Feminist efforts to shut down, disrupt and/or denigrate the 2014 Conference on Mens Issues

I was initially going to address this issue within my existing post on feminist censorship of non-feminist viewpoints, but the first International conference on Men’s Issues grew in significance such that it well and truly warranted its own blog post. The conference concluded, happily without incident, on 28 June 2014. Here is an overview of the conference which contains links to several presentations, and here are further links to other papers presented at the conference.

Feminist activism designed to stop the conference being held was clearly unsuccessful – this included street marches, online petitions and direct approaches to relevant authorities, and even anonymous threats of violence. These threats ultimately led to the conference being relocated to another venue under unusual circumstances as is described in this article.

Here is a Youtube video that was made to support a fund-raising drive needed to cover additional costs resulting from threats made to the venue hotel.

Protest Saturday: Misogynistic conference in Detroit (6 June 2014) Remarkably inaccurate and biased article by feminist blogger and here is the comment contributed by an MRA which will never be published (as is common practice with feminist web pages)

http://www.avoiceformen.com/a-voice-for-men/threats-of-violence-and-death-against-doubletree-hilton-in-detroit-over-mens-conference/

http://judgybitch.com/2014/05/29/oh-look-trigger-happy-protesters-are-planning-to-shut-down-the-detroit-conference-promising-things-could-get-ugly/

Controversial mens rights conference sparks backlash (29 May 2014)

http://www.avoiceformalestudents.com/letter-to-emma-howland-bolton-regarding-threats-of-violence-and-death-by-protesters-under-her-organization-mason-elementary/

Feminist blog post outlining her reasons for wanting the conference cancelled

Mens rights misrepresented – A letter to the Editor (10 June 2014)

Controversial men’s rights conference canceled at Double Tree in downtown Detroit (11 June 2014) There were 658 comments when I read the article – and some good ones amongst them too.

http://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/28u8v3/just_lol_among_their_efforts_to_shut_down_avfm/ (reddit discussion thread with link to a pro-feminist web site discussing the conference)

Reddit discussion about feminist change in tactics in relation to the conference … Giving the threat of violence as a reason to stay away is absurd – ALL of the intimidation that has occurred at prior MRA events has been carried out by feminists.

http://www.avoiceformen.com/feminism/feminist-censorship/what-those-who-oppose-our-conference-look-like/ (refer in particular to readers comments)

Well, as it transpired, thankfully there were no feminist protesters present at the Conference and it was by all accounts a peaceful and productive event.

Media coverage of the conference

Media coverage of the conference covered a spectrum from supportive and thoughtful to shallow, dismissive and side-tracking. Many of the articles attracted many hundreds of readers comments, hence even the articles with a strong anti-MRA bias provided a useful function of encouraging debate.

Here are some of the more negative articles:

http://blogs.metrotimes.com/news-blawg/molested-mens-rights-conference/

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/29/sparsely-attended-mens-rights-soiree-arrives-at-source-of-their-problems-hint-its-women/

http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2014/06/28/the-first-international-conference-on-mens-issues-day-1/ and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arthur-goldwag/mens-issues-conference_b_5543418.html by feminist bigot Arthur Goldwag … but the comments by readers are worthy of review. A rebuttal of Goldwag’s Huffington Post article can be seen here

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/mens-rights-conference-feminism

http://www.msnbc.com/now-with-alex-wagner/watch/an-international-conference-on-men-s-rights–296068675959

http://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/29w5tq/should_i_be_concerned_some_recent_media_attention/

Men’s rights activists, gathering to discuss all the ways society has done them wrong by Monica Hesse (30 June 2014) With more than 1300 comments as of 3 July 2014

http://www.refinery29.com/2014/07/70393/mra-mens-rights-conference?unique_id=entry_70393#comment-1464508103 by Kelsey Miller (1 July 2014) This blog post has already attracted 900 comments as of 3 July – and I would recommend having a look at these as many good points are being raised therein.

