When I began this blog six years ago, the Men’s Rights Movement was little more than a curiosity. I’ve watched, with both amusement and alarm, as this small movement has inspired, and ultimately has been eclipsed by, a broader anti-feminist, anti-woman backlash, online and off, driven largely by the same white male rage.
Each new iteration of this backlash has been more toxic — and, sadly, more influential — than the last, ultimately culminating in the rise of the alt-right. Which is to say, the newest incarnation of fascism.
Now the openly racist, openly misogynistic idol of the alt-right has been elected president. Obviously, not everyone who voted for Trump was white or male. But his candidacy was powered in large part by the same kind of white male rage I have been writing about virtually every day for the last six years.
While Trump’s election is, without question, a catastrophe — in ways I will be chronicling in detail over the next few months and years — Trumpism isn’t built to last. Trump’s victory was a narrow one — indeed, he actually lost the popular vote — and the demographic group that served as the backbone of his movement (white men) is shrinking relative to those groups Trump has railed against.
In many ways, Trumpism seems to be a classic example of an “extinction burst,” a term used by behavior psychologists to describe a weird and seemingly paradoxical pattern of behavior. As Popsugar summed it up in a post earlier this week:
[W]hen a certain type of behavior or action isn’t really getting its desired results any longer — say, a child’s tantrums failing to get Mom or Dad’s attention — there’s often a period when a subject struggles even harder, makes more noise, and generally throws an extremely loud fit. In other words, extinction burst is that last-ditch ramping up before an inevitable flame-out.
Trumpism, like all backlashes, is doomed to fail. Unfortunately, it is likely to do a tremendous amount of damage before it goes, not so gently, into that good night. In the meantime, I will do my best to make sense of the toxic stew of racism and misogyny at the heart of Trumpism, and to provide support for those fighting against it or just trying to get by). And so I’ve changed the tagline of this blog from “the new misogyny, tracked and mocked” to “surviving the Trumpocalypse” to reflect this broader focus.
Don’t worry: I will still be writing about MGTOWs and MRAs and the other strange misogynistic creatures that I’ve been writing about from the beginning. While I recognize they are but a sideshow in the era of Trump, I just can’t quit them, and I suspect that a lot of you can’t either.
Valerie, we’ll be right with ya.
-shouts into blackness- Y’all? I need someone who isn’t fuckin’ 16 here. Someone with life experience. More than me, at least.
Having Native American supporters does not make one not racist, any more than MRAs &c. aren’t absolved of misogyny just because they have women recite their talking points. Being Native American and having a diverse circle of friends does not preclude voting against one’s own interest for the sake of vague slogans like “Make America Great Again!”
And lastly, I was in favour of Bernie until he dropped out, and was reluctant to support Clinton, buying into the “Crooked Hillary” narrative. But I ended up voting for her, because most of that is vastly overblown, and Bernie himself, the victim in most of the conspiracy theories circulated surrounding Hillary, endorsed her.
Sounds idyllic. Or like those dudes who swear up and down that street harassment never happens because they’ve never seen it.
@ Troubelle: Moonbeam Malcontent
Eh, I’m a fair bit older.
@Valerie
I had a really long effort post but apparently since that post gets eaten no matter how many times I refresh, I’ll just have to make a new one from scratch.
“My experiences is the same for everyone.” Do I have to show you the uptick in hate crimes? Do I have to show you the multiple assaults and grafitti of nazis gloating about assaulting women and minorities? Go see Shriki’s screencaps, go ahead.
Yay your friend goes against his own interests and say because your minority friends weren’t harmed means it’s not so bad where you live. Reminder in your previous post you were bragging about how democrats who want things like racial justice is being too “feeling” when your group candidly wants to gut PP and reinstate multiple laws to discriminate against trans, gays, muslims, african americans and more. Reminder that you were bragging that none of your neighbors seem to give a single shit about people other than themselves.
Hillary, the establishment candidate, who would be at most 3-4th term of Obama, is literally Stalin. But the Candidate who is backed by literal racists, sexists, bigoted nazis and kkk members, is the one that has an equal in bigotry, and you see that in Hillary the establishment candidate.
