Another elevator joke for you all:
So Pierce Harlan of the False Rape Society blog gets into an elevator ….
Well, OK, not a joke. In his latest post, Harlan offers a reaction, of sorts, to the whole atheist elevator incident –- by relating an anecdote of a recent elevator experience of his own.
EDITED TO ADD: Harlan has now deleted the post in question. It can still be seen, at least for now, in Google’s cache of the original page, which you can find here. Grab screenshots! Back to the story:
Seems he was riding a hotel elevator with a sweet old lady. Neither one said anything to the other (Harlan apparently hates talking to sweet old ladies) but when he got off the elevator – well, let’s let him explain:
I glanced back at her and saw that … she was immobilized with fear. In fact, she was practically cowering in the corner. Her eyes couldn’t have been wider if I had whipped out my dick and lathered it up with Grey Poupon. Hers was the face of utter, unbridled fear, and she was watching me like the scardest of scared deer. She said not a word but her demeanor practically pleaded, “Please don’t rape me, sir!”
Now, Harlan seems to have what you might call a taste for overstatement. He describes feminists as “screeching banshees” and “extremist loons allied with the sexual grievance industry.” I doubt he could describe a chicken-salad sandwich without resorting to angry hyperbole. (That was a little bit of overstatement on my part.) But let’s just assume that there is at least a kernel of truth here: this woman was creeped out by Harlan.
So what was Harlan’s response to this woman’s obvious discomfort?
[N]o one has more empathy for his fellow human beings than I do. The first thought that came to my mind in response to the obvious fear on the face of this pathetic, sweet looking, older woman — who probably never hurt anyone in her entire life — was fuck you!
Obviously we are supposed to ask just what it was that drove Harlan – the self-described world’s most empathetic man – to say something so seemingly callous? Well, as is usually the case with those we write about here, it all comes back to man-hating ladies and their male allies, with their evil insistence on sexual assault education (sorry, “indoctrination”) and their callous demands to “’take back the night,’ although the night has always been theirs.”(I don’t quite know what that means, but it sure sounds selfish of these women to want a whole extra night just for themselves.)
Ours is, Harlan says, “a culture marked by crass, hysterical fear-mongering about male sexual predation and violence.” (Evidently some guys haven’t gotten the memo on this.)
But all this evil misandry seems to have left poor Mr. Harlan in an uncharitable mood towards, well, almost everyone — though he directs his worst opprobrium at sweet old ladies.
Fuck them all. The paranoia of the woman in the elevator is her problem, not mine. Ironically, the elevator, the hotel itself, the car she rode in and the roads she rode on to get to the hotel were all undoubtedly conceived, designed, and built by men — men she’d fear just as much as me if they were standing in that elevator with her. I felt no guilt or shame or bewilderment over the fact that she fears me because of my birth class. Let her fear me. I can’t change it, and I have too much to do to worry about it.
And maybe, just maybe, it’s good that some people fear us. Maybe we should exult in the power we wield by reason of their paranoia. One thing I know: I will never do anything to alleviate their paranoia. In fact, I’m just fine with it, thank you very much. If someday, my riding the elevator causes some old woman to have a heart attack, that, too, is not my problem. Blame it on a culture that I don’t approve of. Blame on sweet looking, older women who give in to the paranoia.
Truly the world’s most empathetic man.
Harlan goes on to talk briefly about the Rebecca Watson elevator incident. Needless to say, he adds nothing interesting to the discussion.
That’s because they are the only women who don’t frighten him.
SERENITY NOW!
Shora’s right. You’re just replacing the word “bitch” with “Her Holy Highness”, which for you, to all intents and purposes, means the same thing. That’s defeating the point of the exercise.
I am Your Holy Highness right now. 😉
The old woman wouldn’t have shamed me. She has a right to be afraid, and I have an equally legitimate right to not give a shit. I don’t mind her. But it’s feminists that shame me. Men are taught to be “people-pleasers” (or more accurately “women-pleasers”) and basically told by much of society (partially as a result of feminist morality) to always put women’s needs first, presumably because they’re more important. Men must always make themselves available for women, and cater to their needs, and ignore their own supposedly less important wants and desires.
This leads to men being told, paradoxically, by feminists, it’s THEIR fault if a woman walks into an elevator and has a problem with their very existence. They are meant to alter THEIR behavior (presumably by, I guess, just avoiding these situations entirely, as Fuck MRAs, caseymordred, and other feminists like Marcotte have said in not so many words). Fuck that. I will not make myself invisible, and I have as much right to use the elevator with impunity. In fact, I might ride it up and down five times, just for the fuck of it.
They are meant to alter THEIR behavior (presumably by, I guess, just avoiding these situations entirely, as Fuck MRAs, caseymordred, and other feminists like Marcotte have said in not so many words).
In other words, they haven’t said that.
Uh, Caseymordred isn’t an actual feminist. He was trolling.
@MRAL:
I’ma just leave this here then.
“The old man wouldn’t have shamed me. He has a right to be afraid, and I have an equally legitimate right to not give a shit. I don’t mind him. But it’s masculists that shame me. Women are taught to be “people-pleasers” (or more accurately “men-pleasers”) and basically told by much of society (partially as a result of masculist morality) to always put men’s needs first, presumably because they’re more important. Women must always make themselves available for men, and cater to their needs, and ignore their own supposedly less important wants and desires.
This leads to women being told, paradoxically, by masculists, it’s THEIR fault if a man walks into an elevator and has a problem with their very existence. They are meant to alter THEIR behavior (presumably by, I guess, just avoiding these situations entirely, as Fuck MRAs, caseymordred, and other masculists like Marcotte have said in not so many words). Fuck that. I will not make myself invisible, and I have as much right to use the elevator with impunity. In fact, I might ride it up and down five times, just for the fuck of it.”
