Thread by @MSS3RosaFerreum

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham If Men's Rights Activists cared about men's rights, they wouldn't be feminists.

Fighting anti-egalitarian laws, policies, and perceptions negatively impacting men to bring about equality necessarily involves having to fight with feminists and feminist organizations (e.g., NOW).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham A great recent example of this was the Florida Chapter of the National Organization of Women lying to its supporters and members in order to get a shared parenting and alimony reform bill vetoed that other Florida women had fought to get passed by the Florida legislature.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham In 2016, the Florida branch of the National Organization of Women opposed a bill that would make the default situation in divorce to be shared custody (with a list of exceptions to that arrangement) and would reform lifetime alimony (which was hurting a lot of women at the time).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham Senate Bill 668 (lines 461–467) amendment to Florida Statute § 61.13(2)(c)(1) states:

"Absent good cause, it is the public policy of this state that the best interest of each minor child is served by… substantially equal time sharing with both parents."

flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2…

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham For those unaware, "good cause" is defined in Black’s Law Dictionary (2nd ed. 1910) as "sufficient grounds to act on" (thelawdictionary.org/good-cause/).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham Good cause is defined in Black’s Law Dictionary 822 (rev. 4th ed. 1968) as:
"[s]ubstantial reason, one that affords a legal excuse" and a "[l]egally sufficient ground or reason" (smhttp-ssl-70271.nexcesscdn.net/wp-content/upl…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham "Good cause" is one of the lower standards of proof. It's used in determining whether to grant motions in law and motion proceedings. It's a much lower standard of proof than is required to prevail in civil trials; it's a substantially lower standard than used in criminal trials.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham Now to address where the 50/50 custody arrangement could be revoked, Senate Bill 668 (lines 517–610) amendment to Florida Statute § 61.13(3) custody determination criteria are enclosed in full. You can read the original text of Senate Bill 668 here (flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham Senate Bill 668 (lines 611–614) amendment to Florida Statute § 61.13(4) states "[a] court order must be supported by written findings of fact if the order establishes an initial permanent time-sharing schedule that does not provide for substantially equal time sharing."

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham Reading the text of the bill (flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2…), President Terry Sanders is clearly mistaken when she states that the "bill is the attempt to force 50/50 timesharing on all families regardless of circumstances" (facebook.com/floridanow/pos…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham Terry Sanders, President of Florida National Organization for Women, "implore[d] Governor Scott to veto" legislation that would have implemented Default Shared Parenting (facebook.com/floridanow/pos…).

Governor Scott did veto the legislation (orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-go…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham "The most common form of child custody is sole custody. …Sole custody is popular for several reasons; it is the traditional custodial arrangement and it perpetuates the traditional notion that mothers, not fathers, are essential parents." 72 St. John's Law Review 537–538 (1998).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham "While sole custody arrangements continue to enjoy great favor, in most situations it is actually detrimental to both children and parents." 72 St. John's Law Review 538 (1998).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham "Unfortunately, however, until joint custody becomes a widely utilized and encouraged custody arrangement, it appears that sole custody will remain the most common form of child custody, and mothers the most common recipients." 72 St. John's Law Review 538 (1998).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham The above three quotes came from Jo-Ellen Paradise, The Disparity Between Men and Women in Custody Disputes: Is Joint Custody the Answer to Everyone's Problems? 72 St. John's Law Review 517 (1998) (available at scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/cgi/viewconten…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham The Florida chapter of NOW joined by the League of Women Voters, Breastfeeding Coalition, National Council of Jewish Women, and UniteWomen FL opposed reforming both the lifetime alimony law and the custody law (facebook.com/floridanow/pos… and floridapolitics.com/archives/20647…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham In 2016, in Florida, this was not just a Men's Rights fight; women were harmed by these laws in the same way men had been.

