Feminist proves MRAs have a point by trying to disprove that point: Part 2

This is a continuation of my previous post about Suzzanah Weiss’s article in which she explains where men’s rights activists go wrong in their arguments by ironically proving their arguments. Here we go:

2. Fathers Are as Important as Mothers

Another common men’s rights issue is child custody and, more generally, men’s ability to play as active a role in the family as women do.

Feminists totally agree with this as well. Everyone should have a choice regarding what role they play in the family, and their a/gender shouldn’t factor into that.

That is an interesting position given that feminists either ignore or oppose efforts to increase father’s roles in their children’s lives. For example, the National Organization for Women opposes shared parenting laws, claiming that they give abusive men access to their victims.

Feminist organizations pushed for government-funded family programs that often exclude fathers as potential beneficiaries. Family courts routinely grant custody to mothers, even in cases in which the fathers are the primary caregivers. Child support laws appear gender neutral, yet they are applied primarily to fathers. Noncustodial fathers often receive limited contact with their children, which is subject to change at the mother’s request. Yet rather than supporting fathers in their attempt to address this bias, feminists claim that the bias is a myth concocted by bitter men and sexist men’s rights activists.

In fact, having more equal households benefits people of all a/genders. In relationships between men and women, for example, women whose male partners are helping out around the house are more able to prioritize their careers.

That has nothing to do with recognizing the roles fathers play in their children’s lives. Rather, it prioritizes women’s desires over fathers’ importance. It also assumes that men do nothing in their homes or that want they do matters less than what women do.

But men’s smaller role in the household is also not evidence that they’re oppressed.

The argument about oppression does not come from men’s role in the household, but how they are treated when it comes to custody issues. Men are held financially responsible, yet treated as physically negligible regardless of the clear importance to their children’s lives. When both parents agree to a particular arrangement, say that the father will work and the mother will stay home with the children, this equal decision is flipped on men during separations or divorces and used against them. Now they can be shut out of their children’s lives, lose a significant among of their pay check, and face mounting legal bills because of the “sacrifices” the woman made to stay at home.

Bulletin Board v295

Abuse of inmates in youth detention and adult facilities happening daily, prison chaplain says — Reverend Alex Gater has called for a royal commission into youth detention in the NT to cover Queensland, saying abuse has been happening for years in both prisons and juvenile detention centres. The royal commission was announced following revelations of abuse raised on ABC’s Four Corners program that have also led to the minister responsible for the detainees being sacked. Reverend Gater said her grandson had spent time in a detention centre and a prison, where she said he was physically abused by officers.

Boy tells court he does not blame mother for abuse he suffered — The 12-year-old son of a woman found guilty of child cruelty has told a court in a victim impact report that he doesn’t believe she did anything wrong. The child said he put the blame on his father (64), who was convicted last May of nine counts of raping the boy when he aged six and seven. The trial at the Central Criminal Court heard he also put the child in a wooden box and nailed it shut in their Waterford home.

Jury hears accounts of historical abuse at the hands of Caister man — Robert Brown, of Eastern Avenue, Caister, is on trial accused of sexually abusing five boys at a children’s home where he worked in the 1970s. Brown, 69, lived at the home in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, at the time. He has pleaded not guilty to 16 charges of indecent assault on five boys in the 1970s. Two witnesses told the Warwick Crown Court jury of incidents which took place during trips from Manor Court Road children’s home to Brown’s home town of Great Yarmouth.

Addressing the boy crisis

The Honey Badger Brigade interviewed author and activist Warren Farrell concerning the growing boy crisis. Farrell has spoken previously about the importance of paying attention to boys’ needs and understanding the unique role fathers and male mentors play in boys’ lives.

Farrell has been on the receiving end of much feminist hatred, including a concerted effort to paint him as a supporter of statutory rape. Much of their complaint about Farrell is simply that he criticizes their policies and methods.

Like several notable critics of feminism, Farrell used to be a feminist. He was once the president of the National Organization for Women. I think this makes his criticism more irritating to feminists, much like a former believer criticizing their old religion.

Shocking finding: Working dads want to spend more time with their kids

Originally posted on April 6, 2013

How pathetic that someone even researched something as painfully obvious as this:

“Modern Parenthood: Roles of Moms and Dads Converge as They Balance Work and Family,” is based on a survey of more than 2,500 American adults and an analysis of the American Time Use Survey, which measures the amount of time Americans spend doing various activities.

Almost half the dads surveyed, 46 per cent, reported feeling like they didn’t spend enough time with their kids, compared to 23 per cent of moms who thought the same thing.

In the past, work-life balance was seen as a women’s issue, said Wendy Wang, a research associate with the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C. But she pointed to the fact that half of working fathers reported finding it very or somewhat difficult to balance work and family.

“Dads are doing more at home, and then they still do a lot at paid work,” she said. “They’re facing the same issues that mom used to face.”

And the study found that half the dads would prefer to stay home, but had to work because they needed the income.

