The Politics of Gender and Victimhood

The Canadian Association for Equality is excited to announce our sponsorship of a lecture tour by the great iconoclastic columnist and gender issues critic Cathy Young in Toronto and Ottawa.

Cathy Young will call for gender equality beyond the gender wars. Watch the trailer:

Choose from the following two venues:

TORONTO

NEW TORONTO VENUE

Thursday September 24th, 7:00 PM

InterContinental Toronto Yorkville Hotel

220 Bloor Street West Toronto Ontario M5S 1T8

Hosted by the U of T Men’s Issues Awareness Society

NEW: Special exclusive reception with Cathy Young. Entrance by donation. Details below

OTTAWA

Friday, September 25th, 7:00 PM

Saint Paul University Auditorium

223 Main Street, Ottawa, ON, K1S 1C4

Please note: 2 tickets are free to each new and renewing CAFE members, and discounted for existing members. Please join or renew your membership here and then email us to request a free ticket. You may also contact us to check the status of your membership.



Admission Option CAFE or UTMIA Member $5.00 CAD Student $10.00 CAD Regular $15.00 CAD Where are you attending the event? Toronto, Thursday Sept 24, 2015 Ottawa, Friday Sept 25, 2016



Help us preserve Canadian universities as places where critical debate can still take place on gender issues.

Click the button below to donate $50 and join us for a special intimate reception with Cathy Young following the event.

Any donation you make this week will be used for future University events to bring in speakers who raise critical debates and pose challenging questions about men’s health, fatherlessness, the war on boys and campus gender politics.









About the EventThe politics of victimization have placed a stranglehold on reasoned debate and evidence-based policy making. Nowhere is this more true than at the intersection of gender and victimhood.In many areas, progressive rhetoric has focused on the victimization of women — whether it’s sexual violence, domestic abuse, violence in the workplace, or cyberbullying. Oftentimes issues that should focus on supporting all victims, regardless of gender, are instead turned into women’s rights issues. We see this with our approach to domestic violence, as well as cyberbullying and cyber-harassment as in the current Gregory Elliott trial or the ongoing gamergate controversy.Meanwhile there is a tendency to disregard not only male victimization in these areas, but other areas in which men are more likely to be victimized. This attitude not only promotes gender polarization but also feeds into very traditional “damsel in distress” tropes.Feminists often argue that it’s patriarchy, not feminism, that causes the denial of male victimization and vulnerability. While they have a valid point, feminist ideologies that stress women’s personal victimization by men ironically tend to reinforce these patriarchal stereotypes. As the cult of victimization grows, the perception of a war on women is seen as justification for new public policies that fail to balance support for victims with fundamental rights for the accused. We too easily abandon legal traditions of due process and the presumption of innocence that took thousands of years to establish. The result is a modern day witch hunt enabled by an overzealous campus administration and a lax media that in cases of ideology-fuelled campus anti-rape activism can easily hurt innocent people. Witness the mass suspension of the University of Ottawa hockey team following allegations against two team members, cases of male students expelled from colleges over an episode of mutual drunk sex, and the University of Virginia rape hoax reported by Rolling Stone which led to mob vandalism and threats against a blameless fraternity. There’s a lot to talk about. Join us while an open discussion of these issues is still possible.



Admission Option CAFE or UTMIA Member $5.00 CAD Student $10.00 CAD Regular $15.00 CAD Where are you attending the event? Toronto, Thursday Sept 24, 2015 Ottawa, Friday Sept 25, 2016



