At the risk of splitting the “misogynist dickbaggery in the atheist movement” discussion in two, I really need to mention the amazingly well-timed Reddit meltdown of TheAmazingAtheist. It’s already been covered pretty well by PZ Myers and by Jen McCreight of BlagHag but, what the heck, I’ll throw in my two cents as well.
TheAmazingAtheist, for those who don’t follow these things, is (or was?) a popular atheist podcaster well-known, and beloved by some, for being something of a misogynist dickbag. He’s been on a anti-feminist kick for the last couple of months, winning himself many plaudits on Reddit’s Men’s Rights subreddit, though even the MR regulars couldn’t help but notice that he’s a bit of an ass.
Well, now he’s pretty much revealed, with a series of horrendous comments on Reddit, what a complete and utter asshole he is. Let me put a second TRIGGER WARNING here (for violent talk about rape), on top of the default TRIGGER WARNING I put on all my blog posts.
The context : a discussion (which he started) about the propriety of one feminist Redditor calling themself ICumWhenIKillMen. I’m not going to defend that nickname, which obviously makes light of violence in an obnoxious way. But AmazingAthiest was apparently so troubled by this sort of language that he felt compelled to spew forth a succession of violent rape threats.
Let me draw your attention to some of the highlights. (Click here to see his whole comment history on Reddit, where he comments as terroja).
Things started going south about 19 hours ago, when he told one detractor:
I’m going to rape you with my fist.
He followed this with:
I will make you a rape victim if you don’t fuck off.
It got worse:
I’m tired of being treated like shit by you mean little cunts and then you using your rape as an excuse. Fuck you. I think we should give the guy who raped you a medal. I hope you fucking drown in rape semen, you ugly, mean-spirited cow. Actually, I don’t believe you were ever raped! What man would be tasteless enough to stick his dick into a human cesspool like you? Nice gif of a turd going into my mouth. Is that kind of like the way that rapists dick went in your pussy? Or did he use your asshole? Or was it both? Maybe you should think about it really hard for the next few hours. Relive it as much as possible. You know? Try to recall: was it my pussy or my ass?
He continued in this fashion for some time, mocking those who pointed out that rape threats can be triggering, and regularly referring to his opponents as “cunts.” (Each of the following paragraphs is from a separate comment of his; click the quotes to see the full comments in question in their original context.)
BTW, you have to admit, when I told you that I hope you drown in rape semen, you got a little wet, didn’t you? It’s okay. We’re friends now. You can share.
Yes, you read that right: he was saying this shit to a rape victim.
Eventually, theAmazingAtheist found himself stopped short by this scathing critique, from the Redditor called veerserif.
I now know that, apart from being misguided, intentionally ignorant, and quick to resort to pathetic excuses, you are also a purposefully hurtful person with no sense of empathy, and no sense of remorse. You’re not just unintentionally uninformed, you actively turn what you know against people who should be deserving of your sympathy.
I was mistaken before. I thought, maybe, just maybe, after the circlejerking and the giggling, I could try showing you the stuff you said I didn’t highlight. I could show you what feminism has done for men, or maybe tell you about the existence of sex-positive feminism.
But this… this is a whole new level.
Your reputation, in my eyes, has fallen so far that dragging it back up to “mild disgust” would require nothing short of a miracle. You pretend to care about other people, but you really don’t. You like to think that you’re a decent human being, but you fall so far short of that you’re practically on separate planes of existence.
Deliberately triggering a rape victim? Equating being called out on your bullshit to the trauma of rape?
You know what you deserve? You don’t deserve death. You don’t deserve rape. You don’t even deserve some cosmically mandated, hilarious schadenfreude which would not only be brilliant, but just.
What you deserve is for everyone to know this side of you. You deserve for anyone who thought you were a good person to know what you’ve just done. You deserve your fans’ adoration turning to hatred, you deserve the judging stares and looks that people will give you. You deserve to be reminded, every day, of what you do and what you’ve done. You deserve to remember every day that there are people who suffer more than you, that there are people who are stronger and smarter, braver, more principled and better than you, in every way, until the day you realise exactly how wrong your actions have been.
I don’t want to see bodily harm visited on you, because I don’t want to see bodily harm visited on anyone. What I do want is for you – and, for that matter, every shitposter I’ve ever seen – to learn that anonymity is not an excuse.
At this point, theAmazingAtheist backed off, offered a whiny, petulant non-apology apology for, as he put it, “SOME of the statements I made,” and wondered aloud why people were still so mad at him.