"Tarie McMillan … said she's been paying alimony to her ex-husband for 16 years after a 13-year marriage" (sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-bea…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham Consider "The Divorce Bargain: The Fathers’ Rights Movement and Family Inequalities" by Deborah Dinner published in 2016 in Volume 102 of the _Virginia Law Review_ beginning at page 79 (available at: virginialawreview.org/sites/virginia…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham "[L]egal reforms enabling fathers to fulfill caregiving roles through joint custody would also enable mothers to fulfill breadwinning roles." 102 Virginia Law Review 128 (virginialawreview.org/sites/virginia…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham "By promoting joint custody as well as sex-neutral spousal maintenance, …the [divorce] bargain liberalized gender roles within divorced families, offering a model of a more egalitarian family structure." 102 Virginia Law Review 142 (virginialawreview.org/sites/virginia…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham "[T]he available evidence gleaned from comprehensive research into the movements’ archival record suggests that fathers’ rights activists genuinely pursued both the rewards and responsibilities of caring for their children." 102 Virginia Law Review 145 (virginialawreview.org/sites/virginia…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham "Criticism of joint custody formed part of a broader critique among feminist legal theorists in the 1980s about what they perceived as an earlier generation of feminist reformers’ mistaken focus on same treatment." 102 Virginia Law Review 144 (virginialawreview.org/sites/virginia…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham As you can see, @KatyMontgomerie, feminists actively oppose equality of the sexes before the Family Court. People who care about equality and men's rights are NOT feminists (or at least oppose feminists).

Let's move on to another favorite feminist talking point: rape.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham Second, there is the work done by noted feminist and American Regents' Professor, Mary P. Koss, Ph.D., which has made a mess of the statistics kept by the @FBI and @CDCgov involving raped men and that undermined a lot of the studies based upon those statistics.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov American Regents' Professor Mary P. Koss, Ph.D., wrote “it is important to restrict the term rape to instances where male victims were penetrated by offenders. It is inappropriate to consider as a rape victim a man who engages in unwanted sexual intercourse with a woman.”

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov The above quote is from Mary P. Koss' "Detecting the Scope of Rape: A Review of Prevalence Research Methods" that was published in June 1993 in Volume 8, Number 2, of the _Journal of Interpersonal Violence_ on pages 206–207 (which is available at t.umblr.com/redirect?z=htt…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov To see the extent of Dr. Koss' influence on academic and professional scholarship as well as her influence within the government, read her rather extensive curriculum vitae (publichealth.arizona.edu/sites/publiche…) outlining her published papers and years of academic and government involvement.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov The evil of Professor Koss' statement was shown by feminists Lara Stemple and Ilan H. Meyer in “The sexual victimization of men in America: new data challenge old assumptions” published in 2014 in _American Journal of Public Health_, vol. 104, issue 6 (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov "[F]ederal surveys detect a high prevalence of sexual victimization among men—in many circumstances similar to the prevalence found among women."

Am J Public Health. 2014 June; 104(6): e19.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov "[I]n 2011[,] …the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), …found that men and women had a similar prevalence of nonconsensual sex in the previous 12 months (1.270 million women and 1.267 million men)."

Am J Public Health. 2014 June; 104(6): e19.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov What Lara Stemple and Ilan H. Meyer are referring to can be seen in Table 1 from the September 5, 2014, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss…, p. 5). @CDCgov doesn't think men can be raped.

Thank you, @melliflora, for collecting and editing the graphic.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora Similarly, @CathyYoung63 writes: "[t]he CDC study … seems to support a radical feminist narrative that … America is a 'rape culture' saturated with misogynistic violence. But a closer look at the data … raises some surprising question[s] about gender, victimization, and bias."

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 "…[I]f the CDC figures are to be taken at face value, then we must also conclude that, far from being a product of patriarchal violence against women, 'rape culture' is a two-way street, with plenty of female perpetrators and male victims" (time.com/3393442/cdc-ra…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 And @CathyYoung63 continues: "if being made to penetrate someone was counted as rape—and why shouldn’t it be?—then the headlines could have focused on a truly sensational CDC finding: that women rape men as often as men rape women" (time.com/3393442/cdc-ra…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 According to the @CDCgov, 82.6% of men who were "made to penetrate" had only female perpetrators (cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss…, pp. 5–6); 79.3% of male "rape" victims had only male perpetrators (Id., p. 5) where "rape" is defined as "completed forced penetration" (Id., p. 11).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 Note that "Methodological Issues in the Use of Survey Data for Measuring and Characterizing Violence Against Women" by Martin D. Schwartz (researchgate.net/publication/24…) is cited by the @CDCgov in that Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss…, p. 18).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 Professor Martin D. Schwartz cites Dr. Koss in "Methodological Issues in the Use of Survey Data for Measuring and Characterizing Violence Against Women" which was published in August 2000 in volume 6, issue 8, of _Violence Against Women_ (journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.117…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 "North American researchers have tended to follow… Mary Koss's lead in dealing with sexual assault by asking behaviorally specific questions." Violence Against Women. 2000 August; 6(8): 816.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 "[W]ithin the field of violence against women, there has been a great deal of controversy over the wording of questionnaires[, which] has consisted of attacks on Mary Koss's Sexual Experiences Survey (SES), which has been heavily used by other researchers…." Id. 829.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 Let's return to the critique of feminist/scholar Lara Stemple and scholar Ilan H. Meyer regarding the rape studies influenced by feminist Dr. Koss' scholarship.

