Men's Reproductive Rights. From a male feminist perspective.

BinaryShadow · 2011-03-09T04:17:46+00:00

After skimming through the typical generalizing anti-MRA rhetoric that is required for a feminist to even consider talking about MRA's, I finally came upon what the hell this guy was trying to say.

If an unmarried man gets a woman pregnant, he has a short span of time — say, 48 hours — after he learns of the pregnancy in which to decide if he's going to take responsibility for the child if she brings the pregnancy to term. If he decides he won't, he can never make a claim of any parental rights afterward. If he decides he will, he cannot change his mind afterward either. If he doesn't make an explicit decision, it defaults to him having taken responsibility. [Bold text added after original post; see Update 3 below.]

Why only 48 hours after learning? Women get two trimesters to think about it. It's only fair that men be given the same amount of time. Even if she's staunchly pro-life she can still give it up after term for adoption without ever having to pay child support.

2011-03-09T04:25:21+00:00

Ms Marcotte, I hope you're reading this, because I love a lot of your work. And I hope you have a serious response; if my thinking is screwy, here, I'd like to have it laid out for me.

Gotta love the craven bootlicking of the male feminist.

Much of what he is saying is simply a re-hash of the MRA idea of a financial abortion. But he's got one thing right:

I believe that having MRAs and creepy Cathy Young be the only folks who prepared to address this nudges otherwise reasonable men toward sympathy with MRAs and antipathy toward feminism; I really wish we had a feminist take that wasn't just dismissive.

Good luck with the non-dismissive feminist take on any male issue, bootlicking dude.

pcarvious · 2011-03-09T06:42:55+00:00

Two problems with his proposal, states would never let it fly. They get too much money from the child support system to let their milk cows out to pasture. Second, this assumes that knowledge was presented and not forged. Legal documentation would be required and need to be signed off on which then could be challenged.

Also, Child support is considered a right of the child, not the mother.

zyk0s · 2011-03-09T14:01:31+00:00

"I agree wholeheartedly that the way to address most women's concerns is through the MRM. And all feminists are dimwitted bigots and supremacists. Though you suggest the MRM could solve things like women waiting in line longer to go to the bathroom and the late arrival of the new season's shoes supply, I think we should look at the more important female issues that feminists raise, and offer real, masculist alternatives to their crazy ideas.

For example, in terms of gender equality, most feminists suggest that all money should be collected from the state and redistributed 50-50 among males and females, with an added bonus for females because they raise children. That is a real threat to our capital based democracy, and I have some concerns it may not fully work."

Yeah, that would run well on a blog. Until you get shot in the streets for having written something like that.

Fatalistic · 2011-03-09T14:11:14+00:00

The key example in my mind is that MRAs commonly propose that fathers be given strong legal rights to control a partner's decision to have an abortion. “She shouldn't be able to abort my baby without my consent,” and “I should be able to make her abort a fetus if I don't want that baby.”

Are these things that MRAs commonly propose? I've heard more than once about financial abortion and I don't think it has to do about this... I certainly don't want to control the choices a woman does about her body as long as I won't bear the consequences.

If a woman is pregnant, the child is mine and she decides to keep it, she should have the right to go on with the pregnancy. Also, if she's pregnant, I want the child and she doesn't, she's right when she terminates the pregnancy. That's her body and the choices she makes are effecting her alone. If I really want a baby, I can always walk away and get it with another woman, nobody gets hurt.

On the other side, let's say she is pregnant, she wants to keep it and I don't. As I said before, it's totally right for her to have that baby, even if I don't want to - it's my sperm but it's her body, I agree with the ones who say that once it's outside of your body you have no rights on your sperm. What is not right is that, on behalf of her choice, I will be held responsible for 18 years of child support no matter what I want to do.

It's as simple as this: you want the baby, you pay for it. I don't see anything wrong with it.

ForMensRights · 2011-03-09T04:47:53+00:00

3 paragraphs in; couldn't continue. Fuck that shit.

Quazz · 2011-03-09T13:04:55+00:00

I don't think there are many feminists who actually knows anything about the MRM or has even spoken to an MRA and just write down what they believe an MRA would say...

Anyway, he basically proposed what many MRA's have proposed before, albeit I disagree with his proposed timelimit. 48 hours after given knowledge? Seriously? 48hours to make a decision that will hugely impact your life for at least 18 years?

ss_camaro · 2011-03-10T13:07:54+00:00

This chart is always useful.

Title	Men's Reproductive Rights. From a male feminist perspective.
Author	thetrollking
Upvotes	1
Comments	12
Date	March 9, 2011 3:44 AM UTC (15 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/g0842/mens_reproductive_rights_from_a_male_feminist/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/mens-reproductive-rights-from-a-male-feminist.1042324 https://theredarchive.com/post/1042324

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