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Men on Strike: Why Men Are Boycotting Marriage, Fatherhood, and the American Dream - and Why It Matters
American society has become anti-male. Men are sensing the backlash and are consciously and unconsciously going “on strike.” They are dropping out of college, leaving the workforce and avoiding marriage and fatherhood at alarming rates. The trend is so pronounced that a number of books have been written about this “man-child” phenomenon, concluding that men have taken a vacation from responsibility simply because they can. But why should men participate in a system that seems to be increasingly stacked against them?
As Men on Strike demonstrates, men aren’t dropping out because they are stuck in arrested development. They are instead acting rationally in response to the lack of incentives society offers them to be responsible fathers, husbands and providers. In addition, men are going on strike, either consciously or unconsciously, because they do not want to be injured by the myriad of laws, attitudes and hostility against them for the crime of happening to be male in the twenty-first century. Men are starting to fight back against the backlash. Men on Strike explains their battle cry.
As Men on Strike demonstrates, men aren’t dropping out because they are stuck in arrested development. They are instead acting rationally in response to the lack of incentives society offers them to be responsible fathers, husbands and providers. In addition, men are going on strike, either consciously or unconsciously, because they do not want to be injured by the myriad of laws, attitudes and hostility against them for the crime of happening to be male in the twenty-first century. Men are starting to fight back against the backlash. Men on Strike explains their battle cry.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
180 people are currently reading
1722 people want to read
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Helen Smith
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August 18, 2020
Misandry.
mis•an•dry mĭ-săn′drē►
n. Hatred or mistrust of men.
n. Man-hatred; a bad opinion of man, as being unfair or oppressive toward women.
n. Hatred of men. Contrast misogyny and cf. misandrist.
Let me be clear here. I believe in equality.
This should not be a lot to ask for. Back a hundred years or more ago, there were popular and populist groups that made a point out of making laws EQUAL for both men and women.
Unfortunately, the original movement has passed by equality and has swung, like a pendulum, until the tables have turned.
If you don't believe me, you haven't been paying attention.
I repeat: I believe in equality.
When boys are not allowed to be anything but defective girls in schools (going on 40 years now), when the rate of suicide for boys between 15-20 has risen to 4 times that of women, and 6 times that of women for those men between 20-25, when fewer and fewer men are going into college, or once there, learn that they are despised, and never graduate, it should be a warning sign.
A simple little warning that something might be wrong.
Men aren't stupid, no matter what the media, their teachers, or their wives might say.
If I were in an auditorium right now, speaking with a large group of men, I would ask them to raise their hands to each of these questions, and put them down if it didn't apply:
"In the last year, have you been subject to verbal abuse from women or suspiciously feminist-sounding men such as 'all men are idiots', 'all men are assholes', 'don't be a man-child,' 'grow a pair', or, 'don't talk to me about your patriarchy bullshit' in person, the media, or by the little voice in your head?"
I'd wait, and see every man's hand go up. In my imagination, it'd be a stadium. Then I'd ask:
"How about the last month?"
All hands would remain up.
"The last week?"
Maybe a few hands would go down, but the rest would remain up.
Why don't we see men complaining about this? Because we're taught to be self-sacrificing, to put up with it, to not rock the boat, or because we're afraid of losing what few rights or privileges we might have left.
Ignoring the rate of suicide or the fact that men are NOT getting married all that often anymore, that somehow all the good men have disappeared, I have to ask:
If they're all such idiots and assholes, then why are they dropping off the workforce, the bedroom, or the classroom? Only 16% of teachers are men and it's dropping. Any kind of unfounded accusation can turn good teachers into unemployed teachers. The same goes for students on campus. There is no rigorous examination of proof, and public opinion is against all men anyway.
If we are rational about this, we can draw certain conclusions about people in general. Bad ones are pretty much cropping up at the same rate regardless of the sex of the offender, be it sexual abuse, prejudice, or just plain mean-spirited behavior. Assuming this is true, and there is a TON of evidence that it is, then the likelihood that men or boys are actually BAD PEOPLE is approximately the same as it has ever been. So why is 90% of the population of prisons just men? A corollary is of course the higher proportion of BLACK men, but the fact is there for all to see.
If most men are good, decent, and caring people, (WHICH THEY ARE), then we must assume that it is perception bias that is now fully arrayed against them. If all the teachers are women, and even if most women MEAN well, it only takes one teacher to ruin the life and/or prospects or the basic HOPE of any boy.
Add to this the obvious facts of MANY support groups and self-esteem seminars and pro-bono legal assistance and basic PUBLIC OPINION that is showered on girls and women, it might seem like society is doing really well for itself.
But there are few to none of those same support groups for boys or men. Not even the Boy Scouts is open only to boys any longer. Boys are derided for playing video games with other boys. They're no longer allowed spaces in public to hang out or they will automatically be broken up. They are isolated, ridiculed, and even if they work their way through this ... nastiness ... they are still forced to deal with natural biological desires in a world where women hold all the cards.
Look at it realistically. There is a double standard. Women are attracted to alpha males. Asshole loners who aren't alpha males are often mistaken for alpha males. But women only want alpha males. If they can't have one, they only want a man from the OLD patriarchal standard that will work themselves to death to support them.
Everyone else is pretty worthless. It's been over forty years since this turnaround began. Economically, socially, women are not only working more, they have SURPASSED PARITY with men. If we ignore the top 3% of the population making ungodly amounts of money, we're left with an economy with MUCH less opportunity for men than women. Almost all of the growing fields are designed for women. Check out how many hold positions that control hiring or middle management. They are encouraged to be the gatekeepers. Look at reality as it is now, and not what we believe it must be from how the media spins it.
When I was getting my degrees in college, I was astounded to see that I was only a single man out of ten women in my psychology courses. I thought this was a fantastic improvement. I thought the horrible patriarchy was going down.
It's true. I bought all the narratives. I even considered myself a feminist, always choking on the "extremist feminist movement"'s words and repeating to myself, "I believe in equality. I believe in equality." Of course, certain personal experiences made me believe I was an outlier, just someone who got some bad luck with women. I still believed in the ideals even if I couldn't trust the kinds of hate-speech coming out of the media or mainstream books.
I started shutting down and withdrawing from all the hate. I just had to believe that it was a passing phase. I withdrew from women. I was scared of them and the power they held over my reproductive rights. Even now, there are one million men in America who, even with proof that the children they're paying for are NOT EVEN THEIR OWN CHILDREN, the law is against them. They are forced into bonafide slavery. 400,000 cases of men being put into prison because they aren't able to pay child support in a modern-day version of debtor's prison is PERFECTLY NORMAL, right?
Divorce court automatically sides with the woman regardless of the situation. Men are guilty unless proven innocent and even that doesn't mean a thing. Infidelity by a wife makes no difference in child custody. For the 60 pro-bono support groups for women with legal or marital issues, there are a grand total of zip, zilch, and nada for men. If you want legal recourse, you have to pay out the nose.
Is this equality? A total disregard for both facts and basic decency?
Wait, isn't this just a few examples? Is it just America?
No. It's all around the world.
It might be time to ask a question: "Is there a problem here?"
Or better yet, maybe it might be time to opening up dialogue with men if you actually profess to love them.
Switching one horrible social problem with the reverse is not a solution. We all f***ing need each other.
So what about all those men who have given up? They are isolated, have no spaces in their own homes, are threatened by divorce by their wives and when they realize it is all a complete no-win situation for them, they GIVE UP. They withdraw. Or they have lots of anger that they try to anesthetize using WHATEVER.
Men aren't idiots. They all know something is deeply wrong. If you ask where all the good men have gone, I recommend simply ASKING them. That might require actually LISTENING to them, however.
I say we need to demand respect. If you want to have respect, you must give it. No more hurtful comments. No threats. The threats are REAL and they cut DEEP. Because I'll let you in on a little secret:
Men love their children. This is REAL. It goes against ALL the other narratives. If you drive them into a corner and make them feel helpless, because the law is entirely on YOUR side, then you've just made an enemy.
Respect your men. Understand that you cannot push them so far into a corner that they either give up on life or choose to avoid all women in the future. No one wins here. No one should ever have to go on strike or give up on their own lives.
I believe in equality. And I don't mean returning hatred for hatred.
Stop the very real misandry.
I totally recommend this review of this book... I probably wouldn't have read the book otherwise.
This Review
Please note, as I have noted, that both the author of this book and this other review are both women. If a man says this, he's being hysterical. Does anyone see the irony here?
mis•an•dry mĭ-săn′drē►
n. Hatred or mistrust of men.
n. Man-hatred; a bad opinion of man, as being unfair or oppressive toward women.
n. Hatred of men. Contrast misogyny and cf. misandrist.
Let me be clear here. I believe in equality.
This should not be a lot to ask for. Back a hundred years or more ago, there were popular and populist groups that made a point out of making laws EQUAL for both men and women.
Unfortunately, the original movement has passed by equality and has swung, like a pendulum, until the tables have turned.
If you don't believe me, you haven't been paying attention.
I repeat: I believe in equality.
When boys are not allowed to be anything but defective girls in schools (going on 40 years now), when the rate of suicide for boys between 15-20 has risen to 4 times that of women, and 6 times that of women for those men between 20-25, when fewer and fewer men are going into college, or once there, learn that they are despised, and never graduate, it should be a warning sign.
A simple little warning that something might be wrong.
Men aren't stupid, no matter what the media, their teachers, or their wives might say.
If I were in an auditorium right now, speaking with a large group of men, I would ask them to raise their hands to each of these questions, and put them down if it didn't apply:
"In the last year, have you been subject to verbal abuse from women or suspiciously feminist-sounding men such as 'all men are idiots', 'all men are assholes', 'don't be a man-child,' 'grow a pair', or, 'don't talk to me about your patriarchy bullshit' in person, the media, or by the little voice in your head?"
I'd wait, and see every man's hand go up. In my imagination, it'd be a stadium. Then I'd ask:
"How about the last month?"
All hands would remain up.
"The last week?"
Maybe a few hands would go down, but the rest would remain up.
Why don't we see men complaining about this? Because we're taught to be self-sacrificing, to put up with it, to not rock the boat, or because we're afraid of losing what few rights or privileges we might have left.
Ignoring the rate of suicide or the fact that men are NOT getting married all that often anymore, that somehow all the good men have disappeared, I have to ask:
If they're all such idiots and assholes, then why are they dropping off the workforce, the bedroom, or the classroom? Only 16% of teachers are men and it's dropping. Any kind of unfounded accusation can turn good teachers into unemployed teachers. The same goes for students on campus. There is no rigorous examination of proof, and public opinion is against all men anyway.
If we are rational about this, we can draw certain conclusions about people in general. Bad ones are pretty much cropping up at the same rate regardless of the sex of the offender, be it sexual abuse, prejudice, or just plain mean-spirited behavior. Assuming this is true, and there is a TON of evidence that it is, then the likelihood that men or boys are actually BAD PEOPLE is approximately the same as it has ever been. So why is 90% of the population of prisons just men? A corollary is of course the higher proportion of BLACK men, but the fact is there for all to see.
If most men are good, decent, and caring people, (WHICH THEY ARE), then we must assume that it is perception bias that is now fully arrayed against them. If all the teachers are women, and even if most women MEAN well, it only takes one teacher to ruin the life and/or prospects or the basic HOPE of any boy.
Add to this the obvious facts of MANY support groups and self-esteem seminars and pro-bono legal assistance and basic PUBLIC OPINION that is showered on girls and women, it might seem like society is doing really well for itself.
But there are few to none of those same support groups for boys or men. Not even the Boy Scouts is open only to boys any longer. Boys are derided for playing video games with other boys. They're no longer allowed spaces in public to hang out or they will automatically be broken up. They are isolated, ridiculed, and even if they work their way through this ... nastiness ... they are still forced to deal with natural biological desires in a world where women hold all the cards.
Look at it realistically. There is a double standard. Women are attracted to alpha males. Asshole loners who aren't alpha males are often mistaken for alpha males. But women only want alpha males. If they can't have one, they only want a man from the OLD patriarchal standard that will work themselves to death to support them.
Everyone else is pretty worthless. It's been over forty years since this turnaround began. Economically, socially, women are not only working more, they have SURPASSED PARITY with men. If we ignore the top 3% of the population making ungodly amounts of money, we're left with an economy with MUCH less opportunity for men than women. Almost all of the growing fields are designed for women. Check out how many hold positions that control hiring or middle management. They are encouraged to be the gatekeepers. Look at reality as it is now, and not what we believe it must be from how the media spins it.
When I was getting my degrees in college, I was astounded to see that I was only a single man out of ten women in my psychology courses. I thought this was a fantastic improvement. I thought the horrible patriarchy was going down.
