Introduction

Hello, greetings, welcome and thanks for coming here.

So, why am I here and what am I hoping to achieve with this blog? To be honest I'm not entirely sure. I can, though, explain why I have decided to set this up:

Over the last few months, I have been pulled into the world of the men's rights movement. The principle tenant of the MRM is that male gender-specific problems are woefully under-considered in modern society. They believe that feminism has pushed too far, and that men and boys are now getting a very raw deal as a result. They believe that the current situation is unfair, unethical, and ultimately dangerous.

And, in honesty, when you look at what they're talking about it's hard to disagree.

Now, I know some of you probably already think I'm full of it, and before I continue I would like to make a very important point: I do not think that men and only men are victims today. I know that women have gender-specific issues, and I completely agree that they need to be dealt with and resolved as best as possible. What does concern me, however, is how little men's issues are considered in comparison to women's issues. They do not make the news, do not fill opinion columns, do not make it onto talk shows – or, when they do, the defenders of men's rights are often talked to as if they are simply whining and ought to 'man up'. Comparative research and support funding for men's issues in relation to women's is so insignificant as to be at times practically zero. Often it feels that, if the genders were reversed, we'd be all over it in a heartbeat.

So I am going to be discussing the ideas of the men's rights movement on here. I believe that the dialogue really needs to be opened up, to become more public. I think, frankly, that far too many people are just not aware that these issues even exist to begin with. So yes, I will predominantly be talking about men's rights – though probably not exclusively.

So what will I actually be posting? Well, as I said I'm a bit new to all this, and I'm really trying to figure a lot out of it in my head – how it affects my life, what I can do, whether I agree with or believe some of what is found in the MRA (men's rights activists) blogs and forums. I'm trying to process it all, so in some ways this blog is ultimately like some big therapy session... how lucky for you all...

The upshot of that is that I'm not intending to be posting example after example of every incident that ever occurs. There are some very good fact-based blogs and sites out there already, and all I would be doing in that case is copying what they've said over again. I may (probably will) link to them, use them as a starting board, but really, this is about me trying to figure out where to go from here – how to become not an MRA, not a feminist, but what I would call a true Equalitarian. Essentially, I don't want to be telling anyone what to think, what to feel or how to behave. I want to discuss it with everyone else.

Probable upcoming topics will include (though not necessarily in this order):

• Marriage & divorce: should you protect yourself?
• Domestic Violence: where are the men's shelters?
• In a world where women work, is alimony outdated?
• Ribbons for prostate cancer
• Gender roles and the Patriarchy
• Men and mental health
• Anti-male feminists
• Anti-female MRAs
• Anonymity for those accused of rape
• Male vs female expendability
• Minister for Men – is it time?
• The continuing decline of boys in education
• Equality at work: boardrooms vs basements
• Misandry vs misogyny in modern society
• Let's talk toilet seats: the Sitzpinkler effect

Finally, one last thing, just to be clear: I am not here to play victim. I know I live a very fortunate, comfortable and privileged life. White, western, middle-class, educated, employed... I know that. That does not stop me being concerned when I look out into the world and see other people's lives being damaged unnecessarily. And when nobody else seems to be willing or able to raise these issues, to talk about them, to ask “why?”, then I feel like I have to. But I am not about to play victim here.

Please, if you do not agree with me, do not try to argue with me by pointing out how privileged my life is, nor by pointing to history. History cannot be used as an excuse for the sins of the present, and pointing out my privileges does not help those who do not share them. I want to discuss these issues rationally and logically from different people's perspectives – not play a never ending game of 'who has it worse'.

Thanks for reading and, if you're interested, please do keep an eye on things; hopefully we'll get something interesting going on here!