Los Angeles, C
A– A reader recently sent me an email exchange between a couple of feminist activists concerning the Violence Against Women Act and its critics. Irene Weiser, Executive Director of Stop Family Violence, wrote:
The FR groups are frothing mad over Biden”s selection as VP candidate and have stepped up their activism – Glenn Sacks and Mike McCormick had an op-ed published in the New York Daily News warning readers about embracing Joe Biden (and by implication, not Obama) Other groups have written action alerts or press releases.
Male feminist Ben Atherton-Zeman of the National Organization for Men Against Sexism writes:
My feminist women colleagues have warned me and others to expect more visibility from so-called “Father’s Rights” (also called Male Supremacists or the Abuser’s Lobby) now that Joe Biden is Obama’s VP….
These groups will pretend to speak for all men – let’s not let them be the only voices heard, shall we? It’s time for us guys to speak up and say that we support the Violence Against Women Act, and the groups and women this Act funds.
My article which they’re referring to is American dads, think twice before embracing Joe Biden (New York Daily News, 8/27/08). I would love for someone to explain to me where in the article I’m “frothing,” being a “male supremacist,” or being an advocate for the “Abuser’s Lobby.”
Atherton-Zeman says, “It’s time for us guys to speak up and say that we support the Violence Against Women Act, and the groups and women this Act funds.” I think the only people who could agree with this statement are either ardent feminists like Atherton-Zeman or the (many) men who simply don’t know much about VAWA.
Atherton wrote and performs what he calls an “educational comedy” — Voices of Men. According to Atherton-Zeman:
This multi-media play deals with…Sexual assault and consent, Dating violence and domestic violence, and Sexual harassment and objectification. The play uses humor and celebrity male voice impressions to bring these topics to audiences in a way that minimizes male defensiveness.
Each male character in the play is forced to deal with one of the issues listed above – in doing so, they come to the realization that they are, in fact, both part of the problem and part of the solution. The process each male character goes through has led many boys and men to become involved in both self-reflection and in violence prevention efforts.
Atherton has several video clips of his play on his site. I actually thought a couple of them had some potential but they were either too short or too heavy-handed to really work. Perhaps the show as a whole is better.