Isn't the work you are doing anti-male or "Male-Bashing"?
The mission and goals of Men Against Violence is anything but anti-male. If anything, it is one of the most 'pro-male' campaigns ever launched because it attempts to reclaim the aspects of humanity that we are denied as Men.
The term "Male-Basher" is usually applied to Anti-Sexist activists who are at the forefront of redefining masculinity, and any group that would quote a statistic that 90% of violent crimes are committed by Men runs the risk of being called a "Male-Basher". Let's examine the term "Male-Basher"--to bash means to hit or to strike in a violent way. This is obviously a label for a violent person; why is it used mainly when describing people who seek to liberate men from the narrow views of masculinity that we are socialized to conform to?
Most of the violence committed by Men is against other Men, so men have the most to gain from standing up and ending violence. Anyone who thinks that actively calling Men forth to be leaders in the fight to preserve Men is violently attacking Men really needs to think twice.
What issues does MAV address?
Do you have a stance on War? Abortion? the Death Penalty? Animal Rights? etc....
The primary issues that Men Against Violence address' are issues of "gender violence". This means that it is violence that is perpetrated primarily because of the gender construct of men and women. A general list of the issues we cover is as follows:
- Rape/Sexual Assault (includes acquaintance Rape, Date Rape Drugs, etc...)
- Relationship Violence (includes physical and verbal abuse, stalking, isolation, etc...)
- Gender Socialization
- Homophobic violence and Homophobia
- Violence Against Women and Sexism
- Racist Violence and Racism
Don't you think that some of those statistics you use are exaggerated?
We strive to find the most trustworthy and unbiased information available. We also make it a priority to try to provide the most recent information we can find. Many of the statistics we use come from The Department of Justice and the FBI.
But there is also something to be said about the claim that the statistics we use are exaggerated. First of all, the only reason a research organization would exaggerate a statistic is if they had a bias which inclined them to do so. This bias would manifest itself in an agenda of some sort (albeit good or bad). The Department of Justice hardly would have the motive to exaggerate statistics. They have nothing really to gain from exaggerating statistics showing the high rate of sexual assault in our country. (If anything, they would lean more toward under-exaggerating a statistic on this issue, though even that doesn't seem likely).
Another thing to take into consideration is the fact that even if some of the statistics mentioned are exaggerated, does it mean that the problem doesn't exist? Let's say for the sake of argument that the statistic that says 1 out of every 3 women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime is deeply exaggerated. So what if it is 1 out of 6? What if it is 1 out of 50? What if it is 1 out of 100? This would be an outrageous exaggeration, but would that mean that the problem doesn't exist? Is 1 out of 100 not something that needs to be addressed? That still means that out of most classrooms at UNT, at least 1 woman has been sexually assaulted or will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime.
Men Against Violence (for the reasons listed above) stand by our statistics as factual representations of reality.
Do you have to be a Man to join the group?
Absolutely not! Anyone who agrees with and adheres to the mission and principles of Men Against Violence can (and is encourage to) join Men Against Violence. There is something for everyone in this group. Every person has a unique talent that they can add to Men Against Violence and it's campaigns. The more diverse group we have, the better. Of course it is encouraged that men join the group, we gladly accept anyone who wants to join.
How do you think your group is going to end violence?
It's a simple matter of logic that if men are committing over 90% of violence in our society, that until Men get involved in the campaign to end violence, we can expect to see it continually happening. We do not believe that we at the University of North Texas will be able to stop all gender violence in the world, but we feel that we can make a substantial difference in our own community. And when we join with other male anti-violence groups around the state, region, country, world, the potential for significant social change is high.
Members of our group are encouraged to look deep into their own self and examine some of the themes of violence that we talk about. We also encourage our members to look at the people (men and women) that they know in their lives, the relationships they are in, and how some of the themes of inequality manifest themselves everywhere.
So essentially, we feel that we will end violence in two ways. One is as individual members of the group doing the self reflection and change listed above. Additionally, going out into society as individuals and living non-violent lives and taking a stand against violence in our own respectively diverse peer groups.
But also as a collective. We as a group do several things that we feel will help to end violence. Through education, people will become aware that they themselves may be in an abusive relationship, that they know someone who is in one, or they may realize that they are doing some things that are abusive to their partners.
Isn't it true that men are naturally violent?
One of the biggest faults people try to point out about Men Against Violence is that we downplay the role that biology plays in violence, and specifically that we don't pay enough attention to the biological differences between men and women--that the male animal is simply naturally more violent and that's why they commit so much violence.
First of all, this is a very pessimistic statement. After all, if men are just 'naturally more violent' and if 'that is just the way it is', then it seems to us that we are locked into a system of having a woman raped every 90 seconds and 2 to 4 million women hospitalized each year from domestic violence. To suggest that the primary reason why men are violent is biological is almost to suggest that the only way to end violence is to sedate men or to alter their genetic material. This is hardly a solution, and not to mention, anti-male. People that think that men are raging violent beasts don't think highly of men.
While we recognize that there are obvious differences between men and women biologically (some of them very important and significant), it has been proven that men and women are extremely similar biologically. People point to testosterone as the culprit, here. First of all, women have testosterone, too. Second of all, testosterone has been proven to be, in many experiments, a hormone that makes its subjects complacent rather than aggressive in almost every case. One case that was an exception involved primates who had established a pecking order. After receiving testosterone, the primates did resort to violence, but only used violence against a primate lower in the pecking order.
But some still hold firm to the biology construct. If it's a sound proof, then it should hold up in other cases. Consider this--there is a substantial number of African Americans who play Pro Basketball. Does this mean that African Americans are naturally better athletes? What about standardized testing? African Americans score lower, on average, than White Americans on SATs, ACTs, and IQ tests.
So here, the biology argument tells us that Black Men are born to be athletes and not thinkers.
I don't buy that for a second, and neither should anyone else.
Why isn't your group just called "People Against Violence"?
This is actually the question that we tend to get asked the most. The name Men Against Violence was chosen very deliberately. The truth is, although men commit an overwhelming majority of the violence in our society, for decades (centuries), it has been women who have taken the active stance of talking about violence and taking a firm stand against it.
At the heart of Men Against Violence is getting men involved in this campaign. While we fully support the efforts and campaigns that women have waged against violence, it is time that men as a group examine their individual and collective behavior and attitudes and take a stand against violence. This is why having the group called Men Against Violence and our focus being on getting men involved is so important. To put if very simply, because men are the ones committing most of the violence, it is going to take men getting involved to end violence.
Is it ever the victim's fault?
NO! NO! NO! It is NEVER the victim's fault! This is an absolute fundamental truth that Men Against Violence stands by as our core message. You are never to blame for someone else taking advantage and/or raping you. This is an issue of the person's behavior who did this to you, not yours.
We cannot stress the point enough that it is never your fault.