Move over persecuted Christians. There are some new victims in Fox town. In response to women's empowerment, a movement has emerged which seeks to empower men to put those uppity bitches in their place. The "men's rights" movement is a backlash against changing gender roles and norms which threaten traditional masculinity. So it's not surprising that Fox's morning show that champions "traditional" values would, last week, interview a female clinician who champions men's rights. Funny, when Sandra Fluke spoke out against the discriminatory practices of employers who refuse to provide contraceptive coverage, Fox talkers accused her of being a "poster child for whiny entitlement." But when a clinician advances the whine that men are a bunch of underachieving schlubs "checking out of society" because of uppity bitches, it's all good...Oh, and Brian Kilmeade is upset that men are portrayed, on TV, as idiots. Oh, the irony!

Last Monday (6/24/13), Fox & Friends hosted anti-feminist and men's rights advocate Helen Smith, Phd, who has written a new book about how men are "going Galt" because of the alleged discrimination and hostility that they face. (Smith has also claimed that women are praised for "unladylike traits")The opening chyron explained that "Men on Strike" is a book that "Blames Men's Demise on Powerful Women." After Brain Brian Kilmeade commented that "if it looks like men are boycotting marriage, among other things because they are," the very leggy former super model and soon to be host of a new online Fox magazine show, Carol Alt, continued "yes they are" and cited Pew Poll data which showed that more women than men feel that marriage is important. She introduced the guest, Helen Smith PhD, who has written the "Men on Strike" book.

After Smith elaborated on the data, Alt asked if men are avoiding marriage because of laws pertaining to marriage. Smith said that what she hears from men with whom she speaks and men who post comments to her men's rights blog is that "men don't have any legal rights in marriage anymore." She explained that in the good old days, men held "all the legal rights and now women do." She cited a stat about child custody even, as asked by Kilmeade, "if the woman is cheating." Alt wondered if male attitudes would change if the law changes. When she joked that "the man cave is not enough," the very manly Kilmeade joked "that's where they're relegated to." Smith agreed with Kilmeade and cited an article about "the decline of male space" written by Brett McKay (Dude runs a blog about "the art of manliness") who whines that "men don't have any space anymore."

Smith whined about how "men-only space" has been curtailed because of legal issues (Ya Think!) and how men "are put in the dirtiest, old part of the house, the basement, the garage..." (Scuse me, I've seen some pretty fancy "man caves" on HGTV!). When she said that "some men like it" because if affords them "peace and quiet," Alt leaned over and said "maybe they pretend to like it." She then advanced a now standard right wing trope about how men and husbands are portrayed as stupid buffoons on TV. Smith agreed that "it's terrible" and asked "what message is this sending."

She provided tips for men such as not letting those selfish bitches control the dialogue and advised men to write about their problems and "quit being quiet." Kilmeade provided another tip about how men should stop laughing at "bumbling characters" such as those on "King of Queens" and "Everyone Loves Raymond," a show that he "can't stand to watch." (Uh, it ended in 2005). Smith remarked that these characters are "painful." The last tip was about "maintaining your individuality" by "setting boundaries."

Well boo, freaking, hoo. Men are "dropping out" because of women. Who knew! Meanwhile, the minority community still faces real discrimination because of a system that is rigged in favor of the white plutocracy; but you'll never hear that discussed on Fox. Men are going "on strike" against marriage - eww, way to get revenge there fellas! Put it this way, you're doing all those uppity women a favor because if you're that sensitive, marriage just might not be for you. And psst, I don't think that those gals will even notice your absence.

And memo to Brain Brian - While you're offended by men playing idiots on TV, you might want to consider that Fox & Friends features the same thing. And you guys aren't even acting!

Interesting FYI - a couple of days earlier, on the week-end Fox & Friends, Tucker Carlson, Alisyn Camerota, and Clayton Moore seemed to mock the premise of the book and admonished men to suck it up and be responsible. So what's a poor viewer to think!