“Men must always make themselves available for women, and cater to their needs, and ignore their own supposedly less important wants and desires.”
You are incredibly old fashioned and sexist if you really believe this.
That’s not actually true, though.
@MRAL:
You’ve never wanted a woman to conform to your expectations about how to behave? You’ve never blamed a girl for not being kind enough to a guy? You’ve never expected a woman to put your social needs before her (unknown) wants and desires? Really now…
She has a right to be afraid, and I have an equally legitimate right to not give a shit.,
But… that’s what I said o_O
This leads to men being told, paradoxically, by feminists, it’s THEIR fault if a woman walks into an elevator and has a problem with their very existence. They are meant to alter THEIR behavior (presumably by, I guess, just avoiding these situations entirely, as Fuck MRAs, caseymordred, and other feminists like Marcotte have said in not so many words).
Casey Mordred was a poe troll (which means he was pretending to be an extreme parody of a self-flagellating man). Ppl were saying that if you hit on a woman in an enclosed space at 4am, they might find it concerning and not be amenable to it… they didn’t say you had no right to be in an elevator o_O
Read my comment I said before, which you were okay w/… that’s basically what everybody here believes :] You can do WHATEVER you want, the point is that OTHER ppl are human beings too and may have thoughts/reactions of their own (like how previously, you were put off by somebody not responding to your greeting) and if you don’t care.. then.. who cares!?
Maybe 10000s of ppl think you’re creepy EVERY DAY, or maybe they don’t xD If they’re not assaulting you… and if you want to do the things you want to do.. then… awesome xD
Of course it’s not true. Anyone who thinks it’s true is a moron!
I don’t, joanna, I’m saying that’s what FEMINISTS want. They ARE old-fashioned when you really get down to it, but they frame their wants very differently than conservatives. Instead of having men they KNOW, individually, treat them specially, they want the SYSTEM to treat them specially- the GOVERNMENT, SOCIAL ETIQUETTE, STRANGERS on the street. It’s a subtle distinction, but an important one.
Just for fun….
what msgs (if any) do you believe women and girls growing up get from society about how to behave and limitations on what a “good girl” does, and etc? :]
Men’s Rights Activist Lieutenant | July 18, 2011 at 8:43 pm
I don’t, joanna, I’m saying that’s what FEMINISTS want. They ARE old-fashioned when you really get down to it, but they frame their wants very differently than conservatives. Instead of having men they KNOW, individually, treat them specially, they want the SYSTEM to treat them specially- the GOVERNMENT, SOCIAL ETIQUETTE, STRANGERS on the street. It’s a subtle distinction, but an important one.
o_O In… what way?
Which feminists believe this? o_O We’re feminists here… are we lying to you?
Kirby, there’s a difference between thinking that people (not just women) have an obligation to be polite, and that men and only men have an obligation to go out of their way to accomodate the disgust a a Her Holy Highness feels at his very presence.
“Which feminists believe this?” The extreme ones. They exist alright. I’m all for equal rights, but expecting superiority over the opposite sex is ridiculous.
How are these statements any different?
Once again, I think you’re missing the point.
@Joanna yeah I know xD but he’s referring to “feminists” in general… so I’m wondering… which ones in particular he’s reading that he’s representing us w/ o_O
One phrase has the word bitch, one doesn’t.
Feminists – Amanda Marcotte and her crew. Valenti and her crew. Schwyzer the asshole. Etc.
Like it or not, they are the new faces of the myvement.
So they represent feminists? o_O I notice they’re all white…
you and my womanist friends may get along pretty good actually…
so what am I? o_O (and how come Hugo is feminism when I’ve never heard of him? Who determines who represents feminism? o_O )
“Her Holy Highness” means “bitch”. There’s no functional difference between the phrases.
If your therapist said you shouldn’t be using negative terminology, I fail to see how doing a find and replace with a barely-veiled euphemism is following through on that.
Am I a “your holy highness” MRAL? :3
Also… so if Marcotte says… something… therefore when you say “feminists say…. XYZ” then you mean her? :3 What if Marcotte and Valenti say 2 different things? o_O
Skepchick isn’t there at all… so when you say feminists, you do not refer to her? :3
@ MRAL: Okay, I understand what you’re trying to say.
“The old woman wouldn’t have shamed me. She has a right to be afraid, and I have an equally legitimate right to not give a shit. I don’t mind her.”
Okay then. I’m glad you admit that there are some people who have a right to be scared. There are also some people who have been bullied, or mugged, or raped, or had any one of those happen to someone they know, and they also have a right to be scared. This doesn’t mean that you have to give a shit. Just be aware that there could be reasons for them feeling the way they do besides “ugh I hate MRAL and people like him”.
“But it’s feminists that shame me.”
Which feminists? Us? We insult you a lot, but that’s because of the things you say, not because you exist.
“This leads to men being told, paradoxically, by feminists, it’s THEIR fault if a woman walks into an elevator and has a problem with their very existence. They are meant to alter THEIR behavior (presumably by, I guess, just avoiding these situations entirely”
No, actually. If you scare people and *want* to do something to scare them less, feminists have advice for you. That advice is never “don’t exist” because that would be sexist and horrible. It’s “if you’re doing something hostile and scary then quit it, if you aren’t then just accept that sometimes people are afraid of other people, and don’t take it personally.”
“I will not make myself invisible, and I have as much right to use the elevator with impunity. In fact, I might ride it up and down five times, just for the fuck of it.”
You do that, MRAL. It’s cheaper than a carousel, and you even get music sometimes. Just don’t abandon it when you’re thirty for a beta escalator.