Tag: a voice for men

Yelling at people on the Internet IS our activism, A Voice for Men's Paul Elam declares

Post author By David Futrelle
Post date March 13, 2015
120 Comments on Yelling at people on the Internet IS our activism, A Voice for Men's Paul Elam declares

Paul Elam, “talking without fear or capitulation” on his internet radio show with “Dr. T.” Yes, “Going Mental” is the actual name of their show on mental health issues.

I‘ve often pointed out, as many others have noticed as well, that the so-called Men’s Rights movement does pretty much nothing to help men in any practical way.

MRAs complain that there are no domestic violence shelters for men, but they (with literally one exception that I know of) aren’t willing to do the work necessary to actually set up such shelters. They point out the truly horrifying numbers of rapes in prison, but they don’t actually work with groups trying to stop rape and other forms of sexual abuse in prison — nor do they try to fight against “the war on drugs” and other policies that put an astounding number of young men of color in prison. I could go on and on and on with more examples, but you get the idea.

Well, it turns out that the Men’s Rights movement’s utter failure to help men in any practical way isn’t a bug; it’s a feature. At least according to PAul Elam, head cheese at A Voice for Men and probably the most visible and influential man in the movement.

a voice for men antifeminism drama kings entitled babies evil ex-wives irony alert lazy women eating bon bons men who should not ever be with women ever misogyny MRA oppressed white men straw feminists

American Carper: The Onion's fake editorial cartoonist channels Men's Rights Activists, again

Post author By David Futrelle
Post date March 10, 2015
28 Comments on American Carper: The Onion's fake editorial cartoonist channels Men's Rights Activists, again

The Onion’s fake editorial cartoonist channels MRA rhetoric

I love, love, love The Onion’s fake editorial cartoonist “Kelly,” who so brilliantly parodies the terrible reactionary cartoons that infest the op-ed pages of so many of America’s crappy local newspapers. Men’s Rights Activists, take note: this is what real satire looks like.

The cartoon that “Kelly” posted yesterday is an only slightly exaggerated take on MRA rhetoric, depicting an evil ex-wife as the “REAL American Sniper,” gleefully targeting an innocent ex-husband to pelt with bon-bons and endless criticism.

Wait, did I say exaggeration? If anything, “Kelly” is more restrained than many MRAs. Yesterday, you may recall, I posted an A Voice for Men meme claiming, among other things, that feminists were demanding “the right to kill, maim, and berate husbands.”

In “Kelly’s” cartoon, the evil ex-wife only demands the right to target her ex with a “barrage of carping” — no killing or maiming.

The Men’s Rights movement, beyond parody.

H/T — Long Waves Radio on KYRS FM

a voice for men antifeminism crackpottery empathy deficit entitled babies evil drunk ladies lying liars memes memesplaining men who should not ever be with women ever misogyny MRA oppressed men playing the victim rape culture shit that never happened

"The right to kill, maim, and berate husbands," and other Straw Feminist demands | Memesplaining

Post author By David Futrelle
Post date March 9, 2015
132 Comments on "The right to kill, maim, and berate husbands," and other Straw Feminist demands | Memesplaining

Well, someone has a vivid imagination, huh?

I‘ve said it before, but the imaginary feminists that Men’s Rights Activists spend their lives fighting bear about as much resemblance to real feminists as the imaginary Elders of Zion do to actual Jewish people.

But even by typical MRA standards, the meme above (from A Voice for Men’s Facebook page) is a doozy. It’s hard to say which of these imaginary feminists demands is the most ridiculous. That idea that feminists demand “the entitlement to rape men and young boys” or “the right to take money from men under any pretense?” Or that they want “20 men in prison for each woman who commits a crime?”

As ludicrous as these are, I think the most insidious of the bunch is the complaint that feminists want women to have “the right to intoxication with no consequences.”

No, feminists aren’t campaigning for women to be able to drive drunk with no legal repercussions. The “consequences” being referred to here are, of course, rape and other forms of sexual assault. Yep, AVFM is angry that feminists don’t think that women should face the “consequence” of rape if they go out to a bar on Saturday night. AVFM is angry that feminists want the actual rapists to face the consequences of their actions.

The March of the Straw Feminists continues with more AVFM memes from their Facebook page, below.

antifeminism entitled babies evil sexy ladies evil women female beep boop gynocracy icky lady fluids men who should not ever be with women ever misogyny MRA paul elam vaginas

Men's Rights leader: "Gynocentric" females are lazy prostitutes with smelly vaginas who assault men with their cleavage

Post author By David Futrelle
Post date March 7, 2015
130 Comments on Men's Rights leader: "Gynocentric" females are lazy prostitutes with smelly vaginas who assault men with their cleavage

Temple of Gynocentrism

Noted Men’s Human Rights Activist Paul Elam reported, in a statement earlier this week, that “female gynocentrics” are smelly, lazy prostitutes who assault men with their cleavage and expect men to pick up the tab. Elam believes we live in a “gynocentric” culture, and seems to believe that most women and possibly most men are “gynocentric,” which means (if I remember this correctly) that they worship gynecologists.

I may not be remembering that correctly.

a voice for men a woman is always to blame advocacy of violence antifeminism creepy entitled babies evil lying women evil women female beep boop hypocrisy internet tough guy men who should not ever be with women ever misogyny MRA not-quite-explicit threats paul elam Peter-Andrew: Nolan(c) reactionary bullshit red pill

He's the world's worst Men's Rights Activist; MRAs and feminists agree. But what he says isn't that different from "mainstream" MRAs.

bla bla — Peter-Andrew: Nolan©: Too extreme for the Men’s Rights movement?