He went on to make, yep, a little video about his experience, and to offer a weird and unconvincing “rebuttal” to PZ Myers’ comments on his meltdown. See PZ Myers’ post for links to the video, as well as the rebuttal itself (which is effectively re-rebutted by Myers). See here and here for a transcript of the video.
Naturally, there’s a discussion of the meltdown on ShitRedditSays as well.
One heartening sign in all this: the massive numbers of downvotes theAmazingAtheist got for his worst comments. I hope that a significant number of them were from actual Men’s Rights Redditors, and not only from people who came into the discussion from elsewhere on Reddit, but of course there is no way of knowing.
Will atheists and MRAs drop theAmazingAtheist like a hot rape-threatening potato? Or will they start rallying around him as some sort of heroic truth teller and rape threatener? Somehow I suspect there will be a bit of both.
Some people are only recognisable as human because of their physiology. This dude is truly a shit streak on the underwear of humanity.
M Dubz, that’s fine, again, I don’t really care. Indulge all you want. But you’ve forfeited the right to ask men to quit using their own gender-based invective.
@MRAL
Do you even understand the fucking topic you are reading about? that username is what prompted this whole shitstorm in the fist place. I’m not wading through that cesspool, but I’m quite sure there are MRAs there screeching about teh mizandryyyy!!!!1 And no, I won’t set a goddamn example. I already do so by not being a douchebag to men online, simply because they are men. The only time I don’t bother to be nice is when a man (or woman) is being a jackass, like right now with you.
Do not even try to pretend dick has the same connotations as cunt, that is disengenious. Cunt is regarded as one of the dirtiest words in the english language. Surprise surprise that it has to do with a female body part.
@Holly and Lady Zombie
Thank you 🙂
@Rutee
Oh zie changed it? see that is the type of considerate behavior you would never see from an MRA or garden variety misogynist.
@Quackers
@M Dubz and Shadow
aww..thank you both! 😀
* I meant the anger/sadness/whatever of marginalized groups. Man, I swear I can write the English!
@Lorrdernie
I am so sorry for what you had to put up with from that fucker. Truly disgusting but at least now people can see him for the horrid person that he it. *hugs if you want them*
MRAL, either you are misremembering the Feministe thread you spoke of or you’re making shit up. Out of curiousity I looked up his name on the site and out of 5 Feministe threads about Kyle Payne, two, count ’em TWO people mentioned suicide and both had people react to their “jokes” with disgust.
Right, Quackers, so it’s basically impossible for women to be as offensive as men, even if the intent is the same (and it usually is).
Isn’t that convenient?
Also, Quackers, MRAs are MRAs. That’s their deal. They think that men are oppressed, and therefore- much like you think the c-word is worse than dick- they think the opposite.
Personally, I would like to think that gender-based insults are all wrong. That would give a lot of spoiled white girls pause. Can’t use dick to describe the men who didn’t service your every need today! Oh no! Men, who have been conditioned not to use the word “cunt” would be fine.
Think on it.
MARL is lying about feminists? What a shock.
Hello to first time posters (who were presumably caught in moderation) like veerserif! That was an awesome remark of yours which David quoted in full in the OP. Please lurk less often and post!
Oh, and Lorrdernie, I think news about TAA’s unwillingness to offer a full public apology – or one which was as public to the same degree that all of the insults were – will quickly get out. I tweeted and posted about it at Natalie Reed’s blog, and Pharyngula is already aware of it.
Lorrdernie, I’m sorry you had to go through that. Fuck the Amazing Asshole and his fauxpology.
MRAL, sit down and shut the fuck up. You are a tiresome little beast that should be banned.
But you would know all about non-apologies, now wouldn’t you?
Quacker’s post is good, it is worth repeating:
You know what? I’m sure I’ll get shit for this but at this point I really don’t care.
Regarding ICumWhenIKillMen’s username, I don’t fucking care. I really don’t. I don’t condone it, nor would I use a username like that, but when I have to see the following on practically every internet site I go to:
-women being called sluts, cunts, whores, bitches and skanks
-accusing women of being dirty golddiggers -rape jokes -sammich/kitchen jokes -domestic violence jokes
-telling women they are only good for fucking and making babies -smarmy pseudo
-scientific dickbags talking about how naturally inferior women are
-anti-feminist and sometimes violent MRAs spamming every website with their BS -sexually harrassing women when they participate on forums -sexually harassing/soliciting women when they play MMO’s -rape threats
-mansplaining
Forgive me if I can overlook one tastless username, because MRAs, sexists and general internet fuckwits are now getting a taste of their own medicine. Now you know what it’s like to be on the recieving end of gendered slurs. Thousands of examples exist of the above list I mentioned. This example of the Amazing Assholes vile rape threats? how many men are targeted with that kind of vitriol? What do you assholes have? one username, Sharon Osborne making a joke about a severed penis and “The End of Men” video by Hanna Rosin which you still dont shut up about. Oh, and a book written by an attempted murder (but all those famous and respected philosophers who gained respect by trashing women don’t count amirite? the bible’s calling for submission in women is just normal and natural yeah?)