It's true. I bought all the narratives. I even considered myself a feminist, always choking on the "extremist feminist movement"'s words and repeating to myself, "I believe in equality. I believe in equality." Of course, certain personal experiences made me believe I was an outlier, just someone who got some bad luck with women. I still believed in the ideals even if I couldn't trust the kinds of hate-speech coming out of the media or mainstream books.
I started shutting down and withdrawing from all the hate. I just had to believe that it was a passing phase. I withdrew from women. I was scared of them and the power they held over my reproductive rights. Even now, there are one million men in America who, even with proof that the children they're paying for are NOT EVEN THEIR OWN CHILDREN, the law is against them. They are forced into bonafide slavery. 400,000 cases of men being put into prison because they aren't able to pay child support in a modern-day version of debtor's prison is PERFECTLY NORMAL, right?
Divorce court automatically sides with the woman regardless of the situation. Men are guilty unless proven innocent and even that doesn't mean a thing. Infidelity by a wife makes no difference in child custody. For the 60 pro-bono support groups for women with legal or marital issues, there are a grand total of zip, zilch, and nada for men. If you want legal recourse, you have to pay out the nose.
Is this equality? A total disregard for both facts and basic decency?
Wait, isn't this just a few examples? Is it just America?
No. It's all around the world.
It might be time to ask a question: "Is there a problem here?"
Or better yet, maybe it might be time to opening up dialogue with men if you actually profess to love them.
Switching one horrible social problem with the reverse is not a solution. We all f***ing need each other.
So what about all those men who have given up? They are isolated, have no spaces in their own homes, are threatened by divorce by their wives and when they realize it is all a complete no-win situation for them, they GIVE UP. They withdraw. Or they have lots of anger that they try to anesthetize using WHATEVER.
Men aren't idiots. They all know something is deeply wrong. If you ask where all the good men have gone, I recommend simply ASKING them. That might require actually LISTENING to them, however.
I say we need to demand respect. If you want to have respect, you must give it. No more hurtful comments. No threats. The threats are REAL and they cut DEEP. Because I'll let you in on a little secret:
Men love their children. This is REAL. It goes against ALL the other narratives. If you drive them into a corner and make them feel helpless, because the law is entirely on YOUR side, then you've just made an enemy.
Respect your men. Understand that you cannot push them so far into a corner that they either give up on life or choose to avoid all women in the future. No one wins here. No one should ever have to go on strike or give up on their own lives.
I believe in equality. And I don't mean returning hatred for hatred.
Stop the very real misandry.
I totally recommend this review of this book... I probably wouldn't have read the book otherwise.
This Review
Please note, as I have noted, that both the author of this book and this other review are both women. If a man says this, he's being hysterical. Does anyone see the irony here?
January 29, 2018
My question to mothers of sons: What the hell are you doing to your boys?
FROM THE BOOK
The author can be read at her blogspot as well: www.drhelen.blogspot.com.
NOW ON MY MELODRAMATIC SOAP BOX:
Have the war against men gone too far?
What are the warning signs that dehumanizing actually rendered the opposite results of what was initially planned? Or is the result the exact agenda?
In a way, the situation can be compared to two major historical events:
1) Eugenics, which ultimately lead to the killing of an estimated 6 million Jews and 60 million other people during WWII; as well as the sterilization of thousands of ordinary citizens in America and Europe.
2) The killing of millions of girl-babies in China.
Positioned within a much broader global perspective, the current hostile environment, illustrated with shocking examples in the book, and playing itself out in America, can indirectly be linked to the more than 100 million people being killed during peace time through genocide, politics and famine by a communist economic model. Identity politics, encompassing feminism, were initially the brain child of the communist regimes. The American women's liberation in the 1900s was quite a different movement from the radical feminism executed by the Left since 1980. Radical feminism has become a war against men, with uninformed foot soldiers feeding the frenzy of a Leftist agenda. This is not a political opinion. The facts and stats are there for everyone to find and interpret in a sterile scientific way.
That's my opinion after reading this book. The ultimate conclusion will be that boy-babies might as well be killed at birth in the end. Better yet, with car stickers like "My body, my choice" aimed to promote women's rights only, the male fetus could be prenatally rendered null and void by the mother. Oh, but a few should be saved for later sperm-harvesting and then killed. Sperm donors.
Sperm donations could have brought a very interesting new dimension to this book, but sadly it was not even mentioned or explored. It's a $60 billion+ industry in America alone, with more than 500 registered sperm banks in operation. One Brit boasted about his 800+ children which he fathered through his own unofficial sperm donation FB page. A brother and sister got married in America, unaware that they were fathered by the same sperm donor. The relevance of the gazillion videos available on Youtube of the siblings finding each other is that in most cases the father is ONLY mentioned as the sperm donor. Some fathers rejoiced in meeting their off-springs, others just remain part of the woodwork of these children's history. It is very touching to witness the bonding of siblings upon meeting each other and listen to their thoughts on being donor-babies and their desire to meet their fathers or not. Sperm donation most likely will become a much bigger social factor in future, given the current situation.
When did gender equality turn into a radical witch-hunt against men? In my opinion it was the moment when legislation stripped men of their parental and human rights; when equality left the equation.*** OFF MY SOAPBOX!!!
Dr. Helen Smith leaves no stones unturned in Men on Strike: Why Men Are Boycotting Marriage, Fatherhood, and the American Dream - and Why It Matters . With informal and formal research studies and a multitude of books referenced, a grim picture emerges from the text. It is not meant to be melodramatic or alarmist, like yours truly so deliciously indulge in. In precise economic use of words, the facts are laid bare on what is happening with men in America and the social consequences already at play. Conversations and interviews with men strengthens the message considerably. Men share their reasons for opting out of a society that has declared them fair game after stripping them from their rights first.
It is clear from the thousands of less-known but existing international independent studies that irresponsible man-bashing by female interest groups confirm the unsuitability of women to rule the world. Matriarchal rule proves to be just as dangerous to the future of society than the patriarchal reign. Dishonest women is destroying the future of children. Are we as women honestly willing to stoop this low? (Nobody dares to voice this unsophisticated opinion of yours truly quite like this)
You think I'm melodramatic?
What do you think then of women who dishonestly accuse men of rape, abuse, fatherhood with clear financial gains as goal? Do you condone it? Do you deem it important to support them? I will have none of it! The economic and social devastation reads like a horror movie. We could have laughed about it if it wasn't so utterly tragic.
How is it possible that:
- a man is forced to pay alimony after his sperm was stolen in a hospital by a nurse? (actual court case in the book)
- a female teacher seducing a fifteen year old boy are not tried for statutory rape?
- girls dishonestly accuse male students of sexual abuse while boasting to their friends about their sexual adventures with intoxicated boys, admitting to have lied?
- woman threatening a man that she will accuse him of rape if he does not give her what she wants?(that happened in my presence)
- men preferring to go to jail rather than pay alimony to children they did not father?
- men being physically abused do not receive the same legal recognition as their counterparts. It's not talked about, yet the statistics are shocking.
One man, who took his case to the Supreme Court and lost, had this to say to the author:
He responded that he approached the problem of paternity fraud to the courts and legislature as a “civil rights issue.” That is, forcing a man to pay child support for another man’s child whom he is not willing to adopt is defacto slavery. He later won in another court case, and also managed to get laws changed in Georgia - references to the different laws an cases are provided.
This book sends a message to the millions of women who did not vote for a female candidate in the American presidential election and who rejected identity politics and turned their backs on the radical feminism taking over the political landscape. That's the good news. The concept of Women are from Venus, and men from Hell is rejected with the loathing it deserves.
One last note: If a man said what Dr. Helen Smith or I said, he could easily have been called misogynist, racist, sexist and silenced. If you haven't read American Communist Saul Alinsky's book Rules For Radicals you won't know what I am talking about. But what are women called who reject feminism in no uncertain terms? Traitors? Whatever. Call us what you like, we won't shut up. Then just get over yourselves. We're here to stay. There is a clear distinction between women campaigning for EQUAL RIGHTS, and radical feminism. Two very different goals.
Although many women wrote books on the issue, this book is the first one I have read that call a spade a spade without insulting or being condescending and reducing men to man-babies. Many of these books written by women have one goal in common and that is to reduce men to verbally stunted uncivilized semibarbarians who refuse to do what society expects of them: Marry women and shut the hell up. Their mantra: Women have rights, men have responsibilities.
For the first time a woman LISTENS and reports their side of the pancake objectively in this book, while scrutinizing the actions of women under a very bright spotlight. She respects herself and men enough to stand up for them and fight to restore their EQUAL RIGHTS. We woman are creating the chaos, we should clean it up. It is as simple as that.
Cleaning up means that dad will have to be allowed to leave the basement and enjoy the same privileges as mom, kids and dog upstairs.
DID YOU KNOW?
** 24 million boys are raised in fatherless homes in the USA?
** That less than 16 percent of elementary school teachers are male?
** 69% of mass media reporting on men are unfavorable?
** 4 out of every 5 suicides are males?
** more than one million men in the USA are forced to pay alimony to children they did not father?
Little boys have fewer role models to develop a positive self-esteem. Kathleen Parker in her book Save the Males question the role of television in which men are basically portrayed as goofballs or idiots. She correctly asks about children, "What message are they absorbing today when nearly every TV father is absent or absurd?" The long-run effect is that men are institutionalized in children's thinking as being stupid or unreliable.
After reading this book, you might think twice before wearing a t-shirt with 'Men are Stupid' printed on the front. You probably would rip that sticker 'My body, My choice' from your bumper and hope nobody will remember that you were that hypocritical and stupid to put it there. This book added a hollow ring to that sticker.
Man- and fatherhood are multidimensional concepts in modern society. It's not that simple anymore.
This book is a striking antidote to All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation by Rebecca Traister. This journalese and obvious man-hating ode lacked the objective honesty of Dr. Smith's book. I tried to point it out in that review.
FROM THE BLURB
Or better yet, could buy an egg from an egg-bank to have children on their own terms? Even if it was possible, he still needed someone/something to incubate the egg.
I think we women have a lot to think about. This is not a feminist-bashing book. It is a call to correct the imbalances in society and try to restore a fair balance for all. In the first place EQUAL RIGHTS should never have become a power struggle, a male genocide, with children paying the ultimate price.
*****
If you would like to explore a few ex-feminist stories (like this one of Dr. Helen Smith in this book), consider watching these videos:
Feminist Pretends To Be Male.. And Learns Important lesson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ2fR...
Cassie Jaye on Feminism and Men's Rights Activists (Part 1 of 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itSTz...
Part 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpGzg...
The Flipside of Feminism - (Suzanne Venker, NPR interview)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH-mj...
*****
FROM THE BOOK
If you are a woman, the main focus of this book is on men but you may find some of the information of interest. It may help you to understand more about what the typical men are going through in this country and why they don’t marry as readily anymore or go to college as often as they once did. Though you may disagree with much that is written here, keeping an open mind to how men actually feel and think as opposed to how the media, white knights and other women tell them how to think and feel may help you to understand how to connect with men in a more open and intimate way.You can either do the usual thing: shout down the messenger in an effort to silence her, run away and hide to avoid taking responsibility for your own actions, or woman-up and face the reality of what is happening right now. And to rub it in even further:
If we as women allow injustice to men today, who knows what will happen to us tomorrowThen a message to men:
My actual audience is the man who knows that something in today’s twenty-first century is amiss. He can’t put his finger on it exactly but feels deeply that modern society has turned its back on the average male. All around you, you hear the question, “Where have all the good men gone?” But you know instinctively that it’s the wrong question. The right one is “Why have all the good men gone on strike?”...I'm not here to summarize this book and prevent people from reading it. The entire book is quotable. It is an easy and fast read. I can only voice my opinion and hope more people will get to the book and study it carefully.
...Our sons, brothers, fathers, uncles and husbands will live in a world where they will not know due process, where a man can be jailed for no other reason than that a woman pointed a finger at him, or because he raised his voice to her or where he can be placed into involuntary servitude to pay for eighteen years for a child that is not his. (There are numerous examples in the book of actual court cases in which some of the more than one million men paying child support to non-biological children are referenced in this parental fraud cases. - my words)
This book will tell you why and tell you and society how to fix it. Because if we don’t, our society will never be the same. ...
Oops! Too late. This is already happening in the United States of America. Men are sensing the backlash against them and are consciously and unconsciously going “on strike.” They are dropping out of college, out of the workforce, and out of marriage and fatherhood at alarming rates. So much so that a number of books have been written about this phenomenon in recent years that look at the “man- child” of today and summarize that he and his arrested development have taken a vacation from responsibility because he can or because he can now get sex on demand. Or worse, these books discuss how his irresponsible behavior has harmed females, since his only purpose on earth is to serve women. Nothing could be further from the truth...
