By “men’s issues”, I mean institutional drawbacks that men face solely because of their gender and not the media’s peculiar obsession with “the male loneliness epidemic”.

It looks like people are just genuinely completely unaware of the existence of systemic misandry, and that when we’re talking about the way men are handled in society, said people interpret that as “oh, you mean how WOMEN treat you? Maybe be respectful, maybe try not to be creepy, maybe be a better man” when some of what we actually mean is, oh, I don’t know…

What comes with not registering for selective service
The fact that the majority of physical violence/murder victims consist of men
The fact that most work-related fatalities and injuries consist of men
The fact that the majority of homeless people are men
Do I need to say anything about men in war and about how soldiers are treated after war?
Forced circumcision
Paternity testing stuff
The legal definition of SA
The way boys are treated in school (like the caning law thing in Singapore for instance)

Now, tell me, what exactly does any of that have to do with being nice to women?

See, the reason as to why people automatically jump to “men’s mental health” when we say “men’s rights” in a general sense is because the “men’s mental health” narrative has been pushed on them by the media, while the more tangible issues that have plagued the lives of men globally have not. Moreover, the “men’s mental health” is something that has been used as a talking point by both feminists and men who are brainwashed into feeling perpetually guilty because of their gender, and is a more popular topic of discussion - because it’s “not systemic” (also not true) in the way people seem to think misogyny always is, or is a “result of the patriarchy/toxic masculinity”. 

Might I also add that this belief that the “men are upset over being rejected by women and absolutely nothing else” agenda is problematic because it keeps placing women at the center of everything, maintains the notion that women are justified in treating men that (as a group) haven’t done anything to them poorly, and communicates a complete lack of understanding regarding issues men deal with that, spoiler alert, extend WAYYYYYYYYYYY beyond things like dating or mental health issues.

This isn’t me saying that mental health as an issue isn’t important. It is. But to use it as a barrier for the resolution of other and more imminently/grandeurously dangerous problems is wrong and it’s definitely part of the reason why men’s rights activism isn’t taken as seriously as it should be.