Maybe because I am a feminist you think that I would have nothing to say but bad things about Men's Rights Activists (MRAs). Sure, for a while, I only read and heard about vile statements and accusations certain MRAs said about women, people of color, etc. Then I started getting to know some in real life, listened to a prominent speaker, and looked into a few of the arguments they have made about men's issues.
Something I have observed, and something that many MRAs complain about, is how they are often excluded from the conversation. From college campus to mainstream media, their opinions are rarely sought out for reasonable contributions about Men's Rights Activism, and men's rights in general. Instead, broadcasters and journalists like to focus on non, or anti-MRA, views and shine a spotlight on problematic (often misinterpreted) MRA perspectives.
In her video, MRA Theryn Meyer responds to a Slate article, where the author did not even seem to read some of the articles she was citing. The author, Amanda Marcotte, was trying to prove that FeMRAs (Female Men's Rights Activists) are misogynists. Theryn, through her own research, was able to give enough evidence to conclude that most of the quotes that Amanda had taken from FeMRAs were taken out of context. Even though Amanda could have reached out to any of these women when writing, she didn't.
At Simon Fraser University, The Peak published an article by Micaela Evans talking about why the school doesn't need a Men's Centre. While she does make the worthwhile points that there should be enough demand to warrant creating one and that there are resources for men on campus, she also makes problematic claims. For one, Micaela only wants resources for men that fit her personal feminist views. Most questionable is her repetitive assertion that advocates for a Men's Centre only want it out of a reaction of there being a Women's Centre. She even said that the advocates' goals "exist solely" to oppose feminist frameworks. Instead of asking people who support a Men's Center why they want one, she answered the question for them.
During one program on CBC News, there was a panel that argued about men's rights groups. There were no MRAs present, and there was only one man who was sympathetic to campus antagonism, but open-minded to the issues MRAs cared about. Despite being reasonable, he associated Men's Rights Activism versus feminism as being part of the right versus left paradigm, which is inaccurate. Not only were the other two panelists, like Micaela, highly critical of men's rights groups, they accused the activists of only caring about these issues for superficial attention. It's reminiscent of when people accuse women of wanting the spotlight because they tout feminist issues.
Like any other kind of activist or group member, MRAs deserve fair media coverage. Just as feminists shouldn't have to tell their social circles that "The media doesn't accurately portray what we're really like!" neither should MRAs.
