Four years ago, The Spearhead went online for the first time with a number of writers onboard, including Chuck Ross, Elusive Wapiti, Novaseeker, Whiskey, Zed, Ferdinand Bardamu and me. Soon, others got on board and within a few months we were cranking out up to a hundred posts a month.
We started with a lot of material and a lot of energy. Looking back on it, I’m not sure how I managed to pull it off, but as a recently divorced guy with no life to speak of, I had a lot of time on my hands. Sometimes, not having a woman in your life makes it a lot easier to get things done.
What made The Spearhead special was that it was a reader-supported, collaborative publication for men, in defense of men and by men. It wasn’t the first men’s issues site; there had long been bulletin boards and some blogs had been online for a while. But it was the first news and opinion site with multiple contributors to come out of the nascent “manosphere” that had begun to take shape in the mid to late 2000s. In that sense, it was a true novelty when it opened.
I originally came up with the idea after noticing how many men had started their own blogs on related men’s issues, which comprised the Manosphere at the time, and then looking at some of the feminist sites. I figured that we could easily provide material that was just as compelling as the feminists, and if they had their own women’s blogs, we men ought to have our own blog as well.
Additionally, I knew from personal experience how utterly dominated publishing is by women. For every male editor, it seems that there are about three females, and it’s extremely rare for a publishing outfit not to have a woman calling the shots somewhere along the line. I figured that would give The Spearhead an advantage, because – sorry to say it but it’s true – what women publish often bores men to tears.
There have been a number of ups and downs, mainly related to what’s going on behind the scenes in my personal life. As is so often the case for so many men post-divorce, my ex doesn’t make it easy or convenient for me to keep up my relationship with my kids. Also, moving on and getting involved in another relationship brings an entirely new set of obligations.
However, despite it all, the site has stayed online, and that’s inspiring. And in addition, it seems to have finally made an impact. I don’t think I’ve ever seen more skepticism of feminism in my lifetime than over the past couple years. As far as I can tell, the majority of men reject it outright. That the bad policy is still in place tells me only that, as always, there’s a great deal of resistance to change from the current generation in power. Although they may still get their way for a little while longer, I sense change coming as soon as they age out office (hopefully they won’t last as long as Strom Thurmond).
And this is where I think The Spearhead has made the biggest contribution: it has influenced the next generation of men waiting to have their day. That’s been the goal all along — to educate the men who will take the reins in the future. And given the deep skepticism of feminism that is now expressed openly, I think it has succeeded in that.
Now that summer’s over and things have calmed down around here, I think it’s time to revive some of the old spirit, and kick things into high gear once again. To do that, we’ll need contributions from quality writers and support from readers. So, this week I’ll be doing a birthday fund drive and looking for people interested in becoming regular contributors.
