Remember when those who preached tolerance were actually the tolerant ones? You may not but I do. Remember when freedom of speech was a thing on university campuses, and students didn't need to be protected from others' potentially contrary opinions? Or when you actually used valid counterarguments instead of using personality assassination to discard those who disagree with you? Yeah, neither do I, but I'm told the former was at least a thing at some point.
What I'm trying to say is, its time for you and I to have a talk. A serious one. Using things like logic, and actual, credible, information. Oh yeah, and if the aforementioned personality assassination comes into play, or if you retreat from this to a "safer" part of the internet, I will have won, and you don't want that, do you?
I wouldn't be surprised if you already feel offended, after all, I know many of you are so thin-skinned that just the mention of my Conservative Party membership has you running for the hills. If you have stayed, congrats on your "courage", you're probably still thin-skinned, but not as much as your compatriots.
I, on the other hand, have been forced to grow a thick skin, partly due to bullying from a young age, partly due to the fact that I swim against the current of university culture and refuse to conform - there is no "safe space" for white, cis-gendered, straight, conservative, Christian, males. I don't entirely find this a bad thing. Having ideas challenged allows them to be refined and improved - on both sides of the equation. Such discussions are becoming harder and harder to find in modern academia, with the all-pervading censorship of political correctness acting like a stifling blanket, but I am grateful to have made some friends actually capable of having an intelligent discussion, despite potential differing ideas or ideologies. More people need to take what they're spoonfed with some salt, and actually consider why they believe what they do, and foundations from which their opinions derive their validity.
Consider me a salt shaker - or at least that's what I'm attempting to be.
"Check your privilege", you whine, to which I say, "Check YOUR privilege, because odds are, you haven't taken a full accounting."
Consider my thesis and purpose as such - to break down many of the myths perpetuated by the Social Justice movement as they pertain to the First World, to show the damaging potential of many of their ideas, and to prove that their advocacy movements serve to further the divides within society instead of eliminating them. I start today with feminism. Hold onto your butts - this will probably be a long one, as within this one topic alone, I have ALOT of ground to cover.
As I have stated before, I am not a feminist. This should not come as any big shock given my demographic. That said, I do appreciate the progress that was made to gain women equality in the past century - namely the right to vote, recognition as persons under the law, equality under the law, and equal rights being the highlights. What I cannot condone though, is what it has become. Instead of the equality of the genders, what feminism has become is a movement of female advocacy for the advancement of WOMEN's issues and WOMEN's privileges, with little regard for the other half of the population. Sure, they SAY they're for equality, and that they're for men's issues as well, and that the patriarchy somehow oppresses men as well. BULL. SHIT! With the number of privileges women have at this time, I honestly find it difficult to believe that people somehow still think women are oppressed in Canada.
Want examples of female privilege?
- In post-secondary education, there are scholarships exclusively for women, but none exclusively for men, despite far more women enrolling in the institutions than men (http://www.theguardian.com/education/datablog/2013/jan/29/how-many-men-and-women-are-studying-at-my-university)
- Women are FAR more likely to win court custody battles. As a man who wishes to one day be a father, I want to be involved in my children's lives for the rest of my natural life - come what may. With this privilege in play, I may be denied that opportunity.
- Women will get lighter sentencing for committing the same crimes as a man (http://ncfm.org/2011/04/issues/criminal-sentencing/)
- Due to affirmative action and pressure from feminist groups, women are far more likely than men to get jobs in the STEM fields (http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2015_04_13/caredit.a1500091), government, public service (http://nypost.com/2015/05/03/woman-to-become-ny-firefighter-despite-failing-crucial-fitness-test/), military, and management/executive positions. "MERITOCRACY BE DAMNED" seems to be the takeaway here.
- Women who experience domestic or sexual abuse and/or assault have far more resources available to them than men.
- With abortion legal and unrestricted in Canada, women have the privilege of "opting out" of parenthood, whereas men do not. If the father is not in the picture, and the mother keeps the child, and heredity can be proven, she can extract child support from him by law. As for my views on abortion, those are to come.