...They still seem to think that marriage and the concept of being grown-up has something to offer men. But when you look at the behavior and misinterpret the reasons behind it, the truth still remains elusive. They treat men more like resources that haven’t been extracted yet, rather than human beings who make rational decisions...
...Does she love him, his money, or his sperm? Men aren’t so sure, and the courts and legal system make it even more difficult.`...
Why invest so heavily in family life after all, if your children can be taken away from you or even turned against you so easily?
The author can be read at her blogspot as well: www.drhelen.blogspot.com.
NOW ON MY MELODRAMATIC SOAP BOX:
Have the war against men gone too far?
What are the warning signs that dehumanizing actually rendered the opposite results of what was initially planned? Or is the result the exact agenda?
In a way, the situation can be compared to two major historical events:
1) Eugenics, which ultimately lead to the killing of an estimated 6 million Jews and 60 million other people during WWII; as well as the sterilization of thousands of ordinary citizens in America and Europe.
2) The killing of millions of girl-babies in China.
Positioned within a much broader global perspective, the current hostile environment, illustrated with shocking examples in the book, and playing itself out in America, can indirectly be linked to the more than 100 million people being killed during peace time through genocide, politics and famine by a communist economic model. Identity politics, encompassing feminism, were initially the brain child of the communist regimes. The American women's liberation in the 1900s was quite a different movement from the radical feminism executed by the Left since 1980. Radical feminism has become a war against men, with uninformed foot soldiers feeding the frenzy of a Leftist agenda. This is not a political opinion. The facts and stats are there for everyone to find and interpret in a sterile scientific way.
That's my opinion after reading this book. The ultimate conclusion will be that boy-babies might as well be killed at birth in the end. Better yet, with car stickers like "My body, my choice" aimed to promote women's rights only, the male fetus could be prenatally rendered null and void by the mother. Oh, but a few should be saved for later sperm-harvesting and then killed. Sperm donors.
Sperm donations could have brought a very interesting new dimension to this book, but sadly it was not even mentioned or explored. It's a $60 billion+ industry in America alone, with more than 500 registered sperm banks in operation. One Brit boasted about his 800+ children which he fathered through his own unofficial sperm donation FB page. A brother and sister got married in America, unaware that they were fathered by the same sperm donor. The relevance of the gazillion videos available on Youtube of the siblings finding each other is that in most cases the father is ONLY mentioned as the sperm donor. Some fathers rejoiced in meeting their off-springs, others just remain part of the woodwork of these children's history. It is very touching to witness the bonding of siblings upon meeting each other and listen to their thoughts on being donor-babies and their desire to meet their fathers or not. Sperm donation most likely will become a much bigger social factor in future, given the current situation.
When did gender equality turn into a radical witch-hunt against men? In my opinion it was the moment when legislation stripped men of their parental and human rights; when equality left the equation.*** OFF MY SOAPBOX!!!
Dr. Helen Smith leaves no stones unturned in Men on Strike: Why Men Are Boycotting Marriage, Fatherhood, and the American Dream - and Why It Matters . With informal and formal research studies and a multitude of books referenced, a grim picture emerges from the text. It is not meant to be melodramatic or alarmist, like yours truly so deliciously indulge in. In precise economic use of words, the facts are laid bare on what is happening with men in America and the social consequences already at play. Conversations and interviews with men strengthens the message considerably. Men share their reasons for opting out of a society that has declared them fair game after stripping them from their rights first.
It is clear from the thousands of less-known but existing international independent studies that irresponsible man-bashing by female interest groups confirm the unsuitability of women to rule the world. Matriarchal rule proves to be just as dangerous to the future of society than the patriarchal reign. Dishonest women is destroying the future of children. Are we as women honestly willing to stoop this low? (Nobody dares to voice this unsophisticated opinion of yours truly quite like this)
You think I'm melodramatic?
What do you think then of women who dishonestly accuse men of rape, abuse, fatherhood with clear financial gains as goal? Do you condone it? Do you deem it important to support them? I will have none of it! The economic and social devastation reads like a horror movie. We could have laughed about it if it wasn't so utterly tragic.
How is it possible that:
- a man is forced to pay alimony after his sperm was stolen in a hospital by a nurse? (actual court case in the book)
- a female teacher seducing a fifteen year old boy are not tried for statutory rape?
One case involves a young man only fifteen years old named Nathaniel, who had sex with a thirty-four-year-old woman, Ricci, about five times. The woman got pregnant and, although in the state of California a minor under the age of sixteen cannot consent to sex, the court saw fit to force Nathaniel to pay child support to the woman who committed statutory rape against him- a serial-adulterous wife are not tried for adultery, but still win an alimony case? The adultery is ignored in court because she is a woman? (Remember the slogan "Justice is blind unless you're a man or a boy"?)
- girls dishonestly accuse male students of sexual abuse while boasting to their friends about their sexual adventures with intoxicated boys, admitting to have lied?
The consequences for a wrongly convicted student are devastating: Not only is he likely to be expelled, but he may well be barred from graduate or professional school and certain government agencies, suffer irreparable damage to his reputation, and still be exposed to criminal prosecution. — Peter Berkowitz in the Wall Street Journal
- woman threatening a man that she will accuse him of rape if he does not give her what she wants?(that happened in my presence)
- men preferring to go to jail rather than pay alimony to children they did not father?
- men being physically abused do not receive the same legal recognition as their counterparts. It's not talked about, yet the statistics are shocking.
While many men are taking a good look at the psychological and legal risks of marriage for themselves in this post-feminist era, many are also taking notice of the risks and lack of incentives of fatherhood. For it is not only in marriage that men have few rights but also many responsibilities; fatherhood and reproductive rights for men are also few and far between. And while reproduction may seem like an area more suited for women than men, nothing could be further from the truth. Paternity laws, the lack of choices that men have in their decisions for parenthood, and issues surrounding child support are also giving men cause to question whether they are full-fledged citizens in our society, or second-class citizens who are forced into involuntary servitude by the state and the women who profess to have once loved them.(Enslavement used to be based on race, now it's based on gender)
One man, who took his case to the Supreme Court and lost, had this to say to the author:
He responded that he approached the problem of paternity fraud to the courts and legislature as a “civil rights issue.” That is, forcing a man to pay child support for another man’s child whom he is not willing to adopt is defacto slavery. He later won in another court case, and also managed to get laws changed in Georgia - references to the different laws an cases are provided.
This book sends a message to the millions of women who did not vote for a female candidate in the American presidential election and who rejected identity politics and turned their backs on the radical feminism taking over the political landscape. That's the good news. The concept of Women are from Venus, and men from Hell is rejected with the loathing it deserves.
One last note: If a man said what Dr. Helen Smith or I said, he could easily have been called misogynist, racist, sexist and silenced. If you haven't read American Communist Saul Alinsky's book Rules For Radicals you won't know what I am talking about. But what are women called who reject feminism in no uncertain terms? Traitors? Whatever. Call us what you like, we won't shut up. Then just get over yourselves. We're here to stay. There is a clear distinction between women campaigning for EQUAL RIGHTS, and radical feminism. Two very different goals.
Although many women wrote books on the issue, this book is the first one I have read that call a spade a spade without insulting or being condescending and reducing men to man-babies. Many of these books written by women have one goal in common and that is to reduce men to verbally stunted uncivilized semibarbarians who refuse to do what society expects of them: Marry women and shut the hell up. Their mantra: Women have rights, men have responsibilities.
For the first time a woman LISTENS and reports their side of the pancake objectively in this book, while scrutinizing the actions of women under a very bright spotlight. She respects herself and men enough to stand up for them and fight to restore their EQUAL RIGHTS. We woman are creating the chaos, we should clean it up. It is as simple as that.
Cleaning up means that dad will have to be allowed to leave the basement and enjoy the same privileges as mom, kids and dog upstairs.
There was no sadder scene to a movie than in “Juno” when married guy Jason Bateman realized that in his entire huge house, he had only a large closet to keep all the stuff he loved. That hit me like a punch in the face. — Commenter Playstead at The Art of Manliness website in response to “The Decline of Male Space"One of the male interviewees in the book states: I foresee a nation of primarily single people by the latter half of the century, driven by the feminist movement and the obsessive focus to “empower” women over men."
DID YOU KNOW?
** 24 million boys are raised in fatherless homes in the USA?
** That less than 16 percent of elementary school teachers are male?
** 69% of mass media reporting on men are unfavorable?
** 4 out of every 5 suicides are males?
** more than one million men in the USA are forced to pay alimony to children they did not father?
Little boys have fewer role models to develop a positive self-esteem. Kathleen Parker in her book Save the Males question the role of television in which men are basically portrayed as goofballs or idiots. She correctly asks about children, "What message are they absorbing today when nearly every TV father is absent or absurd?" The long-run effect is that men are institutionalized in children's thinking as being stupid or unreliable.
After reading this book, you might think twice before wearing a t-shirt with 'Men are Stupid' printed on the front. You probably would rip that sticker 'My body, My choice' from your bumper and hope nobody will remember that you were that hypocritical and stupid to put it there. This book added a hollow ring to that sticker.
Man- and fatherhood are multidimensional concepts in modern society. It's not that simple anymore.
This book is a striking antidote to All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation by Rebecca Traister. This journalese and obvious man-hating ode lacked the objective honesty of Dr. Smith's book. I tried to point it out in that review.
FROM THE BLURB
As Men on Strike demonstrates, men aren’t dropping out because they are stuck in arrested development. They are instead acting rationally in response to the lack of incentives society offers them to be responsible fathers, husbands and providers. In addition, men are going on strike, either consciously or unconsciously, because they do not want to be injured by the myriad of laws, attitudes and hostility against them for the crime of happening to be male in the twenty-first century. Men are starting to fight back against the backlash. Men on Strike explains their battle cry.As far as reproduction is concerned, men start out with an unequal disposition. Have you considered the impact on society if men were able to use contraceptives (other than condoms and a few other destined-to-fail ones) to prevent fatherhood against his will?
Or better yet, could buy an egg from an egg-bank to have children on their own terms? Even if it was possible, he still needed someone/something to incubate the egg.
Our society, the media, the government, women, white knights and Uncle Tims have regulated and demanded that any incentives men have for acting like men be taken away and decried masculinity as evil. Now they are seeing the result. Men have been listening to what society has been saying about them for more than forty years; they are perverts, wimps, cowards, ass- holes, jerks, good-for-nothing, bumbling deadbeats and expendable. Men got the message; now they are acting accordingly. As you sow, so shall you reap.Have you given a thought to why sperm-banks are not as popular as was hoped? Simple. There's no male resource behind it to tap for social and financial servitude.(not in the book)
So now people are surprised when men are heading for the exits? They shouldn’t be surprised. Men have been pushed there for some time. We should actually be surprised that it has taken so long.
When a partner isolates their spouse from friends, associates, and public places, it’s called domestic abuse. When it’s done to an entire gender, it’s called feminism.Thinking women will find this book informative, eye-opening, and liberating! Most importantly, you will be proud of yourself for standing up for real CIVIL- and HUMAN RIGHTS for all. Men will find it useful for the hints provided by Dr. Smith to become engage in society again in a positive way.
I think we women have a lot to think about. This is not a feminist-bashing book. It is a call to correct the imbalances in society and try to restore a fair balance for all. In the first place EQUAL RIGHTS should never have become a power struggle, a male genocide, with children paying the ultimate price.
*****
If you would like to explore a few ex-feminist stories (like this one of Dr. Helen Smith in this book), consider watching these videos:
Feminist Pretends To Be Male.. And Learns Important lesson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ2fR...
Cassie Jaye on Feminism and Men's Rights Activists (Part 1 of 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itSTz...
Part 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpGzg...
The Flipside of Feminism - (Suzanne Venker, NPR interview)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH-mj...
*****
August 11, 2020
How do many people start their reviews when reading such a book? Oh, right: Unpopular Opinion Time!
Nowadays, everyone is supposed to be what society calls a feminist. Let me be clear here: I'm female and I want equality. BUT: if a woman wants a job (for example), she needs to be just as qualified as any male applicant. I'm also very much against simplified physical tests for females in the armed forces and police force (yes, it's happening). What I despise and loathe most of all, though, are women who don't really want what feminism was started for: they don't want equality - what they want is revenge.
People keep throwing around catchphrases about being inclusive and everyone having the right to be treated equally and fairly, yet it doesn’t seem to apply to (straight) men. You can’t change what color your skin has and you can’t change with what gender you’re born with, yet there is so much hostility nowadays towards men!
Thus has started a witch hunt resulting in men no longer being wanted. And it doesn't even matter what field we're talking about. Men aren't supposed to have an opinion, let alone voice one. Men aren't even supposed to have rights. From men being required to pay for children that aren't genetically theirs (a law that doesn't just exist in the US by the way), to fake rape allegations (which harm actual rape victims just as much).
