The Feminist Police

I think in many ways feminists are like the police. Many people dislike both groups. Both groups sometimes abuse their power and are criticized for being too extreme. Sometimes they are called unnecessarily and cause situations to escalate. Sometimes they unfairly pick on particular groups. Or, they continually ignore the plight of some groups because of racism (e.g., Black women and Black people) who should be supported yet expect members from this group to have positive views of them. When members of both groups make mistakes or commit offenses they may deny or try to hide them.  As soon as you tell people you are in either group some will  be pleased but others will judge you negatively and be suspicious. You will be blamed for any of the extreme things other members of your group have said or done. But let me tell you about how I felt yesterday.

Watching videos and reading blogs of men in the Men's Rights Movement has been scary, difficult, disappointing, and numbing. If you asked me last week I could have never imagined any man could say some of the things I read and that those statements were actually be supported. A website called Man Boobz is a blog that creates awareness about the insanely barbaric things members of this group have posted online. I never thought I'd read comments from men ridiculing women who commented about being raped. In one sickening instance one actually taunted her about enjoying the rape and threatened to do it again. Their group is a concerted and malicious effort to disrupt any female group, organization, or website ONLY because they hate women. For whatever reason, this group hates women and even posts images of battered or injured women to laugh at! Any sane person can tell that some of these men are mentally ill or sexual predators. But I think some of them don't even realize this and think that what they are saying is fair, justified, edgy humor, or harmless fun. Fortunately there are other groups of men like those at The Good Men Project who see things in a balanced and non-hostile manner.

After reading posts by the Men's Rights Movement I thought to myself 'I can't wait for the feminists to get rid of these guys' and I wondered what they were doing to shut them down. I thought that someone should alert the feminists so they would do something about it. There it is. Just like the police, I might criticize them but when I'm worried about being harmed they are the first people I want to call! They have the power and law behind them to protect people without power. They have an organized system in place for this and people who have dedicated their lives to this duty. That is why they are both important and I would feel less safe if they were to disappear. So although I criticize extreme feminism or certain feminist ideas I still respect them, I understand they are important for everyone, and I am truly glad they are here. It must be a hard job and I'm glad they do it because I don't think I could handle so much pressure and responsibility.