Opening GamerGate: Just the Facts

Opening GamerGate: Just the Facts

The argument I made is that facts don’t exist in a vacuum. We have to consider the society that goes into them. The tone of this piece screams Men’s Rights Activists. I’m already going in with minds fairly set against mine but these lack complete context.

Lifespan

A popular theory about why men have shorter lifespans is the forced stoicism forced on American men. Men aren't supposed to cry or be depressed. They get angry, chill, or happy. God forbid a man ever sheds a tear. The stress of a lifetime of internalizing emotion can cause a lot wear and tear on a body. Keeping a lid on your emotions doesn't help the individual or our society's problematic definition of what it means to 'be a man.'

Another factor that could contribute to shorter lifespans is how we socialize our kids. Boys are permitted to be adventurous while girls are trained to be more demure. "Boys will be boys" vs. "That's not ladylike." This may be why I've never heard a woman tell a story involving shenanigans and fireworks.

Politics

Electing someone into power does not make anyone have a servant/master relationship. The language here is inherently flawed.

Secondly, there are not enough women running for political office on a variety of levels. Social change happens when the underrepresented group is given a voice in a situation where change can happen. Latinos are expected to outnumber white Americans in the near future but they are still an underrepresented group where it truly matters. Sheer numbers do not equal power.

Education

Women do not ‘control’ education. Teaching has long been considered a pink-collar profession and therefore is underpaid and undervalued. Some men don’t go into teaching because it doesn’t pay well or is considered ‘women’s work.’

The ‘power’ here is not in the numbers alone. How many women are on the school board? How many are principals? What about the Secretary of Education? Are women making the funding and hiring decisions? What about university presidents and deans? Teachers are fairly low on the power structure of how education decisions get made.

Reproduction

That number is completely false. I would like to know where whoever wrote this got that number.

Having a uterus doesn’t not inherently give us control. Many states are trying to ban abortion or stopping just short. Other states want to or have installed a 24 waiting period. Anyone who is making the decision to terminate a pregnancy is not doing this willy-nilly. It’s a way to stick it to poor women who have limited resources, time, and money to get to the locations that provide the service.

Many other states allow a pharmacist to refuse to fill prescriptions for Plan-B or birth control based on their religious beliefs. Some politicians lobbying against women and reproductive rights have actually put little thought into why women want them. That is terrifying.

The personhood amendments that have been bouncing around the south the last few years would give more power to the fetus growing inside the woman than the woman carrying it around. They would deny the right of the human woman in favor of a fetus.

Again facts don’t exist in a vacuum. Many women receiving abortions are mothers. Should a woman stop having sex with her husband because the pharmacist denied her the right to make decisions about her family?

Genital Integrity

Female genital mutilation is illegal in America. It is still a routine practice in many undeveloped countries.

‘Male genital mutilation’ or circumcision is a decision made by parents for infant sons. It is considered necessary by the standard of some major religions. Other parents do it so father and son will match. I suspect it historically became popular for regions surrounding ideas about hygiene but I’m not an expert. It has retained popularity in western cultures but many are choosing not to circumcise.

This procedure almost always occurs when the male is still an infant and retains no memory of the event or pain. Some men retroactively take issue with this decision being made for them. If I have a son, I plan to leave that choice to the father.

Female genital mutilation is almost always done when the girl is old enough to remember the pain and trauma. Since it’s done in less developed nations, the healthcare surrounding it is not nearly as good as an infant’s circumcision.

Judiciary

Two words: Prove. It.

If it is happening systematically, where are the numbers? What is the evidence? Don’t just give me personal rants and casual observation. If it’s systematic, there is a paper trail and documentation to support your argument. Find it.

Based on casual observation alone, mothers are generally favored because women are the nurturers in this culture. It’s how society sets the dynamic for men to be the breadwinners and women to be the caregivers. This has been the system for hundreds of years and that doesn’t change overnight.

I have heard plenty of stories of reasonable joint custody arrangements or fathers getting custody. If the men in this case are spouting hateful vitriol toward women, especially the child’s mother, the court will favor the more neutral party.

As for prison, are the men doing all this hard time white? The oppressed men in prison statistics are almost always racial minorities. MRAs are almost always white men. Facts don’t exist in a vacuum. This presentation ignores the racial and socioeconomic context that goes into prison sentencing.

Social

This is a casual, observational statistic with no sociological evidence to back it up. If it exists, I would love to see it.

This argument also lacks all context of what is meant by behavior and clothing. Is it the standard of girl’s shorts getting a 1-inch inseam to a boy’s 6-inch inseam. Mothers and young girls didn’t decide that and are fighting against the limited options.

What is the behavior meant here? Is it having to respect a woman in a bar when she turns you down? Is it not catcalling?

This is too vague an argument for me to counter act. I could make the exact same argument about men with this lack of detail.

Employment

Men are more likely to die in more work related accidents because the jobs that involve dangerous machinery are male dominated. Here's a list of some of the most dangerous jobs in North America

How many female loggers, construction workers, roofers, fishers, and machinists do you know?

For a long time women weren't allowed to do those jobs. Even now that women are getting jobs in these industries, many men in that field don't want them there. The easiest solution is to make the workplace as hostile as possible. North Country focuses on that type of harassment and the first class action lawsuit against it. My explanation is oversimplified but that's a big part of this statistic.

Suicide

I think the suicide statistic ties back into men repressing their emotions. Men aren’t supposed to be sad or depressed, remember? Society gives them few outlets for their feelings while still “being a man.”

I have struggled with depression and if you’re conditioned to never ask for help or talk about it, of course suicide will look like a valid option. It’s the toxic masculinity of our culture.

Sexuality

This is patently false.

Female sexuality can be seen as liberating but women risk being sucked into the virgin/whore dichotomy. We’re supposed to be sexually appealing and sexually available but not so available that we’re giving it away for free. Once we do that, we’re just sluts.

When was the last time a man was called a slut for no reason other than what he was wearing? If a man has a one-night stand, he’s a player. He’s praised. Men further this dynamic by ragging on each other if they don’t get laid and elevating ones who do.

The reason female sexuality may seem liberating is that some women are trying to reclaim the entire idea of it. We’re taking it back and defining it on our own terms. This is not demonizing men or their sexuality.

This whole thing goes sooooo much deeper than I can say in one blog. I'd recommend doing your own homework.

Homelessness

Part of the homeless statistic is veterans. For a long time, women were kept in very limited military roles. Several homeless men are veterans who have trouble readjusting to society coming back from war. It’s a job not often open to women so this is a contributing factor.

I don’t know much about homelessness beyond this issue so I won’t try to speak to it.

Violence

Men are victims of various kinds of violence for several reasons.  Our culture encourages fighting and aggression in men because it’s what it means to “be a man.”

Rape is thought to be the most underreported crime in North America. Women are more likely to come forward than men because a man being sexually assaulted, by either gender, is seen as shameful. He’ll lose respectability as a man. It’s another part of the toxic masculinity in our culture.

Women are statistically more likely to be a victim of partner abuse. I’ve heard everything from 1 in 3 or 4 to 1 in 6. The point being that if you get 12 women in a room, the numbers say that at least 2 have been abused by their partners. I doubt the numbers for men are that extreme.

I won’t change everyone’s minds but almost everything I’ve said here can be backed up in a simply Google search with reliable sources. Can MRAs say the same?