Over My Shoulder

Underground Knights
February 2001

I got an email from an old friend the other day and in it he wondered what had happened to the men's movement. " Did it die or just fade away. Was it just a passing fad?"

For those of us who experienced it in full flower, the Men's Movement was seminal to our finding solace for our selves in the middle of what was shaping up to be and has become, a war against maleness. I'm speaking in the past tense because, although the battle to denigrate and castrate males continues unabated legally, politically and emotionally, it and the Men's Movement don't play big in the media anymore. When the Movement was in the spotlight it was used mainly as a boys-will-be-boys fare and portrayed as silly, mindless play by men trying to return to Boy Scout camp or malign women or worse.

There were few, very few, thoughtful stories. Hugh Downs attended a gathering in Texas and did a fine report on "20/20", the BBC did another as did German TV and Bill Moyers ran a thoughtful piece. But for the most part it was over in a few years and, though there certainly are things happening for men in different parts of the country even now, the sound of drums in the forest are faint and scattered and the sense of a community of men which began to take shape in the late eighties and early to mid nineties has faded from view. For many of us however, it still lives in our hearts as more than a memory. And for a few, men's work is still a full time dedication.

I still get emails citing outrages perpetrated against men in the name of justice for women. And there are still the snide hits at men sent via email that show up in my in-box. They are mainly sent by undereducated females and don't have much sting. Still, they continue.

Speaking for myself, I'm tired of the struggle. Most of it seems to fall on deaf ears societally and I guess I'm just not into long term guerrilla warfare. Not that I won't stand up for men whenever they are attacked or unfairly targeted by media or individuals I come in contact with. And not that I won't always strive to set the record straight whenever a cannon shot comes over the bowit's just that as far as an all out expression of outrage is concerned, I am pretty well burned out.

I fully support and will always promote organizations and web sites that are male positive or at the very least strive for balance. Rita Simon's The Women's Freedom Network out of D.C. is just one such organization. And Asa Baber at Playboy, Charles Corry in Colorado Springs, Bert Hoff (MENWEB) in Seattle, Marvin Allen and Allen Maurer in Texas, Jed Diamond and of course Warren Farrell in California, Darrell Christopher in Michigan, Paul Kachoris and Kevin Fitzpatrick in Chicago, Mike Hamilton in New Mexico and Jim Bracewell (TheMensCenter.com and MENSIGHT) in Florida are representative of just a few of the men who continue to pour lots of good energy and intelligence into the fight to get things at least fair when it comes to the political and legal imbalances men are struggling with.

Men specifically and all of us in general are paying a huge price because of the success of the radical feminist agenda which has insinuated it self at all levels of education and across the political spectrum. It's malice toward men is more easily spread and it's insidious venom less detectable than the religious right because it comes cloaked in the guise of "helping women" and "opposing the oppression of women and children". Well, who can go against that? These days, whenever I am called upon to recommend a women's group for someone I'm working with, I have to always put in the caveat; "Stay out of those groups that are man-blamers. They will not serve you well." Every single woman I have advised in this regard knew exactly what I was talking about.

From my admittedly narrow and only moderately informed point of view, the Men's Movement is now in the hands of wise mentors all over America. These men, scattered like seeds by the gatherings which took place less than a decade ago, men like the ones I've named and so many more, are where it's at right now.

Where's the Men's Movement? Its doing it's work the way men have always done their work, quietly and effectively and without fanfare at the underground level straight into men's hearts. Maybe that's the only way it can and should be. Maybe, after all's said and done, it's the best way.

Coyote On Coyote - More about Coyote by Dick Prosapio

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