Let me state at the outset, that I am not a Male Rights Activist, even though I do read through posts and commentary given on the MensRights subreddit on the Reddit website. Let me also state at the outset that I am not an anti-feminist, in the sense that I do not wish to deny equal rights and opportunities for women.

I am an anti-Feminist, under the definition that Megan Murphy and some of her followers espouse:

Feminism explicitly and necessarily is about understanding the fact that, and the way in which, men, as a class, oppress women, as a class… men and women do not share similar experiences of gender oppression… because men do not, in fact, experience oppression because of their gender — women do.

She says this in her article, "Why are we supposed to believe Shia LaBeouf?" and proceeds to dissect the reasoning as to why she does not believe that this man was raped.

I cannot determine whether or not he actually was raped; that is something that is for the law to decide. I cannot say whether or not I believe he was raped; I haven't paid much attention to the media to form much of an opinion. But I do believe that he deserves as much of the benefit of the doubt as so-called feminists say that the typical woman deserves when she says that she has been raped.

But Megan Murphy does not believe that he deserves the benefit of the doubt, as she makes clear.

"It isn't clear what exactly happened to LaBeouf and whether or not it constitutes "rape"… "Rape, generally understood as forcible penetration with a penis or other object (not least under English law), could not have taken place in this instance, and LaBeouf does not specify what did happen."…Why are we obligated — specifically as feminists — to believe him point-blank?"

And she does exactly what feminists claim happens to rape victims- she questions Shia LaBeouf about his rape:

LaBeouf doesn't say he was penetrated, against his will, by this woman…What does that mean? What happened?

and basically asks, "why should we believe him?" She states, later on in her article, that she believes women, and presumably without much in the way of evidence that a crime was committed; and yet, she- and her followers- all but demand that Shia explain himself, and provide proof that he's telling the truth.

Now, the point I'm making, in this article, is not to fact-check Megan Murphy and her followers. I'm not interested in sliding down that very slippery slope of questionable intellectual discussion and fall into the trap of trying to convince her and her supporters to look at what is happening in the world with an open mind. She and her followers are making it obvious that with regards to "rape culture" that they do not operate with an open mind. She expresses this very clearly.

We believe women because, well, sadly most women do experience abuse, rape, and sexual harassment. This is because we live in a patriarchy… We also believe women because there is nothing to be gained from lying about such things… And that is why, as a feminist, I believe women.

There would be nothing gained from me attempting to deal with her or her followers head-on- not because I'm not up to the task, and not because I don't have my facts straight, but simply because she is coming from the standpoint of her opinion, and everyone is entitled to their opinion- but that doesn't make what they say the right thing to say.

Likewise, I'll admit that what I'm going to say in response is my opinion- but I am going to do my level best to provide an opinion that is balanced and even-minded towards what is happening in the world, what is happening in reality, not just to what benefits the feminist agenda that seems to be the rhetoric of Megan and her followers.

