Runaway bride has some men hopping mad

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Anger. Disgust. Outrage. Men, who usually couldn't care less about weddings, have strong feelings about Georgia's runaway bride.

As of Tuesday morning, bride-to-be Jennifer Carol Wilbanks hadn't publicly apologized for temporarily turning her fiancé into the next Scott Peterson.

The fiancé, John Mason, once a suspect who had to take a lie-detector test to prove he hadn't chucked her into the Chattahoochee River, said he was "happy" she was alive and pledged to marry her still. But days before, "Oh man, I was mad," he told Sean Hannity, Fox-TV's political pit bull, who turned all sensitive and mushy for his scoop interview, conducted — of all places — in a church.

Mason wasn't the only mad guy.

"Does anyone else in this country see a pattern of lying by females about crimes against them?" asked a man named Ray in an online news posting.

Imagine, men are saying, that the tables were turned, that the man had jogged away, taken a Greyhound bus to Las Vegas, then Albuquerque, N.M., and then claimed he had been kidnapped by a Hispanic man and white woman packing heat, only to confess it was all a big lie. Would police have given him a teddy bear the way they did to Wilbanks?

Hardly.

No wonder guys are so furious. To many of them, the case represents yet another example of double standards that favor women.

"The message here is 'women good, men bad,' " fumed Carnell Smith, founder of U.S. Citizens Against Paternity Fraud. "Even when the woman is clearly wrong, it's the guy's fault."

"Women always make men out to be the abuser," said Dr. Richard T. Hise, a Texas A&M professor and author of "The War Against Men." "Women are turning men into the enemy."

In relationships, at the workplace, the altar, through divorce, child custody disputes, paternity cases and domestic violence accusations, "men feel they're being victimized," explained Dr. Harvey A. Klein, a psychologist in Wellington with 30 years of experience. "They feel they don't get a fair shake."

Fury on the Web

Male fury was front and center Tuesday, bubbling across the Internet, at AngryHarry.com, Mensactivism.org, FireYourWife.com and NoMarriage.com, with links such as "Why men should not marry" and "How women manipulate you."

Perhaps we're witnessing the emergence of a new men's movement — fractured as it may be — similar to the birth of women's lib 40 years ago?

Absolutely, says Hise, who has suggested a name for the group: "NO MA'AM, or the National Organization of Men Against Anti-Maleness."

There is a need for such a group, says Michael McCormick, executive director of the American Coalition for Fathers and Children, which has affiliates in 26 states. He believes the case of the runaway bride is yet another example of how the cards are stacked against men.

"With this particular bride, the first-blush reaction was, 'Oh, silly girl. She got cold feet. No problem,' " said McCormick. "If a man had done this, the immediate response would be, 'Let's bust him.' There is a legitimate sense of anger that's building up in men over their mistreatment."

Grace sided with bride

Nancy Grace, the victims-rights advocate turned "CNN Headline News" host, had practically lynched the fiancé in earlier programs. But she was unrepentant Monday. Instead of apologizing to him, she pleaded for leniency for the woman.

Grace asked Duluth (Ga.) Police Chief Randy Belcher: "Why would we put this girl behind bars because she got cold feet?"

"Because she lied to police," Belcher responded.

"I went out on a limb," Grace said, referring to her attacks against the fiancé. "She sure tricked me."

It was the closest thing to an apology to Mason from anyone on TV. Even after Wilbanks 'fessed up that she had lied, some women speculated in online chat rooms that perhaps she ran because Mason had abused her.

As usual, though, TV's Dr. Phil cut to the chase. "I'd really have problems with this woman if I were him," he told CNN's Larry King.

But wait. Don't judge her yet, the family begged. They made the case that Wilbanks had "issues" and needed "treatment," saying she was terribly "scared" and distraught about what she had been through. That she ran was not her fault, they seemed to say.

Already, some TV psychologists were laying that groundwork, speculating about everything from eating disorders to the pressures and stress that all brides feel before a wedding, much less an obscenely large affair with 600 guests, 14 bridesmaids and 14 groomsmen. Even Fox television mad dog Bill O'Reilly got all soft, suggesting that Wilbanks might need a mental evaluation.

Is a bidding war next?

Online, guys' eyes started rolling. One man predicted Monday that "now it's time for all the psychobabblers to come out of the woodwork to give us a laundry list of 'issues' and 'syndromes' to excuse this spineless Cinderella's actions. Maybe all the desperate housewives out there will see her on "Oprah" real soon."

Or on "Today" with Katie Couric or "Prime Time Live" with Diane Sawyer. There is no doubt that the media all-stars were engaged in a feverish bidding war to be the first to land an interview with the not-so-blushing-bride. Will they send her flowers, tell her they can relate, say they feel her pain? Will a book deal be next? A TV movie? You can already see the title: "Runaway Bride: The Fear Inside."

But if the groom had bolted from the wedding, would Katie and Oprah and Diane duke it out for the first crack at him? Or would they prefer to land an interview with the "jilted" bride?

One male blogger believes he has the answer. "If the man had gone jogging and not returned, I doubt if anyone would have cared."

Mark Schwed writes for the Palm Beach Post. E-mail: mark_schwed@pbpost.com