What I learned as a woman at a Men’s Rights Conference by Jessica Roy (2 July 2014) *You can read a rebuttal of Roy’s article here*

As you will see, in each of the above cases, large numbers of men and women have posted comments pointing out the negativity, bias and hypocrisy shown by the authors. Indeed there are some very thoughtful and insightful comments amongst these – recommended reading!

http://www.salon.com/2014/07/11/mens_rights_groups_sad_reality_behind_the_doors_of_a_depressing_confab/

http://fusion.net/culture/story/mens-rights-activists-fight-feminist-oppressors-831312 (1 July 2014)

https://www.tytnetwork.com/2014/07/04/the-insane-things-said-at-the-1st-annual-mens-rights-conference/ (4 July 2014)

Why ‘Men’s Rights Activists’ Are the Worst People to Advocate for Men’s Rights (10 July 2014)

Here are some of the more positive articles:

A kinder, gentler turn to the gender wars‘ (29 June 2014)

What’s next for the gender wars‘ (3 July 2014)

The Secret Agenda of the Men’s Rights Movement Exposed (6 July 2014)

NCFM Vice President responds to criticism about MRA’s and the AVfM conference in Detroit (25 July 2014) See http://www.avoiceformen.com/mens-rights/ncfm-vice-president-responds-to-criticism-about-mras-and-the-avfm-conference-in-detroit/

… plus a positive blog post at http://blog.studiobrule.com/2014/06/international-conference-on-mens-issues.html

And some further observations from an MHRA about the nature of media coverage the event attracted

Conference reflections: A young woman becomes an MRA‘ (23 July 2014)

Finally, ‘Is this the best they can do?” (25 February 2015)

Western men with Asian women: Gender relations through a different frame of reference

Those who have spent a reasonable amount of time in Thailand would have recognised a strange and intriguing dynamic between western men, western women and Thai women. It is of particular interest to yours truly as it provides an opportunity to examine – from a different perspective – the current state of play between the sexes in western countries. And it’s not a pretty sight.

What is happening is that increasing numbers of western guys, including resident expats and tourists, are seeking Asian wives and girlfriends. This is occurring at the same time that many men are rejecting marriage entirely as is discussed in this further blog post.

When this subject gets raised in an online discussion forum the same issues and the same progression of arguments tend to be represented. Alternatively, if there is a (Caucasian) female moderator in the mix, the discussion thread is usually very quickly shut down.

Female contributors to these discussions accuse the men of (at best) having an ‘Asian fetish’, but more often than not as possessing one or more of the following characteristics:

  • latent peadophiles attracted to the petite stature of Asian women
  • socially inept losers who “couldn’t get a woman in their own countries”
  • ugly, fat, smelly and drunk men who are seeking a submissive slave
  • frightened of “strong, independent women” and unable to cope with a partnership of equals

Female contributors invariably begin by feigning concern for the welfare of their Asian sisters. Comments are made regarding western men exploiting women of limited means, who are driven to consort with them due only to economic imperatives. Once the men return fire, things turn nasty with many western women then turning on Asian women … labelling them scheming prostitutes who are only interested in ripping off western men (who deserve what they get).

Male contributors to such fora frequently reflect on their earlier unsatisfactory dealings with western women, often ending with costly divorce settlements. Sometimes men clarify that their attraction to Asian women is not one of racial objectification, but rather indicative of an attraction to certain personal characteristics that are more prevalent amongst women in Asian countries.

These attributes include gracefulness and femininity, loyalty, and a much reduced propensity for combativeness. Many men appreciate that women’s expectations regarding the roles of men and women are better defined and (more importantly) transparently and consistently applied.

At times interesting insights are offered by Asian women who have moved to western countries. With but a few exceptions they support the comments from western men regarding the selfishness and contempt shown by many western women (in their dealings with them).