Speaking of rape victims - despite this not being the book’s message, it’s one more example of the stakes being stacked against men if you ask me - I need to state how horrified I am about so little being reported, let alone being done about male rape victims and our culture that shames them and forces so many of them to keep quiet. Something that is deemed terrible and unacceptable when happening to women is done on an even larger scale to men and everyone is just OK with it (or keeping quiet)?! Seriously?!
Throughout history, there have been horrible men and they have done horrible things to women. Misogyny is real and terrible. Even today, although the situation has absolutely gotten better already. But the answer is not to do to men what men have done to women. Chiefly because most of today's men haven't done anything wrong. It’s stupid and counterproductive.
The result of all this fake feminism? Men don't want to get married, they don't want to start families. Old values go down the drain faster than you would believe. And while I don't think everyone needs to be in this state of perfect-happy-family-from-the-50s, I do see a problem in nobody wanting to get married and having any kids (though Earth might be thankful if we stop reproducing). Fewer and fewer men also go to college or universities (since academia is full of man-haters and yes, I can confirm the author's thesis from personal experience), which is a problem if we as a species actually want to progress because while we need female scientists, we also need male ones.
In short: balance is key and humanity is so far off balance, it's not even funny anymore.
This book doesn't necessarily want to be a guide-book offering solutions. Rather, the (female, by the way) author wants to show what is going wrong in the world and what the consequences are, thus gently nudging people to get back on track.
I honestly kept yelling „YES! EXACTLY“ while listening to the audiobook and was shocked, appalled, glad and relieved (yes, all at the same time) to find out I’m NOT the only one seeing this phenomenon and being against what is nowadays called feminism, that it is indeed real and indeed a problem.
I recently read a book about what this false feminism does to boys which is why I wanted to read this book about the adults those boys grow up into. I recommend reading both to anyone interested in a rounded-off reading experience and who doesn't shy away from looking at topics in a differentiated way instead of just blindly following hypes.
Nowadays, everyone is supposed to be what society calls a feminist. Let me be clear here: I'm female and I want equality. BUT: if a woman wants a job (for example), she needs to be just as qualified as any male applicant. I'm also very much against simplified physical tests for females in the armed forces and police force (yes, it's happening). What I despise and loathe most of all, though, are women who don't really want what feminism was started for: they don't want equality - what they want is revenge.
People keep throwing around catchphrases about being inclusive and everyone having the right to be treated equally and fairly, yet it doesn’t seem to apply to (straight) men. You can’t change what color your skin has and you can’t change with what gender you’re born with, yet there is so much hostility nowadays towards men!
Thus has started a witch hunt resulting in men no longer being wanted. And it doesn't even matter what field we're talking about. Men aren't supposed to have an opinion, let alone voice one. Men aren't even supposed to have rights. From men being required to pay for children that aren't genetically theirs (a law that doesn't just exist in the US by the way), to fake rape allegations (which harm actual rape victims just as much).
Speaking of rape victims - despite this not being the book’s message, it’s one more example of the stakes being stacked against men if you ask me - I need to state how horrified I am about so little being reported, let alone being done about male rape victims and our culture that shames them and forces so many of them to keep quiet. Something that is deemed terrible and unacceptable when happening to women is done on an even larger scale to men and everyone is just OK with it (or keeping quiet)?! Seriously?!
Throughout history, there have been horrible men and they have done horrible things to women. Misogyny is real and terrible. Even today, although the situation has absolutely gotten better already. But the answer is not to do to men what men have done to women. Chiefly because most of today's men haven't done anything wrong. It’s stupid and counterproductive.
The result of all this fake feminism? Men don't want to get married, they don't want to start families. Old values go down the drain faster than you would believe. And while I don't think everyone needs to be in this state of perfect-happy-family-from-the-50s, I do see a problem in nobody wanting to get married and having any kids (though Earth might be thankful if we stop reproducing). Fewer and fewer men also go to college or universities (since academia is full of man-haters and yes, I can confirm the author's thesis from personal experience), which is a problem if we as a species actually want to progress because while we need female scientists, we also need male ones.
In short: balance is key and humanity is so far off balance, it's not even funny anymore.
This book doesn't necessarily want to be a guide-book offering solutions. Rather, the (female, by the way) author wants to show what is going wrong in the world and what the consequences are, thus gently nudging people to get back on track.
I honestly kept yelling „YES! EXACTLY“ while listening to the audiobook and was shocked, appalled, glad and relieved (yes, all at the same time) to find out I’m NOT the only one seeing this phenomenon and being against what is nowadays called feminism, that it is indeed real and indeed a problem.
I recently read a book about what this false feminism does to boys which is why I wanted to read this book about the adults those boys grow up into. I recommend reading both to anyone interested in a rounded-off reading experience and who doesn't shy away from looking at topics in a differentiated way instead of just blindly following hypes.
June 27, 2013
This book is fantastic. Read it to protect the men in your life.
Book description:
American society has become anti-male. Men are sensing the backlash and are consciously and unconsciously going “on strike.” They are dropping out of college, leaving the workforce and avoiding marriage and fatherhood at alarming rates. The trend is so pronounced that a number of books have been written about this “man-child” phenomenon, concluding that men have taken a vacation from responsibility simply because they can. But why should men participate in a system that seems to be increasingly stacked against them?
As Men on Strike demonstrates, men aren’t dropping out because they are stuck in arrested development. They are instead acting rationally in response to the lack of incentives society offers them to be responsible fathers, husbands and providers. In addition, men are going on strike, either consciously or unconsciously, because they do not want to be injured by the myriad of laws, attitudes and hostility against them for the crime of happening to be male in the twenty-first century. Men are starting to fight back against the backlash. Men on Strike explains their battle cry.
Book description:
American society has become anti-male. Men are sensing the backlash and are consciously and unconsciously going “on strike.” They are dropping out of college, leaving the workforce and avoiding marriage and fatherhood at alarming rates. The trend is so pronounced that a number of books have been written about this “man-child” phenomenon, concluding that men have taken a vacation from responsibility simply because they can. But why should men participate in a system that seems to be increasingly stacked against them?
As Men on Strike demonstrates, men aren’t dropping out because they are stuck in arrested development. They are instead acting rationally in response to the lack of incentives society offers them to be responsible fathers, husbands and providers. In addition, men are going on strike, either consciously or unconsciously, because they do not want to be injured by the myriad of laws, attitudes and hostility against them for the crime of happening to be male in the twenty-first century. Men are starting to fight back against the backlash. Men on Strike explains their battle cry.
June 23, 2013
This is a hard book for me to review. I think that Dr. Smith gets the diagnosis right: she says that our culture has become increasingly hostile to men in light of an increasing pervasive push to empower women. The problem I have with this book is that her recommendation is for men to become selfishly protective of their rights. Is this a good response? I am not so sure. Would it not be better for both men and women to embrace their uniqueness and embrace their gender in a mutually respecting relationship that honors one another?
Dr. Smith notes that men have been increasingly withdrawing from society and retreating into a world of men-only living, video games, and marriage-free existence. I don't see how one can argue as the facts speak for themselves. Men are giving up and giving out the keys to the home, workplace, and culture. Men are enjoying fewer and fewer privileges in society while these same privileges are piling up for women. From college to child custody to due process men have allowed women to cow them into a place of submissive apology. This is, I believe, mostly true. Despite the urban myth, men are not earning as much as women, they are taking a back seat in the classroom and they are overwhelmingly favored in our court system. It's time to stop the feminist movement - it has largely succeeded and now is living in excess.
So what to do about it? Dr. Smith explores a range of options from fighting to "going Galt" (dropping out of society). Herein is the weakness of the book. Her stark libertarianism provides no basis, at least no moral basis, for what men should do in society. So rather than embrace the selfless role model we find in Christ and the Christian view of gender she treats the reader to a selfish model.
This book is one more brick in the wall of my opposition to libertarianism. There is so much I like about libertarianism. I believe it's the future of the Republican Party (if, of course, the Republican Party has a future). It's the only logical choice our secular culture will accept as a balance to the rising nanny state that Democrats offer. But at its core it's nothing more than selfishness made into a political worldview. "Men on Strike" is part and parcel of this sort of pragmatic selfishness.
Should you read it? Yes, you should. But keep in mind that replacing the left's insistence on "my rights" with the libertarian version of the same does not create a civil society.
Dr. Smith notes that men have been increasingly withdrawing from society and retreating into a world of men-only living, video games, and marriage-free existence. I don't see how one can argue as the facts speak for themselves. Men are giving up and giving out the keys to the home, workplace, and culture. Men are enjoying fewer and fewer privileges in society while these same privileges are piling up for women. From college to child custody to due process men have allowed women to cow them into a place of submissive apology. This is, I believe, mostly true. Despite the urban myth, men are not earning as much as women, they are taking a back seat in the classroom and they are overwhelmingly favored in our court system. It's time to stop the feminist movement - it has largely succeeded and now is living in excess.
So what to do about it? Dr. Smith explores a range of options from fighting to "going Galt" (dropping out of society). Herein is the weakness of the book. Her stark libertarianism provides no basis, at least no moral basis, for what men should do in society. So rather than embrace the selfless role model we find in Christ and the Christian view of gender she treats the reader to a selfish model.
This book is one more brick in the wall of my opposition to libertarianism. There is so much I like about libertarianism. I believe it's the future of the Republican Party (if, of course, the Republican Party has a future). It's the only logical choice our secular culture will accept as a balance to the rising nanny state that Democrats offer. But at its core it's nothing more than selfishness made into a political worldview. "Men on Strike" is part and parcel of this sort of pragmatic selfishness.
Should you read it? Yes, you should. But keep in mind that replacing the left's insistence on "my rights" with the libertarian version of the same does not create a civil society.
March 8, 2016
This book takes a fascinating look at society’s attack on men which is causing men to avoid marriage, skip going to college, not find a job and live alone.
The numerous reasons are a court system stacked against men in regards to paternity, a school system which is stacked against men and boys, a hostile work environment to men in many workplaces and women who” rule the roost” without regard to their partner.
I dig a little deeper into the reasons, below.
In over 90% of child custody cases the children go to the woman. Over 95% of those cases not only does the man lose the children but is forced to pay child support and spousal support. There are numerous examples of men who were forced to pay support when the child of his wife was not his own. There are stories of women who tricked men into having babies then later suing for child care and awarded it.
The school system favors books that girls like and make boys sit still. Boys like action and adventure books but those kinds of books seem to never enter a school. Boys are naturally more rambunctious than girls yet are forced to act like girls in schools. In many colleges, if a man is accused of a sexual assault he is dismissed from the school without any legal course. The author provides examples of falsely accused men who had their futures disturbed by a false charge.
Many companies have a large human resources section, populated with mostly women, that is very hostile to men. This has forced men to watch their “P’s and Q’s” at work. This caused some men to avoid work altogether.
The so called “man cave” which has been touted by television shows was revealed as a plot by the woman of the house to shelter out the husband from the rest of the house. Many of these “man caves’ are in basements and garages which are out of the way of the wife and kids. Some women are very manipulative. They know that at any cost men will avoid tears and tantrums.
Television and movies had tended for the last 30 or so years to make men appear as murderers, pedophiles or goofballs. This poor male role model image which the media has dished out has turned a lot of men weak and a lot of women less respectful of men than in the past.
The last chapter gives tons of resources to help combat the anti -male atmosphere which seemed to creep upon us.
The numerous reasons are a court system stacked against men in regards to paternity, a school system which is stacked against men and boys, a hostile work environment to men in many workplaces and women who” rule the roost” without regard to their partner.
I dig a little deeper into the reasons, below.
In over 90% of child custody cases the children go to the woman. Over 95% of those cases not only does the man lose the children but is forced to pay child support and spousal support. There are numerous examples of men who were forced to pay support when the child of his wife was not his own. There are stories of women who tricked men into having babies then later suing for child care and awarded it.
The school system favors books that girls like and make boys sit still. Boys like action and adventure books but those kinds of books seem to never enter a school. Boys are naturally more rambunctious than girls yet are forced to act like girls in schools. In many colleges, if a man is accused of a sexual assault he is dismissed from the school without any legal course. The author provides examples of falsely accused men who had their futures disturbed by a false charge.
Many companies have a large human resources section, populated with mostly women, that is very hostile to men. This has forced men to watch their “P’s and Q’s” at work. This caused some men to avoid work altogether.
The so called “man cave” which has been touted by television shows was revealed as a plot by the woman of the house to shelter out the husband from the rest of the house. Many of these “man caves’ are in basements and garages which are out of the way of the wife and kids. Some women are very manipulative. They know that at any cost men will avoid tears and tantrums.
