Men’s Rights site A Voice for Men offers $1000 “bounty” for personal information on Swedish feminists
A Voice for Men, one of the most influential and popular Men’s Rights websites, is now offering a $1000 “bounty” for anyone able to track down the personal information of several Swedish women involved in a tasteless video advertising a theater production based on Valarie Solanas’ SCUM manifesto. As the anonymous poster calling himself John the Other – the second-in-command at AVfM – put it in a posting yesterday (emphasis in original):
We are asking for the full legal names, home addresses, places of employment, email addresses and contact phone numbers of the women and man who produced and starred in the video described above. We will pay 1000 dollars to any individual who provides and confirms this information, to be paid either directly to themselves or to a charity of their choice.
John explains that this information will be posted on the AVfM-affiliated site Register-Her.com, an “offenders database” that is being used to vilify individual feminists and “Fuck Their Shit Up,” as AVfM head honcho Paul Elam likes to put it. John notes that Regsiter-Her.com also intends to post the “government identification numbers [and] drivers licences” of the women they are able to identify.
John admits plainly that posting such information may put the physical safety of these women at risk from vigilante violence. As he puts it (emphasis mine):
Some individuals may criticize the intent to publish not only names, but also addresses, phone numbers, employers and other personal information – on the grounds that such exposure create a risk of retributive violence against individuals who openly advocate murder based on sex. It is the considered position of the editorial board of AVfM that any such risks are out-weighed by the ongoing hazard to the public of these individuals continuing to operate in anonymity.
The comments posted on the article at AVfM suggest that such “retributive” violence is a real possibility. Indeed, here’s the very first comment (which currently has 17 upvotes from readers of the site):
A commenter called Xnomolos, in another upvoted comment, adds:
i would love to hunt down these women myself.
JinnBottle responds to this comment by advising “all men to start carrying guns.”
The commenters on AVfM have already uncovered the identities of all of the women involved in the video. The blogger Fidelbogen has been the most active internet detective so far.
There is no question that the video itself is offensive, and designed to provoke. You can see it here; I’m not going to embed it on this site. If you don’t want to watch it: it depicts a young woman shooting a man in the head for no reason. Afterwards the woman and her gleeful, giggling accomplices do a victory dance, then lick the blood from the dead man’s head. A message at the end urges viewers to “Do Your Part.”
Every feminist I know who has seen the video has been appalled by it. I’m appalled by it. It’s hateful, and it’s wrong.
But John the Other, and the other commenters on AVfM, claim that it is more than this: that that the video of the staged murder, intended to provide publicity for a theater production based on Solanas’ notorious SCUM manifesto, is quite literally an open call for the murder of men. As John the Other puts it:
Open advocation of murder cannot be allowed in a civil society, without that society devolving into a culture of brutal violence.
Evidently he has no problem with, or has somehow not noticed, the comments on AVfM fantasizing about shooting and killing the women involved in the video.
Is the video a literal call to murder? Is it, as one AVfM commenter puts it, evidence of a “conspiracy to commit mass murder?” No. Violence and murder have been dramatized in the theater since its beginnings. No one accuses Sophocles of advocating fratricide and incest, though both are dealt with in his play Oedipus Rex. No one accuses Shakespeare of advocating mass murder, though many of his most famous plays have body counts that put many horror films to shame.
Does the tag line at the end of the video – “do your part” – transform the video from a depiction of murder into an open call for it? No. The “threat,” such as it is, is vague; it’s not aimed at any specific individuals. It might be seen as akin to someone wearing a t-shirt that says “kill ‘em all, let God sort them out” – tasteless and offensive, but not a literal threat. “Kill ‘Em All” is actually the name of Metallica’s first album. While a lot of people see James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich et al as pompous idiots, they have not been jailed for conspiracy to commit mass murder. That would be ridiculous.
Someone claiming to have been involved in the SCUM-inspired theatrical production in question has posted several detailed comments on AVfM, explaining that those involved in the production are “not out to get you” and that the video itself was “meant as a viral “wtf?!” to give attention to both the questions that it raises and the play itself.”
By contrast, AVfM is targeting specific individuals, and intends to offer information that would allow anyone intent on doing them harm to quite literally track them to their homes and workplaces. Those fantasizing about killing these woman are not simply making a joke along the lines of “women, can’t live with ‘em; can’t kill ‘em.” They are fantasizing about killing real people, and providing would-be evil-doers maps to their doors.