I have a billion, most of them with the root word “fucking” “damn” and such. The fact that you again bragged about not choosing either candidate in the face of such blatant prejudice shows how much you know of things.
See this is why you’re the concern troll. “I was under the impression that this was a group of individuals that will agree to everything I say without question.”
Hm, as the meninist I feel about as qualified to mansplain to you as a mouse, and like a mouse I’m going into that trap.
You call yourself liberal but ignore the hundreds of Trump lies. You call yourself and your neighbors persecuted by the media when literally minorities get killed and cops go off scott free. Thanks for reminding me that the white man’s burdens supersedes all.
@Val
Who’s whom?
Wrong again, buddy
You say you’re familiar with this blog…
Your problem ain’t being insufficiently liberal. I don’t even know what that means. Well, it doesn’t mean anything actually. Point it, that isn’t it. Lemme lay out, point by point, how you fucked up
1)You showed up in a thread full of people worried for their lives and the lives of others
2)You explained your part in endangering those lives
3)You downplayed the power of the executive and the harm this administration can do, and, in so doing, made those worried out to be hysterical
4)You posited that the people you just dismissed are actually responsible for their suffering
5)You pivoted to how virtuous you and yours are, while simultaneously and hypocritically excusing y’all’s behavior
6)You, after all that bullshit, told us to lighten up, with the implication that we were actively tryna be sad and scared
But yeah, it’s totally that you weren’t liberal enough. Get outta here with that passive aggressive nonsense. And, to repeat my 1st words to you, fuck you and fuck off
@Axecalibur: Middle Name Danger
And you know the worst part? I bet that she sincerely believes a GOP controlled federal government filled with the rogues gallery of the most hateful and spiteful people in our country, isn’t going to harm people. Yeah this is textbook concern trolling. So, is this a new one, or an old one? I can’t tell at this point anymore.
The deaths of others
Matters not to Valerie
Insults are what she gets.
I bought into the “hick” stereotype for a while when I moved to the sticks, and seeing as my children are biracial, I keep a keen eye on their well being. That being said…..no, there isn’t any rioting here, there are no protests here and there are no deportation certificates being handed out in the high school. My children would tell me in a heartbeat if there were any problems. I don’t pretend there is nothing going on here…..there literally isn’t. What I am seeing on the news, is rioting at colleges and universities……by Hillary supporters.
@Y’all
Thank y’all.
Except you, Valerie. You should get some sleep. It’s late.
@ Valerie
I care about my biracial kids
I also don’t care to read the many hate crimes by trump supporters.
I also don’t care to notice that the media is generalizing the protests.
I also don’t care to notice that the ones who are causing a riot did it because they saw an opportunity to take over.
I also don’t care to forgo South Park “all sides are dumb”, even though one side wants equality and the other wants death to all non whites.
The ruse is exposed
Keep playing “two sides same coin”
It’ll work in some way.
/insert banjo
-sees Valerie’s new post-
Darlin’, please. Do some light reading on what’s going on outside your town, get a little empathy, and get a good night’s sleep.
That’s cute.
Hicks, sticks and hillbillies….
for real?
The first “aren’t” in my comment above should be an “are”.
Wait. Is Valerie simultaneously claiming to have been a long time lurker and also mystified by the reports of racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, ableist, homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic attacks from Trumpkins?
Wut?
This blog has been covering the Trump fans and their unpleasant antics for several months now. How can you be a reader of the site and not realize this has been happening?
It’s almost like Valerie is entirely full of shit!
Wow……
You are scared for your lives? Really? This is just too much here.
At no point did I support the GOP. Apparently my refusal to vote for Hillary (or Trump) turns you rabid. You have just become as intolerant as some of the Trump supporters that you hate so much.
And, you apparently missed what I was trying to say when I said “feelings”. My conservative friends feel that way, and I have been actively attempting to get them to them to see things from the lefts side, and to compromise. But, it looks like I’m damned from both sides. Y’all are just as spiteful as the far right.
