From Family Politics to Sexual Politics: The Men's Rights Movement during the Bush and Trump Presidencies

The Men's Rights Movement is a social movement that was formed as a backlash to the second wave feminist movement of the 1970s. The Men's Rights Movement emerged as an independent movement in the 1990s after splitting from the... [ view full abstract ]

The Men's Rights Movement is a social movement that was formed as a backlash to the second wave feminist movement of the 1970s. The Men's Rights Movement emerged as an independent movement in the 1990s after splitting from the larger Men's Liberation Movement. Since the 1990s, the Men's Rights Movement has used elite allies, the court system, alternative media activism, and framing to attack government action that infringes on the formal equality of men and women and due process. During the Bush presidency, Men's Rights activism focused on the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, and the Men's Rights Movement gained its first elite ally within the executive branch. After many unfavorable court decisions and the election of President Obama, the Men's Rights Movement went into a short period of decline until the announcement of the Dear Colleague Letter in April of 2011. This letter provided strict guidelines for schools receiving public funding over the enforcement of Title IX policies on sexual misconduct. The Men's Rights Movement saw the new guidelines as victim-centered rather than justice-centered, therefore unequal and lacking in due process. After the 2016 Doe v. Brandies University court case and the election of President Trump, the Men's Rights Movement saw unprecedented growth as a social movement.