support the use of one-parent consent paternity testing to reassure presumed fathers about the child's paternity; men's and fathers' rights groups have also called for compulsory paternity testing of all children. They have campaigned vigorously in support of men who have been shown by genetic testing
Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...
not to be the biological father, but who are nevertheless required to be financially responsible for them. Prompted by these concerns, legislators in certain jurisdictions have supported this biological view and have passed laws providing relief from child support payments when a man is proved not to be the father.[Pdf.]
Australian men's rights groups have opposed the recommendations of a report by the Australian Law Reform Commission and the National Health and Medical Research Council
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is the main statutory authority of the Australian Government responsible for medical research. It was the eighth largest research funding body in the world in 2016, and NHMRC-funded res ...
that would require the informed consent of both parents for paternity testing of young children, and laws that would make it illegal to obtain a sample for DNA testing without the individual's informed consent.
Estimates of the extent of misattributed paternity vary considerably. Some campaigners claim that between 10% and 30% of children are being parented by men who are unaware that they are not the biological father, but Professor Leslie Cannold writes that these numbers have been inflated by an order of magnitude, with about 1% seen in Australia and the UK, and 3% observed in the US. Sociologist Michael Gilding asserts that men's rights activists have exaggerated the rate and extent of misattributed paternity, which he estimates at about 1–3%. Gilding opposed as unnecessary calls for mandatory paternity testing of all children. Even the lowest estimates of the prevalence of paternity fraud suggest it affects tens of thousands of men in the US alone.
Rape
False accusations against men
Men's rights activists believe there are a significant number of false accusations of rape, and have proposed legal changes to protect men in those situations.
Men's rights proponents believe that the naming of the accused while providing the accuser (victim) with anonymity encourages abuse of this kind. Men's rights advocates have also claimed that rape "has been used as a scam." Studies from the United States, Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, and the Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
have found the percentage of estimated false or unsubstantiated rape allegations to be around 2% to 8%.
Whilst false accusations of rape often receive much online and media attention, the vast majority do not lead to conviction or wrongful jail time despite the claims of some organisations. A study from the British Home Office for example, shows that in the early 2000s, of 216 sexual assault cases that were classified as false allegations, only six led to an arrest and just two led to charges against the accused before ultimately being ruled as false.
To argue the issue of false accusations of rape, the categories of 'false' and 'unsubstantiated' are often conflated, such as the National Coalition for Men citing reports such as the 1996 FBI summary that finds a rate of 8% for unsubstantiated forcible rape, which is four times higher than the average for all index crimes as a whole. Experts emphasize that ''verified'' false allegations are a distinct category from unsubstantiated allegations, and conflating the two is fallacious. These figures are widely debated due to the questionable methodology and small sample sizes.[Gross, Bruce (Spring 2009)]
"False Rape Allegations: An Assault On Justice"
. ''The Forensic Examiner''
Sexual violence against men
Men's rights activists have also raised contention on the issue of sexual violence against men, especially in the context of the stigma surrounding male victims of rape and the legal troubles they face, including being counter-sued for rape, child support (see Hermesmann v. Seyer
''Hermesmann v. Seyer'' (''State of Kansas ''ex rel.'' Hermesmann v. Seyer'', 847 P.2d 1273 (Kan. 1993)) was a precedent-setting Kansas, United States, case in which Colleen Hermesmann successfully argued that a woman is entitled to sue the fathe ...
), and lack of action. Men's rights activists have also criticized the lack of attention towards prison male-to-male rape by authorities.
Criminalization of marital rape
Legislation and judicial decisions criminalizing marital rape
Marital rape or spousal rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one's spouse without the spouse's consent. The lack of consent is the essential element and doesn't always involve physical violence. Marital rape is considered a form of dome ...
are opposed by some men's rights groups in the United Kingdom, the United States and India. The reasons for opposition include concerns about false allegations related to divorce proceedings, and the belief that sex within marriage is an irrevocable part of the institution of marriage. In India, there has been anxiety about relationships and the future of marriage that such laws have given women "grossly disproportional rights". Virag Dhulia of the Save Indian Family Foundation, a men's rights organization, has opposed recent efforts to criminalize marital rape
Marital rape or spousal rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one's spouse without the spouse's consent. The lack of consent is the essential element and doesn't always involve physical violence. Marital rape is considered a form of dome ...
in India, arguing that "no relationship will work if these rules are enforced".
Critique of men's rights rape discourse
Feminist scholars Lise Gotell and Emily Dutton argue that content on the manosphere
The manosphere is a varied collection of websites, blogs, and online forums promoting masculinity, misogyny, and opposition to feminism. Communities within the manosphere include men's rights activists (MRAs), incels (involuntary celibates), ...
reveals anti-feminist arguments, including that sexual violence is a gender-neutral problem, feminists are responsible for erasing men's experiences of victimization, false allegations are widespread, and that rape culture is a feminist-produced moral panic. They contend it is important to engage his topicas there is a real danger that MRA (Men's Rights Activism) claims could come to define the popular conversation about sexual violence.
