Charge of the Soggy Knees

This was done in collaboration with Mad man Ministries, who did the music. I wrote the lyrics, and since no other woman we asked was willing to sing, I did that too.
Probably won't do that very much because it's really not my forte... pun intended.

Anyway, the title is The Charge of the Soggy Knees, and here are the lyrics:

There is a thought terminatin’ cliche
They call misogyny
And it’s been the ruin of many a good debate
With the charge of soggy knees

Been called a gender traitor
Just because I’ve said I see
Through feminism's hateful rhetoric
And their claim to speak for me

Didn’t know compassion’s limited
It’s a negative sum game
And you’re not allowed by the social justice crowd
To have sympathy for men

These motherfucking children
Can’t discuss things rationally
Treat care for men as an attack on women
So they cry misogyny

We all will be no platformed
We all will be called names
We’ll be accused of having hateful views
To silence us with shame

There is a thought terminatin’ cliche
They call misogyny
And it’s been the ruin of many a good debate
But that won’t be stopping me

Feminists don't hate men?

I am so sick of hearing that feminists don't hate men.
Every fucking conversation about feminists not hating men:

"Feminists don't hate men!"

Good, then you're willing to abandon your gender-based rape culture theory that demonizes all men as rapacious animals based on the word of a feminist who had the fucking nerve to say it's not rape when a woman forces unwanted sex on a man?

"No, and you're a misogynist for asking! Rape is a gendered attack on women! Women can't be rapists!"

Well, how about if we talk about the plight of male victims of domestic violence committed by their female partners?

"No, and you're a misogynist for asking! Domestic violence is a gendered attack on women! It doesn't matter when it happens to men."

Male suicide?

"No, and you're a misogynist for asking! Why should it matter how many men die from it when women attempt suicide far more than men do?"

Workplace death?

"No, and you're a misogynist for asking! You're just trying to distract attention from the real issue of the gender-based gap in earnings! Men's deaths are nothing compared to the terrible discrimination of paying women less for the same work"

But if men are doing the high-risk jobs and dying, and women aren't, is that the same work?

"MISOGYNIST PIG"

Well, at least you can acknowledge that the practice of involuntary genital cutting on children is wrong no matter which gender, right?

"No, and you're a misogynist for asking! Intactivism is for girls! Bringing up boys is just a distraction from the issue of how much worse it is to do to a girl!"

Well, what about children's right to a relationship with both parents? Surely you can support that.

"No, and you're a misogynist for asking! Fathers are deadbeats and abusers, and children must be protected from them!"

Okay, what about the problem of boys being left behind in the education system's progress?

"No, and you're a misogynist for asking! Girls need to be given an advantage because of male privilege!"

So feminists do hate men.

"No, you misogynist! We don't hate men, just toxic masculinity!"

What's toxic masculinity?

"[insert genderless dysfunction here]"

Women do that too.

"It's not the same, and you're a misogynist for thinking it is!"

Why?

"Women's actions don't matter because women are oppressed, you misogynist!"

How?

"Bad things happen to women. Only a misogynist wouldn't know that proves women are oppressed!"

Bad things happen to men, too!

"It's worse when they happen to women, you misogynist!"

Why?

"Because women are oppressed, you misogynist!"

...and that's where it descends into the Patriarchal oppression circular reasoning spiral which, in the end, still proves only that feminists do, in fact, hate men.

Bad things are only bad when men do them, and only bad when they happen to women. Men are in control of all the bad things, and women are helpless against them. Men's intentions are always nefarious. Women's intentions are always benign at worst and more often benevolent. Women's side of every interaction with men involves being manipulated, forced, or otherwise having their action caused by men... while men's side of the interaction constitutes some kind of theft or other wrongful intrusion. Therefore, women's issues are all men's fault, and are the only important issues to address and remedy.
All because Patriarchy, which is always offered as proof of itself.

But that's not hateful, is it?

Feminist encroachment and co-opting; men's rights activism isn't the only target

This Huffington Post article speaks to an issue I've been noticing among feminists, watching them from the perspective of the men's rights movement.

Yes, as feminists tell you, they divide into a lot of different groups, but there's an overall, underlying ideology that links them all - the belief in patriarchy theory. That theory boils down to the idea that society is male dominated. They support it with various claims, including the ridiculous claim that somehow the male to female ratio in leadership positions translates into regular guys having power over regular gals, an argument I've addressed here. One of the concepts feminists often express in debate is the idea that 'patriarchy' is responsible for gender stereotypes.

Both feminist groups and men's rights groups agree that traditional gender stereotypes aren't suitable for modern society - they don't work any more. They're not needed, not helpful, and often are detrimental to human interaction and societal progress. Feminists blame male control. Men's rights activists blame the conditions under which humans had to survive prior to and during the evolution of society due to technological and intellectual advances over time.

Though the article has some very raw and very important points about enforcement of traditional gender roles on gay men by gay men, the use of the word misogyny is a big fat red flag. Why would anyone use the word "misogyny" to describe the way one man treats another man? Misogyny is hatred of women. Misogyny is not homophobia. It's got nothing to do with male sexuality. It's a feminist concept, and that article shows how feminist ideology is invading the gay rights movement. At its heart, the misuse of the word misogyny in the article communicates something most people won't notice - the insinuation that gay men, having male partners, are usurping the place of a female partner in each others' lives, as if women just automatically own you, and you're doing something in violation of that.

Within the overall umbrella of the feminist movement, there is a move to demonize men, whether gay, bi, straight, trans, old, young, no matter what characteristics. They express concepts based on it, like 'all men are potential rapists' and 'all men are potential pedophiles'  and treating domestic violence as a male-perpetrated, female experienced issue. That's the underside of feminist ideology. It's leaking over into the mainstream press, with articles about how one man's violence represents the attitude of all men, how men should accept being treated as potential offenders, how it should be viewed as normal to treat all men as predators, and now, how the issues of the gay community - a community of men - are somehow about women.

No matter how nice they may sound about gay issues when they find it useful to associate with gay rights activism, that demonization is still underneath, and in the end, that's where their leadership and activism are coming from, even though the rank-and-file grassroots doesn't all consciously know it. No matter how you feel or what you think about feminist activism in and of itself, the feminist co-opting and politicization of gay experiences, rights issues, and social issues is not going to benefit the gay rights movement. It's going to overshadow you and slowly replace gay rights activism with the promotion of feminist ideological concepts.

If the men involved in the fight for gay rights don't take note of that and resist it, feminist groups will co-opt your movement, twist the politics of it to suit their own needs, and gay rights will take a back burner to feminist advocacy before you even know what's going on. Then, when being associated with the gay rights movement is no longer politically advantageous to feminist groups, they'll turn on the movement and the concepts involved, and without warning you'll be looking at the underside of the bus.