Selling equality?
By Rod Van Mechelen
Once upon a time, men ruled the roost. At least that's what everybody said. But most men knew it for a myth. Not feminists, though. They've pounded this myth for all it's worth, until now the question is, in a world which believes men have all the power, how do you sell equal rights for men?
The Maxim man?
2003 Olympia, Wash. - Years ago, one of the big debates of the so-called "fathers' and men's rights movement" orbited around the question of how to sell men's equality.
Some members of the infamous Gang of Six wanted to produce something like what The Man Show is today. Personally, I found the idea vulgar and argued for a concept similar to what Maxim Magazine is, today. We even snapped some photographs to demonstrate how we could tastefully integrate pictures of naked women with high-brow articles.
While we argued, business guys did what business guys do, and created businesses. So, today we have The Man Show and Maxim Magazine, which are fine but don't really sell real equality for men. For that, it took the creative genius of Tom Leykis.
Back when Leykis first began to really focus on men's issues, I took a listen and I didn't like it. He was, in my opinion, vulgar, and his show promoted a vicious view of women I found repugnant.
What I didn't realize at the time, however, was that he had found a way to reach men and teach them what they needed to know about the feminist war on manhood. It didn't matter that most of his insights originated with George Gilder, Warren Farrell, Fred Hayward, Cathy Young, Mel Feit, Tom Williamson, Christina Hoff-Sommers, or any of the other feminist-critics and pro-equality advocates, including me, the fact is he found a way to get people to listen.
A few months ago, I began to give Tom's show another listen, and whether because my own sensibilities or his show have mellowed, or both, I enjoy and recommend it.
Regards
Rod Van Mechelen
Rod Van Mechelen is the author of What Everyone Should Know about Feminist Issues: The Male-Positive Perspective (the page now includes several articles by other authors), and the publisher of The Backlash! @ Backlash.com. He is a member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and served for 9-1/2 years on the Cowlitz Indian Tribal Council.