Let us start with Megan's statement of feminism:I believe that she is very incorrect, and looking at the experiences of men and women through the lens of her feminism, and not the eyes of reality. For perhaps the last twenty years, men have been experiencing oppression because of their gender. This is very evident in the media- in movies, in television shows- and while I'm sure that Megan and her followers would say that this is not gendered-oppression, I would beg to differ, as this gendered-oppression of men—taken in the form of creating women of strength and character, but at the expense of creating men who are boorish, buffoonish and lacking in positive qualities in their female counterparts—does offer a subliminal empowerment of women and an equally subliminal disempowerment of men, and this message is given nationally, even internationally, and has been given to perhaps the last three or even four generations of our youth. This means that it has been seen across the country, even around the world, and that fact should not be discounted when one considers the impact of that message; the impact of that message is a subtle oppression of the male gender, and often by the female gender.I'm not attempting to say that there is no more oppression of women by men. Yes, men do still oppress women. I cannot deny that this still happens. Yes, it is deplorable- at least in my opinion it is; I can't speak for all of the men in other cultures who might think that it is the natural way; all I can say is that I don't agree with oppressing anyone. I am saying, however, that men are experiencing oppression, and men are experiencing oppression by women, at least in this culture, in this country, and so Megan Murphy is incorrect about her statement of feminism above.Next, we tackle the definition of rape by her and others:Let's pull up a definition of rape, shall we?According to the FBI, this is what they have to say:So we can establish as a baseline that the definition of rape is not specifically about "penile penetration", nor is it specifically "used by men to control….women…" nor is it specifically "about…forced impregnation". Those aspects of the definition of rape provided by Megan Murphy and her followers are incorrect.And so far, we have established an opinion, a strong belief, that the definition of feminism and the definition of rape, as provided by Megan Murphy and her followers, is… well, since an opinion cannot technically be false, I will say that those opinions are factually faulty, and that my opinions do not appear to be as factually faulty.So let's address the point of my article, my opinion, regarding Megan Murphy and her followers, and their bigotry—the definition of which isand bigot is further defined asThey do seem to fit the definition.I suppose the heart of the matter can be summed up in these statements by Megan Murphy and her followers:•"We also believe women['s accusations of rape and the occurrences of rape] because there is nothing to be gained from lying about such things"•"[Y] ou try to teach us, feminists, that "everyone, regardless of gender, has the potential to use sex as a weapon or a means of control." No. I don't believe you."•"I think most male claims regarding "false rape accusations" are a result of men being too narrow with their definition of rape."•"This is the biggest pile of male whining I've ever heard…we, as women, are trying just to survive male violence, the violence that happens before a man rapes us and afterward when we're castigated and told it was our fault. Fuck you asshole."•"He was forced to have an erection, which is maybe really depressing and demeaning…Besides, we are talking about fiction here…I may be too narrow minded, but I fail to understand how penetrating somebody against her will and being forced (via viagra) to penetrate somebody is equal in pain and in emotional distress."•"Seriously though, even if a man's penis was forcibly surrounded with a vagina, it would still be sexual assault, not rape…It is rare for males to be sexual assaulted and even rarer for males to be sexually assaulted by women. This means LaBeouf would have to come up with stronger evidence than his own word if he wants me to believe he was sexually assaulted. The less probable the claim the more evidence is required for it to be believable. Women get raped pretty often, so if a woman claims she was raped, the claim is not improbable and so less is evidence is required."•"Males can be sexually abused or assaulted, but I wouldn't call a woman "forcing" a man to fuck her rape, exactly. The female body is not the same as the male body, and PIV is not the same for women as it is for men. In PIV the female body is invaded, perforated, its boundaries violated. That is not true for the male body…However even this is not a truly parallel situation, and doesn't get at the full horror of what rape is about…really what rape is for, what it is all about, is forced impregnation… Rape is the fundamental act of patriarchy…This is something that women cannot do to men. This is why all PIV is structurally different for men and women, and why it makes sense to reserve the word rape for a specific act, and use broader terms like molestation or sexual assault for other violations."•"[Feminism is] about ending patriarchy and male violence against women."1) The idea that women have "nothing to be gained by lying about" being raped is demonstrably false.The first thing that a woman gains when she brings up the subject of having been raped is attention and sympathy.Mind you, I don't think that in the case where rape has occurred, where there is no false accusation, that attention and sympathy are wrong or out of place—rape is a horrific crime and a horrific event to suffer through and survive with, and calling attention to the fact that it happened, and to whom did it, I think are instrumental to one's ability to one day deal with the events in ways that don't leave them to continue to suffer years later. Gaining sympathy for having survived—sympathy , not pity—is not wrong, and lets one know that others aren't offering blame for what has happened.A woman may also gain succor from her rapist; if she can identify the person who raped her, that person can be removed from the social group that she is a part of, either through ostracizing, academic expulsion if she is in college, to imprisonment; any of these removes the offensive party and surrounds her with some measure of insulation from further offense. And finally, in today's atmosphere, a woman gains public outrage at what has happened to her, and further attention and sympathy from society at large.Women who make false accusations of rape gain these same benefits, and at little to no cost to her, even if her story of being raped later is shown to be not true; only blatantly obvious cases of lying about being raped garner any criminal or legal attention, and of those rare occurrences, only the most egregious examples are given any significant punishment.2) The idea that women have a "lock" on rape, and how horrific and awful the experience is, is arguably false—but it is certain that Megan Murphy and her followers would disagree, as they already have.The definition of what rape is has already been established.What rape is about, has not—and what rape is about, is not about sex, and not about impregnation; it is about power, and control, using sex as a weapon. And women have just as much ability to use sex as a weapon to gain power and control. We hear an increasing number of stories wherein women have accusations of a sexual nature in order to gain power and control of their relationships, whatever form those relationships might be.Remember when I mentioned how women have been portrayed in the media, how women have been provided with empowerment