Reproductive rights
Men's rights campaigners assert that while a woman has several legal avenues to opt out of being a mother after conception (abortion, adoption, safe haven laws), a man has no choice in whether he becomes a father and is at the mercy of the mother's decision. Moreover, a man who fathers a child as a result of reproductive coercion
Reproductive coercion (also called coerced reproduction, reproductive control or reproductive abuse) is a collection of behaviors that interfere with decision-making related to reproductive health. These behaviors are often perpetrated by a curre ...
or a sexual assault by a woman can still be compelled to support the child financially. Cases in Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
, California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
and Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
have established that a male raped as a minor by a woman can be held legally responsible for a child that results from the assault, a situation the director of the National Center for Men described as "off-the-charts ridiculous" that "wouldn't be tolerated" if the genders were reversed. According to Warren Farrell, "''Roe v. Wade'' gave women the vote over their bodies. Men still don't have the vote over theirs—whether in love or war."
In consequence, some advocate for "paper abortion", which would allow the biological father, before the birth of the child, to opt out of any rights, privileges, and responsibilities toward the child, including financial support.
In 2006, the American National Center for Men backed ''Dubay v. Wells
''Dubay v. Wells'', or the Matt Dubay child support case, was an American legal case in 2006 between Matt Dubay and his ex-girlfriend Lauren Wells, both of Saginaw Charter Township, Michigan, Saginaw Township, Michigan. The case was dubbed "''Ro ...
'', a lawsuit which concerned whether men should have the opportunity to decline all paternity rights and responsibilities in the event of an unplanned pregnancy. Supporters argued that this would allow the woman time to make an informed decision and give men the same reproductive rights as women. The case and the appeal were dismissed, with the U.S. Court of Appeals (Sixth Circuit) stating that neither parent has the right to sever their financial responsibilities for a child and that "Dubay's claim that a man's right to disclaim fatherhood would be analogous to a woman's right to abortion rests upon a false analogy".
Social security and insurance
Men's rights groups argue that women are given superior social security and tax benefits than men. Warren Farrell states that men in the United States pay more into social security, but in total, women receive more in benefits, and that discrimination against men in insurance and pensions have gone unrecognized.
Suicide
Men's rights activists point to higher suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death.
Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
rates in men compared to women. In the United States for example, the male-to-female suicide death ratio varies, approximately, between 3:1 and 10:1, and some studies have shown a higher suicidal intent in men.
In Australia, 75% of suicides are male, with, on average, 6 men killing themselves each day.
Studies have also found an over-representation of women in attempted or incomplete suicides and men in complete suicides. This phenomenon, described as the " gender paradox in suicide," is argued to derive from a tendency for females to use less lethal methods and greater male access and use of lethal methods.
Prominent men's rights activists
Most men's rights activists in the United States are white, middle-class, heterosexual men. Prominent advocates include Warren Farrell
Warren Thomas Farrell (born June 26, 1943) is an American political scientist, activist, and author of seven books on men's and women's issues. Farrell initially came to prominence in the 1970s as a supporter of second wave feminism but has ...
, Herb Goldberg, Richard Doyle, and Asa Baber. There are also women in the movement, including Helen Smith, Christina Hoff Sommers, Erin Pizzey and Bettina Arndt.
Karen DeCrow
Karen DeCrow was an American attorney, author, and activist and feminist, who served as president of the National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...
from 1974 to 1977, she was also a strong supporter of equal rights for men in child custody
Child custody is a legal term regarding '' guardianship'' which is used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent or guardian and a child in that person's care. Child custody consists of ''legal custody'', which is the ri ...
decisions, arguing for a "rebuttable presumption" of shared custody after divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...
. She also asserted that men as well as women should be allowed the decision not to become a parent, and was an avid supporter of father's rights movements, and argued that domestic violence
Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...
is a "two-way street." As a result, DeCrow found she was "increasingly at odds with the organization she had once led, though she never broke with it."
Marc Angelucci
Marc Angelucci was an American attorney, men's rights activist, and the vice-president of the National Coalition for Men (NCFM). As a lawyer, he represented several cases related to men's rights issues, most prominently '' National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System'', in which the federal judge declared the male-only selective-service system unconstitutional, and ''Woods v. Horton'', which ruled that the California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...
had unconstitutionally excluded men from domestic violence victim protection programs.
Warren Farrell
Warren Farrell is an American educator, activist and author of seven books on men's and women's issues.
Farrell initially came to prominence in the 1970s as a supporter of second wave feminism; he served on the New York City Board of the National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...
(NOW). Generally considered the 'Father of Men's Rights Movement,'" Farrell advocates for "a gender liberation movement, with "both sexes walking a mile in each other's moccasins."
Herb Goldberg
Herb Goldberg was the author of the book ''What Men Still Don't Know About Women, Relationships, and Love'',''The Hazards of Being Male: Surviving the Myth of Masculine Privilege'' (1975), and ''What Men Really Want'' and ''Men's Secrets'' related to the formative men's movement
The men's movement is a social movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, primarily in Western countries, which consists of groups and organizations of men and their allies who focus on gender issues and whose activities range from self-help a ...