I think that my friends, my family, and I, are qualified enough to choose what is in our best interests thank you.
Also, the ellipses with the inappropriate number of dots is always a dead giveaway. The two dot ellipses are more common in the manosphere but the four and five dot ellipses are far from unheard of.
Shorter Valerie: I was a liberal until those people on We Hunted the Mammoth were mean to me.
@dreemr
It means more than you might think. I don’t normally comment much here, but I have resolved to do so more in the future. We’re all going to need a much bigger and broader support network.
@Valerie
http://i.imgur.com/5aXdIgh.gif
Oh Gautama I think I’m going to spill my guts over my laughter.
Let’s try the racist sock puppet bingo!
Gaslights the fears of people of getting lynched and killed and implying that everyone but her is hysterical? Check
Ignore the reasons people laid out why third party is facilitating Trump. Check
fausse équivalence, checkerino.
Stating doing things for a cause but gives doublespeak on her pride of “hicks.” Check. Making compromise when GOP has been stubborn mules of fascism, racism, and other horrid things, the Dems must have to act with moral standards and treat the GOP with kid gloves.
Ding Ding Ding. Another false equivalency while refusing to address anyone’s points.
If your Native American friend is for a candidate that is pro fracking and wants the Dakota pipeline built to wipe out other native tribes, I don’t think he’s qualified to be speaking. If your relatives and family and neighbors brag about not caring about combating racism and such b/c it’s outside your bubble, I kind of doubt you trying to speak for other people. In summary on your little act.
http://i.imgur.com/LtdE1zW.jpg
No, I saw the Trump supporters that the media wanted you to see. Do any of you leave your comfortable little bubbles and interact with anyone with views different than yours? I suppose that I could live in isolation, with a few select friends that are nothing more than clones of my thoughts and views, but….I choose to listen to the views of BOTH sides of the political spectrum. And guess what? When they say something that I don’t like, I don’t instantly call them a bunch of foul names; instead, I ask them why they feel that way. How can I change their mind?
You all just dropped on me like a pack of starving dogs….
Aw, darlin’, no one here is even close to mad yet, let alone rabid. Def a troll.
Yeah, people tend to not like it when others want them hurt or dead. You’d intolerant of it to if people want you gone based on how you were born.
Wow, you obviously didn’t have the most solid of ideals in the first place if all it took was a few posts. Wishy washy, aintcha?
Just like everyone else does, and many people don’t want to go through mandatory conversion therapy or have to deal with Stop and Frisk across the nation which are some things both Dump and Pince want, so, I mean, you’re just being an ass now.
I hope, if you’re telling the truth, nothing comes and bites you and your friends in the ass.
OT: Hey, peeps, did you know Dump has investments in DAPL? That’s a fun fact.
EDIT:
Yeah, and you saw the protesters the media wanted you to see, too. It’s almost like there’s some sort of bias going on here.
Hate to tell you this, but this website isn’t to coddle and educate people. It’s for mocking. You want a site about learning, go to Geek Feminism or whatever.
@Abars01,
For info on Australian activism try the March Australia Activist Interchange
http://maai.x10host.com
Their Facebook page is pretty busy.
For feminism, try Mad Fucking Witches on Facebook.
Also Clementine Ford, Celeste Liddle (Black Feminist Ranter)
If you aren’t already familiar with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, and RISE (Refugees, Survivors and Ex detainees), check them out.
@wwth
As a person who uses four-dot ellipses just because I like the number four, I make the claim that at least I’m bloody consistent.
@Valerie
At least one of my friends is considering suicide if he can’t get to Canada before the orange one is sworn in, due to the fact that he knows so much of the country supported said orange one, who supports policies that endanger him severely. So at the least, I am concerned for the life of my friend. And then there are all my other friends. And then there are all the people of any stripe. And on and on….
Also, get to bed.
Which returning troll is Valerie? Gert?
I’m starting to perceive that oh so delightful aroma of filthy socks.
@Valerie and Troubelle:
Hell, I’m a cis-het white man and I’m afraid. It must be infinitely worse for anyone not of that demographic.