The one where MRA’s miss the point and end up making up words instead.

Every day’s a learning day, and today I learnt the words Menscriminate and meninisim. These words were brought to you by the letters M, R and A. These lovely posters make quite clear that it’s menscrimination (what even is that word) against men to have women only transport, hair dye, door openings and boobs- I think? Maybe? I lost their point in all the lolling I did. The main problem with this nonsense (because, that’s what it is), is that it tries to compare apples and oranges. Or boobs and rape statistics. Or hair dye and equal pay. Or free drinks with rape culture. Oh wait that one is related… I, and many, many, many other women around the world would much prefer to have zero “ladies nights” and replace them with bodily autonomy, freedom from rape and real life equal pay. I am also ok with getting rid of women only transport if it means women could actually use public transport around the world without running the risk of some random dude masturbating at them or feeling them up. I am also ok with giving up the luxury (pah!) of consuming a beauty industry that hates me if it means women are represented at the political level, and I don’t mind carrying my own bags if it means women’s voices are taken seriously at work, at home, in public IN ALL SPHERES OF LIFE. Because, hello MRA’s this is where you miss the point. Discrimination is not about one instance. It is not about ladies getting free entry to clubs, and it certainly isn’t about carrying bags. It’s about wholesale structural, political and cultural undermining and control. Discrimination is in the links between low pay, sexual assault, domestic abuse, political representation and cultural references. It’s in the bits around child care, housework, whose jobs go first and who gets listened to. It’s in the obvious and overt and it’s in the insidious and mundane. It is not about stupid men dying their hair blonde. (whaaaaaaa??) The worst and most dangerous thing about this meninisim/forgotten gender rubbish is that it is so very appealing to everyone. We all want to believe we’re equal, and we all like to believe that we are “good people” who care about “good things”- including men’s issues. But this is not the way to get people on board with equality, this is not the way to talk about so-called men’s issues. Men’s issues- violence, suicide, class, race, sexuality, health- are going to be addressed through talking about masculinity,  economics, homophobia, poverty, racism, identity and belonging. They will be addressed when we look at class, at employment, at mental health. They are not, however, going to be addressed through making up weird words for weird posters and blaming it on boobs.