When you think they can’t get any creepier, they do. Here’s a disturbing new Men’s Rights meme-in-formation I’ve recently run across.
In a late-December rant about anti-porn feminist Gale Dines, the self-proclaimed “Male Renaissance Agitator” who calls himself Fidelbogen wrote:
In olden days of rough village justice she’d have gotten the scold’s bridle, or the the ducking stool, or the stocks. And quite right.
A couple of days later, regular A Voice for Men commenter DruidV, perhaps inspired by Fidebogen’s post, made a strikingly similar suggestion on that site:
I urge all Men here to have a look at wiki’s description of what was commonly known as a scold’s bridle, or the Branks. For whatever foolish reason, this item was done away with some time ago. This invention to end Men’s suffering, needs to be brought back into public acceptance and application, post haste, imo.
So let’s take a look at the Wikipedia page he linked to and see just what exactly this “Scold’s Bridle” was:
A scold’s bridle, sometimes called “the branks”, as well as “brank’s bridle” was a punishment device used primarily on women, as a form of torture and public humiliation.[1] It was an iron muzzle in an iron framework that enclosed the head. The bridle-bit (or curb-plate) was about 2 inches long and 1 inch broad, projected into the mouth and pressed down on top of the tongue[2]. The “curb-plate” was frequently studded with spikes, so that if the tongue moved, it inflicted pain and made speaking impossible.[3] Wives that were seen as witches, shrews and scolds, were forced to wear a brank’s bridle, which had been locked on the head of the woman and sometimes had a ring and chain attached to it so her husband could parade her around town and the town’s people could scold her and treat her with contempt; at times smearing excrement on her and beating her, sometimes to death.
Emphasis mine.
I will be charitable and assume that both Fidelbogen and DruidV were joking. That is, they don’t literally want to strap women’s heads into ghastly torture devices, smear them with shit and beat them to death. They just think that the very notion is hilarious.
Whether the suggestions were made seriously or not, they’re still pretty hateful. Given that Fidelbogen was recently taken aboard as a regular writer for A Voice for Men, and that DruidV’s comment on that site got mostly upvotes (and no criticism) from the regulars there, would it be fair to call A Voice for Men the “underbelly of a hate movement?”
I’m not sure why that particular phrase popped into my head, but somehow it seems all too appropriate.
Oh holy crap, Belledame222, that “men can’t be raped” article is so atrocious on so many levels; I actually can’t wrap my head around what he thinks he’s trying to accomplish, or who he thinks he’s helping with that screed. Isn’t, “no, men can be sexually abused, too” one of the few things feminists and MRAs can agree on?
-Dines- isn’t a radical feminist?! Um, how is she not a radical feminist?
Jawnita: special, isn’t it? I gather that he resents the idea of female on male rape because that would imply that men would ever actually turn down sex with a real live woman, and since he at that time was “incel,” i.e. never had sex with any woman ever and was suffering terribly for it, that was an offensive idea. Or something.
Seconding belledame222 – I don’t see any measure of radical feminist that doesn’t include Gail Dines.
And so I really do want to know what Fidelbogen thinks a radical feminist is, SPECIFICALLY.
XD
Jawnita, if the men can’t be raped article strikes you as super extreme, try the “if women get child support and affirmative action and stuff, men should be able to rape women” argument.
RAPE IS EQUALITY (no, that’s the actual title)
http://eivindberge.blogspot.com/2009/05/rape-is-equality.html
“Isn’t, “no, men can be sexually abused, too” one of the few things feminists and MRAs can agree on?”
You’ll never get MRAs to agree to anything ecause they’re not intersted in discussing rational solutions to prolems. Their whole movement consists of angry little trolls who just want to harass feminists online. Once in a while someone will post something vaguely related to fighting misandry or men’s problems but then it’s right back to the death and rape threats.
The funny thing about MRAs is how little they actually care about other men. I mean, say a man says he was raped – he’s unhappy, right? He’s been harmed. If you claim to be all about rights for men, surely you should care about how he’s feeling even if you don’t really understand it. But instead the response is “wow, the fact that you’re hurting is so offensive to me! why can’t you raped men stop and think about the incels? what about my feelings?!!”.
And then they follow it up with a rant about women being too emotional and not rational enough just to put a cherry on the selfish hypocrite cake.
I wonder what men who have actually been raped would say about Mr. Elam’s wonderful little piece here.
http://www.avoiceformen.com/mens-rights/false-rape-culture/the-scourge-of-rape-yeah-whatever/
For those who want to avoid it, and I don’t blame you, at one points he compares the hazing he endured in the army as comparable to rape.
@Crumbelievable
Aw, the poor trolls just want a hug!
Look, it’s Fidelbogen!
http://sexedmusic.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/troll-bank-gr1.jpg
The funny thing about MRAs is how little they actually care about other men. I mean, say a man says he was raped – he’s unhappy, right? He’s been harmed. If you claim to be all about rights for men, surely you should care about how he’s feeling even if you don’t really understand it. But instead the response is “wow, the fact that you’re hurting is so offensive to me! why can’t you raped men stop and think about the incels? what about my feelings?!!”.
Exactly.
We call it the “Mommy Took My X-Box” contingent in our house. Because it never fails – wade past the emotional nonsense arguments and irrational statements on any MRA blog or site, and you eventually stumble upon their blog entry where they make their “Grand Confession.” That being, they didn’t get every single thing they wanted in life (especially 24/7/365 access to an X-Box), so they’ve made it their mission to ensure the rest of us are miserable. Sheer, obtuse stupidity is their primary weapon, and while it’s a crude one, it does get people talking.
We’re bringing stupid back
You other manginas don’t know how to act
Watch us try to bully women into making up for the positive qualities we lack
We’re bringing stupid back
For you, maybe.
Hey-O!
Wow, zhinxy, we’re feminist scholars now! I thought I was just a lowly psych/ling undergrad, this is awesome! Also, Meller, are you, like, allergic to the proper spelling of her name? I mean, I’m not one to talk, I misspelled it this morning. But then I apologized.
I’m reminded of an exchange we had back in early December. I said this:
And then you said this, which was based on a misunderstanding of what I wrote (though in retrospect, I was really unclear and your interpretation was a reasonable one):
Oh gosh, I could even get married! I responded thusly:
To clarify, I thought I deserved to be yelled at for being so damn terrible and not doing my girlfriend-type duties. You never responded after that. So, what he did was wrong, right? Even though he told me that he loved me all the time, and I worked hard to be his ideal woman?d
There is so much html in this I am expecting failure >.<
Well, well, well. It appears the Wikipedia’s article on Scold’s Bridle, whose first paragraph is identical to the quote from Fidelbogen, was heavily edited by a bunch of anonymous contributors in December 2011.
Re the “ducking stool” — even that was only applied to “common scolds”, women whose behavior was a public nuisance. And even then, it could only be inflicted after a trial and pursuant to a judge’s order. A husband could not unilaterally punish his wife by putting her in it. So this whole story about spontaneous public beatings-to-death of wives for refusing to do anal is utter bullshit.
Seraph:
There was a terrible double standard, of course, but communities were much tighter and stronger than they are today. Towns and villages were much smaller, and people lived in the same place for long periods of time. Everyone knew everyone else, and privacy was very limited. This explains why being “unneighborly” was taken so much more seriously then than it is now, but it also means that people were generally reluctant to inflict severe punishment on those they have known their whole life. As much as I am a misanthrope, humanity is not that bad.
Viscaria, it’s all right, no need to apologize, my parents didn’t exactly name me zhinxy XD. And yeah, we’re scholars! Whoo hoo! (Well, someday, I hope. 😉 )
From the linked article, desperate flailings by fidelbogen trying to wrap his wee brain around the word “creepy”:
Yeah, “creepy” totally means “brave-hearted truth teller”. Al Gore was just about to call his book “Creepy”, instead of “an inconvenient truth”, but changed his mind. True story.
Next up, “creepy” as gendered insult. Too bad MRAL isn’t around to help with that one, right?
“I’m not creepy!” says a guy who thinks we should force feminists into medieval torture devices.
@2-DMan
That was incredibly amazing-ist of you. I’m going to cry little normalized tears now. :'(
Haha…I made a comment about this post awhile back. These fuckers have officially lost their chance at calling radical feminist hateful because they are just as bad.
Oh and MRAs and Roissy are all pissy about the FBI definition of rape being changed, even though it includes male victims now (isn’t that what they wanted? for male victims to be recognized? I’d say that’s a good thing) these creeps aren’t fooling anyone, especially the gamers. Its obvious that their seedy techniques to getting laid is getting women drunk and now they can’t do that anymore. Booohooo…can’t fuck chicks under the influence when they can’t give proper consent. Poor babies.
I’m assuming Vanessa Emma Goldman is a troll, right?
I’m not getting a troll vibe from her. I do think her post is over the top and doesn’t contribute to the conversation though.
Zhinxy- yeah i can believe that, totally different environment/situation and all. As a student I found her great though and like i said not everyone liked her as much as me, opinions were varying, but her classes were certainly interesting haha. I just read the link i didn’t read it before…why is he comparing her to sharon osborne of all people? lol. I don’t know a whole lot on feminist vs radfem but from what i’ve seen i’d consider her radfem but these guys think theres some secret strain of feminist plotting out male genocide that the world doesn’t see for some reason.
Meller, you weaselling little jackanape: I have used words like ‘brutality”, “unspeakable”, ‘appalling” and “vicious” denouncing the torture of women–even of feminists–over the past year!
Yes, but you have, on every occasion said this was only because it was sub-optimal. You have left open the right of men to do it, merely expressed personal disapproval, as opposed to saying it ought to be completely forbidden, banned, punished; in every occasion which it rears it’s loathsome head.
You may personally abjure it, but you won’t remove it from the privilege of those who might choose to indulge.