at the expense of men for the last two or three generations? Women have gained in that time the perception that they are intelligent, and credible; that they are always victims, who manage to persevere; that what they want most is equality and harmonious relationships with others.And there are women who will manipulate that perception, in order to gain things that they desire. Women are not innocent fragile creatures—they are people, just like men are, and they are just as capable of doing bad things as their male counterparts, and for some of the same reasons. Just because a woman doesn't have a penis, doesn't mean she can't use sex as a weapon. Before it became publicly acceptable for women to use sex as a weapon, women were using sex as a tool—"Not tonight, honey, I have a headache" isn't a cliché simply because some actress came up with it from thin air. Anecdotally, women have been using sex—the gifting of it, the denying of it—in order to get things they've wanted; money, flowers, jewelry, marriage, emotional commitment—or they've used sex in order to influence the relationships they are a part of; to gain employment or a raise in salary or responsibilities, to attempt to prevent infidelity or divorce, to gain romance or to attempt to appease an angry lover, to pay off a debt or attempt to prevent violence or further violence.And with the knowledge and understanding of the means by which the manipulation of that perception that women have of themselves, there are some who will use their abilities to manipulate their perception to their own benefit, and more specifically, to the detriment of men, and sometimes with malicious intent.It is a generalized understanding that most males are raised with the understanding not to hit women. It is also a generalized understanding that most females are physically less strong than males. So it is very easy for some women to take advantage of these two understandings, and manipulate sex—or a sexual situation—to give them power or control over their relationship, or over their situation. Women are increasingly becoming more and more involved as perpetrators in issues of domestic violence, and even in situations where it is clear that the woman is the instigator, in the vast majority of cases, it is the man who is arrested and taken away to jail. Unless the police decline to charge the man, this arrest stays on his record, and can be used against him at a later time. Being arrested can also get him fired; most places of employment don't take a missing employee very well, especially if he does not call—and in most cases, the arrested male cannot make a call to his employer—and even further if the employer discovers he was arrested. This arrest can also be used against him in cases of his home situation—like an order of protection being taken out on him, such that he cannot return home, and cannot see his children—or in child custody cases. And wearing the stigma of being a man who abuses women, as what tends to happen if and when a man is arrested in a domestic violence situation, has far-reaching social stigmas.I don't claim that a man's situation when he is accused of rape/sexual assault/domestic violence is in any way worse than that of a woman's situation is, when she endures being raped and having been raped. But Megan Murphy's—and Jessica Valenti, and Zerlina Maxwell, and their followers—assertions that women wouldn't lie about rape because there's no benefit to them, that little to nothing happens to men who are accused—especially falsely accused- of rape or sexual assault or domestic violence, are false assertions. Men can and do suffer, and in ways that affect them emotionally, and with long-lasting effects; to deny this, to shrug off even the pretense of empathy towards the suffering of another, even if that 'other' is male—and to demonstrate such hostility towards that 'other' because they are male—again, smacks of bigotry.Women do have power. The ideology of the patriarchy having total control is an illusion at best, and a delusion at worst. Again, I don't deny that men, as a gender, do oppress women. Again, I contend, that women, as a gender, also do oppress men. I also contend that while male privilege exists, female privilege also exists, and for Megan and her followers to pretend that it does not, that they are merely and simply the victims of an overbearing patriarchy wherein they have no control, no options to affect change, and no power to influence said patriarchy, is false. And those women, those feminists, they know this, they know that women have power, and while they shout their rally cry of "rape culture" and "patriarchal oppression", you can bet that they are educating their fellow women on how to use that power they have, to enforce their hatred of men who they believe to be responsible for their oppression, not on educating their fellow women about equal rights. Megan even says it herself: allow me to quote her yet again:Nothing there about "equal rights"; and here I thought that was what feminism was supposed to be about.3) Rape is rape.Let's recall the FBI definition of rape:which precludes—hell, obliterates—the idea that "even if a man's penis was forcibly surrounded with a vagina" that that would be "not rape". That IS rape. "He was forced to have an erection, which is maybe really depressing and demeaning, but in any case he didn't suffer anal penetration against his will." Doesn't matter—that's still rape. "Males can be sexually abused or assaulted, but I wouldn't call a woman "forcing" a man to fuck her rape, exactly." Well, that is exactly rape. "In PIV (penis in vagina- the "real" rape, according to this commentor) the female body is invaded, perforated, its boundaries violated. That is not true for the male body. This is something that women cannot do to men." Well, that is wrong. Women can do this to men. "You try to teach us, feminists, that "everyone, regardless of gender, has the potential to use sex as a weapon or a means of control." No. I don't believe you." See above- any gender of victim or perpetrator. Women are not the exclusive victims of rape. Men are not the exclusive perpetrators of rape. And yes, women do have the potential to use sex as a weapon or a means of control. Too bad you don't believe it; it doesn't make it any less true of a fact.Men can be raped as well.And men can be raped by women, just as well.Rape doesn't require penetration. And rape isn't just physical.Again, rape is about using sex as a weapon or a means to usurp power or control. Rape is also about violation, and humiliation. And men, in the cultural environment we live in these days, are ripe for being emotionally violated and humiliated by the non-physical rape of women.Mind you, I'm not accusing women in general of being rapists, or of committing rape. But I am saying that women are just as capable of it, in their own ways; that men are just as capable of being raped, and are as deserving of the benefit of the doubt, as women are; and that men can be just as much victims, in their own ways, and are just as capable of suffering for being victims, as women are.In a nutshell-Men can be victims, too.And women can be perpetrators, too.If we want to truly want to bring about the end of rape, rape culture, patriarchy, then we need to disempower those ideological constructs—and that can only happen when we stop the bigotry—the misogyny and the misandry—and come together to defeat these social obstacles.And that is why I do not believe Megan Murphy.To the woman who wrote the article "A List of some of Men who Hate Women" --your bigotry is astonishing, as you basically say that being male equals a hatred of women. I mention you only in passing. , to simply reinforce the point of my article; your narrow mind is not otherwise worthy of my time.