“The Problems About Men will be a feature-length documentary about men’s inequality in Scotland and the UK, exploring issues such as misandry, and violence against people, particularly domestic abuse against men and boys.
#creativezealots
It’ll be directed by award-winning Scottish film-maker, Iain McGuinness, and will be his first such film.”
(production company)
International Men’s Day;
misogyny v. misandry
International Women’s Day (08 March) is widely celebrated, and rightly so. And I’d never take anything away from women and girls, and the challenges they face.
I have a mother and a sister, both of whom I love dearly and respect, as I do my two nieces, and all the other women in my wider family and circle of friends.
I’m not a female-hater. Far from it.
International Men’s Day, on the other hand, usually passes like a tumbleweed, with little media coverage, lacklustre awareness (even many men and boys don’t know it exists), and a pervasive atmosphere. People seem hesitant to get involved, and many feminists have the retort that every day is a man’s day in the patriarchy.
It all started when, like so many other local authorities, organisations and companies, I saw that my local Council neglected to mark International Men’s Day on 19 November 2021 with any events or an acknowledgment on social media.
But it was about more than this. You see, the Council had also recently promoted a domestic abuse survey on social media that only solicited women’s input.
I don’t personally believe domestic abuse is gendered. Men aren’t always the perpetrators, and women aren’t always the victims. Men greatly under-report.
Previously a victim of female-perpetrated psychological abuse and a separate false allegation (which happily went nowhere), I tried to answer it as a man, and it abruptly ended with a thank you, but no thank you.
In the interests of equality, I complained and also followed up. The Council ignored me. I was starting to get a complex of misandry — the hatred of men and boys — which radical feminists and Government working groups don’t want to admit exists. Indeed, they want to make misogyny a hate crime, but not misandry.
Is that equality?
I then contacted my four local Councillors and MSP (who is also a Councillor until May 2022, and the Convener of the Health & Social Care Partnership, and Spokesperson for Social Work and Health (HSCP)).
Only one Councillor responded, taking my issue to the HSCP.
After some time, I eventually got a response from the HSCP’s Chief Officer, who said that ‘consideration’ would be given to the “promotion of relevant information to highlight International Men’s Day in November 2022.”
Well, it’s a start, I suppose.
There was no explanation for the HSCP’s non-inclusive survey (potentially illegal under the Equality Act 2010).
Women’s History Month
In March of this year, I got an email inviting me to an event featuring eight female scriptwriters to celebrate Women’s History Month.
It got me thinking, why isn’t there a Men’s History Month? Do we need one?
But I wasn’t going to lose sleep over this one. There were bigger fish to catch…
Human rights, inequality and misandry
I decided to fully explore men and boys’ human rights, the inequalities that exist, and, of course, misandry. This is a film about the problems that we face in the United Kingdom today — and what we might be able to do about them.
Men’s rights activist?
I’m a film-maker and (photo)-journalist. I’m not a men’s rights activist. I believe in human rights and equality for all, male, female and non-binary.
This will be a balanced film, one with a narrative of facts, that calls attention to the issues, with contributions and opposing viewpoints from experts, and feminists, too, including radical ones.
If they want to talk, I’ll listen. Everybody will be treated fairly. There’s no hidden agendas, no propaganda, and there’ll be no manipulative editing.
My goal is to challenge stereotypes and misconceptions, and help open a healthier dialogue in our society, one that doesn’t involve female versus male gender wars. In turn, I’m also prepared for my own views to be challenged.
I’ll have overall control over the film’s narrative, message and final cut.
Pre-production begins
Development and pre-production on The Problems About Men has begun, and will be self-funded, produced by Creative Zealots Group Limited (#creativezealots). There will potentially be a crowd-funding campaign later on.
There’s no set release date, yet, but we expect to be working on the documentary at least for the rest of 2022. This blog will chart progress. Please bookmark this site, theproblemsaboutmen.co.uk, and subscribe to #creativezealots on YouTube.
I’ll be discussing some of the issues to be explored in future blog posts.
Thanks for reading!
P.S. Like the sound of what I’m trying to do? Want to support the project?
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All contributions are truly appreciated, and go directly towards production costs.
