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By David Futrelle
UPDATE: DeVos met with MRAs Thursday; here’s what she told reporters afterwards.
The Trump administration has given a lot of fringe political weirdos a certain not-quite-legitimacy. We’ve seen “alt-lite” conspiracy slinger and bobblehead salesman Mike Cernovich given White House press credentials; meanwhile, Twitterbanned right-wing pseudo-journalist Chuck Johnson seems to have become entangled in one of the developing Trump/Russia collusion scandals, working at the behest of a longtime Republican donor (now deceased) who was apparently willing to drop big bucks to help Trump by somehow uncovering Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails.
Now a notorious Men’s Rights group — the National Coalition For Men — will be meeting with Education secretary Betsy DeVos to discuss the campus rape epidemic that MRAs claim doesn’t exist. DeVos will also be talking with rape survivors and college officials, but the fact that the NCFM will be part of the discussion is appalling, even by Trump administration standards.
Despite its long pedigree (it’s been around since 1977) and almost respectable-sounding name, the NCFM has, I would estimate, roughly as much legitimacy as a civil rights group as the Men’s Rights hate site A Voice for Men or the Men Going Their Own Way subreddit. Which is to say none.
Indeed, the NCFM site clutters its sidebars with videos from the likes of AVFM founder Paul Elam and antifeminist gadfly Girl Writes What, while the main page touts articles accusing feminism of destroying the family, suggesting campus “safe spaces” are “havens of misandry” and asking “is feminism killing young boys,” with the last article written by a regular contributor to AVFM.
The group has also won a certain notoriety in feminist circles for posting pictures of alleged “false accusers” on its website. I also ran across this lovely picture and caption on the NCFM site last year, illustrating a press release on Senator Patrick Leahy and the Violence Against Women Act.
As I noted at the time, “the Joker is [apparently] supposed to represent Leahy’s supposed feminist puppetmasters; regardless, it is a jarring image depicting violence against an elected official as somehow humorous.” If you can’t quote believe that a supposed civil rights group would run such a thing, well, make a quick visit to the group’s website; the picture is still up. (I’ve archived it here just in case.)
This is hardly the only time the NCFM or its officials have offered, well let’s just call them disconcerting takes on the issue of violence.
In an interview with Pacific Standard’s Ted Scheinman a couple of years ago, NCFM president Harry Crouch offered this take on Ray Rice, the (former) football player who knocked his then fiancée out cold with a punch famously caught on video.
I’m not saying he’s a good guy. But if she hadn’t aggravated him, she wouldn’t have been hit. They would say that’s blaming the victim. But I don’t buy it. And anyway football is always happy to put on pink suits to celebrate women. Why can’t they have a week, or just one day, where they celebrate men?
It’s no wonder that Jess Davidson of the group End Rape On Campus, told the HuffPost that she considers the NCFM a “hate group.”
“They have viciously and very intentionally harassed rape survivors online by exposing their identities and posting pictures of them,” Davidson told the HuffPost. “From our perspective, they really have no place in a conversation about civil rights.”
DeVos will also be meeting with representatives of the group Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE), a group the Southern Poverty Law Center once described as devoted to “roll[ing] back services for victims of domestic abuse and penalties for their tormentors, while working to return the focus to the ‘true victims of abuse’ — the falsely accused.”
SAVE has long worked hand-in-hand with hate site AVFM to fight for men they believe have been “falsely accused.”
The meeting is scheduled to take place July 13th.
It is not known if any bears or their representatives will be attending the meeting.
H/T — Thanks to everyone who sent me links on this story
Alan.
Pink, perfumed and a few quid more? Not even then.
@dslucia:
So true. I’ve lost track of the number of times that people have redirected me to a Carl Benjamin video as proof of their “scientific” witterings. It’s almost as if the concept of a peer-reviewed study published in a respectable journal doesn’t exist in their world.
Sigh. White boys can’t rational.
@Viscaria:
I just snerked hard enough that the person sitting in the train seat next to me just looked at me in alarm.
@Gussie Jives:
“Western” is one of these weird terms that changes meaning, often from one sentence to the next. Syria doesn’t count as “Western” but Steve Jobs, arguably Syria’s most successful son, does. It’s the rhetorical equivalent of a stage magician’s cloak.
I would buy patriarchy if it was pink and covered in glitter and kitten pics. I have a weak girly mind like that.
So, he linked to Roosh? The assertion that David is misrepresenting MGTOWs because Big D is totally reasonable and rational and so are all the MGTOW of YouTube is looking more and more and like bullshit.