There are but a few exceptions whereby Asian women – invariably university students – complain of the attention they receive (example/example/example). I suspect a factor here would often be a desire on the part of the Asian girl to allay jealousy on the part of female friends (i.e. a strategy to deal with intrasexual competition).

Discussions within feminist web sites are uniformly contemptuous towards western men with Asian partners. As an example, I came across this statement in a paper on the SPLC web site:

“The men’s movement also includes mail-order-bride shoppers, unregenerate batterers, and wannabe pickup artists who are eager to learn the secrets of “game”—the psychological tricks that supposedly make it easy to seduce women. “

Nice jibe. That article, by the way, was penned by a feminist foot-soldier by the name of Arthur Goldwag who is discussed here. And while we’re on the topic of feminist lapdogs, here’s David Futrelle with his words of overblown inanity on the subject of those men preferring foreign partners.

Yes indeed, feminists really do get quite a burr in their panties when it comes to white men partnering with women from another culture (another example). Ah, and not only are men allegedly attracted to Asian women because they are perceived to be submissive – the feminist author of this article suggests that the same motivation applies to men who partner with deaf women.

The depth of anger and bitterness felt by some feminists about a trend that they perceive as crafty western men bucking the system, is such that steps are being taken to address this ‘loophole’. There appear to be two main strategies in train:

1. Apply progressively stronger pressure on governments in both source and destination countries to reduce the number of marriages between western men and women from Asian and/or developing countries. In particular this will involve increasing the cost and degree of difficulty associated with obtaining spouse or fiance visas for foreign wives to achieve residency status in western countries. The argument put forward to justify this will be an alleged strong nexus between non-western partners (who will be painted alternately as either vulnerable ingenues or devious scammers) and organised crime or domestic abuse. Expect to see ‘woozles’ aplenty as well as heavy use of terms like ‘mail-order brides’, human-trafficking, and sexual servitude. (Example)

An example of existing legislation with this aim is the US ‘International Marriage Broker Regulation Act‘. See also this article and readers comments about the situation in Sweden.

In Australia, as of April 2019, men must pass a character test to bring their spouse into Australia and any history of domestic violence (real or alleged) will be a obstacle to visa approval. Just as allegations of abuse have become weapons for use in child custody cases, soon ex-wives may be able to make remarriage of their former spouse more costly and difficult. There’s a further article here, but still no hint as to specifically what constitutes “a history of violence”.

This August 2019 article may also put fear into men considering marriage to a foreign national, in relation to the potential for false accusations to be made against them.

Even without altering the rules, people can be discouraged from taking this marriage route simply by making the process more drawn-out and expensive. This web site states that as of January 2019 the waiting period for a partner visa (with partner offshore) was 30-46 months, after submission of all necessary paperwork.

2. Dissuade foreign women from entering into long-term relationships with western men on the basis of scare tactics, i.e. an alleged high level of personal risk to them.

An example of this can be seen in an August 2014 article in the Bangkok Post, entitled ‘Australia’s hidden abusive migrant marriages‘. This article seeks to send a strong message to Thai women that they face grave risks should they relocate to a western country. Yet typical of feminist attempts to manipulate public opinion, it is heavy on claims and very light on information that would put threat levels into a meaningful context. In this case the information provided is quite inadequate in helping women assess the actual degree of risk (see also readers comments).

Other related examples can be seen at One third of migrant and refugee women experience domestic violence, major survey reveals (30 June 2021), and at Thai Women Sweden, relationships with Swedish men and Thai Wives (12 April 2012)

These types of articles/reports can be viewed in several possible contexts, including:

  • the desire of feminists to exaggerate public perception of the scale and nature of domestic violence, with a view to expanding the scale of government funding (example)
  • the desire of feminists to recruit more women to feminist ideology
  • intra-sexual competition on the part of Caucasian women, who are concerned at seeing Caucasian men overlook them in favor of Asian women

Further sources of information and insight regarding this theme:

