Pop feminists want to "take back the night." Perhaps we should give it to them. Certainly it would be easier than building stronger families and establishing good moral foundations for our children.
Every year a group of women gathers in Victoria's Centennial Square to start a march in which the focus is on female victims of violence. They want to "Take Back the Night." These are the ideological twisted-sister femi-nutsys who have succeeded in portraying men as selfish beasts, much in need of legislative control for everything from child-support to workplace conduct. But, what the heck... we surely do want to please the "ladies," don't we fellows?
Thanks to the Take Back the Night marches, we now think we have the solution for women (and men) experiencing violence at night. The marchers say they would like to take back the night and we think we men really should give it back to them. We don't remember who took it from them, but it seems only fair to have our own (men only, of course) "Give Back the Night" marches.
Now, most men will stop reading right here, assuming this is yet another journalistic sell-out to the femi-nutsy crowd - but please consider these facts: StatsCan statistics for 1994 showed 378 male adults were murdered, versus 61 female adults; as well as 48 male youths versus 4 female youths. A study from the Emergency Department at Leicester Royal Infirmary in England, on domestic violence injuries, found "men suffered a higher rate of injury than women", and that "more than 80 percent of these men had been attacked with weapons". Along with more than 50 studies done by various methods and researchers showing men are just as often physically abused by their spouse or girlfriend. Research even shows that approximately ten times as many men are sexually assaulted as are women1.
There is, in fact, no category of violence in which men do not lead as victims. If most of this violence occurs at night, we'll theoretically cut men's exposure by more than half by giving back the night! Full credit to the women for this idea of course.
Giving back the night will also reduce risky crowd control assignments for police officers. For example, when two men managed to get too close to Take Back the Night marchers, three police officers quickly ran to the marchers aid to have them removed. Apparently the men were "bothering" the women.
So, okay, many guys initially won't like this, and will object that femi-nutsy marchers are forcing an evening curfew on them. However, we think guys can be convinced by the following reasoned argument: Sports are mostly televised at night!
Let us gather representatives from each side at once, and meet at the newly constructed monument to "women murdered by men" in a formal turnover of the night in Thorton Park - which is surely an appropriate symbol of the "equality and fairness" (or is that misandry?) principles at issue here. Some high level bureaucrat from the Attorney General's Ministry or Women's Equality would be amply qualified to conduct any negotiations in a fair and equitable manner. Barney the Dinosaur has also been suggested as a possible candidate for mediator.
After signing, any man with a valid reason to venture out at night would require a permission slip from his wife or significant other. He would also wear a large rotating beacon on top of his head to warn all women (and police) of his presence. With this system in place, and with appropriate legislation to put some teeth in it, the femi-nutsy marchers would be assured that any man out at night was female-approved, and therefore somewhat non-violent and probably safe.
Much safer, we're convinced, than the women at this year's Take Back the Night march, who actually had signs which read, "Lorena Bobbitt was a survivor." Don't we have to wonder about the mental stability of a group that claims on one hand to be condemning violence, yet holds up Lorena as some kind of venerated saint or icon? Referring to the author of such a heinous crime as a "survivor" demonstrates a profound lack of responsibility and judgment, and reveals the darker side of women. This should be of concern to everyone, though it is clearly not a concern of the media - as their silence on this matter has been deafening.
And we also have to wonder why male victims are always ignored in their marches? Aren't all male victims someone's Father, Husband, Boyfriend, or Son? Are these victims considered no better than "perpetrators" because they share gender with the few men who commit violent crime? A philosophy not too unlike the KKK.
In any case, giving back the night is certainly easier than many other suggestions for reducing violence: like stronger families and establishing good moral foundations for our children. Thank you for such a wonderfully simple idea!
1Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 1990, Table 6.33 for 1987-88 data on Jails - 1,210,094 male sexual assault victims. Department of Justice, 1990 - 119,780 female sexual assault victims - United States.
Ken Wiebe is the list-owner of the North American Men's Activist Network and web master of Fathers BC.
Mike Jebbett is a single man, with a long commitment to men's issues and very active on the computer nets.
Joseph Maiello is a single man, who has believed in the principles of justice and equality since the 1960's. Joe is reluctant to become married due to the threats to men inherent in the Canadian Legal system.
Trevor Martin is a divorced father of three, who knows the serious risks to family men, especially as concerns a father's rights to parent his children.
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