Television and movies had tended for the last 30 or so years to make men appear as murderers, pedophiles or goofballs. This poor male role model image which the media has dished out has turned a lot of men weak and a lot of women less respectful of men than in the past.
The last chapter gives tons of resources to help combat the anti -male atmosphere which seemed to creep upon us.
May 31, 2013
Toward the end of this book on the challenges men face in an increasingly feminized society, Dr. Helen Smith quotes family law professor Michael Higdon who observes that "feminists used to complain about where one gender held all the cards over the other . .. now we have reversed the genders."
And yet to hear many feminists speak, you'd think misogyny remains a defining notion of American society -- even as divorce and custody laws, as Smith details, have become increasingly favorable to women. And such laws have caused men to go on strike, opting out of relationships and fatherhood. They fear that should those relationships end, their costs, both financial and emotional, will be unbearable. They might have pay alimony for ex-wives who have the means to support themselves or child support for children the are not allowed to raise -- and who may even be the offspring of another man.
Not just that where once media images all but exalted the working father, today we see all too many TV shows (and commercials) that denigrate the dad.
The book reads very well. I started reading in on Wednesday and finished it today. It is a welcome introduction to the problems men face in contemporary society and builds on the work of another smart woman, Norah Vincent, who after spending a year and a half disguised as a man, discovered that men too face considerable challenges.
Both women rely mostly on anecdotes to make their point which gives their books a certain emotional heft. Let us hope that Dr. Smith continues her research and works on a followup which provides more evidence of an increasing societal bias against men.
This book is a good start and a great read. I highly recommend it.
And yet to hear many feminists speak, you'd think misogyny remains a defining notion of American society -- even as divorce and custody laws, as Smith details, have become increasingly favorable to women. And such laws have caused men to go on strike, opting out of relationships and fatherhood. They fear that should those relationships end, their costs, both financial and emotional, will be unbearable. They might have pay alimony for ex-wives who have the means to support themselves or child support for children the are not allowed to raise -- and who may even be the offspring of another man.
Not just that where once media images all but exalted the working father, today we see all too many TV shows (and commercials) that denigrate the dad.
The book reads very well. I started reading in on Wednesday and finished it today. It is a welcome introduction to the problems men face in contemporary society and builds on the work of another smart woman, Norah Vincent, who after spending a year and a half disguised as a man, discovered that men too face considerable challenges.
Both women rely mostly on anecdotes to make their point which gives their books a certain emotional heft. Let us hope that Dr. Smith continues her research and works on a followup which provides more evidence of an increasing societal bias against men.
This book is a good start and a great read. I highly recommend it.
July 20, 2015
Dr. Helen Smith, a forensic psychologist, has written Men on Strike with a view to further the cause encompassing the movements like Masculism, Men’s Rights, Men’s Liberation etc. She writes with an intention to raise awareness about the detrimental state of the social liberty of American men. However, the book comes across as a fear-mongering device with the seemingly extreme cases of injustice against men being passed off as the median.
First, The book focuses on “atrocities” faced by married men while getting out of a marriage. Dr. Helen Smith argues that the alimony laws and laws related to child custody are unfairly biased towards women. Add to this, the umpteen sources of entertainment that are available to men, they are boycotting marriage. The portrayal of husbands in media as the dumb unambitious men, who are happy being relegated to a man cave in the basement, kills any incentive for single men to lose their freedom. Helen, further mentions the bias of the courts, to almost always place the custody of the child in the hand of the mother and charge huge alimony amounts to the man, is only adding to the fear men have of marriage.
The next aspect of the book focuses on the reason why men are avoiding going to colleges. The reason stated is that the colleges have become increasingly female dominated or feminized. Boys are being treated like ‘defective girls’. Further, the book claims that strict college rules ensure that any male can be expelled from college and even arrested for sexual assault, even if the sex was consensual. The law allegedly states that “an intoxicated person cannot legally consent to sexual contact.”. So, having sex with a woman who has had alcohol, is automatically counted as rape. The book claims that Colleges have now become privileged finishing schools for girls.
In the next part of the book, the author talks about the state of married men in their homes and why TV shows and commercials portray men as idiots, morons, objects of ridicule and humiliation, etc. The source of this apparently is that in marriage the woman generally dominates the house space and the man has freedom only in his man cave. The ban on All-Male clubs and general hostility or disapproval towards all-male groups curbs male freedom outside the home too.
In Conclusion, the book points out how the hostile environment against men has led them to stay away from the system. There are horrifying examples of 'an Illinois man who lost an appeal on his conviction as a sex offender for grabbing the arm of a 14-year-old girl because she had stepped directly in front of his car, causing him to swerve in order to avoid hitting her.’ or that of how 'There have been cases where women fished condoms out of the garbage or took the condom and used it to impregnate themselves.’ The book finally asks men to spread awareness of these cases and be prepared in order to fight back against the reclaiming the lost freedom.
Almost everyone has heard of the urban legend that Feminism was created by a man with an intention to keep women weak by reminding them of their weakness using the movement. Economists like Milton Friedman has stated that the oppressed classes of the society are kept down by policies of free handouts; which only provide the poor an incentive to stay poor rather than a chance to strive for economic freedom. So when you read this book, the urgency and the gradually increasing hateful tone used in this book makes you wonder if the author has an agenda. Apart from a few surveys most of the research in this book consists of only individual interviews, other bloggers’/writers’ opinions and anecdotes. Labeling women with strong views on feminism as 'Angry Women’, men who support them as 'White Knights’ and the men who do not oppose them as 'Uncle Tims’ is taking it too far. Even if the alleged crimes against men are rampant in America, the book fails to convince the reader. It has too little statistics and evidence for a very serious claim.
Having said that, the book does bring out certain extreme cases, which men should be at least aware of. Some people probably might be able to relate a diluted versions of these. That is where discretion is needed, as it is easy to be sucked into the extreme arguments placed in the book and believe them to be ubiquitous.
First, The book focuses on “atrocities” faced by married men while getting out of a marriage. Dr. Helen Smith argues that the alimony laws and laws related to child custody are unfairly biased towards women. Add to this, the umpteen sources of entertainment that are available to men, they are boycotting marriage. The portrayal of husbands in media as the dumb unambitious men, who are happy being relegated to a man cave in the basement, kills any incentive for single men to lose their freedom. Helen, further mentions the bias of the courts, to almost always place the custody of the child in the hand of the mother and charge huge alimony amounts to the man, is only adding to the fear men have of marriage.
The next aspect of the book focuses on the reason why men are avoiding going to colleges. The reason stated is that the colleges have become increasingly female dominated or feminized. Boys are being treated like ‘defective girls’. Further, the book claims that strict college rules ensure that any male can be expelled from college and even arrested for sexual assault, even if the sex was consensual. The law allegedly states that “an intoxicated person cannot legally consent to sexual contact.”. So, having sex with a woman who has had alcohol, is automatically counted as rape. The book claims that Colleges have now become privileged finishing schools for girls.
In the next part of the book, the author talks about the state of married men in their homes and why TV shows and commercials portray men as idiots, morons, objects of ridicule and humiliation, etc. The source of this apparently is that in marriage the woman generally dominates the house space and the man has freedom only in his man cave. The ban on All-Male clubs and general hostility or disapproval towards all-male groups curbs male freedom outside the home too.
In Conclusion, the book points out how the hostile environment against men has led them to stay away from the system. There are horrifying examples of 'an Illinois man who lost an appeal on his conviction as a sex offender for grabbing the arm of a 14-year-old girl because she had stepped directly in front of his car, causing him to swerve in order to avoid hitting her.’ or that of how 'There have been cases where women fished condoms out of the garbage or took the condom and used it to impregnate themselves.’ The book finally asks men to spread awareness of these cases and be prepared in order to fight back against the reclaiming the lost freedom.
Almost everyone has heard of the urban legend that Feminism was created by a man with an intention to keep women weak by reminding them of their weakness using the movement. Economists like Milton Friedman has stated that the oppressed classes of the society are kept down by policies of free handouts; which only provide the poor an incentive to stay poor rather than a chance to strive for economic freedom. So when you read this book, the urgency and the gradually increasing hateful tone used in this book makes you wonder if the author has an agenda. Apart from a few surveys most of the research in this book consists of only individual interviews, other bloggers’/writers’ opinions and anecdotes. Labeling women with strong views on feminism as 'Angry Women’, men who support them as 'White Knights’ and the men who do not oppose them as 'Uncle Tims’ is taking it too far. Even if the alleged crimes against men are rampant in America, the book fails to convince the reader. It has too little statistics and evidence for a very serious claim.
Having said that, the book does bring out certain extreme cases, which men should be at least aware of. Some people probably might be able to relate a diluted versions of these. That is where discretion is needed, as it is easy to be sucked into the extreme arguments placed in the book and believe them to be ubiquitous.
July 17, 2013
Must-read eye-opener for those who think women/girls are still getting short-changed by society.
March 1, 2014
This book is terribly researched. Most of the "sources" consist of quotes from comments on the author's own blog.
July 30, 2013
Dr. Smith brings up several valuable points:
1) Incentives matter.
2) Incentives really matter.
3) Incentives really matter to men. (Personally, I would expect that financial and legal incentives matter even more to men because men as a group seem less motivated by religion, baby hunger, and romantic emotional ideals.)
4) Today's feminism goes beyond pursuing equal opportunity and equal rights for the sexes; it actively seeks preferences and selected equal outcomes for women and unrealistically expects that men will submit to being thus disadvantaged without otherwise altering their behavior.
Reading some of the statistics and interviews in this book kept bringing this prophecy of Isaiah to mind:
"And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach."
Isaiah 4:1
I give this book only three stars because it is based heavily on internet comments and promotes mockery as a tool of social change. However, it's a valuable addition to the pop literature on gender relations, and I recommend it.
1) Incentives matter.
2) Incentives really matter.
3) Incentives really matter to men. (Personally, I would expect that financial and legal incentives matter even more to men because men as a group seem less motivated by religion, baby hunger, and romantic emotional ideals.)
4) Today's feminism goes beyond pursuing equal opportunity and equal rights for the sexes; it actively seeks preferences and selected equal outcomes for women and unrealistically expects that men will submit to being thus disadvantaged without otherwise altering their behavior.
Reading some of the statistics and interviews in this book kept bringing this prophecy of Isaiah to mind:
"And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach."
Isaiah 4:1
I give this book only three stars because it is based heavily on internet comments and promotes mockery as a tool of social change. However, it's a valuable addition to the pop literature on gender relations, and I recommend it.
May 19, 2014
Dr. Helen Smith’s Men on Strike is a largely disappointing book. At its core is an important message: that we need to start examining and rectifying the damage caused by misguided efforts to feminize men and boys, damage which often leaves them wholly at sea amidst rapidly changing social and economic conditions. Unfortunately, this message is largely buried in Dr. Smith’s own Ayn Rand-inflected libertarian ideology and her hysterical posture vis-à-vis a supposed “War on Men.”
While Dr. Smith is, by her own admission, writing a polemic and a call to action, Men on Strike would have benefitted greatly from a heavier reliance on statistics and large-scale studies rather than anecdotes drawn largely from e-mail, blog comments, and (I’m not joking here) guys hanging out at the gym. Indeed, given that so many of the men quoted in this work come across as whiny excuse-makers who should really just pull up their socks and get on with being men, one wonders why the author spends so much time blaming society and feminism (both of which admittedly are sometimes sources of some very misguided ideas about what it means or should mean to be a man in contemporary Western culture) and doesn’t turn a more stern eye on those men who simply fall back on the lazy response, namely, going “on strike,” dropping out of workforce competition, fatherhood, and/or marriage.
In some cases, Dr. Smith’s drumbeat warning of the approaching male apocalypse leads her to recruit some fairly dubious examples of systemic discrimination against men, the most notable being her ideas about the “man cave.” Dr. Smith clearly does not understand the man cave and its role in a man’s life. Yes, men like to be the masters of their domain, particularly if they are financing all or a good portion of said domain. But, really, most are more than happy to cede control of most of that domain, to have a space (even an attic or basement space) that is wholly their own. Most are happy to deal with the maintenance of their domain without having to have a real say, for example, in what color to paint the upstairs hallway.
Dr. Smith does toss out some good advice here and there. My own favorite is her caution to women not to ask men to talk about their relationships, which she asserts is “a relationship killer.” But that’s a bit of a no-brainer (pro tip: men don’t articulate, or probably even experience, their emotions and attitudes toward a relationship in the way that women do, so anything a man says on the relationship is going to be unsatisfactory and may earn him a failing grade, or it's going to be an ass-pull of an answer which he knows works from previous experience and which he will only use in a moment of weakness because it will of course lead to further discussion about said relationship, discussion which will quickly exhaust such nuggets of previous experience and leave the man deep in the weeds of unsatisfactory responses).