AVfM is an American site, in English; these specific women live in Sweden. While it is a real possibility, it seems unlikely that anyone reading the site will literally find and murder any of those involved in the SCUM production. At least I hope that this does not come to pass.
I don’t believe that either Paul Elam or John the Other literally wants any feminist to be killed. The real intent behind AVfM’s publishing people’s personal information, it seems clear, is to intimidate feminist writers and activists into shutting up, to make clear that if they post something that offends the internet vigilantes at AVfM they will face the possibility of some deranged individual quite literally showing up at their door intent on doing them harm.
Paul Elam and John the Other claim that they’re not advocating violence. But they are playing a dangerous game here. If some deranged individual, inspired by the hyperbolic anti-feminist rhetoric on AVfM, and armed with information provided by “Register-Her.com,” murders or otherwise harms a feminist blogger or activist or video maker, Elam and his enablers will have blood on their hands. As will those MRAs who continue to publicly support and/or link to AVfM and/or Register-Her.com.
This is not the way a legitimate rights group deals with those who disagree with them. This is what hate groups do.
Posted on November 21, 2011, in antifeminism, misandry, misogyny, MRA, paul elam, threats, violence against men/women. Bookmark the permalink. 884 Comments.
Odd, I work in a court building and I have seen an attorney bring their child (who is an adult) to court once. This one time was right after the child had finished the bar exam and was trying to determine which law to practice.
So either you are a liar (highly probable) or your father was an incredibly unprofessional attorney.
@Sharculese: Who said it was unearned? ;)
I was not aware that Democrats and Republicans were at war, or that they had begun to encourage wackos to murder each other on the internet.
Oh wait, that’s because MRAs are nothing like an actual political party, and as we already know Brandon is bad at analogies.
Seriously, can we just ban this guy? He’s like the sand in the shoe of the blog – not really painful, but endlessly irritating.
Brandon, so because they perceive it to be a “war,” violence is acceptable?
Sharculese, I will sign that contract!
Oh I know that Republicans pout and whine a great deal when Democrats are in charge of government but we know secretly they love not having to make the tough choices.
if everyone has a perfect opposing force than is there an anti-brandon out there who cares about everything all of the time.
wouldnt that just be like jesus or something?
is brandon the opposite of jesus?
@Elizabeth: You insulting my father just proves 1) You do not know him and 2) He is one of the most ethical lawyers I know.
So I am just laughing at your comment because you are so wrong.
Who opposes the March of Dimes Foundation?
So you were lying. Not a surprise.
@Sharculese: Really? Stop talking you are retarded.
Also, I am agnostic so I don’t give one rats ass about Jesus or the retarded notion of god.
if youre dads so great how come hes a lawyer huh?
checkmate.
I will pay to have a little illustration of a camera filming a couple having sex placed in the corner of the certification. In the other corner can be an illustration of Brandon’s dad patting him on the head, which clearly happened much too often. He’s technically a millenial, right? He certainly sounds like the negative stereotype of one.
You know, I’m of two minds about banning owlslave.
On the one hand, I tend to scroll past his responses. I can catch bits as they fly by, and it’s all title IX and VAWA and how they’re destroying the world or something. Boring. Predictable. And for someone who works 47 hour days, he certainly posts here a lot. Between school and work, I barely have time to read this site anymore.
On the other hand, if he’s banned it proves everything he says about the feminist big daddy conspiracy correct.
Hmmmm.
I’d still say to ban him. Either way he’s delusional.
@Elizabeth: No…have you ever considered…I don’t know….you are wrong. GASP!!!
So, Brandon, because MRAs perceive this to be “war,” does that make violence acceptable?
Hellkell, we are at war, you and I. I just decided this a moment ago. This means that I can set up cannons on your lawn, right?
@Hellkell: Violence has it’s place. Sometimes it is needed and sometimes it is not.
Brandon, you can spew your stupid shit to your heart’s content, but lay off the ableist insults. If you’re really that smart, you can use other words.
lo but i cannot stop talking for i have become the anti-brandon, the being of infinite care. all care now runs through me.
Also, I am agnostic so I don’t give one rats ass about Jesus or the retarded notion of god.
aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh. my life is complete because i got somebody to say this to me totally without irony
Cassandra, I’m laying siege to you RIGHT NOW. That OK?
Brandon, is violence needed in this instance, if so, why, weasel-boy?
