do you think the anti-feminists and MRAs are having any effect or no?

[Anti-Federalist]

i browse a few social media sites on a range of topics. none of the sites are political or have anything to do with mra's unless its a youtube video. on occasion, ill see something pertaining to feminism and i often read the comments. unless its someone like anita sarkesian who literally blocks anyone who disagrees with her, the comments usually, overwhelmingly bash feminism pretty badly. many of them are women, depending on the site or topic im browsing.

im relatively new to the topic, so im wondering if this is how its always been or does this have anything to do with all the anti-feminist / mra activism. but i also think theres a possibility that the mrm has been mostly ineffectual and that its feminism itself that is turning people against it.

[Woody Black]

look around... who wants this kind of society ? no one.

who's to blame ? well - many people believe feminism is directly responsible.

they set out to destroy the family. and today we see families are destroyed - coincidence ?

[pow]

Not really ...

That is because they are not particularly effective in rallying converts to their cause.

Frankly most men don't want to spend their free time ranting on the internet about women who wronged them, or about how much better men are than women, or about how Jim down the street has to pay child support to his cheating and lying wife.

They have better things to do with their time, such as hold down jobs and tend to their homes and families.

Most people, to tell you the truth, don't care about feminists. They have other things to do with their time. They are not spending 20 hours a day, monitoring Gender Studies forums for posts by slightly unhinged females, as examples of how bad feminists are, in order to bash them. Like I said, they don't want to spend their time doing that and I can't say I blame them.

People who do follow this stuff for a living are not hanging out on forums like this. They are people with degrees in fields like law, nursing, social work, history, education ... and they are out in the community WORKING and they are generally not MRA's.

[Layla Jane]

As an anti-feminist female it is rare I frequent, if at all, those sites. Therefore; on my part it's feminism itself that turns me away from it.

[Dr. Evil]

Everything has an effect. However I believe that increasing support for MRA is a result of what you describe rather than the cause of it. The increasing support for anti-feminism is caused by feminism itself.

[Kenshin]

People are waking up from the feminist dream. You just need to look at how the percentage of males that do not marry and do not want children increase every year. Feminism has destroyed the concept of family and marriage this is why we have such a broken society today. It started as the movement of the oppressed and has become the movement of the oppressors. From corrupt feminist family courts to gold digging operations under the blessing of the law it is another way to make money. MRa's has done a lot of work waking up men an women on this scam but I believe that common sense it the one that has done the job

[Gaia]

Oh yeah, they do have an effect for sure: They're irritating.

[PrettyLittleLiar]

In my opinion, the the MRM is both a good and a bad thing.

They are good in that they are pushing for greater paternal rights, and bad in that they are positioning feminism as being the enemy, which can make informed discourse difficult.

There is no doubt that feminism has done a lot of good for society, but in today's highly politicised culture, the default position is to bash feminism on principle.

The MRM propagates the idea that feminism has destroyed the family and is to blame for everything from single motherhood to fathers losing custody of their children.

The truth is, feminism HAS called into question the idea of the 'nuclear family' and all of the connotations associated with it. My point is, is that a bad thing?

The old ideal of a traditional, nuclear family did not really benefit women, if you consider that it was all about a woman subjugating herself for the needs of her family. Yes there are women who are happy with this role, but, equally, there are women who do not want to be responsible for the majority of childcare and housework and who also want to seek personal fulfilment outside of the home.

The traditional family structure placed the balance of power squarely in the hands of the husband, primarily through economic means. Now things are different and women are out there working, choosing to divorce unsuitable partners etc and the MRM seems to find this some kind of attack on society. Really, if you think about it logically, it is not very fair.

The irony is that feminists want men to step up and play a more active role in childcare, and to be active parents in a way they were not free to do before.

Sure things are up in the air at the moment. Men and women are unsure of their role in society because traditional norms no longer apply. We are living in a society in flux. The point is that at least now women have choices where none were available previously, and it is up to individuals to live their lives, their marriages and their child-care responsibilities in ways that are suitable to their individual circumstances.

Feminism can pave the way to gender equality, but it cannot legislate for maturity and responsibility on the part of individuals.

In my opinion, the MRM, while doing some good, are, in general, doing society a disservice by seeking to destroy feminism. Feminism is not an overarching force for evil seeking to destroy men and achieve female supremacy, but, by listening and hearing their constant, negative, often ill informed rhetoric, you would certainly not believe it.