And Men on Strike does touch on issues that are real issues. Most notably, Dr. Smith discusses the ways in which current laws around divorce, paternity, and child custody can disadvantage men. But even on this score, Dr. Smith is a little too eager to point to the presence of such disadvantages as signs of a system that has turned against men rather than, the more obvious explanation, which is just that they are a sign that social, technological, and economic conditions have often outpaced laws governing divorce and parental rights, treating individuals as legally bound to certain obligations that may have made sense 40 years ago, but not always so much now.
All in all, this is probably a worthwhile book for someone interested in discussions of the male side of contemporary gender issues. And it does present a side which seems to be coming more vocal and is at least worth listening to. Unfortunately, this work has little insight to offer in terms of fixing these issues, either on the political or the personal levels.
While Dr. Smith is, by her own admission, writing a polemic and a call to action, Men on Strike would have benefitted greatly from a heavier reliance on statistics and large-scale studies rather than anecdotes drawn largely from e-mail, blog comments, and (I’m not joking here) guys hanging out at the gym. Indeed, given that so many of the men quoted in this work come across as whiny excuse-makers who should really just pull up their socks and get on with being men, one wonders why the author spends so much time blaming society and feminism (both of which admittedly are sometimes sources of some very misguided ideas about what it means or should mean to be a man in contemporary Western culture) and doesn’t turn a more stern eye on those men who simply fall back on the lazy response, namely, going “on strike,” dropping out of workforce competition, fatherhood, and/or marriage.
In some cases, Dr. Smith’s drumbeat warning of the approaching male apocalypse leads her to recruit some fairly dubious examples of systemic discrimination against men, the most notable being her ideas about the “man cave.” Dr. Smith clearly does not understand the man cave and its role in a man’s life. Yes, men like to be the masters of their domain, particularly if they are financing all or a good portion of said domain. But, really, most are more than happy to cede control of most of that domain, to have a space (even an attic or basement space) that is wholly their own. Most are happy to deal with the maintenance of their domain without having to have a real say, for example, in what color to paint the upstairs hallway.
Dr. Smith does toss out some good advice here and there. My own favorite is her caution to women not to ask men to talk about their relationships, which she asserts is “a relationship killer.” But that’s a bit of a no-brainer (pro tip: men don’t articulate, or probably even experience, their emotions and attitudes toward a relationship in the way that women do, so anything a man says on the relationship is going to be unsatisfactory and may earn him a failing grade, or it's going to be an ass-pull of an answer which he knows works from previous experience and which he will only use in a moment of weakness because it will of course lead to further discussion about said relationship, discussion which will quickly exhaust such nuggets of previous experience and leave the man deep in the weeds of unsatisfactory responses).
And Men on Strike does touch on issues that are real issues. Most notably, Dr. Smith discusses the ways in which current laws around divorce, paternity, and child custody can disadvantage men. But even on this score, Dr. Smith is a little too eager to point to the presence of such disadvantages as signs of a system that has turned against men rather than, the more obvious explanation, which is just that they are a sign that social, technological, and economic conditions have often outpaced laws governing divorce and parental rights, treating individuals as legally bound to certain obligations that may have made sense 40 years ago, but not always so much now.
All in all, this is probably a worthwhile book for someone interested in discussions of the male side of contemporary gender issues. And it does present a side which seems to be coming more vocal and is at least worth listening to. Unfortunately, this work has little insight to offer in terms of fixing these issues, either on the political or the personal levels.
February 14, 2017
Well, now - after Goodreads for some reason did not save my first review... let's try again!
If I could ask everyone to just read one book this year, it will be this one. It is now more important then ever. The fundamentalist-religion of third wave feminism contributed to making life unbearable for modern men and boys. And it does not look like it will be getting better any time soon! Both MGTOW and Men's Human Right's activists are gaining remarkably, but in the eyes of the general public the torment and tragedy knows intimately to every man, is ignored, and many still minimise it or blatantly pretend it does not exist.
As an egalitarian or if you prefer just a non-feminist, I implore you please, check this book out it might give you hope that a better future IS possible.
If I could ask everyone to just read one book this year, it will be this one. It is now more important then ever. The fundamentalist-religion of third wave feminism contributed to making life unbearable for modern men and boys. And it does not look like it will be getting better any time soon! Both MGTOW and Men's Human Right's activists are gaining remarkably, but in the eyes of the general public the torment and tragedy knows intimately to every man, is ignored, and many still minimise it or blatantly pretend it does not exist.
As an egalitarian or if you prefer just a non-feminist, I implore you please, check this book out it might give you hope that a better future IS possible.
August 2, 2013
Wow! Awesome book on men's rights or lack of rights in 21st century modern American society. Also, provides useful information on how to start fighting back on this issue that threatens modern society.
November 7, 2015
I used to consider myself a feminist but mistakenly thought feminism meant equality between the sexes. In today's culture, it means female privilege, and I believe discrimination against men is every bit as bad as discrimination against women--and I want no part of it.
Amen, sister. An eye-opening read, especially as the media bangs the "War on Women" drum in this election year, Dr. Smith draws attention to both the visible and lesser-known ways (particularly in the realms of family law and reproductive rights) American culture is shunting men to the sidelines. The book is not as scholarly as I had originally expected, thinking it to be more along the lines of Christina Hoff Sommers' The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men, but Smith seems to intend it as the opening salvo of a resistance movement, to encourage further research, thought, and activism, and the anecdotal style suits that purpose.
July 31, 2013
A must read! Revealing and a call to action!
January 4, 2014
Very interesting perspective on modern society and how incentives are changing for both genders. Highly recommended!
February 5, 2021
To my daughter:
There is not such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written." Oscar Wilde
"I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound or stab us. If the book we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for? So that it will make us happy?... Good Lord, we would be happy precisely if we had not books..."
Franz Kafka
Честита Коледа и Нова Година, слънчице.
http://independentpoliticalreport.com...
Feminists gave Sheryl Sandberg a free pass. Now they must call her out
Jessa Crispin Sat 17 Nov 2018 04.00 EST
https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...
Sandberg, of course, became an aspirational heroine among mainstream, self-empowerment feminists with her 2013 book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. There, she urged women to join corporate culture, to reform workplaces from the inside, by striving to reach high levels of power and influence. While many feminists, mostly those originating from activist and not merely commentary classes, attacked Sandberg’s project of ambition and wealth from the beginning, she was defended by some of the most prominent names in feminism.
This New York Times investigation is the logical endpoint of corporate feminism.
Feminism has become a kind of shield for powerful women to hide behind. Call yourself a feminist and Gloria Steinem will jump on a stage with you. Women’s media will shower you with praise. Feminist commentators will overlook your obvious dubious dealings in the past and defend you against savvier critics. Ivanka Trump called herself a feminist, and commentators assumed she would be the civilizing force of the White House. Santander bank chief Ana Botin’s announcement that she was a feminist was met mostly with credulity, despite her bank’s mass evictions throughout Spain that have caused untold amounts of suffering, illness, and suicide.
Не могат да те разберат децата,
макар че се напрягаш да оправдаеш
неисканите им постъпки.
Единствената логика - кръвта е.
Единствената истина - животът.
И няма да се усвоиме никога,
и няма да си заприличаме.
Достатъчно е обичта ни
понякога да преболи случайно.
Радой Ралин
https://youtu.be/YQXSAVUNngg?t=818
the right to not like men (metalanguage: the right to hate men)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/202...
Moi les hommes, je les déteste (I Hate Men)
Harmange said she was asked to write I Hate Men after someone spotted a blog she had written on misandry, or man-hating.
too lazy | disinterested to read the book? Here is the synopsis on Fox News; what a pity that the right wing press is taking the lead in this; is this because she is self-professed libertarian? http://video.foxnews.com/v/2503530221...
Are Men Going on Strike Against Marriage? http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/r...
Book Review: Men on Strike by Dr. Helen Smith
http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/05/...
THank you Steve Hoover, SCSU Professor. You are true mentor in explaining masculinity...
Prologue. "Enslavement used to be based on race, now it's based on gender." -Carnell Smith, advocate for male paternity fraud victims.
And I said: thirty years ago John Lennon rallied: "woman is the nigger of the world." Shall he had lived, he would have exclaimed today that man is...
ix. If you are a wimp, this book is not for you.
ix. Perhaps you think this is fair, that men should suffer for the ills of their ancestors and for the discrimination against women in the past. Maybe you are a chivalrous white-knight type who loves nothing more than the thought of saving a damsel in distress and would like to see your fellow man brought to his knees by laws that limit men's reproductive and personal lives as well as their livelihoods. Maybe you have political ambitions or work in a field that requires you to favor female privilege over male justice and you have no intention of challenging because you benefit from this two-way agreement. Maybe you are just a guy who wants to get laid and acts in a politically correct manner in the hope of getting women. If so, you are not my audience, but you might want to stick around and learn something.
x. If you are woman, the main focus of this book is on men but you may find some of the information of interest. It may help you to understand more about what the typical men are going through in this country and why they don't marry as readily anymore or go to college as often as they once did... Your husband, son, father or brother will thank you for it. And as Martin Luther King Jr. once said from a Birmingham jail, " injustice anywhere is a treat to justice everywhere." If we, as women allow injustice to men today, who knows what will happen to us tomorrow?
xiii. Introduction. Why is a woman writing this book?I [the author] used to consider myself a feminist but mistakenly thought feminism meant equality between the sexes.
http://powernpraise.com/Krazie316/Tho...
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_...
xvi. Men are literally killing themselves to be get their concerns heard, but no one is listening. "Going John Galt." (Atlas Shrugged)
p. 41. Chapter 2. My Body, My Choice -- Your Body, No Choice. No Choice to Consent to Fatherhood.
p. 43. yes, it is true that girls and women might not have formal classes or information in these areas, but there are many organizations such as Planned Parenthood or the National Organization for Women (NOW) that have very active groups involved in every area of political and women have laws such as the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that protect them specifically as a group, even though many of the ways they are protected are at the expense of men's civil rights and due process. For example, courts almost exclusively favor the mother and force men to pay child support to mothers regardless of whether she used false information or made false statements to the man concerning birth control. Because women are given special privilege under the law when it comes to reproduction and men are held fully responsible for their acts, it is very important men, and teen males and their parents to educate themselves in regard to paternity rights and child custody in order to make informed decisions.
Higdon, M. J. (2011). FATHERHOOD BY CONSCRIPTION: NONCONSENSUAL INSEMINATION AND THE DUTY OF CHILD SUPPORT. Georgia Law Review, 46(2), 407-457.
p. 48 the last case that Higdon presents is that of Emile, who is from Louisiana and in 1983 was visiting his sick parents at the hospital. One evening while he was at the hospital, a nurse named Debra offered to perform oral sex on him, but only if he wore a condom. After the act was complete, Debra offered to get rid of the condom filled with Emile's sperm and must have impregnated herself, because nine months later genetic testing showed that Еmile was the father of her baby.
My note: Sounds familiar? http://www.fact.on.ca/news/news0102/s...
p. 47. when a woman and he have created a pregnancy, the issue is not the rights of the female vs. the fetus, but the rights of the female, the fetus, and the father. He realizes that a woman, who says "It's my body, it's my business," and then chooses to have a child that she makes him pay for; forces him to take a job he might like less just because it pays more; forces him to stress himself out and die early -- forces him to use his body for eighteen years. If it's his body being used for eighteen years, and his body dying sooner, shouldn't it be his business, too? Isn't two decades of a man's life worth nine months of a woman's?
p. 62 the ability of judges to jail parents without a trial is possible because failure to pay child support is usually handled as a civil matter, meaning that the non-custodial parent – or the “contemnor” in legal terms—is found guilty of contempt of court and ordered to appear at a hearing.
He or she is not entitled to some constitutional protections that criminal defendants receive, including the presumption of innocence. And in five states one of the omitted protections is the right of an attorney.
p. 63 a man is about our times as likely as a woman to be arrested. These men don’t seem upset bvause of learned helplessness in dealing with a justice system that views their bodies as belonging to the state in matters of family law.
p. 65 The college Strike. Where the Boys Aren’t. Welcome to “Girlington.”
