Feministin: Was uns die Medien über die Männerrechtsbewegung verschweigen

Maybe because I am a feminist you think that I would have nothing to say but bad things about Men's Rights Activists (MRAs). Sure, for a while, I only read and heard about vile statements and accusations certain MRAs said about women, people of color, etc. Then I started getting to know some in real life, listened to a prominent speaker, and looked into a few of the arguments they have made about men's issues.

Something I have observed, and something that many MRAs complain about, is how they are often excluded from the conversation. From college campus to mainstream media, their opinions are rarely sought out for reasonable contributions about Men's Rights Activism, and men's rights in general. Instead, broadcasters and journalists like to focus on non, or anti-MRA, views and shine a spotlight on problematic (often misinterpreted) MRA perspectives.

Hier geht es weiter mit dem Beitrag von Katrina Haffner. Was sie schildert, trifft auch auf deutsche Medien zu. Publizisten wie Ralf Homann lassen bewusst nicht Männerrechtler selbst zu Wort kommen, sondern nur ihre Kritiker wie Andreas Kemper. Institutionen wie die Heinrich-Böll- und die Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung haben es sich zur Maxime und jemand wie wie Thomas Gesterkamp zu seinem Credo gemacht, dass man nicht mit der Männerrechtsbewegung sprechen solle, sondern über sie. Nur mit dieser Methode lassen sich die Positionen von Männerrechtlern verzerrend und irreführend darstellen. Aber ganz allmählich zeigen sich die ersten Risse im Beton. Diese Risse zu vergrößern wird eine zentrale Herausforderung für 2016 darstellen.

Katrina Haffner beendet ihren Beitrag mit den folgenden Absätzen:

During one program on CBC News, there was a panel that argued about men's rights groups. There were no MRAs present, and there was only one man who was sympathetic to campus antagonism, but open-minded to the issues MRAs cared about. Despite being reasonable, he associated Men's Rights Activism versus feminism as being part of the right versus left paradigm, which is inaccurate. Not only were the other two panelists, like Micaela, highly critical of men's rights groups, they accused the activists of only caring about these issues for superficial attention. It's reminiscent of when people accuse women of wanting the spotlight because they tout feminist issues.

Like any other kind of activist or group member, MRAs deserve fair media coverage. Just as feminists shouldn't have to tell their social circles that "The media doesn't accurately portray what we're really like!" neither should MRAs.