Men Who Hate Women: From Incels to Pickup Artists: The Truth about Extreme Misogyny and How it Affects Us All

Chapter 4 centers on Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs) and the modern Men’s Rights Movement (MRM). While Bates acknowledges that there are many issues uniquely affecting men—including mental health struggles, masculine stereotypes, and domestic violence—she notes that MRAs are less concerned with these issues and more concerned with attacking feminism. Rather than focusing on the valid issues affecting men, MRAs actively impede efforts to tackle these issues through their rigid adherence to strict gender roles and stereotypes. However, by claiming to advocate for these issues, MRAs enjoy an air of public respectability.

Though they share much in common with the areas of the manosphere discussed so far, they differ in that they neither focus on sexual gratification like incels and pickup artists nor withdraw from women and society like MGTOW. Instead, they work to fight back against what they perceive to be a growing marginalization of men and masculinity.

The current community of MRAs grew out of the Men’s Rights Movement in the 1970s, which was initially a complement to the women’s liberation movement during the second wave of feminism. Both groups worked to deconstruct damaging gender stereotypes that harmed both men and women. However, by the late 1970s, there was a schism in the movement, with one side holding on to its pro-feminist ideals and the other developing into a staunchly anti-feminist movement. Organizations such as the National Coalition for Men argued that feminism would lead to “dangerous cultural instability” (124). They entered gender discrimination lawsuits against women’s-only spaces such as sports teams and domestic violence shelters. 

The Myth of Male Power, a book by Warren Farrell, a prominent men’s rights activist, encompasses much of the movement’s core beliefs and has become the “bible” of the MRA. It argues that women actually hold more power in society and cites male-centered issues as proof, such as male suicide rates, the military draft, male life expectancy, and male-specific cancers. Farrell and other MRAs, including friend and protege Paul Elam, combine men’s issues with misogynist and violent statements about women and feminism, along with false or misleading claims about men’s victimization at the hands of women. A lot of MRA content downplays or even justifies the abuse and rape of women, and activists often engage in targeted harassment of those who speak out against the movement; Bates describes an MRA who has targeted her obsessively for years.

She goes on to explore why the MRM is counterproductive to its own aims: It works to maintain the gender stereotypes that directly contribute to men’s issues. For example, it argues that women are inherently better caretakers and more nurturing than men and should thus stay at home providing childcare rather than vie for professional positions. At the same time, it argues for father’s rights and against family courts’ apparent discrimination against men. Despite its contradictory aims and its violently misogynistic rhetoric, MRAs are routinely given media attention and public platforms through which they can spread their beliefs under a facade of respectability, debating feminists and creating false equivalences between the blatantly sexist MRM and the feminist movement. Due to its efforts through campaigns, meetings, and protests, the MRM occupies a larger space in the public sphere and mainstream media than other areas of the manosphere.

The MRM has gained popularity in recent years, enjoying both public and political support. However, this movement continues to cause harm by advocating for the very same gender stereotypes and harmful notions of masculinity that are causing harm to men and boys.