The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men, By Christina Hoff Sommers Simon & Schuster.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/... http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/a...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqOTj9...
p. 70 boys are seen as “defective girls” in need of a major overhaul.
p. 86 have sexual harassment laws and negative male stereotypes kept men from feeling comfortable at colleges? Do you think that activities such as “take back the night” make men feel like predators or uncomfortable? The “take back the night marches” and the “fact sheets” that claim vast numbers of college women are being battered and raped by the males on their campus are part of an ideologically motivated campaign. There is a place for warning students about binge drinking, and teaching your men that they have must behave as gentlemen [sic] – but what we have on campus is quite different. It‘s about accusing all males of original sin. Because of pressure from women’s groups, the Department of Education has changed the regulations. It will now be easier for schools to find your men guilty of date rape—including many who are innocent.
p. 87 do you think we need a men’s center at some schools? I am skeptical about men’s centers. If history is any indication of the future, they would be run by gender activists who want to help “liberate” men from their masculinity. Few men are interested in that kind of help.
p. 88 women’s groups follow a double standard. When women lag behind men, that is an injustice that must be aggressively targeted. But when men are lagging behind women, that is a triumph of equality to be celebrated.
p. 114. It seems that people are afraid for groups of men to get together because they might decide that they don’t like what’s going on in the culture today and actually do something about it. Men’s space is now being controlled for political reasons.
p. 138. How can our society, because of a need for retribution, decided it is okay to waste men’s potential? And are people really willing to sacrifice their little sons’ emotional health and educational potential for the sake of revenge? Isn’t that a child abuse? One argument for feminism was that we were wasting the potential of half of humanity. We’re no better off if we just waste the other half.
p. 142. Equality is not a zero-sum game where if one group has power, the others have less or none. We can strive for equality so that all people, including men, can live more productive and autonomous lives. Even in a politically correct article in the Guardian on how boys and men must be included in the conversation on equality (to help women, of course!), the author acknowledged, “there is something dangerously retributive about an approach that simply flips an inequity around and approaches power as a zero-sum game.”
p. 147. Right now, women hold the cards in marriage, reproduction and divorce. Until change is implemented, men have a few choices: don’t marry and stay single, live with a woman without marriage, but keep your eye on the common law and palimony laws, if any, , in your state; or get married and learn how to get decent treatment in your relationship.
p. 159. Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has been opposing the curtailment of due process rights in the April 4, 2011, “Dear Colleague” letter from OCR from the very beginning the letter requires that all universities subject to Title IX institute a low “preponderance of the evidence” standard for cases of sexual harassment and assault, and also requires that those accused be subjected to double jeopardy. Both fly in the face of centuries of American legal tradition and of justice itself. The proper way to address sexual assault on campus I not to make it easier to convict anyone accused of sexual assault, but to improve procedures so that when someone commits a sexual assault, students can be confident that the person being caught and punished for it actually omitted the crime.
There is not such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written." Oscar Wilde
"I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound or stab us. If the book we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for? So that it will make us happy?... Good Lord, we would be happy precisely if we had not books..."
Franz Kafka
Честита Коледа и Нова Година, слънчице.
http://independentpoliticalreport.com...
Feminists gave Sheryl Sandberg a free pass. Now they must call her out
Jessa Crispin Sat 17 Nov 2018 04.00 EST
https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...
Sandberg, of course, became an aspirational heroine among mainstream, self-empowerment feminists with her 2013 book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. There, she urged women to join corporate culture, to reform workplaces from the inside, by striving to reach high levels of power and influence. While many feminists, mostly those originating from activist and not merely commentary classes, attacked Sandberg’s project of ambition and wealth from the beginning, she was defended by some of the most prominent names in feminism.
This New York Times investigation is the logical endpoint of corporate feminism.
Feminism has become a kind of shield for powerful women to hide behind. Call yourself a feminist and Gloria Steinem will jump on a stage with you. Women’s media will shower you with praise. Feminist commentators will overlook your obvious dubious dealings in the past and defend you against savvier critics. Ivanka Trump called herself a feminist, and commentators assumed she would be the civilizing force of the White House. Santander bank chief Ana Botin’s announcement that she was a feminist was met mostly with credulity, despite her bank’s mass evictions throughout Spain that have caused untold amounts of suffering, illness, and suicide.
Не могат да те разберат децата,
макар че се напрягаш да оправдаеш
неисканите им постъпки.
Единствената логика - кръвта е.
Единствената истина - животът.
И няма да се усвоиме никога,
и няма да си заприличаме.
Достатъчно е обичта ни
понякога да преболи случайно.
Радой Ралин
https://youtu.be/YQXSAVUNngg?t=818
the right to not like men (metalanguage: the right to hate men)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/202...
Moi les hommes, je les déteste (I Hate Men)
Harmange said she was asked to write I Hate Men after someone spotted a blog she had written on misandry, or man-hating.
too lazy | disinterested to read the book? Here is the synopsis on Fox News; what a pity that the right wing press is taking the lead in this; is this because she is self-professed libertarian? http://video.foxnews.com/v/2503530221...
Are Men Going on Strike Against Marriage? http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/r...
Book Review: Men on Strike by Dr. Helen Smith
http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/05/...
THank you Steve Hoover, SCSU Professor. You are true mentor in explaining masculinity...
Prologue. "Enslavement used to be based on race, now it's based on gender." -Carnell Smith, advocate for male paternity fraud victims.
And I said: thirty years ago John Lennon rallied: "woman is the nigger of the world." Shall he had lived, he would have exclaimed today that man is...
ix. If you are a wimp, this book is not for you.
ix. Perhaps you think this is fair, that men should suffer for the ills of their ancestors and for the discrimination against women in the past. Maybe you are a chivalrous white-knight type who loves nothing more than the thought of saving a damsel in distress and would like to see your fellow man brought to his knees by laws that limit men's reproductive and personal lives as well as their livelihoods. Maybe you have political ambitions or work in a field that requires you to favor female privilege over male justice and you have no intention of challenging because you benefit from this two-way agreement. Maybe you are just a guy who wants to get laid and acts in a politically correct manner in the hope of getting women. If so, you are not my audience, but you might want to stick around and learn something.
x. If you are woman, the main focus of this book is on men but you may find some of the information of interest. It may help you to understand more about what the typical men are going through in this country and why they don't marry as readily anymore or go to college as often as they once did... Your husband, son, father or brother will thank you for it. And as Martin Luther King Jr. once said from a Birmingham jail, " injustice anywhere is a treat to justice everywhere." If we, as women allow injustice to men today, who knows what will happen to us tomorrow?
xiii. Introduction. Why is a woman writing this book?I [the author] used to consider myself a feminist but mistakenly thought feminism meant equality between the sexes.
http://powernpraise.com/Krazie316/Tho...
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_...
xvi. Men are literally killing themselves to be get their concerns heard, but no one is listening. "Going John Galt." (Atlas Shrugged)
p. 41. Chapter 2. My Body, My Choice -- Your Body, No Choice. No Choice to Consent to Fatherhood.
p. 43. yes, it is true that girls and women might not have formal classes or information in these areas, but there are many organizations such as Planned Parenthood or the National Organization for Women (NOW) that have very active groups involved in every area of political and women have laws such as the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that protect them specifically as a group, even though many of the ways they are protected are at the expense of men's civil rights and due process. For example, courts almost exclusively favor the mother and force men to pay child support to mothers regardless of whether she used false information or made false statements to the man concerning birth control. Because women are given special privilege under the law when it comes to reproduction and men are held fully responsible for their acts, it is very important men, and teen males and their parents to educate themselves in regard to paternity rights and child custody in order to make informed decisions.
Higdon, M. J. (2011). FATHERHOOD BY CONSCRIPTION: NONCONSENSUAL INSEMINATION AND THE DUTY OF CHILD SUPPORT. Georgia Law Review, 46(2), 407-457.
p. 48 the last case that Higdon presents is that of Emile, who is from Louisiana and in 1983 was visiting his sick parents at the hospital. One evening while he was at the hospital, a nurse named Debra offered to perform oral sex on him, but only if he wore a condom. After the act was complete, Debra offered to get rid of the condom filled with Emile's sperm and must have impregnated herself, because nine months later genetic testing showed that Еmile was the father of her baby.
My note: Sounds familiar? http://www.fact.on.ca/news/news0102/s...
p. 47. when a woman and he have created a pregnancy, the issue is not the rights of the female vs. the fetus, but the rights of the female, the fetus, and the father. He realizes that a woman, who says "It's my body, it's my business," and then chooses to have a child that she makes him pay for; forces him to take a job he might like less just because it pays more; forces him to stress himself out and die early -- forces him to use his body for eighteen years. If it's his body being used for eighteen years, and his body dying sooner, shouldn't it be his business, too? Isn't two decades of a man's life worth nine months of a woman's?
p. 62 the ability of judges to jail parents without a trial is possible because failure to pay child support is usually handled as a civil matter, meaning that the non-custodial parent – or the “contemnor” in legal terms—is found guilty of contempt of court and ordered to appear at a hearing.
He or she is not entitled to some constitutional protections that criminal defendants receive, including the presumption of innocence. And in five states one of the omitted protections is the right of an attorney.
p. 63 a man is about our times as likely as a woman to be arrested. These men don’t seem upset bvause of learned helplessness in dealing with a justice system that views their bodies as belonging to the state in matters of family law.
p. 65 The college Strike. Where the Boys Aren’t. Welcome to “Girlington.”
The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men, By Christina Hoff Sommers Simon & Schuster.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/... http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/a...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqOTj9...
p. 70 boys are seen as “defective girls” in need of a major overhaul.
p. 86 have sexual harassment laws and negative male stereotypes kept men from feeling comfortable at colleges? Do you think that activities such as “take back the night” make men feel like predators or uncomfortable? The “take back the night marches” and the “fact sheets” that claim vast numbers of college women are being battered and raped by the males on their campus are part of an ideologically motivated campaign. There is a place for warning students about binge drinking, and teaching your men that they have must behave as gentlemen [sic] – but what we have on campus is quite different. It‘s about accusing all males of original sin. Because of pressure from women’s groups, the Department of Education has changed the regulations. It will now be easier for schools to find your men guilty of date rape—including many who are innocent.
p. 87 do you think we need a men’s center at some schools? I am skeptical about men’s centers. If history is any indication of the future, they would be run by gender activists who want to help “liberate” men from their masculinity. Few men are interested in that kind of help.
p. 88 women’s groups follow a double standard. When women lag behind men, that is an injustice that must be aggressively targeted. But when men are lagging behind women, that is a triumph of equality to be celebrated.
p. 114. It seems that people are afraid for groups of men to get together because they might decide that they don’t like what’s going on in the culture today and actually do something about it. Men’s space is now being controlled for political reasons.
p. 138. How can our society, because of a need for retribution, decided it is okay to waste men’s potential? And are people really willing to sacrifice their little sons’ emotional health and educational potential for the sake of revenge? Isn’t that a child abuse? One argument for feminism was that we were wasting the potential of half of humanity. We’re no better off if we just waste the other half.
p. 142. Equality is not a zero-sum game where if one group has power, the others have less or none. We can strive for equality so that all people, including men, can live more productive and autonomous lives. Even in a politically correct article in the Guardian on how boys and men must be included in the conversation on equality (to help women, of course!), the author acknowledged, “there is something dangerously retributive about an approach that simply flips an inequity around and approaches power as a zero-sum game.”
p. 147. Right now, women hold the cards in marriage, reproduction and divorce. Until change is implemented, men have a few choices: don’t marry and stay single, live with a woman without marriage, but keep your eye on the common law and palimony laws, if any, , in your state; or get married and learn how to get decent treatment in your relationship.
p. 159. Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has been opposing the curtailment of due process rights in the April 4, 2011, “Dear Colleague” letter from OCR from the very beginning the letter requires that all universities subject to Title IX institute a low “preponderance of the evidence” standard for cases of sexual harassment and assault, and also requires that those accused be subjected to double jeopardy. Both fly in the face of centuries of American legal tradition and of justice itself. The proper way to address sexual assault on campus I not to make it easier to convict anyone accused of sexual assault, but to improve procedures so that when someone commits a sexual assault, students can be confident that the person being caught and punished for it actually omitted the crime.
July 17, 2013
I expected better.
There's a knee-jerk reaction in internet circles to dismiss any concern of the state of men in any form as basic "men's rights" complaints that tend to go too far or address really minor points in a broader scheme. While there are a lot of extremists on all sides of the gender divide, that many will dismiss this book outright because it's about how men are perceived in society and how that perception is impacting men's participation in society in general is wrong. Unfortunately, for anyone with more than a passing curiosity on the issue, this book brings nothing new to the table while presenting an argument sure to turn off exactly the people who might need to hear it.
The good things this book does is bring a lot of the legitimate complaints to the forefront - for example, that there is an adverse and irrational fear of men around children, that universities and colleges have swung rather wildly in the direction of some of the more extreme feminist points of view in reaction to how higher education treated women before the feminist movement, the inequity in family court proceedings, and so on. As a case study of the current situation, it works.