- Etcetera. I could go on, but as I said, there's a lot to get through
You know what the worst of it is? Men are supposed to TAKE that abuse and keep our mouths shut about our own issues: http://feministcurrent.com/7988/how-to-be-a-male-feminist-ally/. Reality Check: Life is hard, and just because you find you aren't being coddled through it (if you are you probably have a silver spoon up your ass), does NOT mean you are being oppressed!
Men's issues need advocacy as well, without fear of being censored by their female counterparts. Men are far more likely to commit suicide than women (they represent 80% of suicide deaths) (http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/mental-health-statistics/suicide/), far more men than women are homeless, men make up half of domestic abuse victims(http://www.domesticviolenceresearch.org/pages/12_page_findings.htm(also, note that women are MORE likely to PERPETRATE domestic abuse)), men are more likely to die on the job (http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cfoi_revised13.pdf) and men get raped and sexually abused by men and women alike (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9g7W4C7dnc). Yet the same subsidized safety net that women have is just not there, and when it is, it is always at risk (the charity that made that last video lost all its funding). IS THIS WHAT EQUALITY LOOKS LIKE??? I think not.
Some people in the MRM are misogynists, just like some feminists want to kill all men. I don't believe all feminists are man-haters, most of you are probably just more than a little misguided, so it is NOT fair to consider all MRAs to be misogynists, and until you stop seeing them that way, true equality of gender-issue advocacy is not possible.
Note I said "them" not "us". I do not consider myself an MRA, though I am forced to bend that way in order to act as a counterweight to society's feminist bent. Neither am I a MGTOW (though I may go the way of TFL if things don't change - God help me). Rather I am an egalitarian, and a true believer in meritocracy and equality of opportunity. All individuals should be held to the same standard, regardless of sex.
Oh, and I'm just getting started.
By now you've probably started whining about the wage gap, which is bogus. Don't believe me? Here it from the mouth of a WOMAN then: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oqyrflOQFc.
You probably follow that up by saying how "men are more likely to be hired than women". As the video stated, these two common feminist statements cannot co-exist as they make no economic sense. If companies COULD get away with paying women less, then they'd hire MOSTLY women and increase their profit margin as a result.
"Just because you don't witness the misogyny in society, it doesn't mean it isn't there." You may say in response. To which I say "Just because you don't see the misandry in third and fourth wave feminism, it doesn't mean it isn't there." Do you see how that logic is circular? It goes nowhere.
A word about video games. Firstly, you SJWs seem to have done something that seriously offended gamers. Especially atheist ones for some reason, because the most effective and vitriolic anti-feminist rhetoric I've heard via the internet comes from atheist gamers for some reason. As a non-gamer (and a Christian to boot), I can't exactly comment as to why this is happening, but hey, it is.As for video game culture being sexist, has it ever occurred to you that the big blockbuster games are created by by men, and marketed to men, because more men tended to by them in the first place? It's this thing known as a feedback loop. Much like how beer is marketed to men because more men drink it than women. As for the intricacies of actual gamer culture, I must plead ignorance. I will, however, leave you with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE5wsBlwmiA. Moving on...
"But what about rape babies?!" you cry. To which I say, aborting one of those children is the ULTIMATE victim blaming. It is condemning an individual who is just as much a VICTIM of the rape as the woman to DEATH, when the only one possibly deserving of that is the RAPIST.
A news story recently came out about Planned Parenthood selling organs of aborted babies. My reaction was "meh." Because whatever they do with foetal remains is NOTHING compared to the fact that they commit ABHORRENT acts every day already, many of which involve children which can already sense PAIN.
With the Canadian definition of what constitutes a "person" under the law, the difference between abortion and infanticide is a matter of inches and seconds. People say they don't support abortion but that they are still "pro-choice". Generally speaking, the mother had a CHOICE whether or not to have sex in the first place. She also has a CHOICE to put it up for adoption. Taking abortion off the table does NOT mean there are NO OPTIONS.
So yes, I am Pro-life. The only case abortion is a legitimate option is when both mother and child would otherwise die. Deal with it.
