Men on Strike analyze feminist and gender-related issues. Helen Smith, the author, says that society has become hostile towards the male gender, and this attitude is costing both men, women, and society at large.
Bullet Summary
- Our society has become increasingly hostile and unfair toward men
- Men lose their shirts in case of divorce and are held hostage by their wives
- Men are reacting by “refusing to play”: not getting married, not being chivalrous
Full Summary
About The Author: Helen Smith, the author, considered herself a feminist. Until she found out that feminism didn’t mean equality of sexes, but female privileges and discrimination against men.
She decided she wasn’t going to stand for that.
“Men on Strike” represents her new philosophy when it comes to feminism and gender issues.
Marriage Is Unfair to Men
The author says that marriage has become a better and better deal for women and more and more dangerous for men.
She cites a survey from Men’s Health showing that men in cohabiting situations are happier and more confident than married men. And the wives thinner.
This is because, says the author, marriage gives power to the woman, who takes the man for granted and treats him as hired help rather than as a partner (albeit, I have to add, correlation does not imply causation).
Also, read:
I also found it interesting, albeit it’s drawn from a small sample size (141) and on self-described traits, that the men more likely to be against marriage were virgins and low earners.
Men who identified themselves as alpha males were more likely to want a marriage.
Society is Becoming Feminine and Male-Unfriendly
Helen Smith says that schools, colleges, and society frown upon masculinity.
And the tendency is to eradicate and stamp out male traits from the boys.
Men, says the authors, are seen as abusers and dangerous sex.
Colleges Are Pro-Women & Against Men: And That’s Why Men Abandon College
Since at universities, the environment is so anti-male, more and more men are abandoning college.
And that’s why, implies the author, there are more and more women on campus.
This is similar to the message that Jordan Peterson more recently has been sending out -check his 12 Rules for Life-.
My Note:
It’s probably true that feminism and anti-male campaigning is too strong in universities, but I believe the reasons for decreasing male attendance are, by and large, of different nature.
Read Date-onomics, successful women dating, and how to date.
No Father-hood Control
Men don’t have much control over their fate as fathers.
If the woman tricks the man into saying she was on the pill, he has no say on whether or not the baby should be born.
And his woes aren’t over because:
He Has No Say On Parenthood, But He’s Stuck With Child Support
The man will be forced to pay for child support -it doesn’t matter whether or not he was tricked into it-.
Indeed, there are many cases of women who used a man’s sperm for self-impregnation and received big checks as a reward for their shenanigans.
In one shameful example, Boris Becker was forced to pay for child support even when the woman made him a BJ and then manually inserted his semen in her vagina.
Even in statutory male rape, a man is forced to pay. And this is why, by and large, I agree with the author.
Men’s Affirmative Actions
What can men do?
The author has lots of great tips on groups you can join and even great advice on how you can react to women trying to put you down.
And most of all, I liked the concept that you shouldn’t fall for the mindset of “man up and shut up”, but speak up against abuse.
Real-Life Applications
I’ll make a proper article about it, but not to get screwed the author recommends:
- Stay single
- Cohabit but don’t get married
- Know your local law and palimony laws
CONS
Empirical Evidence
Men on Strike sometimes presents a lot of empirical evidence based on stories and some too small sample sizes to draw conclusions (like a poll on Vox Day with 141 respondents).
But this is not to say the book doesn’t make valid points: it does make very valid points.
Review
What a wonderful sociological analysis!
I disagree with some of the key tenets of Men on Strike. Namely, men are withdrawing from college because they sense unfairness. And I think it goes a bit too far at times.
But it also presents extremely valid points.
I have to admit I was skeptical before starting to read it. I reject feminism because of its juxtaposition of genders, of viewing women VS men.
So for the same reason, men VS women (or VS current feminine society) was equally meaningless to me.
Plus I was loath of sounding like a complainer and I had always refused of entertaining the thought that current regulation was unfair towards men.
After all, nobody ever says it.
But this book opened my eyes to many current injustices.
And I had to nod as I realized for the first time that yes, it’s not damn normal that as a man I don’t want to be seen too close to children. And that’s possible because society’s image these days is that of men as children’s predators (urgh!).
And of course:
- Men forced to pay child support for children who are not theirs
- Men forced to pay child support for children they fathered as teenagers with 30-something women
All pretty crazy.
So I not only recommend you read Men on Strike, but I would warmly welcome people to reflect on its message.
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