'Take Back the Penis' Rally Held in Square

A small group of men held a rally in Harvard Square Saturday evening to protest "anti-male propaganda" and "the frauds of feminism."

The event, which organizers called "Take Back the Penis," lasted about two hours and drew many inquiries and curious looks from passersby. But the men holding placards and signs took the rally very seriously.

"It's okay to be a man," said organizer Rich Zubaty, who was simultaneously protesting and promoting his book Surviving the Feminization of America. "In this society men are shamed. There's a mass shaming of men going on."

"American women are the healthiest, most coddled, most protected women on the planet," Zubaty said. "They are not expected to fight in wars, mine coal, pour asphalt, or lay bricks. Women receive welfare benefits that are withheld from men. Women are an exalted majority, not a victimized minority."

Several of the men protesting with Zubaty handed out cucumbers, apparently to symbolize the penis.

Zubaty said he chose to protest in Harvard Square because "I'm a very liberal guy. "I'm not a rightwing guy and I won't be painted as one. This is about equality."

The Harvard Square protest was organized in conjunction with MENTOR, a national men's organization which advocates "healthy responsible masculinity."

Robert A. Sides, a member of a local men'sgroup who stopped to take a leaflet, said he wasgenerally receptive to the protester's, message.

"The demonstration points out the problemfacing men which is that to make their issuesknown, They have to do something silly," Sidessaid.. "They feel like they have to put propellerson their heads or something to get attention. Butin doing so, they are dismissed because of thevery things they have to do to be heard."

Several men and women who stopped to argue withthe protesters expressed contempt for some oftheir messages.

"I think this is just more woman bashing," saidone man, who would not give his name. "It'spathetic."

Zubaty said that he was not attempting toappeal to the so-called "angry white, male"constituency, but rather was appealing to mean ofall ages and races who "have been made to feelshamed by their own masculinity.

Robert A. Sides, a member of a local men'sgroup who stopped to take a leaflet, said he wasgenerally receptive to the protester's, message.

"The demonstration points out the problemfacing men which is that to make their issuesknown, They have to do something silly," Sidessaid.. "They feel like they have to put propellerson their heads or something to get attention. Butin doing so, they are dismissed because of thevery things they have to do to be heard."

Several men and women who stopped to argue withthe protesters expressed contempt for some oftheir messages.

"I think this is just more woman bashing," saidone man, who would not give his name. "It'spathetic."

Zubaty said that he was not attempting toappeal to the so-called "angry white, male"constituency, but rather was appealing to mean ofall ages and races who "have been made to feelshamed by their own masculinity.