And finally, speaking of rape and victim-blaming, I need to deal with rape culture (see what I did there? XD). It is one of foundational assumptions of feminist culture today. Even at debate tournaments I attended in the past academic year, events predicated on the argument and the challenging of ideas, where topics related to sexual assault routinely came up, no one ever dared challenge the existence of rape culture, in fact, the topics themselves came with "trigger warnings". Had I known more about what it meant at the time, I might've done just that. I won't deny that there are elements of our culture which still make light of rape (I will never understand why Blurred Lines was such a hit for instance, a large chunk of today's rap music culture being another example), but I would still argue that rape culture in the west is either dead or dying. Rather, we live in a hyper-sexualized culture, part and parcel with which seems to come a certain prominence to sexualized violence and sexual violence - whether it be through Blurred Lines, Game of Thrones, or Fifty Shades of Grey. I frankly find this saddening, that said the supposed "anti-rape culture" movement seems to be an "anti-responsibility" movement in reality.
Let me clear; NOTHING excuses rape, but that does not mean you should not guard yourself against it. It also doesn't mean the whole "let's teach men not be rapists rather than teaching women how to avoid rape" mantra isn't utter bullshit. We live in a society where rape is already taught as a despicable crime, but that doesn't mean people don't still do it - same goes for any other crime, be it murder, theft, etc. Even though we live in a society where robbery is wrong does not mean you shouldn't hide your valuables to prevent robbery. Leaving your stuff out in a breakable, unalarmed glass case doesn't make you at fault for their theft, but that doesn't mean the theft couldn't have been deterred by hiding them in a strongbox. The easier a target looks, the more likely it is to be rod. Lets complete the analogy, shall we? If you value the integrity of your genitals so highly, treat them like you would a prized possession - keep them well hidden, and show them only to those you trust the most - don't wear clothes that practically leave them hanging out for all the world to see - its just common sense (which apparently isn't so common these days)! This isn't victim-blaming - as I've already explained - and it isn't slut-shaming, what it IS is taking responsibility for yourself!
While I'm on the topic of slut-shaming, let me state for the record that the virgin/slut dichotomy (as well as the forever alone/stud one they seem to say exists for guys) is false.I do not know of anyone - male or female, that thinks this way or with this double standard. In the women's case I'd assert the perception of this dichotomy to be the result of a distortion of the Judeo-Christian worldview, which values virginity in both sexes, combined with the terminology of sexual liberalism (sex acts as being "naughty" for example). Regardless, as a Christian, I believe sex outside of marriage to be immoral. Does it make you a lower class of human being if you do it? No, but it makes you a fornicator in the same way a female dog is a bitch (that is, the literal sense of the word). I won't bother going deeper as I don't want to bore you with theology lessons.
In addition, these only yes means yes, guilty until proven innocent university sexual assault rules seem to assume that sex takes place in a place where social context plays no relevant role -as if it was a chatboard on the internet - this is RIDICULOUS. Don't agree? Why don't you listen to a FEMINIST talk about it then: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIomA2MQNI4 (skip to 11:30). I can see another attempted No True Scotsman usage - DON'T YOU DARE. That's the left for ya though - they want to make you fill out paperwork for absolutely everything.
This idea of rape culture demands that all women be treated as victims, all men as potential rapists (when women can and do victimize men), and that women be freed from responsibility for themselves and their actions. This is socially irresponsible, which I know is kind of repetitive, but I don't know what else to call it.
Modern feminism goes so far as to say that women who HAVE taken responsibility for themselves are part of the problem and further this mythical systematic oppression, as they do not allow themselves to be bound by the victim-culture hive mind (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqQ850-YiXE). Victim culture results in a false sense of entitlement, as if entitlement wasn't rampant enough in our society as is. I am sorry, but this is just not something I can support.
Let me be crystal clear here. I have no animosity towards women. Most of my most trusted friends are actually women. What I am opposing is the ideology that seeks to reduce them to a victim class, deprive them of the responsibilities of a mature adult, and mislead them about how they deserve more than the perfectly equal treatment they are getting
Oh yeah, I probably should have put a trigger warning at the start of this thing. Whatever
Until next time,
Tim Beales
Keep up the good work. It's refreshing to see someone I actually uses facts not in emotions to promote their point of view. Hopefully you have some sort of ambition to become a politician because BC could use some help especially in the education of our teenagers and children.
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