The speaker, a 27-year-old award-winning documentary filmmaker, embarks on a journey to expose the men's rights movement, which they perceive as a misogynistic hate group. They travel across North America, interviewing leaders and followers of the movement, filming 44 people over a year. However, they find that their initial reactions to certain statements were not warranted, and their feelings of offense did not hold up to intense scrutiny.
The speaker transcribes the interviews, leading to a realization that the men's rights activists were not the enemy, but were instead advocating for men's rights and equality. They acknowledge the existence of many human rights issues that disproportionately affect men, such as paternity fraud, selective service, workplace, deaths, suicide, sentencing disparity, child custody, child support, false rape allegations, criminal court bias, and more.
The speaker's film, "The Red Pill," was released in 2016 and sparked a media frenzy, leading to a smear campaign against them. Despite the controversy, they insist that the film is not harmful to women and that both men's rights activists and feminists support women's rights. They argue that to discuss gender equality honestly, all voices need to be invited to the table.
In conclusion, the speaker emphasizes the importance of open, sincere listening to promote understanding, compassion, and collaboration towards solutions. They no longer identify as a feminist but continue to support women's rights and have come to recognize the importance of men's rights as well.
1. The speaker, who is a 27-year-old award-winning documentary filmmaker and proud feminist, decided to meet her enemies, the leaders of the men's rights movement, in 2013.
2. The speaker was determined to expose the dark underbelly of the men's rights movement, which she believed was a misogynistic hate group actively working against women's equality.
3. The speaker had previously directed documentaries about women's issues, including reproductive rights, single motherhood, and the need for more girls to get into STEM education.
4. The speaker spent anywhere from two hours up to eight hours interviewing each individual men's rights activist, also known as an MRA, and filmed 44 people in total.
5. The speaker faced a challenge of not interrupting the interviewees during the filming process, which led to her not fully listening to their stories.
6. After a year of filming, the speaker reviewed the 100 hours of footage she had gathered, replaying and transcribing it.
7. Through the transcribing process, the speaker began to realize that her initial knee-jerk reactions to certain statements weren't really warranted.
8. The speaker found out that while she was making the "red pill" movie, she kept a video diary which ended up tracking her evolving views.
9. The speaker eventually realized that many of the points made by men's rights activists were valid and that she needed to acknowledge the issues they were pointing out.
10. The speaker faced a smear campaign and protests against her film, but she insisted that the film is not harmful to women.
11. The speaker no longer calls herself a feminist but still supports women's rights and now also cares about men's rights.
12. The speaker believes that to honestly discuss gender equality, all voices should be invited to the table.
13. The speaker advises that society needs to stop expecting to be offended and start truly openly and sincerely listening.
14. The speaker believes that having compassion for one another, working together towards solutions, and listening is the key to healing from within.