Bulletin Board v178

7-year-old loses genitals after circumcision, fighting for life — A seven-year-old boy is battling for life after a circumcision surgery went horribly wrong at a private hospital in Alwar on Thursday. The boy’s genitals had to be cut off in an attempt to save his life, said sources. An FIR has been lodged against the hospital authorities after the relatives of the boy created a ruckus. The boy, Imran, was admitted to Sania hospital in Alwar town on November 10 for circumcision.

An altar boy’s tale of ‘fear, shame and guilt’ — A FORMER victim has applauded the Government’s announcement of a Royal Commission into child sexual abuse, saying tens of thousands can now tell their story “without fear, shame and guilt”. Pete Dillon was an eight-year-old altar boy when he was “forced and coerced” into performing sexual acts by a Catholic priest in regional Victoria. He was warned he couldn’t tell anyone about the abuse, which went on for a couple of years, and he didn’t. He kept the truth hidden for 22 years.

Boy Scouts, Mormon church settle sex abuse lawsuit — The Boys Scouts of America and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by a Portland man who said they didn’t do enough to stop a Scout troop leader from sexually abusing children. The Idaho Statesman reports (http://bit.ly/TksT4N) that a document filed Nov. 15 in U.S. District Court in Boise said both sides agreed to an undisclosed monetary settlement. Oregon attorney Gilion Dumas represents the Portland man and said the settlement will be final once a judge approves a request from both sides to dismiss the suit.

Cyril Smith DID abuse boys, police confirm — The Crown Prosecution Service also said he should have been charged with the crimes more than 40 years ago. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the boys “were victims of physical and sexual abuse” by the late Rochdale MP. Despite not being charged, after inquiries in 1970 and the 1990s, the CPS said procedural changes meant a prosecution would have been pursued today. In a statement, Sir Cyril’s family said they were “deeply saddened and concerned” by the allegations “made so long after Sir Cyril’s death and at a time when he is no longer able to defend himself”.

Bulletin Board v174

Advocacy group backs order to send girls back to Italy — On Monday the Family Court dismissed the mother’s last ditch attempt to keep her four daughters in Australia after she brought them here two years ago from Italy, ostensibly for a short holiday. The Brisbane court ruled the children, aged between nine and 15, be returned to their father in Italy and they were immediately taken into the custody of the Queensland Department of Communities.

Boy Scouts admit response to sex abuse was ‘insufficient’ — As the Boy Scouts of America prepares for the court-ordered release of records detailing accusations of sex abuse by members and leaders, the organization acknowledged in an open letter this week that its response in some of the cases had been “plainly insufficient, inappropriate, or wrong.” The letter comes after the Oregon Supreme Court ordered the Boy Scouts to release “ineligible volunteer” files from 1965 to 1985 that chronicle suspected or confirmed instances of child sex abuse.

Boy Scouts kept files on gay men alongside paedophiles — It has been revealed that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) kept tabs on members they suspected of being gay alongside records of scoutmasters and other volunteers who were suspected of being child molesters. The Boy Scouts says the files, known collectively as ‘perversion files’ were compiled to make sure pedophiles were kicked out and stayed out of Scouting. However an analysis of the files by Seattle’s KING 5 television channel shows top officials in the youth organization were keeping files on suspected gay Scouting volunteers as well.

Boy Scouts to review all allegations of sexual abuse — The Boy Scouts of America announced Tuesday that it would conduct a comprehensive review of files on suspected sexual predators to ensure that all allegations of abuse in the last 47 years have been reported to law enforcement. The move would mark the first time in the organization’s century-long history that it thoroughly studied its own confidential files, a blacklist meant to keep predators out of Scouting.

Children most often killed by mothers — New Zealand mothers kill more children than any other group in society and men are victims of domestic violence as often as women, a police investigation has found. The Family Violence Death Review, released today by police, found mothers were responsible for 45 per cent of children killed by domestic violence. The review of 95 family violence deaths involving 101 victims between 2004 and 2011 revealed some “inconvenient truths”, Family First national director Bob McCoskrie said. 

Cutting out dad

I do not usually write about father’s rights issues, but this story caught my eye:

Europe’s highest court on human rights will decide if a lesbian can adopt her partner’s child, in this case stripping the father of his parental rights to his son.

The case is very simple according to Gregor Puppinck of the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ). “The two female partners want to oust the father and, since the law does not allow them to do so, they claim it is discriminatory,” Gregor reported in Turtle Bay and Beyond, C-FAM’s blog.

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights will hear the case X and others v. Austria on October 3.  Its decision will apply to all 47 countries in the Council of Europe and cannot be appealed.

Austria’s attorney has pointed out that most European countries do not allow a child to have two mothers or two fathers. A homosexual rights attorney who brought the case argued that this is sexual discrimination.

Here is the problem: the man has been a part of his son’s life from the beginning. Since 1995, the father has paid alimony to the mother and frequently visits with his son. However, now the mother and her lesbian partner want the father stripped of his rights because the pair want to be recognized as a “family”.