Is War Machine, the mixed martial arts fighter accused of brutally beating his ex, a Men’s Rights Activist?
The “hero” the Men’s Rights movement deserves?
If the Men’s Rights movement is looking for a celebrity endorser, I think I’ve found just the guy for them: the mixed martial arts fighter, and erstwhile porn actor, War Machine, currently sitting in jail on charges of brutally beating and attempting to kill his ex-girlfriend, porn star Christy Mack.
Men’s Rights activists should be able to look past these criminal charges; after all, as they remind us all the time, women are forever falsely accusing innocent men of all sorts of terrible things.
And in so many ways War Machine is perfect for them. An MMA fighter, he’s already only one letter away from being an MRA. A misogynistic asshole with rage issues, he’ll have no trouble fitting in with the Men’s Rights crowd. And, especialy important for a movement that has a lot of trouble getting any good PR, he’s a bit more comfortable on camera than the Paul Elams and Dean Esmays of the world, with experience on television (on the reality show The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra), and in seven films (albeit pornographic ones).
Best of all: he’ll need no ideological education from what A Voice for Men likes to call Fuck Shit Up University. War Machine – real name Jonathan Koppenhaver – is already an outspoken proponent of many of the Men’s Rights Movement’s core beliefs.
Consider these selections from a little Men’s Rights manifesto War Machine wrote a few years ago during a previous stint behind bars, serving time for felony assault after two bloody bar fights. His rant, which a friend posted to the internet, would fit right in with the sort of stuff we’ve seen regularly posted on the Men’s Rights subreddit, or The Spearhead, or A Voice for Men. I’ve bolded some of the Men’s Rightsiest bits:
The oppression of MEN is worse than oppression of Jews in Nazi germany, worse than the slavery of Blacks in early America…
There has always been the oppressor and always the oppressed. Before, it was blatant … NOW the oppressor has learned to disguise his evil. You can see man, but you can not see MEN. How easy it is to oppress a minority that is invisible to the eye! How genius of the oppressor! And what a better target too! …
Men challenge injustice from Government, MEN fight for their Constitutional rights, that are slowly being taken away every year. …
And they don’t just oppress us by making more laws and taking away more freedom, they are far more clever than that! Ask yourself what your REAL dream was?? If you gave up on this dream, why? Because of the brainwashing of the Government, that’s why! They taught you to “play it safe.” They told us a responsible man has ONE wife, a house, good credit, good job, and kids. How are you supposed to chase your dreams while maintaining all of that!?
Men are supposed to take risks and be aggressive! What accomplishments have ever come of a man scared to risk it all!? None!? Where would the world be? Still ‘flat!’ Still ‘Earth at the center of the universe!’
If any of you have your Men’s Rights Bingo cards out, I’m guessing you might already be close to scoring a bingo. We’ve got a comparison to slavery that could have come straight from the pages of A Voice for Men, a marriage-is-death-to-male-dreams rant that could have been borrowed from any MGTOW forum, and an evo-psych-esque argument that men are the true risk-takers and the world’s real innovators.
And I don’t think War Machine would have much trouble with Paul Elam’s “Bash a Violent Bitch Month,” either.
[I]t’s Christmas day and I’m laying in my bunk wondering “Why in the hell do American men get married!?” … If your wife is being a bitch you can’t slap her, if your wife is yelling at you, God forbid you yell back … Next thing you know it will be illegal to fuck your wife! LMAO! Maybe then, MEN in this country will get the fucking hint and MOVE! This country forces you to be a bitch!
In another online posting, War Machine touched on another Men’s Rights hobbyhorse, the notion that the justice system is stacked against men:
[L]ook at the prisons, they are FULL of MEN, not women. Are men “evil” and women not? Or do the laws target and attempt to restrict NATURAL MEN’S BEHAVIOR? How many of the HEROES in American history would avoid prison if they lived today? Davey Crockett? Thomas Jefferson? David Bowie? General Grant & General Lee? Shit, George Washington. … Laws target MEN and men’s behavior. Women want to bitch and cry about their rights and equality… LMAO! MEN are the ones locked away like animals, while women run free!
