Stop the presses! Noted counter-feminist bloviator Fidelbogen has an announcement: He no longer wants to be known as an MRA. In a shocking and stunning post on his blog, Mr. Bogen informs us:
I am an agitator against feminism, and in favor of a Male Renaissance.
But I am not an “MRA”.
That is not a word which I apply to myself as a label. I formerly did, but I no longer do.
He likes these one-sentence paragraphs.
But why, oh, why would you turn your back on those three little initials, Fidelbogen?
That word has picked up more baggage than I can honestly claim to be carrying. I mean that it has picked up other people’s baggage. And it would place an unwanted burden on me personally, to carry a shitload of baggage which I do not own — or which is worse, to have other people assume that I am carrying such baggage.
Huh, what kind of baggage might that be? Could it be that MRAs have picked up the “baggage” of being labeled a bunch of histrionic woman-hating angry dudes – perhaps because ( I would hypothesize) so many of those calling themselves MRAs just happen to be historionic woman-hating angry dudes.?
But what shall we call you now, oh Man Who Will Not Be Called an MRA? He’s got some suggestions:
A counter-feminist….
A non-feminist. . .
An activated non-feminist. . .
These are his actual suggestions; I swear I’m not making them up.
A non-feminist partisan. . .
A partisan of the non-feminist sector. .
A pro-male agitator. . .
A pro-male partisan. . .
And last but not least:
A Male Renaissance Agitator. . .
Uh, really? Male Renaissance Agitator? Mr. Bogen, I hate to break it to you, but “Male Renaissance Agitator” has the exact same set of initials as “Men’s Rights Activist.” In other words, you want us to stop calling you an MRA, and start calling you an … MRA?
[I]f you still insist on calling me an ‘MRA’, it is in contravention to my own stated wishes.
But you just said to call you a Male Renaissance Agitator!
It’s the SAME THREE INITIALS.
But Fidelbogen is off and running again:
I invite others to crystallize around the suggested list of terms above, in order to create a distinct brand that will gradually come to be differentiated from the ‘MRA’ brand. We ought to create many, MANY such distinct brands if we wish to claim the liberty of the non-feminist sector.
Or for short: the Liberty of the Sector.
The what of the who?
Fidelbogen imagines a glorious future for this new brand of activism:
Some day, I hope to organize “Non-Feminist Be-ins” at such venues as college campuses. It might be nothing more than a crowd of silent people at some popular location, standing stock still like the guards at Buckingham Palace and wearing identical t-shirts that say, “I am not a feminist”. And maybe holding up signs, too.
Yeah, the signs and the shirts would be nice touches. Otherwise you’ll just look like a bunch of dudes waiting for the bus.
Does anyone want to think of more things to call the guys who now call themselves MRAs?
Let’s make it a little game. It has to be three words. Double your points if it can be acronymized into MRA. Triple points if it’s an anagram of Men’s Rights Activist. No using terms that already exist, like Magnetic Resonance Angiography, Maritime Reconnaissance Aircraft, Michigan Restaurant Association, or Magneto-Resistive Asymmetry.
Men Raving Annoyingly?
More Ridiculous Asshattery?
Manly Robogirl Admirers?
The bit about the Renaissance may be more apt than he knows since feminist historian JOan Kelly and others have argued that the the movement to limit women’s rights started with the “Renaissance”: http://www.duke.edu/web/rpc/country_and_city/women2.html
Other than that, I think if your only way to define your activism is against something else, then it’s pretty pathetic. And does he really think a bunch of men and a few women going around calling themselves any of those terms won’t generate a shitload of baggage quicker than a bear in the woods?
OTOH, I’m thinking Malrenag would be a pretty good name for a villain: see how it rolls off the tongue! MALRENAG! MIGHTLY MALRENAG!
Activism according to MRAs: getting outside with matching clothes saying they dislike a group of people, and wait. Because that’s totally what feminists did, and now they rule the world. Nothing could go wrong with this plan.
I’m trying to determine whether it’s worse or better than their previous form of activism (trolling feminist blogs)
@Seraph
Well, how about Misogynists Rights Advocate? Same initials, more honest!
I am fully supportive of this plan to have all anti-feminists wear shirts identifying them as such. It will make them far easier to avoid.
Though I am not on board with the fact that regardless of how this event turned out, he would see it as a victory. If no one or almost no one shows up, he’d take it as evidence of feminist control and ant-feminist marginalization, further his persecution complexes. If lots of people show up, it will be a sign to him that his misogyny movement is gaining ground and has many supporters. It’s like what conservatives do with the “moral majority” vs “take America back”. Which is it, do you already have it or do you need to get it back?
And because I have a horrible cheesy sense of humor at times:
There’s an A. P. P. for that.
(If there were an app for that, it would probably connect you to facebook’s pro-rape pages).
‘Be-ins’. Groovy.
Way to non-conform to the touchy-feely, psychobabble culture of the manginalized mainstream, dude. Feel the testosterone at the be-ins! Do you offer hug therapy too?
(Hey, I just noticed that there’s only one letter’s difference between ‘marginalized’ and ‘manginalized’. Any MRAs – sorry, I mean MRAs – can feel free to use that if they want.)
Masculinity Reclamation Agent.
Also, disclosure: MRA. Or at least in that general vicinity. I just drop by from time to time because Mr. Futrelle’s writing can be quite entertaining (sincere, not sarcastic).
@Hershel
You obviously underestimate the power of their manly brains!
He can call himself the king of Neptune for all I care. His words show that he is an MRA, though. Sorry for the cliche, but if he walks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then he’s a men’s rights activist with all the baggage that entails. His idea isn’t even that original. Plenty of MRA trolls claim they’re not MRA’s, and then spend all their time arguing the standard MRA talking points.
MRA Acronyms
1. Men Rationalizing Abuse
2. Men Ranting Anonymously
3. Martian Rocket Alligators (Sorry I ran out of ideas.)
Oh, I’m totally willing to believe he isn’t a MRA. I just don’t give a shit, because he’s still a misogynist.
I suggest “Misogynistic Reactionary Asshole”.
I know it contains elements others have already covered, but it’s the first thing I thought of.
Mostly Ridiculous Assertions
Malicious Raging Anger
Misinformed Reasoning Advocate
Maybe I’m reaching here. I’ll let you all be the judge.
Male Rape Apologist
There was, for a good many years, a gentleman who would come to the major winter event in our area (held on or near Valentine’s Day) wearing pink satin Elizabethan court grab – complete with slashed sleeves and balloon pants over tights – with Cupid wings and a stuffed elephant codpiece. I’ve heard tell that he rigged the trunk to shoot water at any gentles who looked too long or too close, but I was never so rude as that.
Misogynists Rewriting Abuse. Miscast Reality Advocates.
“Me Right Always!”
“Maladapted, Revolting, Asinine”
I am totally stealing “Martian Rocket Alligators” for my next band name.
Committee for the Lashing and Interrogation of Treacherous Ovarians and their Removal from our Innocent Society.
MRAs tried to join that committee, but they could never find it…
What a Multitude of Ridiculous Acronyms.
*snickers*
Muttering, Raging Alternately?
Bagelsan. +1 internet for you
No, no – Bagelsan doesn’t get an internet until Mandolin is through with it.
For some reason, not many of them like the word “misogynist”. They’ll spew all sorts of proud woman-hate, then get all huffy when called misogynists. It’s like right-wingers who know that it’s bad to be called racist, but refuse to admit that it’s bad to be racist, and so insist that what they do isn’t racism.