"I was determined to expose the dark underbelly of the Males Rights Movement.
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I travelled the country, meeting the leaders and followers of mens' rights movement. And, looking back now, I see that while I was conducting their interviews I wasn't really LISTENING. I was anticipating.
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I was waiting for a sentence, or even just a couple words in succession that PROVED what I wanted to believe; that I had found the misogynists.
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An MRA would say to me "there are over 2000 domestic violence shelters for women in the united states. But only 1 for men. Yet multiple reputable studies show that men are just as likely to be abused." [But in my mind] I would hear them say "We don't need 2000 shelters for women - they're all lying about being abused, it's all a scam."
(Cont)
An MRA would say "Men are roughly 78% of all suicides throughout the world."
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I would counter with "but women attempt suicide more often. So ha!"
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Ha? It's not a contest. But I kept making it into one.
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Why couldn't I simply learn about mens issues and have compassion for male victims without jumping at the opportunity to insist that women are the real victims?
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All the MRA I met SUPPORT women's rights. They are simply asking the question: Why doesn't our society care about mens rights?
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There is no denying that there are many human rights issues that uniquely or disproportionately effect men.
(Cont)
Paternity fraud uniquely effects men. The United States Selective Service in the case of a draft still uniquely effects men. Workplace deaths are disproportionately men. War deaths, overwhelmingly men. Suicides, overwhelmingly men. Sentencing disparity; life expectancy; child custody; child support; false rape allegations; criminal court bias; misandry; failure to launch; boys falling behind in education; homelessness; veterans issues; infant male genital mutilation; lack of parental choice once a child is conceived; lack of resources for male victims of domestic violence.
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So many issues. That are heartbreaking if you are the victim. Or you love someone who is the victim of any one of these issues. These are mens issues.
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And most people can't name one.
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Because they think "well, men have all the rights. They have all the power and privilidge."
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But these issues deserve to be acknowledged. They deserve care, attention, and motivation for solutions.
(Cont)
And when the film [The Red Pill] was released in theatres, I experienced how engaged the media is in groupthink around gender politics. And I learned a difficult lesson.
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When you state to humanize your enemy, you in turn may be dehumanized by your community.
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But the greatest challenge I faced wasn't the protests against my film, and it wasn't how I was treated by the mainstream media.
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The greatest challenge I faced was peeling back the layers of my OWN bias.
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It turns out I did meet my enemy while filming. It was my ego saying that I was right, and they were subhuman.
(Cont)
I believe if we honestly want to discuss gender equality we need to invite all voices to the table. Yet this is not what is happening. Mens groups are continually villified, falsely referred to as hate groups, and their voices are systematically silenced.
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And if one group is being silenced, that's a problem for all of us.
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If I could give advice to anyone in our society at large: We have to stop expecting to be offended. And we have to start openly and sincerely listening."
"[But in my mind] I would hear them say "We don't need 2000 shelters for women - they're all lying about being abused, it's all a scam." i stopped reading after that. she's making up her own narrative to suit her viewpoint.
This is an edited version of her Ted talk. You can listen to this portion here: https://youtu.be/3WMuzhQXJoY (approx 15 minutes long)
`
She explains repeatedly that she went into this and spoke to these men LOOKING for reasons to hate them.
`
She says she was adding on to what they said to prove that men are misogynistic, and even if they're not, it's WOMEN that are the real victims.
`
And she also says she was wrong. That none of the men she talked to were the women hating patriarchs she'd been told they were.
`
And that she wasn't proud of her previous mindset. And she explains that talking to MRA actually changed her mind about them. That they aren't the bogeymen the internet had made them out to be, and that she'd actually come to understand that they deserve to have their issues heard, too
![These Issues Deserve to be Acknowledged [Cassie Jaye on the MRA]](/uploads/original/620/620036.jpg)
`
I travelled the country, meeting the leaders and followers of mens' rights movement. And, looking back now, I see that while I was conducting their interviews I wasn't really LISTENING. I was anticipating.
`
I was waiting for a sentence, or even just a couple words in succession that PROVED what I wanted to believe; that I had found the misogynists.
`
An MRA would say to me "there are over 2000 domestic violence shelters for women in the united states. But only 1 for men. Yet multiple reputable studies show that men are just as likely to be abused." [But in my mind] I would hear them say "We don't need 2000 shelters for women - they're all lying about being abused, it's all a scam."
(Cont)
`
I would counter with "but women attempt suicide more often. So ha!"
`
Ha? It's not a contest. But I kept making it into one.
`
Why couldn't I simply learn about mens issues and have compassion for male victims without jumping at the opportunity to insist that women are the real victims?
`
All the MRA I met SUPPORT women's rights. They are simply asking the question: Why doesn't our society care about mens rights?
`
There is no denying that there are many human rights issues that uniquely or disproportionately effect men.
(Cont)
`
So many issues. That are heartbreaking if you are the victim. Or you love someone who is the victim of any one of these issues. These are mens issues.
`
And most people can't name one.
`
Because they think "well, men have all the rights. They have all the power and privilidge."
`
But these issues deserve to be acknowledged. They deserve care, attention, and motivation for solutions.
(Cont)
`
When you state to humanize your enemy, you in turn may be dehumanized by your community.
`
But the greatest challenge I faced wasn't the protests against my film, and it wasn't how I was treated by the mainstream media.
`
The greatest challenge I faced was peeling back the layers of my OWN bias.
`
It turns out I did meet my enemy while filming. It was my ego saying that I was right, and they were subhuman.
(Cont)
`
And if one group is being silenced, that's a problem for all of us.
`
If I could give advice to anyone in our society at large: We have to stop expecting to be offended. And we have to start openly and sincerely listening."
`
She explains repeatedly that she went into this and spoke to these men LOOKING for reasons to hate them.
`
She says she was adding on to what they said to prove that men are misogynistic, and even if they're not, it's WOMEN that are the real victims.
`
And she also says she was wrong. That none of the men she talked to were the women hating patriarchs she'd been told they were.
`
And that she wasn't proud of her previous mindset. And she explains that talking to MRA actually changed her mind about them. That they aren't the bogeymen the internet had made them out to be, and that she'd actually come to understand that they deserve to have their issues heard, too