. He was a professor emeritus of psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
at California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degree programs, 122 m ...
and a practicing psychologist in Los Angeles.
Erin Pizzey
Erin Pizzey is an English men's rights advocate, domestic abuse
Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. In a broader sense, abuse including nonphysical abuse in such settings is called domestic abuse. The term "domestic violence" is often use ...
advocate and ex-feminist. She holds a controversial theory that most domestic violence between men and women is mutual and reciprocated. Pizzey has released two notable works, ''Scream Quietly or the Neighbours Will Hear'' and ''Prone to Violence.'' In the 2024 New Year Honours
The 2024 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...
she was named Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
.
Bettina Arndt
Bettina Arndt is an Australian men's right activist who was awarded the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
for gender equity in 2020. Despite heavy criticism, the Council of the Award of Australia decided not to strip her of the award.
Reception
Many authors have characterized the men's rights movement as misogynistic
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practis ...
. The Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...
has stated that while some of the websites, blogs and forums related to the movement "voice legitimate and sometimes disturbing complaints about the treatment of men, what is most remarkable is the misogynistic tone that pervades so many." After further research into the movement, the SPLC elaborated: "A thinly veiled desire for the domination of women and a conviction that the current system oppresses men in favor of women are the unifying tenets of the male supremacist worldview." Other studies have pointed towards men's rights groups in India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
trying to change or completely abolish important legal protections for women as a form of "patriarchal anxiety" as well as being hostile towards women. In 2024 UN Women
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity charged with working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women is charged with advocating for the righ ...
described men's rights, anti-gender and gender-critical movements as examples of anti-rights movements
Anti-rights movements are movements, groups or campaigns that actively work against the recognition, protection, and advancement of human rights. These movements can target a variety of rights and marginalized groups. They often use misinformation ...
and linked them to "hateful propaganda and disinformation to target and attempt to delegitimize people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and sex characteristics."
The venue for the first Men's Rights Conference in the US received death threats, calls, and demonstrations forcing the organizers to raise funds for extra security and eventually change the venue.
Professor Ruth M. Mann of the University of Windsor
The University of Windsor (UWindsor, U of W, or UWin) is a public university, public research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has approximately 17,500 students. The university was incorporated by ...
in Canada suggests that men's rights groups fuel an international rhetoric of hatred and victimization by disseminating misinformation via online forums and websites containing constantly-updated "diatribes against feminism, ex-wives, child support, shelters, and the family law and criminal justice systems." According to Mann, these stories reignite their hatred and reinforce their beliefs that the system is biased against men and that feminism is responsible for a large scale and ongoing "cover-up" of men's victimization. Mann says that although existing legislation in Canada acknowledges that men are ''also'' victims of domestic violence, men's rights advocates demand government recognition that men are equally or ''more'' victimized by domestic violence, claims not supported by the data. Mann also states that in contrast to feminist groups, who have advocated for domestic violence services on behalf of other historically oppressed groups in addition to women, such as individuals impacted by poverty, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...
, etc., men's rights groups have attempted to achieve their goals by actively opposing and attempting to dismantle services and supports put in place to protect abused women and children.
Other researchers such as Michael Flood have accused the men's rights movement, particularly the father's rights groups in Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, of endangering women, children, and even men who are at greater risk of abuse and violence.[Pdf.]
Flood states that the men's rights/father's rights groups in Australia pursue "equality with a vengeance" or equal policies with negative outcomes and motives in order to re-establish paternal authority over the well-being of children and women as well as positive parenting.
See also
* Anti-feminism
* Fathers' rights movement by country
* Honey badger (men's rights)
* Manosphere
The manosphere is a varied collection of websites, blogs, and online forums promoting masculinity, misogyny, and opposition to feminism. Communities within the manosphere include men's rights activists (MRAs), incels (involuntary celibates), ...
* Masculism
* Men's rights movement in India
The men's rights movement in India is composed of various independent men's rights organisations in India. Proponents of the movement support the introduction of gender-neutral legislation and repeal of laws that they believe are biased agai ...
* Men's studies
Men's studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to topics concerning men, masculinity, gender, culture, politics and sexuality. It academically examines what it means to be a man in contemporary society.
Origins
Sociologists ...
* Men Going Their Own Way
Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW ) is an anti-feminist, misogynistic, mostly online community that espouses male separatism from what they see as a gynocentric society that has been corrupted by feminism. MGTOW specifically advocate for men ...
* Paternal rights and abortion
* '' The Red Pill'', a 2016 documentary about the movement
* Toxic masculinity
The concept of toxic masculinity is used in academic and media discussions to refer to those aspects of hegemonic masculinity that are socially destructive, such as misogyny, homophobia, and violent domination. These traits are considered "toxi ...
* Violence against men
Violence against men comprises violent acts that are disproportionately (or exclusively) committed against men or boys. Violence against women is the opposite category, where acts of violence are targeted against the female gender.
Percepti ...
* '' The War Against Boys''
Footnotes
References
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Further reading
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{{Masculinism
Men's rights
Men's health
Criticism of feminism
Masculism
Manosphere
Antifeminism
Anti-rights movements