As promised, here is the new and I think improved comments policy.
It’s a bit long, but that’s in part because I’ve included sections that are designed to hopefully eliminate some of the contentious and often repetitive debates that have erupted in the past over the issue of ableism — in particular the use of words like “crazy” and “psycho” and the like. In the future, I am hoping that we can simply link new commenters to the policy (in particular, the “notes on ‘crazy'”) section and avoid a lot of the drama.
Well, it looks like the Hugo Awards are pretty much busted this year.
So it occurred to me: there are a lot of very sharp, very well-informed SF/fantasy fans that read this blog (and at least one award-winning SF author that I know of). So why not do a little awarding of our own?
And so I would like to welcome you to the First Annual We Hunted The Mammoth Serious Kitten Awards.
So the Fourth Quarter We Hunted the Mammoth Pledge Drive has come to a close, and once again I am humbled by the generosity of my readers — including several who’ve gone above and beyond with their donations. I appreciate every donation, big or small; your support enables me to keep this blog going.
If you’ve been meaning to donate but haven’t gotten around to it, here’s the link again. And don’t worry that the PayPal page says Man Boobz.
And of course you can donate any time you want using the donate button in the sidebar.
A couple of years back. with the help of the commentariat here, I put together an MRA Bingo Card Generator. I’ve been meaning to do a new and improved version of this for a while — as well as a companion PUA/Red Pill Bingo Card Generator, and possibly even a couple of others (Derailing Bingo? Dark Enlightenment Bingo? GamerGate Bingo?).
I know some of you all have been playing Troll Bingo in the comments. So let me know which of these card generators sound like the most amusing to you. And then let’s brainstorm about what to put in the list for each!
Also, if you can come up a way to actually play MRA Bingo, let me know. Certainly in every big thread with trolls in it, commenters could print out cards for themselves and see how many squares they can fill. Or we could set a specific time, and one of us, acting as Bingo Boss, could send you all to a particular MRA post or discussion thread elsewhere and you all could compete to see who could get a bingo first.
The ritual posting of animated cat gifs brings an end to the Third Quarter We Hunted the Mammoth Pledge Drive.
Let me add my voice to the chorus of animated kitties: THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS, whether they were big or small! They enable me to keep this blog going and to afford shoes for my kitties. Well, not the part about the shoes. I’m not sure why I said that.
In any case, once again I’m humbled that so many of you all think this blog is important enough (or at least entertaining enough) to support with your donations.
And that so many of you contribute your time and your talents to help out as well, whether you’re volunteering as a mod or drawing hilarious pictures or leaving sharp and funny and knowledgeable comments.
If you meant to donate bug haven’t gotten around to it yet, here’s that link again. (And don’t worry that the PalPal page says “Man Boobz.”)
And of course you can donate any time you want using the button in the sidebar.
Some folks have suggested that I set up a Patreon account as well; I will be looking into that.
Thanks again!
Oh, and one more gif. No, I’m not trying to hypnotize you.
I’ve been so busy the last several days I forgot to put up a link to this interview I did with a writer from Vice. Check it out!
I’m happy with the interview overall. Though I should point out that my comments were edited somewhat, and there are a few places where the writer removed some of the context and/or simplified what I said by removing some qualifying statements. Thus, for example, where I talk about how rape threats towards men have less of an impact, I don’t want to suggest that no men outside of prison fear rape; obviously that’s untrue, and obviously there are many men outside of prison as well as inside who have been raped. What I was trying to say — and what I suspect would be much clearer in the unedited transcript of my interview — is that the typical (straight, cis) man outside of prison doesn’t spend much time worrying about rape, and is much less likely to take rape threats seriously than women, who have every reason to take them much more seriously.
Kids listening to the radio. Or perhaps an armoire.
So I was interviewed a while back by All Things Considered for a segment on men’s rights activism. The segment, part of their “Men in America” series, will be running today. All Things Considered starts at 4 PM — at least in my time zone (Central); you’ll have to do the time zone math to figure out when it starts for you.
You can listen online here. The segment will also be archived on the “Men in America” web page; it should go up sometime this evening.