The biggest problem is the ideological bent. The author, Helen Smith, puts her libertarian leanings on display very early. On one hand, it's good to see a person profess their leanings up front. On the other, that she leans so much on Objectivist language, including references to Ayn Rand and "going Galt," it's almost sure to turn off a lot of people who should be aware of the situations she writes about from the start. There was no need to frame the arguments in that way, as it is sure to leave out many people on both sides with an interest. A close second is the "handbook" of sorts at the end of how men can avoid being trapped in bad situations, which just comes off really poorly and reinforces stereotypes rather than offering positive options. It left me less sympathetic than I was going into that final chapter.
There's definitely a book that needs to be out there regarding men's issues and how they relate to the current world, especially involving education and family/divorce issues. This book is getting a lot of press, and while attention to the issue is a good thing, this book probably shouldn't be the one to do it.
There's a knee-jerk reaction in internet circles to dismiss any concern of the state of men in any form as basic "men's rights" complaints that tend to go too far or address really minor points in a broader scheme. While there are a lot of extremists on all sides of the gender divide, that many will dismiss this book outright because it's about how men are perceived in society and how that perception is impacting men's participation in society in general is wrong. Unfortunately, for anyone with more than a passing curiosity on the issue, this book brings nothing new to the table while presenting an argument sure to turn off exactly the people who might need to hear it.
The good things this book does is bring a lot of the legitimate complaints to the forefront - for example, that there is an adverse and irrational fear of men around children, that universities and colleges have swung rather wildly in the direction of some of the more extreme feminist points of view in reaction to how higher education treated women before the feminist movement, the inequity in family court proceedings, and so on. As a case study of the current situation, it works.
The biggest problem is the ideological bent. The author, Helen Smith, puts her libertarian leanings on display very early. On one hand, it's good to see a person profess their leanings up front. On the other, that she leans so much on Objectivist language, including references to Ayn Rand and "going Galt," it's almost sure to turn off a lot of people who should be aware of the situations she writes about from the start. There was no need to frame the arguments in that way, as it is sure to leave out many people on both sides with an interest. A close second is the "handbook" of sorts at the end of how men can avoid being trapped in bad situations, which just comes off really poorly and reinforces stereotypes rather than offering positive options. It left me less sympathetic than I was going into that final chapter.
There's definitely a book that needs to be out there regarding men's issues and how they relate to the current world, especially involving education and family/divorce issues. This book is getting a lot of press, and while attention to the issue is a good thing, this book probably shouldn't be the one to do it.
March 13, 2018
This book is a must read! #MRA #MGTOW There has been a crisis that has been occurring among males. We have been seeing more suicides, more shootings, more men staying single, and less men graduating from college. Helen Smith explores a topic that is hardly, or never discussed in the mainstream (news, radio, publications etc.). But yet, you hardly, or never hear "What is happening to the boys/males?" The sad truth is that no one gives a shit.
Of course, this is all by design by the globalist, elitist who influence this planet. How far down the rabbit hole is one willing to go? It's the same divide and conquer tactic. Dividing people with politics, religion, race and especially gender. People will deny it tooth and nail, but we live in a misandric culture where masculinity is frowned upon, which is dangerous because this leads to the enslavement of males. Women are saying, "Where are all the good men, or there aren't any good men out there!" Well, this book will help explain why men are withdrawing.
Helen Smith gives good references to support groups, websites, and organizations as well. This is such an important book for everyone! I highly recommend it!
Of course, this is all by design by the globalist, elitist who influence this planet. How far down the rabbit hole is one willing to go? It's the same divide and conquer tactic. Dividing people with politics, religion, race and especially gender. People will deny it tooth and nail, but we live in a misandric culture where masculinity is frowned upon, which is dangerous because this leads to the enslavement of males. Women are saying, "Where are all the good men, or there aren't any good men out there!" Well, this book will help explain why men are withdrawing.
Helen Smith gives good references to support groups, websites, and organizations as well. This is such an important book for everyone! I highly recommend it!
June 16, 2020
The first line of this book is: “If you are a wimp, this book is not for you.” The author uses popular “Manosphere” terms throughout. At the end, she recommends nine books for men to read (ten, if you include an early endorsement of Atlas Shrugged...), one of which is The New and Improved Art of Seduction by Mystery, the pickup artist who had a show on VH1. If these things sound appealing to you, you will probably like this book. If they do not, I would suggest that you skip this one.
Personally, I am open to the author’s perspective and think she is voicing a very real frustration, but I found her tone off-putting, her arguments manipulative, hypocritical, and willfully blind, and her evidence lacking. Not what I was expecting from an academic... In fact, I’d say that she did a disservice to her cause in publishing this, as it is one of the most poorly-written books I’ve read this year. For a book that makes similar points in a more sophisticated way, I’d recommend Stiffed by Susan Faludi or Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax.
Personally, I am open to the author’s perspective and think she is voicing a very real frustration, but I found her tone off-putting, her arguments manipulative, hypocritical, and willfully blind, and her evidence lacking. Not what I was expecting from an academic... In fact, I’d say that she did a disservice to her cause in publishing this, as it is one of the most poorly-written books I’ve read this year. For a book that makes similar points in a more sophisticated way, I’d recommend Stiffed by Susan Faludi or Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax.
June 4, 2018
What a weird book. Smith takes on the ambitious goal of exploring why so many men have abandoned traditional aspirations such as marriage and well paying jobs. I applaud her for the attempt and genuinely appreciate that she has the balls to speak out against anti-male policies and cultural norms. I picked up this book expecting to confirm my own biases that men are unfairly treated in a number of situations. Dr. Smith certainly uncovers not only my favorite injustices such as marriage and child custody, but also a few that I haven't considered such as college culture and being relegated to the man cave.
The book itself claims not to be a research piece, but a call to arms. I personally would have considered the book much more valuable with more thorough investigation and journalistic integrity. The writing style is akin to that of a blog post and consists of maybe 30% quotes from newspaper articles, blog comments, email strings, and interviews. Fortunately, the book is both short and simple, so an extremely quick read.
My main basis for not recommending this book is the attitude regarding action points towards the end. Most could certainly agree with the general goal of "standing up for justice," but the explicit recommendations seem childish and hypocritical. Dr. Smith asks men to call out their wives in front of their friends because women do not like being criticized in public. Similarly there is advice to "relentlessly mock" the white knights and "uncle Tims" who fallaciously support anti-male opinions. While taking a strong stand is critical, I think it is insulting to "the opposition" to not give them the opportunity to engage in rational discussions. Frankly, I would have expected someone with a PhD in psychology to have more sophisticated conflict resolution tactics than those used on elementary school playgrounds.
The book itself claims not to be a research piece, but a call to arms. I personally would have considered the book much more valuable with more thorough investigation and journalistic integrity. The writing style is akin to that of a blog post and consists of maybe 30% quotes from newspaper articles, blog comments, email strings, and interviews. Fortunately, the book is both short and simple, so an extremely quick read.
My main basis for not recommending this book is the attitude regarding action points towards the end. Most could certainly agree with the general goal of "standing up for justice," but the explicit recommendations seem childish and hypocritical. Dr. Smith asks men to call out their wives in front of their friends because women do not like being criticized in public. Similarly there is advice to "relentlessly mock" the white knights and "uncle Tims" who fallaciously support anti-male opinions. While taking a strong stand is critical, I think it is insulting to "the opposition" to not give them the opportunity to engage in rational discussions. Frankly, I would have expected someone with a PhD in psychology to have more sophisticated conflict resolution tactics than those used on elementary school playgrounds.
September 27, 2014
While I think the author makes some interesting observations about how the movement in recent decades to empower women has had a backlash on men in American society, I think she completely misses the mark as to how men should react to it. Making ourselves out to be victims and "Going Galt" are childish, unmanly responses.
As a man who is currently sleeping in the bed he made, I consider this book exactly the opposite of the kind of help I was looking for. I consider empowering myself not by demanding my rights be recognized, but by stepping up and taking even more responsibility for myself. Don't bother with this.
As a man who is currently sleeping in the bed he made, I consider this book exactly the opposite of the kind of help I was looking for. I consider empowering myself not by demanding my rights be recognized, but by stepping up and taking even more responsibility for myself. Don't bother with this.
November 29, 2013
the first book on misandry and the reality of the disposable male I've seen that is not in itself misandrous, which is why I gave it four stars. includes plenty of statistics and references.
October 26, 2017
This book purports to be about the problems that men are having in contemporary American society, and the author does make some good points, particularly about how men are often at a disadvantage when it comes to child custody/alimony in the case of a divorce and how college men can be disciplined for accusations of sexual assault without due process (a policy that has now been rescinded, I believe). However, the author doesn't seem to take into account how the men that she interviews make choices that put them in these bad situations.
In the chapter on dating and marriage, she claims that most of the men that she has interviewed want to marry a woman much younger than they are, much better looking, and in some cases much more educated and professionally successful. They seem to genuinely not understand why such women aren't interested in them, and seem to feel like victims. So, they give up on marriage. They never consider that perhaps their own expectations are unrealistic. The author complains about the alimony/child support men have to pay in the event of a divorce, but she never considers that in families where the wife is the main breadwinner, she will have to pay alimony/child support in the event of a divorce. I have known families where this happened, so I think it is incorrect to say that the law discriminates against men in this regard. It is just that there are more men who are wealthier than their wives who get divorced than the other way around. She also complains about wives expecting their husbands to do chores and help around the house, because in the old days, men didn't have to do those things. She never discusses the fact that wives are more likely to work now than in the old days, and that might be a valid reason for wanting more help with chores and housework. She complains that men who are looking for a woman considerably younger are often looked down upon, but then she says that men should marry a woman with roughly equal earning power. Somehow, those two things don't add up in most cases.
She also looks at why men are more likely to fail in education, and claims it is because of the large number of silly protestors at most colleges. I agree the protestors are silly, but somehow, a person who can't ignore them and go about getting his education doesn't seem very manly to me. She also complains that because men don't sign up for classed until the last minute, many of them get stuck with silly classes that they don't enjoy. Somehow, I don't think that is society's fault or feminism's fault.
In the last chapter, she talks about how men should "Go Galt" and refuse to engage in society or do anything to support a society that treats them so badly. However, there seem to be a large number of men without education or any kind of steady jobs. It is hard for me to see how they will succeed in "Going Galt" when they are dependent on mothers, wives, or girlfriends for their financial support. Perhaps if they would prepare themselves for a job and work, they would get more respect in society, whether they marry and have families or not.
In the chapter on dating and marriage, she claims that most of the men that she has interviewed want to marry a woman much younger than they are, much better looking, and in some cases much more educated and professionally successful. They seem to genuinely not understand why such women aren't interested in them, and seem to feel like victims. So, they give up on marriage. They never consider that perhaps their own expectations are unrealistic. The author complains about the alimony/child support men have to pay in the event of a divorce, but she never considers that in families where the wife is the main breadwinner, she will have to pay alimony/child support in the event of a divorce. I have known families where this happened, so I think it is incorrect to say that the law discriminates against men in this regard. It is just that there are more men who are wealthier than their wives who get divorced than the other way around. She also complains about wives expecting their husbands to do chores and help around the house, because in the old days, men didn't have to do those things. She never discusses the fact that wives are more likely to work now than in the old days, and that might be a valid reason for wanting more help with chores and housework. She complains that men who are looking for a woman considerably younger are often looked down upon, but then she says that men should marry a woman with roughly equal earning power. Somehow, those two things don't add up in most cases.
She also looks at why men are more likely to fail in education, and claims it is because of the large number of silly protestors at most colleges. I agree the protestors are silly, but somehow, a person who can't ignore them and go about getting his education doesn't seem very manly to me. She also complains that because men don't sign up for classed until the last minute, many of them get stuck with silly classes that they don't enjoy. Somehow, I don't think that is society's fault or feminism's fault.
In the last chapter, she talks about how men should "Go Galt" and refuse to engage in society or do anything to support a society that treats them so badly. However, there seem to be a large number of men without education or any kind of steady jobs. It is hard for me to see how they will succeed in "Going Galt" when they are dependent on mothers, wives, or girlfriends for their financial support. Perhaps if they would prepare themselves for a job and work, they would get more respect in society, whether they marry and have families or not.
January 28, 2021
More preachy than informative for me and its definitely not my experience growing up in America. There are a lot of Anecdotal stories as well as facts used that don't really show causality. My critical thinking skills call B.S. even if I often retreat to my area in the basement after work...
August 7, 2013
It was a short book detailing the cultural shifts affecting men and boys and their reactions. As a mother of sons, it was worth reading so as to inform them of potential legal and social realities.
January 30, 2014
Enjoyed this book. Everyone with a man or boy in their life should read this book to empower them to survive our increasingly feminist anti-male world.
May 19, 2014
I agree with the premises, but as a writer Dr. Smith is awful. Couldn't get past the halfway mark. If you want a current treatment of Men's Rights topics, skip this book.
September 14, 2020
Total bullshit.
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