Longtime readers of this blog will be familiar with a fellow who used to call himself Peter-Andrew: Nolan© — with the hyphen and the colon and the copyright symbol — and now calls himself Joschua-Brandon: Boehm© — also with a hyphen and a colon and a copyright symbol.

I think it’s fair to say he’s the world’s worst MRA.

a voice for men antifeminism gross incompetence memes memesplaining MRA that's completely wrong

If they only had some sense: A Voice for Men gets the Wizard of Oz backwards (Memesplaining #2)

Post author By David Futrelle
Post date March 2, 2015
126 Comments on If they only had some sense: A Voice for Men gets the Wizard of Oz backwards (Memesplaining #2)

Really, guys? Really?

How do you watch the Wizard of Oz and get the impression that Dorothy’s pals are stupid, heartless cowards? The whole point of the movie is that these three fellas didn’t need anyone to give them heart, brains or courage; they had those qualities already!

Indeed, at the end of the film, the Wizard (who isn’t actually a real wizard) can’t give them anything but tokens of what they’d asked from him — a diploma, a heart-shaped watch, a medal — but that’s all they really need, because all they were really lacking was faith in themselves.

I mean, what the hell, dudes? Have you even seen the movie?

a new woman to hate a voice for men antifeminism creepy drama kings evil sexy ladies men who should not ever be with women ever misogyny MRA none dare call it conspiracy sexual harassment

GQ hired a woman to attend A Voice for Men's conference last year in hopes she'd be raped, creepy AVFMer charges

Post author By David Futrelle
Post date February 28, 2015
185 Comments on GQ hired a woman to attend A Voice for Men's conference last year in hopes she'd be raped, creepy AVFMer charges

Sage Gerard: Totallly not a creep — Sage Gerard: Totally not a creep

In his must-read GQ story on A Voice for Men’s conference last summer, Jeff Sharlet detailed an unsettling encounter between his friend Blair and AVFM’s “collegiate activism director” Sage Gerard, who, Blair told Sharlet, crudely propositioned her and gave her “the most unconsensual hug I have ever known.” (I wrote about it here.)

Now Gerard has offered a rebuttal of sorts to Sharlet’s article and, well, it’s nearly as creepy as the incident itself. Gerard admits that he was indeed flirting with her and that, yes, “[m]y talking to her included a reassuring knee pat and a hug.”

He also claims that Blair was literally hired by GQ in order to flirt with men at the conference and lure one or more of them into raping her.

a new woman to hate a voice for men antifeminism antifeminist women douchebaggery entitled babies evil sexy ladies irony alert lying liars men who should not ever be with women ever misogyny MRA patronizing as heck paul elam rape culture rape jokes red pill sexual harassment sexualization

A Voice for Men Paul Elam and pals rebut GQ article depicting them as creepy misogynists by acting like creepy misogynists

"Pretty girls" are always up to something — “Pretty girls” are always up to something

If you’ve read Jeff Sharlet’s magnificent GQ account of his lost weekend amongst the “Men’s Human Rights Activists” at A Voice for Men’s conference last summer (or my take on it here), you know that some of the creepiest moments his account involved his friend Blair, a twentysomething writer who came along for the ride and ended up, by her account, being groped and propositioned by AVFM’s “director of collegiate activism” Sage Gerard.

Sharlet never mentions Blair’s last name, but Elam outs her in a AVFM post with the lovely title “GQ’s Jeff Sharlet pimps out Blair Braverman for clickbait.”

a voice for men all about the menz antifeminism creepy empathy deficit entitled babies imaginary oppression men who should not ever be with women ever misogyny MRA paul elam pedophiles oh sorry ephebophiles penises post contains sarcasm rape rape culture rape jokes red pill sexual harassment

The 5 Creepiest Details from GQ's Long-Awaited Account of A Voice for Men's Conference Last Summer

Post author By David Futrelle
Post date February 25, 2015
231 Comments on The 5 Creepiest Details from GQ's Long-Awaited Account of A Voice for Men's Conference Last Summer

A Voice for Men's Paul Elam: Still not ready for his closeup — A Voice for Men’s Paul Elam: Still not ready for his closeup

A few days before alleged “men’s human rights” website A Voice for Men held its first convention last summer, the site’s founder and head boy Paul Elam put up a post imploring the alleged human rights activists planning to attend the event not to go around calling women bitches and whores and cunts, because the news media would be there, and this might make his little human rights movement look bad.

I’m paraphrasing here; Elam was a teensy bit more euphemistic, telling his followers that anyone caught “trash-talking women, men, making violent statements … anything that can be used against us” would get a very stern talking-to and, if they persisted, would be asked to leave.

a voice for men antifeminism evil sexy ladies internet tough guy memes memesplaining men who should not ever be with women ever misogyny MRA none dare call it conspiracy oppressed white men red pill straw feminists

Memesplaining: Men being trod upon by women with feminism

Post author By David Futrelle
Post date February 21, 2015
216 Comments on Memesplaining: Men being trod upon by women with feminism

Pity the poor MRA meme-makers. It’s hard for them to find real-world images to illustrate their deeply held belief that women in general (and feminists in particular) secretly or not-so-secretly run the world.

Indeed, there seems to be a lot of photographic evidence that supports a rather different conclusion about women and power. Do women run the US congress? Nope.