As Lara Stemple and Ilan H. Meyer point out, Dr. Koss' scholarship negatively impacts the equality of men.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 "[T]reating male sexual victimization as a rare occurrence can impose regressive expectations about masculinity on men…. The belief that men are unlikely victims promotes a counterproductive construct of what it means to 'be a man.'"
Am J Public Health. 2014 June; 104(6): e20.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 "[F]actors that perpetuate misperceptions about men’s sexual victimization [include]: reliance on traditional gender stereotypes, outdated and inconsistent definitions, and methodological sampling biases that exclude inmates."

Am J Public Health. 2014 June; 104(6): e19.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 "Overreliance on [male rapist/female victim model] stigmatizes men who are victimized, risks portraying women as victims, and discourages discussion of abuse that runs counter to the paradigm, such as same-sex abuse and female perpetration of sexual victimization." Id., p. e25.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 "[S]ome contemporary gender theorists have questioned the overwhelming focus on female victimization, not simply because it misses male victims but also because it serves to reinforce regressive notions of female vulnerability." Id., p. e20.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 @FBI wasn't counting lack-of-consent-rape as rape until 2012 (justice.gov/archives/opa/b…), but one could be prosecuted for lack-of-consent-rape by the American federal government regardless of gender since 1986 (congress.gov/bill/99th-cong…).

@FBI wasn't using the legal definition.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 To demonstrate what I am talking about hereinbelow is the federal rape statute I referenced earlier. Federal law uses "Sexual Abuse" rather than "Rape" as the term of art for the crime of rape (congress.gov/bill/99th-cong…) due to Senate Bill 1236 (in the 99th United States Congress).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 18 U.S.C. § 2242(1): “Whoever … knowingly … causes another person to engage in a sexual act by threatening or placing that other person in fear ….”

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 18 U.S.C. § 2242(2): “Whoever … knowingly … engages in a sexual act with another person [who] is… incapable of appraising the nature of the conduct; or… physically incapable of declining participation in, or communicating unwillingness to engage in, that sexual act….”

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 Compare that to the definition of rape the @FBI used to count rapes prior to 2012 (which the @FBI termed "forcible rapes," which seems to be similar to the common law definition of rape with which most people seem familiar), which sounds like Dr. Koss' definition.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 "Forcible rape… is the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will. Assaults or attempts to commit rape by force or threat of force are also included; however, statutory rape (without force) and other sex offenses are excluded" (ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u…, p. 23).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 In this context, the @FBI and @CDCgov using an alternative definition of rape from the rest of the federal government, Congress, and the states is really weird, but in line with the scholarship of feminists like Dr. Koss (whose contributions are well documented).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 For example, Dr. Koss received the 2000 Award for Distinguished Contributions to Research in Public Policy because "[h]er work has had a profound impact on public policies at national, state, and local levels" (psycnet.apa.org/record/2000-14…).

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 The @FBI and the @CDCgov using these alternative definitions to count rapes fuels feminist propaganda supporting falsities (like women are the vast majority of the rape victims) as noted by feminists Lara Stemple and Ilan H. Meyer. Am J Public Health. 2014 June; 104(6): e19.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 Correcting the record regarding the extent of male rape victims that exist involves Men's Rights Activists, nonfeminist and antifeminist women's groups, and egalitarian feminists stepping in and fighting for equality against those many feminists taking a stand against equality.

@KatyMontgomerie @Stebbing_Heuer @TakedownMRAs @cofffeedreams @RealMarkLatham @FBI @CDCgov @melliflora @CathyYoung63 None of these issues I have raised involve taking away women's equal rights, but they do involve feminists taking a stand against equality leaving Men's Right Activists, nonfeminist and antifeminist women's groups, and egalitarian feminists to step in and fight for equality.