Someone might have to explain to War Machine that David Bowie is not actually a famous American HERO but a famously androgynous British musician who once recorded an album called “Heroes.” (Mr. Machine may be thinking of James Bowie, a well-known 19th century American frontiersman and slave trader, and the guy the Bowie Knife is named after.)
But other than that, he seems ready to go.
There is, of course, that whole attempted murder charge to deal with.
It’s true the Men’s Rights Movement has had few problems in the past rallying behind men with histories of violence. But War Machine might be a harder sell as a Men’s Rights hero. His alleged attack on Mack left her with a cracked rib, a ruptured liver, numerous broken bones, missing teeth and her eyes swollen shut. (See here for photos of her injuries; obviously this link is NSFW and could be triggering.)
While Mr. Machine denies attacking Mack, he joked to a TV host last year that if she were to leave him “I would just kill her” and get a tattoo saying “Rest In Peace” above the tattoo of her name he has on his neck.
And several hours after allegedly trying to murder her, War Machine tweeted this lovely message about his ex:
War Machine does seem to be at a low point in his life. Even aside from the charges he faces, and the time he seems likely to serve, his career in porn is almost certainly over. The “Alpha Male” clothing line he helped start wants nothing to do with him. Nobody but the prison system seems to want this guy.
In other words: Men’s Rights activists, this is your chance! War Machine may not be the, er, hero you want. But he’s certainly the hero you deserve.
Posted on August 21, 2014, in a voice for men, alpha males, antifeminism, domestic violence, entitlement, excusing abuse, incoherent rage, men created civilization, men invented everything, men who should not ever be with women ever, MGTOW, misogyny, MRA, paul elam, post contains sarcasm, reactionary bullshit, red pill, violence and tagged anti-feminism, antifeminism, christy mack, domestic violence, men's rights, misogyny, MRA, red pill, violence against women, war machine. Bookmark the permalink. 1,454 Comments.
@Nova If the opportunity arises, please mention that lots of people who do not know her are wishing her well. If that…I’d hate to intrude, but, we do.
While it’s clear to me that Gawker threads often become overrun with self-identified MRAs, I was startled by just how many people flocked to the original Gawker thread reporting on this story to surmise that “she must have been cheating on him” and of course, that lovely chestnut, “what did she expect, going out with a guy like that.”
I wish people would be honest with what they mean by ‘masculinity’. They must clearly know that lots and lots of people do not conflate ‘masculinity’ with violence and rape yet they use it as a handy shield to explain their shitty behaviour. If you know what you’re doing is wrong at least be honest about it!
That “terrorize” comment makes me wish my vagina came with a built in zip and padlock.
omg Dawkins has inserted foot in mouth AGAIN. What is that mans problem?
Oh, I guess it must be a day ending in “y”.
I guess this POS didn’t count on some men having the dream of putting away scum like him. There is nothing natural about his behavior.
This creep doesn’t get to decide who history’s (or today’s) heroes are for everyone, and mine are ALL the men and women who have worked tirelessly throughout history trying to make this world a better place serving, making, and creating to achieve that goal; not the hyper aggressive land stealers, rapists, warmongers, and those who enslaved along with all the greedy scumbags.
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..
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This guy was an MMA fighter/ adult movie actor. How is any of that playing it safe. Did he used to be a librarian? What on earth was he talking about?
Gilshalos: I will. I’m going to pass on a message through someone I know when he’s back in town next week and I’ll be sure ti mention it. There’s also an option to send hugs through the Give Forward link and attach a message. With all of the horrible shit being spewed about this, its uplifting to see some genuine support for her.
This article was posted and it’s a great read http://thoughtcatalog.com/harris-omalley/2014/08/why-you-should-care-about-the-beating-of-christy-mack/
This hits on two fronts: The dehumanization of sex workers and the victim blaming of DV victims. Christy is getting both right now and its disgusting. And triggering as fuck.
As to the why Dawkins is attempting yet another self-pedicure via teeth, my guess would be 100% pure petulance. He really doesn’t like being told to knock it off.
He is master of the nonpology though:
“My phraseology may have been tactlessly vulnerable to misunderstanding, but I can’t help feeling that at least half the problem lies in a wanton eagerness to misunderstand.”