Hopefully the segment will include some comments from me. But you never know. Should be interesting regardless.
EDIT: The transcript is up here; audio will be posted on the same page at 7 PM eastern. They included a couple of quotes from me.
I haven’t heard the segment yet, but reading the transcript i have to say the piece is pretty poor, giving MRAs in general and Warren Farrell in particular way too much credence. More on this later.
Good news everyone! You can now snag yourself some nifty Confused Cats Against Feminism swag, and help out a couple of charities at the same time The Confused Cat Store on Zazzle is now open for business, offering everything from key chains and coffee mugs to 126 different styles of shirts and other tops for adult humans of all shapes and sizes, not to mention babies, dogs, and pretty much anything and anyone that can wear a shirt. (Sorry, squids, you have too many arms, or legs, or whatever those things are.)
There are two awesome designs to choose from, both featuring my very own Sweetie the cat, who has no idea that she’s on a shirt, or what exactly a shirt is. Big thanks to designer JohnnyKaje, who also provided the awesome designs for the old Manboobz store.
All my royalties from the Confused Cat store will go to two charities, the Global Fund for Women, a well-respected organization working for the rights of women and girls worldwide, and No-Kill Los Angeles, an initiative to “end the killing of healthy and treatable pets in city shelters in Los Angeles, California, by the year 2017” by providing spay/neuter services and working to increase pet adoptions.
Oh, and today there’s even a 10% off SALE going on!
Also: I will also be opening a new We Hunted the Mammoth store up soon. We’ve got a good Mammothy design, but I also wanted to do some shirts, etc, featuring some infamous quotes from some of the terrible people I’ve written about on this site, or who’ve come by to drop their own peculiar wisdom in the comments here. I am taking requests, so if you have any favorite quotes you’d like to see on a t-shirt or a mouse pad or whatever, post them in the comments below!
EDIT: Well, turns out that, as of right now (3 pm CST), the products are NOT up for anyone but me. Apparently Zazzle is still processing them. So, uh, check back in a couple of hours, I guess?
My cats in their earlier days, unaware of the internet fame that awaited them. (Greasy fur courtesy of eardrops that were supposed to have remained in the ears.)
My kitties and I are humbled by the response this little blog is getting!
Scratch that bit about the kitties; they’re never humbled by anything.
But I am. Confused Cats Against Feminism has picked up more than 2000 followers in the two days since I announced the blog to the world, and my various inboxes are overflowing with dozens of pics of adorable cats who are very confused about feminism indeed.
So far Confused Cats has been featured on Buzzfeed — thanks, Rachel Zarrell! — The Frisky, and SFWeekly, and the cats and I are preparing for a major interview with an important publication in the cat world. Well, the cats are sleeping, mostly, but it is good to be well-rested.
This amazing response clearly shows that it is not only humans who can be really, really confused about feminism.
And if your cats (or any of your animal friends) are confused antifeminists, SEND MOAR PICS PLEASE! You can submit them here, or by emailing me at futrelle [at] manboobz.com.
Granted, I’m still sorting through all the pics I’ve gotten so far, but like cats I can always use more good things delivered to me. If your pic isn’t up yet, it may well be in the queue.
Oh, and if you like this blog, you might also like my other blog, We Hunted the Mammoth, a slightly less cat-centric look at confused antifeminists, Men’s Rights Activists, and misogyny in general on the internets.
Thanks!
David, Sweetie Pie, and Pantz
PS: If you see this blog mentioned in the media or on website you frequent, could you drop me a note with a link? Thanks!
Hey, remember that contest we had in which we designed commemorative plates for A Voice for Men? Well, TA DA! Today I announce the winner! Who will win an actual real you-can-put-liquids-in-it coffee mug with the words “MALE TEARS” on it.
First let me say that there were many, many fine entries, all of them living up to the incredibly high standards set by Men’s Rights graphic artists.
But I can only award the prize to one person, because those are the rules I made up for the contest, so without further ado, the MALE TEARS mug goes to … drumroll … Sir Bodsworth Rugglesby III, for his highly conceptual commemorative plate honoring A Voice for Men’s commemorative coin, which is what inspired this whole contest in the first place:
