We need to be careful about generalizations. It is indeed true that some of the “men’s rights” pundits are misogynists, but not all. In fact, the “men’s rights” ideas that I am familiar with from the 1990s were primarily about unfair laws and court systems that consistently gave women custody of children.

I myself was a victim of this. During the custody battle that cost me $150,000 and left me financially and emotionally destroyed for years, almost every court appointee was a woman, and they all seemed to have an agenda. Perhaps it was the politics of the day.

As a result, today I am completely estranged from my daughter — I ended up losing all visitation because I could not sustain the court costs, whereas my ex could (thanks to her father). I ended up “on the run” due to crushing debt and an inability to pay the $1440/month awarded child support (that was circa 1994). I only recovered because I started a successful company and was able to sell some of my stock to pay off the arrears and legal debts.

My daughter contacted me when she turned 18 but said that she did not remember me, and was not interested. I have not heard from her since (she is 31 now).

So about men’s rights: there are some very legitimate issues that cause concern for men. Please don’t lump together real men’s rights issues with the misogynist nut cases!