Cry me a river.
Here’s what really gets me though. Women and feminists have been telling men for fucking decades that it’s hurtful when women are insulted and degraded by gendered slurs, sexual harassment and threats. What do we constantly hear in response to our concerns? “oh it’s just a joke” “oh your’re being too sensitive” “oh don’t be such a feminazi” “oh its men’s natural instinct to hit on you regardless of your feelings” “fuck you bitch/whore/cunt/slut” “get back in the kitchen”
But now when misogynist men start to get sexist or misandrous shit directed at them its ZOMG NATIONAL CATASTROPHE!!!
How convenient. Well guess what? maybe you guys should just learn to take a joke! maybe you’re just being to sensitive! it’s my freedom of speech to be a dick online!
Doesn’t seem too fair does it? the sad thing is, it doesn’t have to be this way. We can make a collective effort to not be assholes to each other and drop the misogyny/misandry….the thing is, MRAs and MRA sympathizers, misogynists and trolls freely say sick shit about women all the time, and are unapologetic about it too. But then they screech about mean things said about men because their fee-fees are hurt? because some women are just doing the exact same thing they do to women? Boo-fucking-hoo you hypocrites. Do not expect me to care about one stupid username when you not only try to bully women into silence when they talk about the shit they have to put up with on and offline, but when you also take part in contributing to said shit.
Fuck MRAs. Fuck the Amazing Asshole. Fuck sexist hypocrites. And fuck MRAL for being the turd that he always is.
Thank you.
By the way Quackers, that was a masterful smackdown.
If Men’s Rights Activist Lieutenant is not an MRA, then he should change his handle.
Someone mentioned TAA did some Star Wars prequel reviews. I remember seeing one that was funny and amusing … until there was a joke about keeping a woman chained up in the reviewer’s basement. That was it for me. Was that TAA or someone else?
That “minimum standard of human decency” cookie looks delicious.
Have I posted here before? I’ve been lurking for a while. Hi all!
And lest people accuse me of being hypocritical, I absolutely think men who use gender-based slurs have no right to be angry about “ICumWhenIKillMen”. Neither do you.
Think on it.
@Never mind that this was a guy attacking a male rape survivor; the MRAs are nowhere to be found.
To be fair the thread was unlinked from r/mensrights long before the incident happened.
You know, I’ve been angry before. I’ve screamed. I’ve punched walls. I’ve gone through my posts for NSWATM and edit out half the “fucks” so it’s actually readable. I’ve ranted at people until I was calm enough to say words.
I have never threatened to rape someone.
I have never even thought of threatening to rape someone.
Because who you are in haste, when you don’t have time to think about it, when your inhibitions don’t have time to kick in… that’s who you really are. And I may be a foulmouthed cunt, but I am not a rape apologist.
Lorrdernie, thank you for posting here. I am so sorry about the vitriol directed at you, and I wish you all the best.
Quackers and Ozy have summed up the rest.
I am so very glad that the take-down of “The Amazing Atheist” included a whole host of other atheists. For a second I was wondering whether the Atheist label would be hopelessly mired in misogyny.
It’s times like this where I just love the internet. All of my favorite sites and groups ganging up to fight an asshole. ^_^ The internet is no more just a collection of independent sites, it’s an entire community. 🙂
@kirbywarp: It is always beautiful when the Internet joins together to do something that doesn’t make me lose faith in humanity. Such as Regretsy’s recent win against PayPal for charity or the Avenger Controller saga.
Can my shit get through moderation now?
I am so very glad that the take-down of “The Amazing Atheist” included a whole host of other atheists. For a second I was wondering whether the Atheist label would be hopelessly mired in misogyny.
It’s times like this where I just love the internet. All of my favorite sites and groups ganging up to fight an asshole. ^_^ The internet is no more just a collection of independent sites, it’s an entire community.
If only that happened more often.
Usually, however, all the internet does is reveal people’s true colors.
@MRAL:
I’m pretty sure nobody wants to see your shit. Now if you have a helpful and interesting contribution to make, that’s a different story.