VILIFYING MRA’s, THE OLD NORMAL
I came across an article (Supposedly a research article) which claims to do data-analysis on the anti-feminist stand especially in the indian context. Well, the first thought that came to my mind after reading the article was a resemblance to Tesla’s (Mis)interpretation of a horse drawn carriage as in the tweet, mainly due to untrained data. This so-called research article wishes to classify MRA’s (Men’s Rights Activists) into a binary bucket and immediately associates them to Hindutva movement with its core influencers being “pro-bjp”. Well, vilification of MRA’s is definitely not a new normal. In fact, it’s so normal that we are very much used to it. Some of the articles/videos could be accessed here and here. A common rant in all these is how arguing for simple demands of equality under law for men for eg. like shared parenting, recognition for domestic violence on men, to address the high rate of suicides among men is interpreted in general, as somehow either snatching away hard won victories for women or diluting the law meant to protect a woman. This article goes a step further and declares these demands as anti-feminist. If this itself is loose talk, it breaks all boundaries and associates these demands with one political party – the BJP (The supposedly right wing party in India as explained to Americans). Since the left classify themselves as liberals and the right as conservatives (A tag which the right wingers did not use for themselves), it holds MRA’s “Guilty by Association”.
So what’s “Right” in the article.
It has at least correctly identified orgs like ours, Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF) and others as its strongest voices. It is way better than feminists “creating” a mens equality group and using that org name to express support of mens rights groups for a marital rape PIL!! Anyways. It’s also true that a good majority of MRA’s who are active on social media happen to be engineers/software professionals (Perhaps it’s easy for them to relate to their work – so tweeting is a hobby for many). Also is the case with most of our tweets being unanswered by official accounts of police, ministry, celebrities, media houses etc. A good acknowledgement of how the issues concerning men are turned a deaf ear by authorities. Yes, the most important of the changes we aim to get relief from are under the handles of the ministry of law and home. So it’s no surprise that most of our tweets are addressed to them. Before I dwell further, the most truthful statement in the whole of the article is the acceptance of its “limitation”. (“While this study has several limitations…”)
Case of Chandrachud :
He accuses the MRA community of using the term #LegalTerrorism. If he had done a little homework, a google search was enough, the realization would have dawned upon him that it was the country’s highest court that coined the term Legal Terrorism – and it was a clear reference to women (read wives) misusing the laws meant to protect them, with the active support of the administration. The other interpretation why MRA’s opposed him was that the judge “went against conservative views on women’s role in society.” Well, MRA’s stand opposed in principle, to the conservative view that only women are capable of taking care of children, a woman cannot stand without the financial support of the father, husband, son in the society, that women are weak and can do no harm aka be an abuser in intimate partner violence. We are fundamentally opposed to incorporate feminist thinking into law as we believe the temple of justice cannot be painted with one ideology or bias for one gender. But the reasons stated in the said article is blatantly false, misleading or in short “mediocre researched”
Case 2: Depp v. Heard
This case of Depp Vs Heard is an interesting one which clearly demonstrates the extent to which women go about to lie and claim sympathy along with legal relief. We find it fascinating about the seriousness in which a US county court considers punishing a litigant for defamation, nailing her lies. We are yet to witness one such instance even in the supreme court of India where a litigant false accuser has been put on a hefty fine.
Case 3: Shraddha Walker
This case, the researcher goes all bonkers. He makes up the issue as a domestic violence case than that of murder/homicide. The issue has been highlighted as inter-faith violence by others (right wing), but the author confuses this stand with that of MRA’s. Bizarre to link pro-hindutva influencers like @Voice_For_India with the MRA community as a common cause. For MRA’s the stand is simple – a case of murder – there is nothing else “interesting” for MRA’s in this matter.
Case 4: Richa Chadha
An attention seeking tweet by creating a controversy. No need to further deliberate.