@Alan Robertshaw
The reverse is certainly true: Feminism Proving Popular With Men After Being Re-Released In Tactical Matte Black.
Holy balls, one of those videos was The Great Unwiped himself?
Big Disappointment,
No, patriarchy didn’t “work”. It doesn’t work for anyone but the tip top of the hierarchy.
You’re going to complain about David’s posts on mgtows making you look bad and then expect us to listen to a rapist who wants to legalise rape as source supporting your ideal society? Shooting yourself in the foot much?
JS,
We’ve never seen a fully functiining democratic capitalist society either. I’m not saying there’s nothing in between capitalism and communism or that you’re saying capitalism is working. I just wanted to point it out.
Describe in a paragraph or two what genuine civilized patriarchy looks like.
Seconding WWTH’s request, and adding that you please remember to describe what it would look like for women as well as men. You lads tend to forget to describe what you think it would look like for women in favor of focusing on all the ways men would benefit from patriarchy 😉
@ opposablethumbs
well put!!
I concur… I have a job (a good one, with a good salary, benefits, health insurance, etc.), a comfortable home, My cis-het-white-male-ness entitles me to a lot of social perks and shields me from a lot of social ills, there are a decent number of attractive, younger women from whom I might chose a partner and, of course, it is MINE to chose, as the social order is heavily biased in favor of allowing me to be the chooser (even if my “choosing” takes the path of predation). Yeah, patriarchy works really well… for me….
Note, the above is really sarcasm, however, I could say the same without even a hint of irony, if I were to look at the society from a completely self-centered perspective.
Patriarchy has worked even better for those who are like me, only much wealthier. For the “rest” of the people, not so much.
I think Big Doofus has moved along, now, so I’m preaching to the choir, here….
Also, Big D-bag, I’m not converting to MGTOW. I have no interest in dominion or conquest (and I’ll not be made to grovel before those who do), so I have no interest in patriarchy, soft or otherwise.
Since that’s basically what the MGTOW reddit goes on about constantly, it’s unclear to me what D-bag’s beef is with quoting it.
LMFAO.
SofT PaTriarChY…WeSteRn CiVilizATion…
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/022/940/spongebobicon.jpg
@PoM:
I don’t think his problem is with what they say, so much as it’s with us daring to quote it. For some reason, internet assholes have this enormous collective hatred for anyone who dares to quote their own words back to them. Carl Benjamin is a superb example of this.
If I were forced to guess, I would say that it’s because it forces them to consider what they say before they say it, which is basically the same as taking away their frozen peaches.
@EJ
I don’t know. Unless I’m totally misreading his original few comments, his issue seemed to be that we were engaging with the MGTOW reddit instead of with such luminaries as Roosh. I don’t know. I could be wrong. It’s not like MGTOWs make sense or anything.
(OK, not exactly a reverse, but I had to do it.)
Patriarchy Proving Popular With Women After Being Re-Released In Soft Shiny Pink
A new report shows that more women than ever since the 1950s are happily wearing patriarchy, after the cultural shackle was re-released in a lady-friendly ‘soft shiny pink’ edition.
The re-branded patriarchy, which has a soft suede lining and girly pink exterior decorated with swarowski crystals, has been flying off the shelves and manufacturers say they are struggling to keep up with demand.
“I have to admit that I didn’t think patriarchy was for me,” explained woman Nelly Myers to Point & Clickbait as she filled her shopping cart with multiple pieces of patriarchy “for the girls”.
“I mean look at the name, ‘patri’-archy. Not e-‘gal’-itarianism. But I’m happy to admit that I was wrong. Patriarchy… is for women. It’s all connected like a leash. It’s about our control for the benefit of men, isn’t it? It’s so nice, now that somebody made it look girly and non-threatening.”
Owners of the soft shiny pink edition of patriarchy have been enjoying a new comfort of the illusion that they’re guaranteed a loving family, financial support, societal respect and protection from violence in exchange for flawless subservience. They also receive a small bag of bonbons.
“It’s a real warm fuzz,” commented newly-minted second-class citizen Christina Montgomery. “I’m only now coming to fully appreciate the way I can actively participate in an insidious system designed to oppress myself as well as other people based on imaginary social constructs.”
“I’m also looking so pretty, which owns.”
Oh, well done, AA!
Yep, that was another quality Arctic Ape offering, I agree. I lost it at the last line, in particular 😀
Thanks.
(bows, leaves stage)
A bit of a necro, but some okay-ish news: a group of 20 attorneys general have written De Vos to keep current guidelines on campus sexual assault in place.