“Men’s Rights Advocate” Glenn Sacks Protests Domestic Violence Awareness in Dallas

Sorted under violence against women on December 4, 2008

Via Womanist Musings and Alas, a blog, a “men’s rights advocate,” Glenn Sacks, has been protesting (and receiving a great deal of press, thus confirming again and again what an asshole he really is) two of the three ads recently created by The Family Place and appearing on 45 bus sides and 300 bus interiors throughout the Dallas, Texas area. Even though these ads were approved by DART (the Dallas transit system) Sacks and his fellow penis-praising minions say that the ads are offensive to men and fathers.

The Family Place domestic violence billboard 1

The Family Place domestic violence billboard 2

The Family Place is the largest family violence service provider in the Dallas area and looking at the cold, hard numbers of (reported) domestic abuse cases, yeah, I’d say that we need to have some ads targeting women and letting them know that there is help out there. But hey, that’s just a fellow human being with a vagina talking, so Glenn Sacks would hate me and my damn, fact-based opinions.

Sacks said:

“I think they should take the ads down,” Sacks said. “Domestic violence is still a problem that affects women more than men, but it affects them both. I can guarantee you if the genders were reversed, there is no way DART would have accepted those ads.”

How does he know? I mean, sure, you can make your little ‘my sex is so underprivileged, we’ve just been running the world for the past eight billion years’ assumptions, but did Sacks ask The Family Place to add an additional ad that would reach out to male victims of abuse? Nope, he surely did not, he just wants the ads reaching out to female victims taken down because, you know, as a men’s rights advocate, he knows that men are always shown in a negative light and there is absolutely no reason for it at all. Nope, none whatsoever. Riiight.

Women know that domestic violence exists; hell, a great deal of women are survivors of domestic violence and a great deal of other women are dead due to domestic violence. Given these facts, however, women also know that not all men are abusers; we’re smart like that and seeing an ad is not going to make us think that every single man we know and see in passing goes home to beat his wife. Seeing ads like this do, however, remind us that if we are currently in an abusive situation or know someone who is in an abusive situation, there is help out there and above all, victims of domestic violence are not alone.

Not only has Sacks been very vocal, receiving enormous attention by the press about his feelings on these ads, but he is also dodging his responsibility for basically coming out and screaming from the rooftops ‘I am an asshole who does not believe that women who are affected by domestic violence should be reminded that there is help out there.’ Sacks and his 50 hand-selected protesters attacked The Family Place’s funding.

“A sub-group of our protesters who I selected called over 50 of The Family Place’s financial contributors to express our concerns about the ads. [...] Several of The Family Place’s financial contributors withdrew or reduced the financial gifts they planned for the end-of-the-year giving season. I don’t say this with pleasure–I would have preferred that The Family Place do the right thing from the beginning rather than lose the funding.”

So not only is he trying to paint The Family Place in a grossly negative light as a family violence service provider, but he is basically aiming to shut them and the innumerable people they have helped throughout the years they have been in operation down. Good going, Glenn! Seriously, I can think of a better way to counteract the message that ‘there is help when and if you need it’ then saying ‘we men are outraged and if we’re mad, no one gets help at all!’ Luckily, however, Sacks did not succeed in ruining The Family Place financially and their financial contributors knew that The Family Place is just that–A family place; a place that offers services and support to those who need it.

Since this ordeal, The Family Place has put all three of their ads up on a page of their website with the following statement:

We are not a male-bashing organization. Our services support all victims—male and female, children and adults. This year, we have provided court-ordered batterer’s treatment to 449 male, 106 female and 98 adolescent offenders. We have helped 308 men and 326 women recover from childhood sexual assault and incest in our Incest Recovery Program. To date we have counseled 9 male and 1,335 female victims in our outreach programs.

We wanted the campaign to start a conversation, and it has.The visibility of the DART campaign and the community response to it resulted in a front-page story in The Dallas Morning News featuring our hotline number. This sparked a sharp increase in hotline calls for help. The campaign also provides an opportunity for parents to talk about family violence with their children and emphasize the importance of healthy relationships and respect for others.

Ultimately the campaign is making a difference by getting the word out about our services to victims who need our help.

If you would like to donate to The Family Place, please click here.