@rutee
anti-vaxxers?
Today I hang my atheist head in shame as I admit that sometimes our people can be every bit as ignorant and stupid as the worst fundamentalist of any religion.
On behalf of atheists as a whole – we do apologise for Brandon. Really, we’re very sorry.
Actually I could be wrong-your father could be an ethical attorney who is also apparently unprofessional enough to bring his child to court.
Or as I said, highly probable that you are a liar. Again, I work in a court-have for five years. I know that self represented litigants are given something of a pass for bringing their kids to court, but the attorneys? Never.
“Cassandra, I’m laying siege to you RIGHT NOW. That OK?”
Only if you arrange to have pizza and/or hot and sour soup delivered at least twice a day.
@Sharculese: Nevermind…keep talking. I find you mildly amusing.
@hellkell: Ok…a “mentally deficient notion of god”.
No need to, Cassandra, he said he’s agnostic. Which is great having someone who thinks they know everything subscribe to the theory or not knowing.
He’s technically a millenial, right? He certainly sounds like the negative stereotype of one.
thats the thing about brandon is hes chuggin along doing his too cool for school thing and youre like ‘oh teenagers’ and then all of a sudden you remember hes almost thirty
Cassandra, pizza and soup it is. I’ll get the marauders right on that.
If I’d sounded like Brandon in my late twenties I really would have been hanging my head in shame.
Yeah, 30 is way past the sell-by to be this obnoxiously self-centered.
@Elizabeth: Ya, and any parent that had to bring their child to work because they had no other option is unprofessional. Okay there slick!
Nevermind…keep talking. I find you mildly amusing.
that’s a great point, but on the other hand I am agnostic so I don’t give one rats ass about Jesus or the retarded notion of god.
@Cassandra: I am 30, have a loving girlfriend, no debt, volunteer at a food pantry and have a decent job that supports me just fine.
*raises head in pride*
Say it loud, he’s dumb and he’s proud!
Jesus, another episode of The Deep Thoughts of Brandon.
@hellkell: So feminists think I am dumb…I can live with that.
Yes Brandon, it is unprofessional to bring your child to court if you are an attorney. A SRL can get away with it because judges tend to be more forgiving of breaches of courtroom etiquette for them but not for attorneys who know better even if the attorney has a very good reason (like their nanny quit because she or he had to deal with you for longer then five minutes.)
Brandon, somehow I doubt it’s just the feminists. And you say feminist like it’s such a dirty, dirty word.
a white dude with a father in a position of power lives a cushy life where he never has to confront his total lack of self-awareness?
theres a word for that, but if i use it brandon will start screaming about feminist indoctrination and why cant we be more accommodating to the selfish man-children of the world
@Elizabeth: A nanny? HAHAHAHA, Yes…I also had a personal chef and a chauffeur. HAHAHAHA
oh god, the laughter is just too much.
Sharculese: does that word start with a “P?”
@hellkell
it might. i cant be more specific because it might make brandon uncomfortable.
side note: seriously, i am stunned that anybody not name kardashian is still bragging about their daddy being a lawyer at age thirty
@hellkell: 1) feminist is a dirty word. 2) Ya, only knee jerk feminists call me dumb.
@sharculese: 1) I went to public school 2) I lived a middle class life 3) I never had a nanny or any thing cushy 4) I have been homeless
oh ya…5) My father has a middle class income because he choose to represent low income people (he is mainly a court appointed lawyer) instead of working for a big firm representing corporations and the rich and wealthy.
My life, while not miserable has been anything but cushy.
Not like this is the most important thing in the world, but this annoys me. Where Brandon started:
Where Brandon is now, after PFKAE pressed him on it:
So, it appears that “all the time” = an unscheduled, unavoidable emergency. Or Brandon’s not good at lying. Carry on, then.
“@Cassandra: I am 30, have a loving girlfriend, no debt, volunteer at a food pantry and have a decent job that supports me just fine.
*raises head in pride*”
Everyone else snickers.
Brandon, you are the one claiming that your father was so unable to arrange for care for his child that he had to bring that child to court with him. And this was often enough for you to be around judges “all the time.”
Now that means several things:
1. your mother did not stay home while you were a small child.
2. your parents were unable to arrange for you to stay at a day care.
3. your parents also were unable to arrange for you to have a nanny (probably for the very reason I stated.)
