The Intellectual and Moral Bankruptcy of the Fathers' Movement

© Peter Zohrab 2002

The Men's Movement and the Fathers' Movement are not the same thing. The Men's Movement, which the NZ Equality Education Foundation supports, sees Fathers' Rights as just one aspect of Men's Rights. For that reason, the NZEEF also supports Fathers' Rights wholeheartedly.

However, it is time for the Men's Rights Movement to stop being the poor relation of the Fathers' Rights Movement. The Fathers' Rights Movement is bigger than the Men's Rights Movement, for the simple reason that most men see no reason to fight the cumulative changes that combine to oppress them -- until they are dispossessed of their children, assets and/or liberty when their relationships break down.

 

Intellectual Bankruptcy

Unfortunately, many of the men who lose out in the Family Court and join the Fathers' Movement are not very educated, articulate, or politically aware. Women tend to treat men as support-objects, and it is a typical scenario for a woman to dump a relatively uneducated man because he is not rich enough for her -- e.g. he has become unemployed. These sorts of men seem to be over-represented in the Fathers' Movement.

Because of the intellectual calibre of its members, the Fathers' Movement has no real understanding of the issues. It concentrates on attempting to change laws, when in fact Feminist ideology is being taught, by various agencies, to all the professionals who administer the laws, and it is this Feminist bias which is the main determiner of the outcomes that the Fathers' Movement complains about. This is why Feminist ideology must be attacked full-on, despite the cowardice and stupidity of many fathers, who are unable or unwilling to see anything wrong with Feminism.

The Fathers' Movement also has no real ideology, apart from a general conservatism and a wish to preserve or strengthen family values. This is not sufficient to attract new adherents. Its members are more likely to be religious than the rest of society, but there are many religions and sects these days, and not many people in the West are religious anyway, so this provides no unity or driving force for the Fathers' Movement.

The Fathers' Movement is merely a reaction to the situation in which many fathers have found themselves, but the Men's Movement is composed of men who are there because they have actually thought about the issues. Only the Men's Movement can develop a coherent ideology that will bring to men and fathers the sorts of political victories that having a coherent ideology brought to the Women's Movement. Many good books have been written about Men's Issues -- I suggest you read some of them, including "Sex, Lies & Feminism."

 

Moral Bankruptcy

Fathers who join the Fathers' Movement tend to be wrapped up in their own -- very serious -- problems. They join the Fathers' Movement mainly in order to see if their own situation can be improved. This selfishness is not an attractive trait, and it does nothing to attract sympathy for the cause from other people.

Those that come from a working-class background are often hostile towards intellectuals, which alienates them from powerful middle-class institutions such as the bureaucracy and the education system, where respect for intellectuals is deeply ingrained. The intense homophobia of many in the Fathers' Movement alienates the homosexual movement and drives it even more solidly into the arms of the Feminists. This gives the Feminists a public relations halo -- being the protectors of defenceless homosexuals against the queer-bashers in the Fathers' Movement. This apparent altruism of the Feminists contrasts starkly with the intense selfishness of the Fathers' Movement.

See also: dadawake.html

Last Update: 5 December 2008

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