Men's Rights Activists Are Still Going After Ladies Nights

Men, ever heard of them? They’re having a hard time out there. Well, you know, aside from the fact that they still get paid way more money than women and currently make up most of our government. But when it comes to Ladies Nights at bars, boy, do those dudes suffer.

The New York Times recently published a piece on how men’s rights activists (MRAs) and the National Coalition for Men are still targeting women-only businesses, bar nights, networking luncheons, to name a few. It seems that in the aftermath of #MeToo, a moment in which people actually seem to be listening to women and advocating for their safety from sexual harassment, MRAs have really been ramping up their lawsuits against these women-focused privileges.

Writer Katherine Rosman speaks with a few plaintiffs, Rich Allison, Allan Candelore, Bert Riddick, who speak about suing Tinder for age discrimination, the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center for a diversity scholarship, and Poway Weapons & Gear, Inc for offering free shooting range use to women, among other cases. But they always keep their eyes and ears open for ladies night specials at bars or clubs to potentially sue under California’s wide-ranging Unruh Civil Rights Act which outlaws discrimination against all people by businesses in the state despite sex, race, etc. The article reads:

“I get feedback from people saying, ‘Hey, look, someone’s having this event,’” Mr. Allison said. “Or I get something from a promoter, telling me, ‘Hey, they’re trying to do this’ or ‘This business is doing this thing, we’re being honest and then these other guys are being underhanded by letting women in free to a place.’”

Then Mr. Allison and his associates will go “test out” the place, meaning they will go to an establishment or event and seek the special access or price being offered to women, sometimes with a cover story.

Sometimes they even bring along Carolyn Bell, the N.C.F.M. membership coordinator, to help test if women really do get “special” treatment, even testing out several places before she said she should be included as a plaintiff for future cases. Not that she gets equal pay anyway, as she only received $1,500 from a suit against a restaurant El Mundo Del Tango that made men pay a cover charge. “I kept joking that I should sue them.”

Even though these nights are technically designed to help men get laid because more women are coming into the bars and clubs, the MRAs say that cracking down on these events actually help women’s rights to make sure they’re not “bait” for men. The funny thing is that Men’s Rights Activists have been complaining about these events for years and it doesn’t seem like they’ve really moved beyond them. Frankly I’m waiting to hear how they’re discriminated elsewhere! There has to be bigger battles to fight than this.