In her book, Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man, Susan Faludi writes of the feminist movement that,

And so with the mystery of men’s non-rebellion comes the glimmer of an opening, an opportunity for men to forge a rebellion commensurate with women’s and, in the course of it, to create a new paradigm for human progress that will open doors for both sexes. That was, and continues to be, feminism’s dream, to create a freer, more humane world.

The feminist dream of creating a freer more humane world is clearly not the choice of fundamental feminists. Fundamental feminists are people who are more concerned with women’s rights than they are civil or victim’s rights. The goal of fundamental feminism is not to open doors for both sexes. Fundamental feminist have closed, shut tight, bolted and locked the door concerning equal to rights some victims of domestic violence.

It is the goal of fundamental feminism to, at least concerning the issue of domestic violence, to display no compassion or empathy concerning male victims of domestic violence. Jane Doe of Massachusetts is the federally recognized lead agency for domestic violence intervention. The following appeared in the October 28, 2002 copy of the Boston Globe and it is a representation, similar to the vast majority of domestic violence agencies nationwide, of this fundamental feminist vision of a freer, more humane world:

Yet, male victims pose a delicate problem for battered women's groups who say they are too rare a phenomenon to warrant drastic change in the core beliefs of the movement against domestic abuse.

“Men are sometimes victims of domestic violence,'' said Nancy Scannell, legislative director of Jane Doe Inc., a Massachusetts-based domestic violence coalition. “But the attempt to be inclusive [of male victims] should never be interpreted to mean that the issue is gender-neutral. It does not change our mind about why [domestic violence] happens. It happens because of sexism and power and control of men over women in our society.”

Katherine Greene, Jane Doe's public affairs director, said cases of battered men - true victims of one-sided abuse - are too rare to warrant a massive change in the domestic violence agenda.

“Sometimes it snows in Florida,'' she said, quoting a Jane Doe board member's comment on male victims at an annual board meeting last week. “We can't ignore it, but we don't make public policy around it.” You can almost hear them laughing!

Fauldi also writes, “ If they [men] have experienced so many of the same injuries as women, the same humiliations, why don’t they challenge the culture as women did? Why can’t men seem to act?” She also lays out the road map or the path that she believes that men should take.

The male paradigm of confrontation, in which an enemy could be identified, contested, and defeated, was endlessly transferable. It proved useful as well to activists in the civil-rights movement and the antiwar movement, the gay-rights movement and the environmental movement. It was, in fact, the fundamental organizing principle of virtually every concerted countercultural campaign of the last half century.

Fauldi is correct. It seems too many men have misidentified the enemy. Far too often I hear and read men railing against feminism. However, at the heart and core of feminism, the very nexus that pulled so many women and men together is the basic belief of equal rights in education and employment for both men and women. Any man who is the father of both daughters and sons is less than a father if he doesn’t defend the principle of equal rights for both his children. It isn’t feminism that is the enemy, it is fundamental feminism.

Fundamental feminists believe that women are the victims of domestic violence because the patriarchy has caused men in general to be sexist misogynists. They believe men use violence against women to oppress and subjugate all women. Fundamental feminists believe they are morally and intellectually superior to men and all that is wrong in the world is the fault of men. Fundamental feminists are the only people, professional or otherwise, who continue to claim, despite reams of data, research and many reports from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service to the contrary, that about 95% to 98% of domestic violence victim’s are women. It is fundamental feminist in particular and not feminism in general that needs to be identified as the enemy.

Just this past October the 3rd annual conference on Domestic Abuse was co-sponsored by the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and the Violence Intervention Program SAFE/NH. There were participants and presenters from many different states. Perhaps in 2004 at the 4^th annual conference the enemy of all victims of domestic violence could be properly identified.

My grandmother told me that principles are only principles when you act on them, not when you only talk about them. The goal of all these conferences is to allow everyone attending to act on the principles they hold and to help make the world a freer and more humane world for ALL victims of domestic violence and open the door for both sexes. These conferences are not about men’s rights, they are about equal rights. If men’s right’s are your agenda, this is not the conference for you.

You have one year to consider acting on your principles, stand up for the rights of ALL victims and attend the 2004 conference. Or you may continue only to talk about your principles. We look forward to having representatives from all fifty states at the 2004 conference.