Feminists are fighting a losing battle. The outcome is inevitable. There is no reason for men to compromise with them. No benefit to be gained. Time is on our side.

Male faults are stated as sweeping condemnations; objecting to such generalizations is taken as a sign of complicity. Meanwhile, similar indictments of women would be considered grossly misogynistic.

This gender antagonism does nothing to advance the unfinished business of equality. If anything, the fixation on men behaving badly is a distraction from more fundamental issues, such as changes in the workplace to promote work-life balance. What’s more, male-bashing not only sours many men — and quite a few women — on feminism. It often drives them into Internet subcultures where critiques of feminism mix with hostility toward women. -- Cathy Young, Feminists treat men badly. It’s bad for feminism., Washington Post, June 30, 2016

We do, however, disagree on feminism.

The Feminist Gynocracy
Cathy believes the word itself still has utility, while I contend that the dictionary definition of feminism is contained entirely within the fundamental principles and goals of libertarianism and that today there is no such thing as radical feminism, because for the better part of the past 50 years the entire feminist movement has been dominated by the so-called radicals. Hence, the entire movement is not about liberating women, but about dominating, subjugating and castrating men. It is about unleashing the worst gynocentric vices to achieve a gynocracy, but one in which only right-thinking women are allowed to rule.

Twenty years ago a Men's Rights Movement briefly gained traction to counter these so-called radicals, but it was quickly beaten down by the mainstream media. During the past 2 decades, however, an entire generation has been raised and indoctrinated in the precepts of feminism, progressivism and the dogma of authoritarianism, and they don't like it.

They don't like the draconian double standards on college campuses that hold men but not women responsible for their behavior. The double standards that promote the most protected and pampered generation of women in history to view themselves as victims and the disempowerment of innocent men as their due. This, as Cathy notes, has given rise to a new generation that is backlashing against the dominant mainstream culture:

It is not too far-fetched to see the pro-Donald Trump sentiment as fueled, at least in part, by a backlash against feminism. And while some of this backlash may be of the old-fashioned “put women in their place” variety, there is little doubt that for the younger generation, the perception of feminism as extremist and anti-male plays a role, too. -- Cathy Young, Feminists treat men badly. It’s bad for feminism., Washington Post, June 30, 2016

Our fractured culture is badly in need of healing — from the gender wars as well as other divisions. To be a part of this healing, feminism must include men, not just as supportive allies but as partners, with an equal voice and equal humanity. -- Cathy Young, Feminists treat men badly. It’s bad for feminism., Washington Post, June 30, 2016

I disagree.

No Compromise with Feminism
Feminism is part of the identity politics that is dividing the west into squabbling tribes. As an American Indian, I am keenly aware of the importance my native heritage plays in my personal identity. Members of my family routinely participate in cultural activities, and I have been active in my tribe for many years. But it has nothing to do with my politics or work life.

Yes, I am an American Indian, but I am an American first and foremost. There is no contradiction between the two. Feminists, however, encourage women to identify not as Americans or even as human beings, but as victims of a patriarchal plot thousands of years old to subjugate them to evil male constructs like gender, logic, math, science and technology, and to put this identity above all other considerations.

These imbeciles enjoy the comforts and conveniences produced by logic, math, science and technology. They enjoy the privileges afforded them by the greater reproductive value biology places on the uterus and womb. And they have leveraged these to unleash the worst of female nature to oppress men.

There is no compromise in which feminism can make peace with men, because men would never be equal partners in such an enterprise. Decades of experience has taught us that feminists would treat us like provisional partners at best. Men would be on probation and any disagreement would be met with hostility and retaliation.

Patriarchy in all its forms served the reproductive priorities of both sexes. It guaranteed men reproductive access to the female womb, and it guaranteed women productive access to the male resources.

But as technology and commerce mitigated the necessity of such a partnership, the double standards that allowed slack in the system to prevent it from breaking apart gradually gave way to allow more latitude to both women and men. Feminists took advantage of this--and of the good intentions of white men--to attack men. But now we are rapidly approaching a point of no return, and this will work to favor men.

The Point of No Return
While male unemployment in the west has run higher than female unemployment for many years, in not too many years female unemployment will begin to catch up due to automation. Automation, which many believe will allow women to enter into fields formerly dominated by men because it will offset the male advantage in strength and endurance, will actually reduce the need for human labor. And regardless of the other consequences, this will not give women a greater advantage over men. To the contrary, it will work to the advantage of men because, as I observed four years ago:

Men, with our evolved capacity for greater violence, can dominate in an all-out war between the sexes. The only thing standing between women, as a sex, and total oppression at the hands of men, is that most men would rather live in a society in which women and men treat one another with mutual respect, affection, and good humor. -- Rod Van Mechelen, Criminal Blame vs. Prudent Responsibility, June 16, 2012

Feminists are fighting a losing battle, but this will not stop them. As I will develop in another article, there is no central planning committee, no governing body setting the feminist agenda. Instead, individual feminists are led by the invisible hand of their own self-interest to pursue this fight to the bitter end.

So while feminists are the only ones who stand to benefit from taking Cathy's advice to include men, it will not happen until it's too late. Either the movement will collapse as men by the millions opt to replace real women with robotic and virtual substitutes, or there will be violence, and in either case it will be women and feminists who lose.

The peaceful alternative would be for women to rise up and, as Wade Balder wrote in his 1996 article, do the right thing:

It's time for women to stop being so self-indulgent by demanding special treatment from the government. It's time for women to grow up and stop themselves from being unfair. It's time for women to do the right thing. It's time for women to demand fairness from our politicians. It's time for women (and men) to vote out any politicians who insist on playing to women's selfishness. -- Wade Balder, When will women stop being so damn selfish?, October 1996

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.