4. If your mother was around and working, her job was even less able to accommodate having a small child around.
Although I am still inclined towards the first view I had towards your extraordinary claim of being around judges all the time as a child because your father is an attorney-that you are lying and your father left you at home in the care of a nanny like most of the male attorneys who have working wives do here at this courthouse.
Wow, Brandon, all those accomplishments, however do you it?
You’d think being homeless may have spurred some empathy in him, but nope.
A 30 year old with a job and a girlfriend? What a strange and remarkable creature. Let us all gather round and view this wonder. Quick, someone call David Attenborough.
Oh and Brandon, the best friend of mine, who actually was around judges while growing up because his mother has been a judge since before he was born, is an attorney working for the county PD office making $57,000 a year. Almost all of his co-workers who have kids making the same amount as he does and they have nannies because they simply cannot make do with day care due to the time constraints of their job.
They also tend to be the ones without a lot of student loan debt but they do have nannies even though they are not making the ultra big dollars.
brandon, people who arent super rich can still have wealth privilege. if you grew up comfortably middle-class, you have privilege. i know it hurts your feelings to here this, but you are old enough to deal with it.
seriously, that was inane even by your normal standard of empty-headed navel gazing
@Bee:Umm. ..no.
Very rarely have I been dragged to court with him when I was younger. But being around my father, I got to know who his co-workers were. I knew everyone from the clerks, DA’s, the judges and other attorneys.
One of the rare times when I was dragged to court with him (he was punishing me, I was a bad 12 year old kid). The judge stopped the court and forced me to go up to his bench where only him and I could talk. He basically gave me the whole “if you don’t stop fucking around, you are going to be in here in front of me getting sentenced instead of me talking to you like I am now”.
It had to be one of the most important days of my life. It is probably why I hate the courts and refuse to do anything to go back there. So committing crimes and marriage are out for me. ;)
*shakes hands with Cassandra solemnly.*
So, I quote Brandon verbatim, and he responds, “Umm. ..no.” Are you still wondering why people think you lie, Brandon?
@hellkell: I am not looking to get a Noble Peace Prize or invent something amazing. I just want to earn enough to take care of myself, have my sexual needs met and have fun instead of being a corporate slave.
I have accomplished all those…so the rest of life is just a party.
Brandon, I’m truly moved by your story with the judge; so inspiring, so heartwarming, without a trace of banality. It’s such an after-school special, the youth totally need to see this.
guys.
one of the most traumatizing moments of brandons life was being told he had to behave like a human being.
sometimes the psychoanalysis writes itself.
Not a whole lot goes on in your head, does it? I imagine your subconscious to have the same flat clarity of a Normal Rockwell painting, only it depicts Thai child prostitutes and Ashley, giggling, always giggling. In the corner, the glint of a hidden lens.
Well then, Brandon, missionafuckingccomplished. Why are you here again?
‘i was a shitty, selfish asshole and my parents basically couldnt do anything except try to scare me straight. i blame the institution, not my shitty behavior. this is because i am a creep.’
*reads Brandon’s story and rolls her eyes*
Maybe Brandon was brought to court after being such a horrible snot that his father thought having a scary judge yell at him would be a great idea. That I can believe.
I cannot believe that he was around judges “all the time” even if his dad had a playpen in the office just special for him.
@Bee: You quoted this:
@hellkell: My father is an attorney, so when I was younger…I was around judges all the time.
You are assuming that I was around judges in court all the time. This is false since I met most of the clerks, DA’s and judges when my father was on his own time and not in court.
The Banality of Banality
Voip:
I see his subconscious as more of a Jeff Koons: trite, boring, and totally up its own ass.
Anyone notice Brandon has admitted to violating the law (smoking weed) and yet claims he never did anything that would land him back in front of the same judge who “scared him straight?”
The Tao of Brandon – A Meditation on the Theme of Brandon. By Brandon.
Brandon is making me wish for that Sarcastia font again. He’s no fun.
Oh and he just admitted his father was unethical as judges do not spend their free time with the attorneys they see in court outside of very limited (and child free) circumstances.
It is a violation of the judicial code of conduct.
So committing crimes and marriage are out for me.
Except for that one crime you were so keen on committing. Changed your mind about the hidden camera, have you?
Like in that scene in Being John Malkovitch, he’s gone into his own head so deep all that he sees is “Brandon? Brandon.” “Brandon brandon brandon.”