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Comment by javert | Hacker News Reader

With four or five ideas, Madhouse said hmm.

Come on Wired, you can't use "hmm" as a noun - it at least needs quotes!!

Twenty-five were immediate noes.

I think that's also highly questionable. But I'm not certain.

Of course, like any site that thrives on pseudonymity, Reddit attracts its share of the sick and the deluded. There’s a subreddit, MensRights, “for people who believe that men are currently being disadvantaged by society,” and for years the site admins tolerated subreddits devoted to pictures of underage girls.

What? How is MensRights "sick and deluded"? There really are laws (e.g. child custody law in certain US states) that are highly skewed against men.

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Because to some people "mens rights" sounds like "white's rights", and the idea that men are now suddenly experiencing massive discrimination is about as believable as the idea that heterosexuals are now being systemiatically persecutre for the sexual orientation.

Also, for every 1 law (or societal norm) that are highly skewed against men, there are 10 that are highly skewed against women. (for "child custody law", I give you "access to contraceptives", "evidence during rape trials", "chance of suffering domestic violence", "chance of getting elected as a politician", "chance of getting appointed to a board", "chance of founding a start up", "frequency of being viewed as not a hacker/programmer", "risk of rape", "chance of being the victim of sexual aggression in the workplace", "chance of being the victim of unwanted verbal sexual attention on the street")

On average, men are still in a much more privileged position than women.

I don't even read that subreddit, but I feel compelled to continue defending it from outright attacks.

suddenly experiencing massive discrimination

Nobody's claiming that. But, really, certain areas of the law (child custody, child support payment) are so unfair that they can easily ruin a man's life.

"child custody law", I give you "access to contraceptives"

Bullshit, women can buy Plan B and other contraceptives over the counter.

"evidence during rape trials"

Bullshit, you can't convict a man of rape just because a woman says so. That is too prone to abuse.

The rest of your examples are not applicable, because they don't concern legal rights, but simply societal norms.

On average, men are still in a much more privileged position than women.

Again, that's beside the point, and nobody's arguing that.

> "Also, for every 1 law (or societal norm) that are highly skewed against men, there are 10 that are highly skewed against women."

I think most of the rational supporters of men's rights would like a world where both of those numbers are 0.

It sounded to me like he meant the BeatingWomen subreddit, which I believe is not made in jest.

The author most likely meant "sick or deluded". I would however still object to that.

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