The Open Hatred of Males
Misandry is the hatred of males, and Dr. Edward Stephens believes it is openly institutionalized in today’s society.
Stephens is the founder of The Foundation for Male Studies and an internationally-recognized physician and psychiatrist. His organization is holding its second annual conference on Male Studies on April 6 in New York City, and it will also be made available online.
Stephens talked with MenRights.com about why he created the Foundation for Male Studies and how he went from a National Organization for Women member to referring to feminism as “the F-word.”
MensRights.com: Why did you create the Foundation for Male Studies and how is it different from gender studies?
Dr. Stephens: I’ve been working on this since the 1980s. At first, I was very interested in empowering women; in fact I was a member of the National Organization for Women.
Over the years I began to discover how unempowered and disenfranchised men are so I looked at what the root causes are.
There are many causes of course, but one of the pieces I came upon was there are 400 programs for women’s studies at our colleges and universities across the U.S. There are 78 that have master’s programs, 13 have Ph.D programs and there are too little programs for men’s studies.
I figured if we are going to turn this situation around and create some public information and awareness, we have to start with our universities and with programs that are devoted to understanding men and males.
MensRights.com: What is your view of feminism?
Dr. Stephens: Well I’ve cleaned up my act and I don’t use the F-word anymore so I speak using the word “gyno-centrism.” Gyno-centrism means a worldview that comes from the women’s point of view, centers on the women’s point of view, and develops around the woman’s interest.
Gyno-centrism is like walking on one leg; if you have one leg, you don’t walk you hop. This gyno-centric view of life leaves us hopping along in life when really we want to walk along together as men and women.
MensRights.com: What do you see to your critics who feel your Foundation for Male Studies is extremely anti-female?
Dr. Stephens: The first thing I would say is they obviously haven’t gone to my website (MaleStudies.org) because there isn’t an anti-female piece of information there. As a matter of fact, what we have on there is a call to men and women to assist in this movement.
I was recently at Dominican College in New York and gave a talk about the book “The Other Half of Gender” and addressed what happens when you give grants to only women and children. What happens is it degrades the entire social structure. It disenfranchises men so that there is no longer a cohesive unity between men and women, the culture of that particular society.
What it comes down to is gyno-centrism is destructive to the fabric of our society.
MensRights.com: Cordell & Cordell mens divorce attorneys fight for men’s rights and frequently encounter the anti-male bias in family courtrooms. What are some of the other most troubling issues facing men in today’s society and how do we overcome these deficits?
Dr. Stephens: There are no “dumb blonde” jokes anymore. What that means is misogyny is out and misandry is the new “in” thing.
Also, take a look at your advertising. When was the last time you saw a smart guy or a positive image of a male in an ad? Since there are no good things being said about men it’s very hard to gain any kind of traction. We’re seeing a degradation of the male infrastructure of society.
MensRights.com: That’s a good point. If you’ve ever seen a Bud Light beer commercial, you’ve never seen a man portrayed as being a smart guy; he’s always the oversexed bumbling idiot. So you feel advertisers and media portrayals of men are making it much more difficult for men to overcome these negative stereotypes?
Dr. Stephens: Exactly. This is institutionalized, open hatred of men. It’s the definition of misandry. And that’s what is currently accepted in today’s society.
Note: Please visit the Foundation for Male Studies website for more information about the speakers and topics to be discussed at the second annual conference on April 6.
