By Julie Garrison
Special to DadsDivorce.com
Note: A previous divorce article discussed How Feminism Has Affected the Divorce and Child Custody Process.
It wasn’t only the women’s movement that has changed the way that child custody is granted. The men’s rights movement took off after fathers got tired of being relegated to the role of part-time dad and cash cow.
They joined forces and brought about positive change for men’s rights. No longer did the ex-wife have all the power. Men empowered themselves and began insisting on equity in divorce and child custody matters.
Though this was a step in the right direction, the feminists fought back, which brings us to where we are today – polarized. The feminists’ attempt to masculinize women and feminize men has brought about the disaster that is modern society.
Still A Long Way to Go:
Women can still make false allegations of abuse and many times get away with it. Society is woefully unaware of the real facts.
In today’s world, wives commit spousal abuse just as often as men do, and the number of violent acts that husbands commit have gone down, while violent acts committed by wives have increased by 50 percent.
This has been one of the negative effects of feminism. Where are the battered husband shelters? Men often feel it emasculating to admit that their wives beat them up. Culturally, too, men are less inclined to restrain a woman from hitting or throwing things at them.
Feminists insisted that patriarchal society had marginalized them. They entered the workforce, divorced their husbands and became “liberated” women.
It took some time, but from this action, there was a reaction from the men. Now, more and more men are hiring divorce lawyers who focus exclusively on mens divorce.
Related Article:
Testing Feminist Ideology:
When the feminist ethos was tested in the family law system, it ended up bringing some unintended equity into the divorce and child custody proceedings of men.
But the legal system is still too tolerant of cultural subjectives, like a woman’s false allegations of abuse and the incarceration of men for their inability to keep up with the high cost of child support payments.
Divorce lawyers for men, however, have begun a grassroots movement to eradicate feminist prejudice in the family law courts. Only time will tell if the divorce and child custody process will ever be completely fair for both sexes.
Julie Garrison has been writing articles and short stories for the past 10 years and has appeared in several magazines and e-zines.
