{"id":3642,"date":"2015-11-19T13:08:01","date_gmt":"2015-11-19T19:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/backgroundprobability\/?p=3642"},"modified":"2015-11-19T13:23:22","modified_gmt":"2015-11-19T19:23:22","slug":"not-done-arguing-about-international-mens-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/backgroundprobability\/2015\/11\/19\/not-done-arguing-about-international-mens-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Not done arguing about International Men\u2019s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

A couple weekends ago I had an unpleasant run-in with a men’s rights activist, in a private forum which I help administrate. He made various arguments about how men are systematically disadvantaged in fairly specific ways. Some of his arguments were good, some were bad, but all of them were marred in the minds of his audience when he eventually lost his temper and started in on people with the usual sexist slurs. In the end, I had to kick him for violating the first and most fundamental rule<\/a> of civil discourse, which was unfortunate because I sincerely believe ideological diversity makes us stronger<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I say all this as preface, because every time I try to discuss “men’s issues” in nearly any context there immediately ensues a battle between the men’s rights folks and the women’s rights folks, firing at each other from highly-fortified, well-traveled, previously entrenched positions. People quickly lose their tempers and close their minds, and no progress is usually made. I suspect that this endless cycle played some role in Ally Fogg\u2019s recent decision<\/a> to stop arguing about International Men\u2019s Day:<\/p>\n

\u2026the participants turn back to soak up the applause of their own side, gurning with smug pride at their great achievement before their next team member steps forward to repeat the exact ritual, and so it continues until the time zones of the planet have rolled around and everyone can go back to bed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I am sympathetic to this line of argument and commend Fogg\u2019s article to your reading, but as an evangelical skeptic, I can never go along with the \u201cnot up for debate\u201d approach to any contemporary controversial topic. Also, it seems woefully premature to pretend International Men\u2019s Day is a settled issue at this point, especially given recent events at University of York.<\/p>\n

\n

Twitter continues to condemn the university that cancelled #InternationalMensDay<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/HMfdkHeJOU<\/a><\/p>\n

— Indy Students (@IndyStudents) November 19, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n