So so many nasty fools.
Dude really needs an editor, as well as a conscience.
His problem is that he refuses to understand that his words have wider consequences than his intentions. Any criticism of the context of his words is taken to be criticism of the logic he uses.
I dunno, I remember when Pat Condell was celebrated for speaking out forcefully against religion, particularly Islam. That was before he kept speaking and people realized he was against Islam not because of a general secularist ideal, but because of racism.
Seems to me that people like these get famous for having the nerve to speak bluntly and harshly, and having the personality that keeps them speaking out. Which is great when you agree with what they’re saying, but is insufferable when you don’t. Dawkins reacts to valid feminist complaints the same way he reacts to invalid religious complaints.
This piece of shit needs to be in prison. He’s just an all around terrible human being. I dunno if he’ll ever “come around” or “learn” anything from this but when I learned of his MRA leanings last night, boy was I seething. I also predicted that David would post something about it. And he did! Not that it’s anything to celebrate, but it does feel kind of good to rail against this human monstrosity.
FUTURE MOST TERRIFYING GYM IN THE WORLD.
I do hope he and his buddies call it ALPHA MALE SHIT GYM so the right people know to stay away.
Also, fuck Dawkins. I’m tired of his smarter-than thou, smarminess. He’s an asshole and an eyesore to atheists like me.
Most people do not conflate masculinity with violence and rape.
Praise jeebus.
We could aim for maximum inclusivity and agree to praise Bootsy instead.
Add me to the atheists who agree with you. And fuck Condell too: he’s just a plain racist.
@damselindetech:
I honestly don’t know. If he hadn’t capitalized “ONE wife,” then I guess he could be arguing that societal pressure to settle down and take on a bunch of responsibilities got in the way of his dreams. That’s… misguided, but much more reasonable.
With the capitalization, I can only imagine part of his dream is a harem, a dream that apparently every single man has.
I am sorry, I must abstain from the cult of Bootsy. I follow another cat. ShopKat.
Every time Dawkins says something awful I wonder how many other atheists are sitting there feeling like they’re at a wedding and that one embarrassing uncle that every family seems to have has just made a pass at all 5 bridesmaids, threw up on the flowers and then passed out face-down in the punchbowl.
Who is this ShopKat rival of Booty? I am open to polytheism as long as it involves cats.
There’s no reason why the Cult of Bootsy can’t have other deities and patron saints!
Cassie, good to see more like-minded atheists! Not ALL atheists! hehehehe
Nobody deserves a physical attack, and given his MMA fighter background, he would have known he was easily able to do terrible injuries to another person. Where is the MMA in all of this, how can they ethically justify creating “stars” like this who don’t have the psychological ability to control their physical side? They mold people like him, they have culpability in this.
And this would be a fine time for an MRA to fucking own their shit. No, owning your shit does NOT mean blaming a woman for her own abuse.
Hells bells, he ruptured her liver, among other injuries. He laid into her like she was a punching bag.
@ cassandrakitty – “and then passed out face-down in the punchbowl.”
And how is it that they never manage to drown themselves? HOW?
Also, All praise Bootsy and ShopKat! And Maru!
I just hope we don’t have a repeat of the “you can’t tell men not to hit women, that’s patronizing” bullshit in this thread, because the thickness of my patience could be measured in nanoparticles right now.
Also praise Saint Hana of the Tailchasing.
Good too see you too, Redpoppy! NAAALT!
BTW, Cassie is the Feline Ruler (Black Bombay) of the apartment, and I am only her chief of staff and most humble servant, may I be found worthy.
You are being highly illogical cassandrakitty. The dawkingsbot would not approve. *beep beep boop*
http://www.stonekettle.com/2009/07/conversation-with-my-cat.html
I believe there’s room to praise multiple deities-jeebus, bootsy, ceiling cat, etc.
I liked Dawkins’ books that I’ve read so far, but Dawkins himself is a twerp.
*eyes that photo*
OK, that was posted as another link…
MMA is not responsible for this. The only one who holds culpability is the asshole who beat her.
Do you suppose we could sic the Daleks on the Dawkingsbot? That’s one fight to the death that I would pay to see!