Why it is so hard to date in Australia right now (28 June 2024) Cry me a river

I’m a ‘passport bro’: We want ‘traditional’ wives, not ‘mail order brides’ (2 June 2023) TLDR version: ‘Real men would choose us instead’

Domestic and family violence and your visa (1 April 2023) Newly created regulatory mechanism affecting migrants to Australia

It’s terrorism when racism and Asian fetishisation intersect, by Cathy Ngo (22 March 2021)

Australians to undergo domestic violence check to sponsor overseas partner (13 October 2020)

Migrant women are trapped in the living hell of violent abuse (2 March 2020) Australia

Japanese model divorces husband after literally spending all his money (15 January 2020) Obviously there are some gold-diggers in every culture, so some degree of caution – by both men & women – is always desirable. 

American’s immigration emergency: Their spouses could be deported or exiled if they seek green cards (20 February 2019) USA. Granted, the focus of this article is on women marrying foreign husbands, but what’s the bet that the main underlying factor is discouraging foreign women.

The ‘Path to Nowhere’ report by ANROWS based on ‘the (alleged) urgent need to overhaul migration laws to protect domestic violence victims (women in Australia on temporary visas)’ (January 2019). See related Tweet

Government data reveals US Immigration issued visas to thousands of child brides spouses (12 January 2019) Stopping underage brides? Sounds entirely reasonable, but then wait until gender-neutral and potentially critical eyes become diverted, and then the system can be derailed to suit feminist objectives.

‘Deport my wife’: Woman hits herself to ‘frame husband for domestic violence’ (3 December 2018)

Americans Conned into Marrying Immigrants for Green Cards (14 July 2018)

Tied in a knot: the Thai wives who go abroad (5 March 2017) I have great trouble believing the accuracy of these stories, let alone the implication that they represent a common pattern of events. The readers of this discussion thread seem to hold a similar opinion. Further, the women quoted in the article such as academic (Ms) Dusadee Ayuwat, appear to be of feminist orientation.

This is why I’ve lived in Japan for 12 years (11 November 2016) Discussion thread with linked video.

A woman’s view as to why men are deserting Western women for Asian women (August 2016) Reddit discussion thread with linked video

Why is a racial “fetish” looked negatively upon as racist, but not preference for other specific physical traits (such as eye color, height, etc) (7 July 2016) Reddit discussion thread

Foreign Women Are Not the Answer (NAFWALT) (9 May 2016) One would be foolish to suggest that marrying a(ny) foreign woman is a good strategy for a(ny) Caucasian man dissatisfied with western women. Then again, too many are willing to rush in and forego getting to know their future partner, her family and her culture, so a reality check is probably in order.

Media attacks Yellow Fever but ignores more common White Fever (17 February 2015) Reddit mensrights discussion thread

The Myth of Yellow Fever (19 January 2015)

Feminists versus Yellow Fever by Willard Losinger (2 September 2014) Highly recommended reading

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/9972174/The-Old-Sexpats-Club-members-and-their-young-Thai-women.html#disqus_thread The article is very negative and biased, but is entirely typical of mainstream media coverage of the issue. There are, however, some very insightful readers comments. (My own comments were provided using the pseudonym ‘Notyouraveragejoe’)

Asian Women and White Men (14 September 2014)

Feminists versus mail-order brides (9 August 2014)

Thai Women Sweden, relationships with Swedish men and Thai Wives (thailovelines.com) (12 April 2012)

Why white men prefer Asian women (undated)

http://diaryofamunchkin.blogspot.com.au/2009/02/why-farang-girls-hate-thailand.html

http://alt.support.short.narkive.com/CKzOA1Vj/why-white-women-hate-thailand

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/soc.culture.thai/G4grWatbzxw (“Unhappy farang girls who cant get a screw”). An extract from which reads:

I was approached by a western girl in Phuket who was obviously having a hard time with the lack of attention. She almost threw herself at me and said quietly in my ear that she and her mate were out looking to get laid. i was in the star wars nightclub at the time in patong surrounded by few hundred thai lovelies. back in England obviously i thought it would be a dream come true to get a girl acting like this. however in Thailand we have the upper hand so i decided to use it. I told her if that was the case that she was maybe in the wrong place and perhaps she should try her luck elsewhere. She looked like i had thrown molten metal in her face. This was beginning to give me far more enjoyment than shagging her ever would.
‘What do you mean’, she responded.
“I mean look around you’ I replied and pointed to all the thai ladies.
I continued to tell her how the arrogance of the western female had become increasingly offputting and thats why most males in the know were now coming to thailand. She then tried to come over all softly, softly and tried to explain she wasn’t one of these types. She then put her arms around me and whispered ‘please’ in my ear.
I was loving this. I finally pushed her away and said that i wasn’t the slight bit interested.
I could see her the tears of humility rise in her eyes and then she stormed off.
I felt a feeling of power wash over me that i’d never felt before.
Western females do this to men all the time in the west and it was superb to be able to enact the same punishment.
She was lucky though. i could of got her to buy me drinks all night whilst pretending to be interested and then gone off with someone else and the end of the night!

(Mod: Ouch! No wonder many men consider Thailand to be the place where western womens chickens have come home to roost!)

http://huahinforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=3699

http://www.bangkokdiaries.com/2008/06/22/why-farang-men-like-thai-girls-and-hate-farang-women/

http://www.bigmangobar.com/blog/reader-submissions/2009/12/01/western-world-women-hypocrisy-with-prostitution-www-doublestandardbitches-com-by-munutkangkao/

Tourism Thailand slammed ‘creepy’ ad (2 March 2015) Wonder if the stalker angle was really the only “creepy” thing about this ad

The following articles or discussion threads are not specific to Thailand:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/613599-young-men-giving-up-on-marriage/ This discussion is in the ladies sub-forum at ‘Thaivisa’, a roosting place for frustrated western women living in Thailand. Input is strictly controlled by ghastly entitled feminist moderators like ‘Boo’ who suspend or ban male contributors with relish. Boo

Example of discussion thread where Op expresses interest in travelling to Asia to meet women

Why white women hate Asian women (20 December 2006)

Scandinavian men leaving feminists to themselves (25 January 2013)

My sweet and sour dating experience: An expat career woman on Beijing flings (24 November 2013) with a reddit discussion that includes this post:

“When-ever you read a news story that seems a bit hateful, reverse the genders. Then ask yourself: “would this have been published with the reversed genders?” Imagine a guy, travelling to a foreign country, complaining about the “less than average” women getting handsome men and the women’s resulting ‘inflated egos’. Then displaying the racist attitudes toward the locals that they dated. Would a main stream media organization DARE to print something as offensive?

http://www.happierabroad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11198&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 (Mod: Warning to sensitive readers, this one is quite harsh but included here to show the degree of upset evident amongst some men)

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/07/25/marketing-asian-women-to-anti-feminist-men/ (Mod: The article offers no useful insights but the comments that follow include some interesting & quite heated exchanges)

http://bettyfokker.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/priss-pot-and-the-mail-order-bride/ (Bitter feminist perspective on the issue of western men marrying Asian women)

http://www.vagabondish.com/female-foreign-japan/ Blog article written by western woman in Japan complaining about being invisible (this article was discussed in this thread)

And here’s another related thread, but this one is about guys married to Filipinos: http://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/1kr801/

And in closing, who in their right mind would NOT understand western men not wishing to be with a woman like the author of this article? Hmmm?

Related posts within my blog:

On Australian men seeking foreign partners

Don’t talk to me! No wait. Talk to me!

On modern dating culture #Cringe

The ‘Marriage Strike’ and MGTOW

Deep down in places that feminists don’t talk about at parties (On the notion of a ‘pussy cartel’)

stinky