Periodically, there will be a sudden flaring. A burning out if you will. A prominent MRA will throw up his (or, in some cases, her) hands and say “Screw it, this is going nowhere…what a bunch of whining do nothings!”.
And with a flourish, that MRA disappears from the scene. Sometimes even for good.
What that person is typically missing is the viral nature of the men’s rights movement. We do not lead. We do not tell the “masses” what to think… This is not a top down organization, if “organization” as a term even remotely applies.
We are not a shaper, a mover, a shaker, or any other kind of “power” in the sense that we can effect real change ourselves.
It is the failure to recognize this blunt fact that some MRA’s have trouble coming to grips with.
…What we do is refuse to allow people to be silenced…
In a relatively well known essay, another prominent MRA has described us as people who are simply “telling [society] what time it is”. I personally agree, with a caveat. In knowing the time before others, we can shape the “message”…the spin, as it were, on the issue.
I know, it’s crass. But it’s the truth. We have naught but the ability to frame an argument, in the hopes of public support. We cannot effect direct change without massive expenditures for minimum return.
But, like the rocket scientists we all wanted to be until we found out how mind-numbingly boring it would be, we can effect change in the long term. Small course changes amount to big corrections over time. We can frame the debate on OUR terms, if we start now, and persist.
In fact, we should press that agenda at every turn.
Want proof this is necessary, and effective?
Look at Feminism. What did they do? Effect change directly? No, they manipulated public opinion through various channels, until the changes they desired could be supported through public sentiment (however manufactured). It must also be noted that they shut down opposition vehemently, and continue to try to do so to this day…at the expense of actual equality it seems…
These lessons are not meant to be lost, but modified. We have no need to lie, or cruelly manipulate, like feminists have done for decades. But we need to frame the debate in terms of men, and maleness, as being essentially, and inherently, valuable.
The “worst” part about a false accusation of rape is NOT, for instance, any supposed “chilling effect” on “real victims”…that detracts from (hell, completely ignores) the REAL victim of false accusation…namely, the guy. Not allowing ANYONE, be it a “friendly” person or not, to frame this type of issue in this way without first and foremost acknowledging the hell it puts a man through is, I think, the first thing MRA’s should have in mind.
By that, I mean that denigrating men, even through omission or inference, cannot, and should not, be tolerated.
Again, for proof look to feminist behaviour.
“Oppression Olympics” ring a bell? How about shaming language meant to shut men up mid-complaint? “Poor white male” comments ever get thrown your way?
Simultaneously controlling both the debate and the language, while suppressing dissenting voices, was the formula Feminism followed for success. Our job as MRA’s is merely the job of publicizing that fact, and exposing the government, certainly various swaths thereof at best, as the massive cynical man-hating parasite it really is, feeding from such a hateful ideology…
It really is that simple. And that complicated.
Getting heard is not easy these days, and lack of credibility will lose you a ton of public respect…hey, just ask me, I’ll tell you.
It takes diligence, and a focused effort..but really, only sporadically.
Want to be an effective MRA? Want to effect real change? In a hurry? Here’s how. Go to www.standyourground.com (for simplicity’s sake), post on a thread in the introductions section, and list your skills. What do you do for a job, what do you like to do for a hobby. What city you live in. Make yourself available for some small labour projects. I understand about the protesting and the embarrassment thing…if you’re not into it, no one’s going to twist your arm.
Write articles, if you can write. I do a magazine…send an article in for consideration. Do research for someone if he can write, but can’t research. Put yourself on a mailing list (try SYG again…why not?) and offer to email your representatives with questions. Are you an artist? Make some art…we can always use cultural pieces regarding men’s issues…hell, it’sactually a glaring deficiency, so if you can, please do! Know how to crunch numbers? Compile data for the poor souls like me whose eyes cross immediately upon laying them on a multi page spreadsheet…
Many of you do this already. Keep doing it, or if you get bored, move on to something else for a while…come back when you feel ready for it again.
This is a grassroots movement here people. Try not to forget that. All we need do, is let the most men know as we possibly can, that it’s OK to feel however they feel, that it’s OK to think certain aspects of society are bull, that men deserve equal rights, and that anyone who takes issue with this idea is the jerk, not the person advocating for it. The important thing is, to do the absolute best job of it we can, and put our best argument as far forward as we can.
When the term “mens rights advocate/activist” no longer confuses, we will have won. And the best part is, to arrive there, all we need do is tell the truth. And no, it doesn’t have to be a full time job…as long as the job gets done…you know?
Thanks for Listening