You May Also Enjoy:

  • "(and receiving a great deal of press, thus confirming again and again what an asshole he really is)"
    1. Press = asshole; 2 x Press = 2 x Asshole? Watch out, obama's butt is about go nuclear.
    2. Sacks got the power so you'se all gotta attack him.
    3. Women commit domestic violence AS OFTEN AS MEN! Men are stronger so the FEW cases of death (per capita) are caused by men. Google Sanford Braver and Erin Pizzey, founder of the English DV Cause. Consider this as well: fathers are the least cause (by 50%) of abuse and death in children. Who's violent now? Mothers-women.
    4. Equality DOES mean being equal, or are you a believer in feminist math?
    5. There is truth to the old yarn about the wife and the rolling-pin / frying pan, but Madison Ave and Hollywood stopped showing that. It made women feel bad.
    6. Let's just stop ALL the violence.
    I don't expect this postto remain here because somebody's feelings gonna be hurt. But you got the message. Seek the truth if you dare.
  • There would be peace all over the world, if ALL of us would have peace in ourselves that begins first with the family/family members. Parents are the model of the family. Their children will learn from them. Parents should be a good example because the future of their children lies in them. They should be responsible enough as a parent.
  • Violence is not just from husband/boyfriend to wife/girlfriend, it is also from father/mother/relatives to children. To focus solely on one part is not the best way to solve the complete problem.
  • Very catchy advertisement. Hope it will stop domestic violences.
  • hah! the family place lets you make your donation "in honor of". so of course i named glenn sacks.
  • i had not heard of this asshole and his "work". and i'll be dropping by the family place right now to make a donation.

    it's as if women are supposed to be punished for demanding equal rights. equal doesn't mean the same -- the sexes are different and likely will remain so. sure, there are physically abusive wives out there -- every rule has its exceptions. but what's the ratio of male-on-female spousal violence (and murder) compared with its opposite? and dare i mention the unmentionable fact that most men are naturally stronger (not to mention larger) than most women? even if both were equally inclined to violence, the man is overwhelmingly likely to hold the upper hand in a physical confrontation. add a little raging testosterone (and budweiser) to the mix and another woman is on her way to the emergency room. if he lets her get out of the house.
  • using children as advertising tools for this campaign is really moving, especially for those who advocates children care. but i'm not sure if it would affect those who beat their wives/children, those who should be affected by this campaign. but as a mother, i don't want my child to be either of these two.
  • Mark
    I applaud The Family Place for starting a conversation. It takes a bold and even offensive statement to open the eyes, to jar the status quo and make people realize there is a huge need in our society to end domestic violence. There is a loss of respect, decorum and civility in our lives, and we feel that unleashing our anger on whomever and whenever is justified because "that's just who I am".

    I offended that the ads speaking in absolutes "my husband will kill me" and "I will beat my wife", but as a former volunteer at a shelter I am more offended by the fact that domestic violence is not taken more seriously. Penalties for domestic abuse should be HIGHER than assault, not lower. Police response to domestic needs to see the crime, not a "personal matter".

    I do think there are areas where men's rights should be a point of discussion and conversation, but it starts with recognizing the humanity, that we are humans first, then categorized by genitals after. I hope the Family Place gets more people responding to their need and supporting thier work.
  • Personally, as a former single father - these ads are offensive to me as well..not because I'm a guy or that I think it is male bashing. I think it is offensive because it exploits children. I guarantee you these two little kids had absolutely no idea their faces would be plastered all over the place with these words. If these ads had been done without the kids' images and maybe lost the "when I grow up" or "my husband will kill me" - then I would be okay with it. These are very distasteful. I like the messages - not the delivery method.
  • men's rights advocacy is a little like 'white pride', isn't it? organizations devoted to the concept of making sure oppressed people are kept in their place. this is best done by the exact kind of marginalization and misdirection that Sacks is doing. it's sad that he was able to find 50 other guys that are as big of douchebags as he is, that's pretty depressing. i mean, you have to be pretty stupid to buy into his line of thinking - it is ridiculously obvious that these ads don't say 'all men are bad', they simply reach out to the vast, vast majority of situations.

    i could explain the part of the statistic with the 106 court-ordered women who this organization has counseled, and believe me it's not 106 Amazon warrior bitches, nothing even close to that. it's just this stirs up a lot of bad memories and i get tired thinking about it after a long day.
blog comments powered by Disqus