Methods
Memes are powerful tools to drive home a point and is here to stay. In future, there might be many more tech-related advancements and surely we shall adapt them all. We stick to facts while terming a false case or a gold-digger. Accusing MRA’s of calling spade a spade? If so, we plead guilty. New words also invariably crop up during activism. ‘SIMP’ for example. If there is a better word, we damn sure will use that too. This is now a time in India, where a good majority of people have seen their near and dear ones caught in the mess of false accusations, a good percentage of them facing it personally as in India there is no limit to the number of people that could be accused in frivolous and vexatious litigation. Some cases have been witnessed to have accused over 20 people including senior citizens, children and toddlers too.
So its imperative upon MRA’s to take the responsibility of creating awareness in the society of this menace to ensure the future generations do not face the lawlessness that MRA’s personally faced. This is exactly how civilized people behave, in making the world a better place to live in. It is obvious that the generation that is about to marry should be cautioned on the risks they are likely to face in a marital life. Is the researcher aware that over a million men have committed suicide in the last decade, 65% of them being married and a quarter of them due to family problems? Fear Mongering eh?
About attacking Feminists in Public Life. We promise one thing. The day feminists stop demanding restrictions on a man’s liberty, stop targeting man’s property and finances to further their causes, we will stop worrying about them. What we ask is simple. Applying 21st norms for women and 18th century norms for men is a BIG NO !
We are not conservatives against “westernization” as well. We strongly believe that bad and toxic relationships even in the nature of marriage should be broken. And broken fast, as soon as possible. That said,we are also aware of its ills like teenage pregnancies. What we take is a nuanced view, in line with reasoning and common sense.
We dismiss the author’s attempts to simplify gender-violence as class violence. The laws do not distinguish middle-class and service sector employees, but are definitely based on gender. IPC 498A, 304B, 375, 376, 354, 354A,B,C,D are some of the many laws framed for a woman. Man cannot use them for his defense. Thanks to technology, it’s now possible to record the deeds on a cheap smartphone and post it online for the world to know. Remember Jasleen Kaur vs Sarvjeet Singh, Rohtak sisters? Without the advent of such technologies, I’m sure men would have landed in jails as it had been happening in the past, though, in spite of the evidence, the haryana boys in the Rohtak sisters case lost their opportunity of serving the armed forces.
Strategy
Only a complete dolt would think a movement can be incubated, nurtured and propagated on a social media platform like twitter – that too simply dovetailing on irrelevant issues and copy pasting tweets. It might have contributed in a small way propping up the number of tweets when contemporarily there are no issues concerning a much larger audience.
Men’s rights movement is not just a platform for men to work with each other. Instead it should aptly be called a temple or a Gurukula for men. There is absolutely no sign of caste, creed or community differences in the community centers and it respects differences in ideological and political movements too. You will find communists, socialists, conservatives and even Bhakts
walking, talking, sharing, and traveling together with a sense of oneness among them. If we have to fight the biggest enemy of men, let’s fight Misandry. Rest all differences will fall in place and has the potential to make the world truly a much more peaceful and happier place.
There have been multiple workshops on mental health, stress management etc. organized by Men’s rights groups like Save Indian Family Foundation, CARE and Vaastav to name a few over the years, in multiple cities and venues. The speakers did include professors and Doctors from reputed National Institutions for mental health and reputed Government hospitals. Besides,
men’s rights activists went a step further to get trained on mental health issues by National Institutes and today are certified volunteers. They manage Men’s helpline numbers and do handle a number of people with suicidal thoughts and depression.
The activities on the ground get reflected in online platforms (not necessarily only on twitter). MRA’s do meet offline, discuss personal situations, participate in marathons, protests, hunger strikes, organize learning workshops and conferences. Some pics pasted below.
Conclusion
Now every tom, dick and harry uses “data science” and arrives at pseudo-scientific conclusions. It is surprising to find professors in universities engaging in mediocre research. One wonders if universities too subscribe and support quasi methodologies to arrive at conclusions based on incomplete information. That said, we would still welcome the author to engage with us to know more about the men’s rights movement from within, if interested, irrespective of the prejudice he might hold that MRM in india to be anti-feminist movement.
