What should the Men's Movement do? Pook's Mill | July 30, 2006 | by Pook ------------------------- [http://www.cooltools4men.com/MenGoingTheirOwnWay.jpg]*Disclaimer* Keep in mind that this is meant for the politically engaged and public part of the Men's Movement. When I mean 'Men's Movement', I am referring to the political motion, not the websites, blogs, message boards, and those things. In politics, you must pick your battles. In other words, you pick the battles worth fighting over and don't waste time on unobtainable objectives. The battles I think are worth fighting over (and winnable) for the Men's Movement are... -Calling attention to and re-organizing the Family Law and its courts -Make Paternity Testing mandatory for birth certificates and especially for child support. -Have legislatures re-examine the laws concerning rape. -Have legislatures re-examine the laws concerning sexual harassment. -Have Congress amend and/or gut the Violence Against Women's Act. -Fight for changing Divorce Law This, already, will be an uphill battle. All of this is possible however. Paternity Testing is winnable because it is not that expensive to do DNA checks. It is very difficult to argue against paternity testing for child support to the mainstream populace (why should a man who isn't the father have to pay child support? Only a hateful feminist could support such an evil idea). Yes, I know they are using weird legal precedents currently. Expose it! Most of society just isn't aware of what is going on. It is the Men's Movement job to educate the vast population on these issues. Also, Paternity Testing can be argued for medical purposes. Having the father known allows a proper medical history for the child. In order to change the current laws, attention must be called to them. It is doubtful the current legal system in place for Family Law would be abolished. However, it can be altered. A good example is the money for child support being looked at BOTH the father and mother's income rather than just the father's. Georgia and Australia both changed the child support to examine both parents' incomes much to the anger of feminists. Whenever the Men's Movement is successful, it ought to examine why so it can replicate the success later on. Many of the legal battles can be fought under the banner of equality. Should men and women be treated equally under the law? This makes sense but is rarely done (such as the divorce laws and even sexual harassment laws). Why should a woman walk away with a slap on her wrist when the same action could send a man to prison? And what protections do men have against self-interested women who throw rape and harassment charges knowing they are not true? These are all issues that will get politicians to consider. When you contact your representative, handwrite your letter. Do not type it or email it. These representatives are sent tons of spam and mail from politically interested organizations. People say representatives do not listen to their constituents, but this is not true in America (at least). They do listen especially the letters that are handwritten. And most important of all, the Men's Movement should educate, educate, and educate. Those who have been on the bad side of Family Law (those unfortunate divorced men whose lives got shattered), tell your stories. However, do not tell it with seething anger as no one will listen to that. I know this is controversial in the Men's Movement, but I believe the only key to political victory is getting some women on board. Once women come on board, there is no stopping the movement. I am not talking about all or most women, only a few. Many women know what is going around and may be sympathetic enough to participate (if we give them the chance). It is important for the Men's Movement to keep the door open for women to come aboard if they wish. Politically, this will make the Men's Movement impossible to be pegged as "angry male losers" if a few women are strategically placed as spokesmen. Another big thing that could be pushed is teaching fertility in the already present government sex-ed classes in schools. While fertility is not much of an issue for men, it is extremely important for females. Women need to be taught that the height of their fertility is from 18-25 and goes downhill from there. The Government will be supportive of this idea since all Western Governments want to increase the fertility rate. Feminists will hate it because once women become educated about their fertility, they will most likely not pursue a career. So what should the Men's Movement NOT do? Obviously, the Men's Movement should not fight the wrong battles. These are battles that aren't related to the movement and/or have a high probability of never occurring. When the first Congress was debating the Declaration of Independence, unrelevant topics appeared such as the issues of slavery and off shore fishing rights. The only battle was Independence. The political issue of slavery was too divisive even back then. The political issue of off shore fishing rights was too irrelevant. I've seen such issues appear in the Men's Movement which need to be dropped ASAP: -Libertarianism (Libertarianism is fine and good, but what point is there for the Men's Movement to fight this battle when Libertarian groups already exist?) -Medical Marijuanna (What does this have to do with the Men's Movement?) -Anything dealing with gays (While homosexuals fall under the Family Law, fighting the Gay Movement as well as removing these penalizing anti-men laws is not prudent. Pick your battles. Fighting the Gay Movement isn't going to bring the Men's Movement closer to reforming divorce and family law.) -Kicking Women (Rampant "woman bashing" not only insures that no women will join but that many men will be turned away by such negativity even when justified. Think tactics. If the Men's Movement is interested in success, it will have to refrain from being percieved as 'kicking' all women [for substitute, kick the feminists.]) -Giving up on young men (We all were brainwashed once. Going around and calling any male who doesn't immediately agree with you names is not going to influence them. With all the young males born to single females, thinking they are 'dead' and giving up on them would also be a mistake. In fact, the Men's Movement could serve as a guidance for these young males who never had a real father.) -Trying to get women to change their behavior and their attitude (This is pointless and a waste of time. Focus on the laws, not the women as it is the laws that put us in jail. You can avoid the women and their attitudes for the most part. But you cannot avoid the law. We do not want women to love us, we only want women to be unable to hang us.) -Be filled with hostility and rage (Rage never inspires anyone to join a movement. Others like you may agree, but that vast mainstream will just conclude you are an angry loon. Optimism and explanations of how things would be better with our proposed changes will persuade people. Anger and thinking the world is going to end will not.) Women and their behavior/attitude should not be the focus of the Men's Movement. Rather, the focus should be on reforming the law. Politically and in the open, attack the law, but going after the women (who have used these laws to their advantage) is going to push away the politicians and mainstream we need to persuade. A man is not entitled to love and good responses from women. But a man ought to be entitled to be immune to a woman having the legal power to destroy his life when innocent of no crime. I believe the probability for victory vastly increases if the Men's Movement focuses on smaller battlefields rather than large, epic ones. Men's lives would improve considerably if divorce, family courts, and child support were reformed. Make that the first target and save the other issues for another day. ------------------------- Archived from https://theredarchive.com/blog/Pook's-Mill/what-should-the-mens-movement-do.34348