Men's Advocates and the Journalists Who Hate Them

From July 20 to 22, the 4th International Conference on Men's Issues (ICMI) took place in London, England, organized by Mike Buchanan, leader of the British political party Justice For Men and Boys (and the Women Who Love Them) and by Paul Elam, founder of the American online magazine A Voice For Men. The conference program featured speakers from around the world addressing men's health, social, legal, and educational issues. Though the majority were men, women were also prominent participants. The keynote address, "Why women must consign feminism to the dustbin of history," was delivered by Canadian YouTube sensation Karen Straughan, a one-woman industry of common sense and cogent argument. Each day's program was opened by a female presenter, while another Canadian, Alison Tieman, delivered the final full-length talk, "How Compassion for Men Shapes Civilization." Tieman and Straughan are both members of an advocacy group called The Honey Badgers, who post regular podcasts on cultural and political affairs from a male-positive perspective. Conference presenters included politicians, academics, businessmen, lawyers, teachers, bloggers, and many ordinary blokes. Darren Deojee, after being piped into the room by a bagpiper, addressed the audience in a kilt and carrying a nuin to talk about positive masculinity. Ian McNicholl spoke without rancor of his personal hell with a physically violent woman who promised to have him murdered if he ever left her. The Rev. Dr. Jules Gomes spoke with erudition and wit on "How feminists have destroyed the Church of England beyond repair." Some of the speakers consider themselves men's rights activists (MRAs), but perhaps the only unifying idea of the conference was that men deserve a public hearing even when their words contradict feminist dogma about male power.