Not if the pro-Dawkins commenters on Raw Story are any indication. They’re blatantly lying about what he said. “He didn’t tell anyone what to do!” Um, yes, he did and then he passed moral judgment on those who wouldn’t abort.
MMA is culpable in the way that martial arts dojos who continue to train guys who get into fights are culpable.
With Dawkins, the more surprising day would be the one in which he doesn’t taste his own toes.
Sad admission: High school me idolized Dawkin’s a bit, because I was only reading the sciencey books and hadn’t started seriously delving into both peer reveiwed papers and Dawkin’s non-biology nonsense. Then I got to college, and started spending more time on the internet and more time with journals… and his social nastiness left a bad aftertaste.
Dawkins, please try to go a month without having a peanut butter and toe-jam sandwich for lunch. Please?
The Furrinati Pantheon (Trademark pending) will have room for thousands of kitty gods!
@contrapangloss: some of Dawkins’ biology stuff is nonsense too. He played fast and loose with some references, so that studies he cited as evidence for some things actually showed the opposite results to how he was using them.
So I don’t trust his biology either.
Has anyone tried to get Dawkins removed from Twitter for not abiding by community rules?
One, the latter was what he was likely there to do.
Two,he really believes she belongs to him, and how dare she steal his property?
Fuck Dawkins. He’s a stain on the face of atheism. And FUCK this asshole here, who thought it okay to brutalize a woman because he saw her as his property. And FUCK all those shitstains on humanity who are engaging in victim blaming and denigrating sex workers. Seriously, FUCK THAT.
Does anyone remember that horrible abortion debacle? Trying to “reason logically” that if fetal pain was present, it would trump the woman’s right to choose. Or some such nonsense. He played fast and loose with some biology right there. Ignoring the most recent studies about “fetal pain” being bullshit. Yet he used it as an “argument.” Some great big smart-maker he is.
It’s a slippery slope. Once we blame MMA and associations involved in it, it opens the door to things like blaming a car dealership for selling a car to someone with a previous DUI, who gets wasted and kills someone. Or a dancer who dances for someone who later commits rape. Or… a lot of things.
I would like to see organizations sanction fighters who get in assault related trouble, but still don’t see them as culpable in this situation.
For someone who blames religion for making its followers into unquestioning drones, he really does need his own unquestioning drones as followers.
Oh, if only he were the only one. It’s more like having the kind of relatives that cause you to decide not to having a wedding at all because in order to stomach their company you’d have to get so drunk you’d pass out in the punch bowl.
Nova: I disagree. You can hold him entirely accountable for his abuse, and hold MMA accountable for shaping and training him into a person who was more easily able to abuse.
People are the product of who they associate with. He’s a longtime misogynist arsehole, the MMA would have known (any of these sorts of organisations make it their business to know, in great detail, about the personal life of their employees/associates because PR) about his abusive tendencies, and yet they continued to retain him.
You can’t fix an environmental problem through dealing with people as though they are independent individuals.
redpoppy,
I’d forgotten that one.
I really, really dislike that man.
In other news, has anyone seen AVFM’s new mission statement? I hope David posts about that because I seriously need to rant about it.
Lea, me too. Ugh.
Re Twitter bans, am I right in reading this as meaning that you can only get people for sexism, racism, etc, if it’s directed at a single person or organisation – but if it’s directed generally (learn to think, etc) then it isn’t going against the Twitter rules? https://support.twitter.com/articles/20169997#
@pallygirl, I’d noticed. That realization came with finally starting to read peer reviewed papers, and being really, really surprised.
College was a bit of a rude (but oh, so needed) wake-up call.
Question – how common is steroid use in MMA? If it is tolerated then we can certainly hold them responsible for that.
My feeling about martial arts and people like this guy is that individual teachers should actively try to identify students with this sort of personality and kick them out of their classes. My old teacher kicked out a student who he just thought drank too much on the principle that it showed him to be “undisciplined”, so I don’t see any good reason for continuing to teach someone who you know or suspect is going to misuse the training you’re giving them.
“Terrorize”???
Yeah, I can’t imagine why she’s not his wife anymore.
