I like having both - or all - sides to an argument so I read web sites which are both pro-feminism and anti-feminism. I also like to know how popular the anti-feminist's arguments are. I also like to know what the far right is doing in America because we often seem to get a watered down version in this country eventually. Are my interests strange? I don't think so. Others do. But then we're all different.
I think extreme feminism and extreme men's rights activism are dangerous as all extremes are dangerous. I don't actually agree with either extreme but it's still of interest to see what they're thinking.
I've just started reading Neil Lyndon's No More Sex War which was published in the early 1990s and has sunk almost without trace. In his preface he lists several situations in which men are disadvantaged. 75% of those have been remedied since he wrote the book - which I think is encouraging. There is now a right to paternity leave; men can be dependents under social security laws; women will no longer be able to claim the state pension and other connected benefits at 60 as of this April and the age increases on a sliding scale; men getting custody of their children after divorce or separation is increasing; women can no longer expect to be supported for life except in very specific circumstances following divorce; men can be named on birth certificates even in they're not married to the mother of the child.
The book will make interesting reading I'm sure - out of date though it is.
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Gosh, what a trip down memory lane! I remember reading Neil Lyndon's polemic soon after its publication. I was going through marital breakdown at the time & seeking perspective.
ReplyDeleteI found his rather overwrought style irritating, and he does tend to overstate the case - which detracts from much of his (mostly valid) criticism. Also his personal interventions grated a bit, eg his frequent refs to his own chequered love life/experiences with women & immature political engagements were OTT. Wonder what I'd think now?! Do hope you get around to posting your own views.
Thank you for your comment. I haven't read any more of it since this post but it is still sitting on my currently reading pile with a book mark in it so I will finish it and post a review - promise!
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