[Wamvan] Thoughts on Men's Rights Activists (MRAs) in Vancouver/Canada?

Sat Nov 24 20:44:39 PST 2012

Hey, thanks for all the information. Is this MRA business a recent thing in
Vancouver that started growing this year?

What's been happening at commercial drive & broadway stn, Tami?

I'd like to discuss counter measures as well. If we do a counter poster
campaign, my worry is they'll just tear down the posters in retaliation for
whoever tore down theirs. And I don't think they're worth the printing
costs.

Maybe we can make some sort of web poster/infographic to share around
social media? Or an online petition? What would we want to ask for? An end
to harassment of feminists by MRAs? I don't know, any other ideas? The
tricky thing is that you don't want to help them get more publicity.

Joanna

On Sun, Nov 25, 2012 at 12:28 PM, Frieda Werden <frieda.werden at gmail.com>wrote:

> There's a car dealership here in town with MRI posters all over it.
>
>
> On Sat, Nov 24, 2012 at 11:33 AM, Tami Starlight <tamistarlight at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Yup
>>
>> Been an ongoing issue here and know a few who were challenging their shit
>> on commercial drive & broadway stn.
>>
>> Sent from my wireless device
>> *All my relations*
>> Tami Starlight:Unceded coast Salish territory/Vancouver
>> tamistarlight at gmail.com
>> http://facebook.com/Tamistarlight
>> Tami_starlight (twitter)
>> Cosmictami (skype)
>>
>> On 2012-11-24, at 8:42 AM, Jarrah <jarrahhodge at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Joanna,
>>
>> You or the journalist should really talk to the folks from Feminist
>> Edmonton. They are directly challenging MRAs through a counter-poster
>> campaign and online videos. Their videos are here:
>> http://www.youtube.com/user/FeministEdmonton?feature=watch and they have
>> a website here: http://feministedmonton.com
>>
>> Men's Rights Edmonton has made videos like this in response:
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcI4VPiJVKM&feature=youtu.be
>>
>> I would love to do a counter-poster campaign here if anyone's interested.
>> The more I hear from some MRAs the more angry I get. They target my videos
>> endlessly with anti-feminist comments and post their own video responses
>> where they don't show their faces. They pull out the most ridiculous
>> arguments for why feminism isn't needed and actually hurts men. They have
>> an endless repository of quotes from people you and I have never heard of
>> who say they're feminists and advocate violence against men. They try to
>> bait you into long, fruitless arguments.
>>
>> In this video the guy actually criticizes Because I am a Girl because
>> they don't help boys in developing countries (
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f68U4p7Ml8&list=UUj5Ce3ACuCyGCjmrHydbr_Q&index=7&feature=plcp
>> ).
>>
>> They made a video in response to what I thought was a very open post by
>> one of my contributors saying she wished she could work with MRAs if they
>> truly believe in equality. Their video has a picture of a woman in a
>> gorilla mask with the title "Feminist Sans Makeup" and they read her entire
>> post in a mocking voice and invite commenters to attack her arguments (
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYMQkSCdELs).
>>
>> To some extent I get conflicted - I don't want to make videos or write
>> long posts directly taking them on. I know it's inviting huge amounts of
>> trolling and putting my face/name out there as a target. But I'd love to
>> work on some sort of counter postering campaign involving more people.
>>
>> At any rate, I'm happy to talk more on this issue but for an example of
>> people actively fighting back I would definitely follow up with some of the
>> Feminist Edmonton activists. Also interested to hear what other experience
>> WAM-ers have had in Vancouver.
>>
>> Jarrah
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Nov 24, 2012 at 6:45 AM, Joanna Chiu <chiu.joanna5 at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Hey WAM peeps,
>>>
>>> A Men's Rights group recently did some poster campaigns in Vancouver.
>>> http://masculism.ca/blog/vancouver-mra-hits-the-streets/
>>>
>>> For those who haven't heard about MRA's before, these Urban Dictionary
>>> definitions are actually quite accurate:
>>> http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mra
>>>
>>> Are there any feminist individuals or groups in Vancouver that are
>>> actively resisting against them? Would really like to know. I might write
>>> about this for my next Herizons' column, and a journalism student from
>>> Langara asked me if WAM! members had any comments for an article she's
>>> writing on MRA's.
>>>
>>> More info on the posters in Vancouver. Some had been torn down.
>>> http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/09/10/mens-rights-posters-vancouver_n_1871526.html
>>>
>>>
>>> Here are the journalist's questions below but please comment on whatever
>>> you find pertinent.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Joanna
>>>
>>>
>>> 1. Have you encountered/had any experience with the men's rights
>>> movement?
>>>
>>> 2. What is your perception of men's rights activists?
>>>
>>> 3. Men's rights activists have many qualms with the feminist movement.
>>> One thing is, the men's rights movement does not believe that,
>>> historically, the scales of power have been tipped away from women, and
>>> that society is not a patriarchy. As a feminist, what would your response
>>> to that be?
>>>
>>> 4. On issues such as reproductive rights, one of the men's rights
>>> activists I spoke with said that it was an issue of religious beliefs and
>>> not a "war on women." Do you agree/disagree? Why?
>>>
>>> 5. Have women achieved equal status in society?
>>>
>>> 6. Why do you believe feminism is still relevant?
>>>
>>> 7. I asked a men's rights activist about the over-sexualization of women
>>> in the media, the madonna/whore dichotomy, and his thoughts were: it's not
>>> only society's exploitation of female sexuality, but women exploiting the
>>> sexual power they hold over men. I am curious to hear your thoughts on this.
>>>
>>> 8. What would you say to anyone who views feminism as an attack on men's
>>> liberties?
>>>
>>> 9. Can you point to a point in history, from past to present, when women
>>> have held more power than men?
>>>
>>> 10. Do you think the feminist movement is threatened by the men's rights
>>> movement?
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> ---
>>>  Joanna Chiu
>>> www.joannachiu.com <http://www.joannachiu.com%20/>
>>> twitter.com/joannachiu
>>> Ph: 5115 8253
>>> WAM! Vancouver <http://www.wamvancouver.wordpress.com%20/>
>>> <http://twitter.com/joannachiu>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Wamvan mailing list
>>> Wamvan at lists.resist.ca
>>> https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/wamvan
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> --------------------
>> Jarrah Hodge
>> @jarrahpenguin
>> http://gender-focus.com
>> *Vote for Gender Focus in the Canadian Blog Awards: *
>> http://polldaddy.com/poll/6654035/
>> --------------------
>>
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>>
>
>
> --
> Frieda Werden, Series Producer
> WINGS: Women's International News Gathering Service www.wings.org
> <http://www.wings.org>
> https://www.facebook.com/wingsradio
>
>
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>

-- 
---
 Joanna Chiu
www.joannachiu.com <http://www.joannachiu.com%20/>
twitter.com/joannachiu
Ph: 5115 8253
WAM! Vancouver <http://www.wamvancouver.wordpress.com%20/>
<http://twitter.com/joannachiu>
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