PS: Cassandra, are there any Wen-Do classes being offered near you? It’s self-defence for women only, but it’s martial-arts based. I wish I could go again, but the nearest ones are probably being held in Toronto and Kingston, both of which are more than an hour’s train ride away. Wish I could have the Karate Kid’s luck and run into a wise, kind, BS-free “Mr. Miyagi” around here…
@ Bina
I’m not sure, but if I do get off my ass and do something I’ll most likely be looking for a kung fu class, since I liked it before.
I’ve considered trying kendo, too, since I used to do fencing and liked it but would prefer something a bit more physically taxing, so if anyone has done kendo and has feels about it, want to share?
Because the punchbowl is invariably empty when that happens. And invariably, it is they who emptied it.
Cassandra: I would suspect that its extremely common and it was one of my first thoughts. Steriods have some pretty fucked up side effects.
Pallygirl: I think we’re pretty close to agreeing. The MMA made a huge mistake in continuing to allow him to fight sanctioned matches after his previous assault convictions. However… even if he was shunned and not able to fight MMA, this world has no shortage of shitbag, ‘roid raging assholes. Also, the MMA doesn’t cultivate and train the fighters. They train, they compete in local, low level events and then move up to higher profile matches, if they’re successful. All that MMA can do is ban him from fighting, not bar him from training.
@pallygirl:
I saw the pictures. :( I wish I had some spare money to put in her medical fund, since things are kind of tight aroud here. And speaking of punching bags, the only companions assholes like this should have are punching bags…actual punching bags from the sporting goods store. At least they’d only be hurting themselves. :angry:
Oh boy, what did Dawkins do this time?
Oh no, what did Dawkins say now? I swear, he gets worse every time he talks. I suppose that’s what happens when you have a bunch of ardent supporters that will defend every stupid thing you say, though. Thunderf00t is the YouTube equivalent and I wish he would disappear, ESPECIALLY if he’s going to open his big fat mouth about this story…
@Nova: I can only imagine the tantrum he may have thrown if they HAD banned him from fighting. It’s a double-edged sword, I think…
@Lee and sorceressensorcelled:
This. Basically after a discussion on twitter about Downs Syndrome, he basically tweeted that not aborting a fetus known to have Downs Syndrome given the opportunity is immoral.
For everyone wondering what Dawkins said this time, here you go. Trigger warning: Eugenics, and sanctimony, and general fuckuppery.
Oh, so now he’s on a eugenics kick? Classy. :P
The guy was a time bomb, according to people who knew him. Who knows what would have happened if he was banned from cage fighting. Apparently, when he was caught, if was because a hotel guest called 911, because he was beating up yet another woman.
Prison for life. That’s all that’s going to stop him.
Whoops, ninja’d.
@Bina:
No worries, your link actually gives more context on the inevitable Dawkins Double-Down.
I’m absolutely shocked* that Dawkins thought people were taking issue with the idea that fetuses with Downs Syndrome should be aborted at all, rather than him classifying one option as immoral.
*Note: not shocked in the slightest
Okay, is MMA being used as a parallel to “baseball” or to “the MLBA”? There’s a bit of a difference there, and it’s worth noting.
The sport, itself, can be reasonably claimed to be blameless. However, once you get to the arena of ruling bodies and even organized fandoms, then there is logic behind a guilt-by-association claim. A ‘no felons’ rule for a violent sport seems to me to be a no-brainer; the fact that this is not the case is an issue. Likewise, if a fighter is a known violent felon, and the fanbase still supports his appearances (buying tickets and merchandise, or using the training facilities that bear his name), that’s another black-mark against the community as a whole. Finally, it’s worth examining the fanzines, blogs and the like–do they use a lot of the same alpha male/patriarchal language? If so… again, it’s worth noting and calling out. (See also: Gamer culture.)
Yup…me neither. At this point, I think we can all stop calling him Richard and just go with DICK.
*rages* DAWKINS!!!!!!
This is not a good week for politics and blood pressure. Just saw that Kevin Sorbo, fresh off of making stupid comments about atheists, has now made horrifying comments about Ferguson.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/21/actor-kevin-sorbo-ferguson-unrest-let-black-protesters-be-the-animals-they-truly-are/