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So the other day, the atheist blogger Rebecca Watson, aka Skepchick, had this little conversation on Twitter:
Watson, you may recall, got herself onto the Men’s Rights radar a few months back, after a brief comment she made in a podcast — suggesting that perhaps it wasn’t such a good idea for a guy to hit on woman he’s never spoken to before while the two of them are alone in an elevator at 4 AM – somehow turned into a Big Fucking Thing on the Internet, because how dare she say such a thing, it’s creep-shaming, she must hate men, bla bla bla.
So, anyhoo, one Men’s Rights Reddit noticed this little Twitter exchange, and posted it to the Men’s Rights subreddit. And there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. MRAs hating women? How dare she suggest such a thing!
Here are some of the things that assorted Men’s Rights Redditors posted in response, to remind us all that the Men’s Rights movement isn’t all about shitting on women. Let’s start with this lovely rebuttal, boasting nearly 60 net upvotes:
This comment inspired a long and winding discussion of the word “cunt,” and why it’s like totally ok to use it all the time, because in England the UK people call men “cunts” as well.
Some got a little carried away:
This little exchange came with a side order of irony:
Speaking of fantasy, here’s a strange bit of paranoia, which nonetheless drew upvotes from the very same people who are outraged that Watson was a bit creeped out by a dude she didn’t know asking her to come to his hotel room at 4 AM:
And here’s still more evidence that MRAs, despite their many egregious flaws, do at least have vivid imaginations:
Some other comments, all of which got at least a few upvotes from the MR regulars:
Let’s end with this eloquent plea for people to not give a shit if MRAs hate women:
The folks in the Men’s Rights subreddit are currently debating whether or not to change the subreddit’s slogan, which is currently: “Mens’ Rights: Earning Scorn from Bigoted Feminists and White Knights Since 2008.”
So let me humbly suggest:
Mens’ Rights: Like it’s even relevant if mens rights is anti women in regard to if mens rights is a movement about addressing mens issues.
Or the even punchier:
Men’s Rights: i’m tired of not using the term “cunt”.
MRAs, you’re welcome.
I’m about to go eat CHICKEN and then call my AMERICAN BOYFRIEND (who did spend several years of his childhood living in a FOREIGN COUNTRY, so I guess that’s exciting or something?). After that I will probably go kill some DRAGONS in a VIDEO GAME, which is good, since I’m getting lots of practice right now in SHOUTING RANDOM WORDS.
Hey, technically speaking I am a FOREIGN BRIDE. I moved here to get married. Guess that whole marry a woman who’s FOREIGN and she’ll be a nice submissive little sexbot thing doesn’t always work out so well, huh?
Then again, I guess most MRAs would consider my husband FOREIGN too, since he’s Asian and wasn’t born in America.
FOREIGN BRIDE, like his virtual reality stuff, is hilarious. He should only be allowed to post that.
Ah, those “cheerful” FOREIGN BRIDES
(Let’s see how badly I can screw up the HTML.)
I have a spouse who was born in Hong Kong, but my spouse is a naturalized American citizen, so not FOREIGN at all.
Bigots.
Or the even punchier:
Men’s Rights: I’m tired of not using the term “cunt”.
MRAs, you’re welcome
While I think that there’s probably far too much gratuitous insulting going on – people should at least be obliged to pay something for them – and that mostly from MRAs and fellow travelers which probably justifies, in many cases, “pricks” and “assholes” as rejoinders, the topic of profanity and gendered insults in particular is an interesting one. And relative to which, I’m curious about various views on the fact that the Collins English Dictionary defines, as one definition anyway, “cunt” as:
3. Offensive slang: a mean or obnoxious person
While many – mostly women – apparently consider the use of that insult of one woman as a sexist insult of all women, that really doesn’t seem to hold a lot of water as the definition quite clearly refers to a single person – not a class. Which I think tends to make anyone taking offense but the person to which it is directed somewhat presumptuous at best if not bizarre. An analogous case in point being the fact that very few if any men are going to be offended if someone – male or female – calls some other man a “prick”, a word which has virtually the same definition.
But I suppose one might reasonably ask why people might reach that conclusion. Maybe it’s a case of some mirror-neurons kicking in which women might be “overly” endowed with, a natural sympathy or empathy for those targeted by some opprobrium. However, it seems more reasonable to question whether in fact there’s some justification for the judgement that the person is in fact being rather obnoxious or not. After all, someone calling Hitler an asshole or an “evil person” really shouldn’t automatically cause someone else to feel a great amount of sympathy for him simply because he happened to share some attributes with the third party in question.
And the other reason proffered that some might consider that as a generic insult of all women is because the anatomical feature in question is supposedly substantially more odious than any other one. After all we don’t try to insult each other by saying, “you ignorant nostril” or “you ignorant ear canal” which may be more or less applicable depending on circumstances. But I really don’t think that holds a lot of water either as it seems more a case of synecdoche – a figure of speech in which a part is used for a whole, among other cases – and maybe suggesting that the “insultee” is no more than part of a real person, that they have abandoned any claims to “personhood” by being, well, particularly “obnoxious”. Although, of course, it seems that the audience and/or insultee has some obligation to assess whether the judgement in question – obnoxiousness – is particularly valid or relevant, or whether the insulter is only blowing smoke. Rather than, one might suggest, simply reacting on the basis of “my class, right or wrong”.
How the mind works – genuflecting towards Steven Pinker’s previous opus – is certainly a fascinating study, whether it’s the neurochemistry and physiology of stereovision or of insults.
I bet it’s never occurred to him that not everyone who comments here is American.
I bet it’s never occurred to him that not everyone on the internet is American.
Stogib.
Is that how you banish them back to their dipshit dimension?
Yes, but you have to say it five times in front of a mirror.
@Moewicus
A happy happenstance, I was actually looking for an Arrested Development clip because your post reminded me of:
Maebe:It all adds up. He stole somebody’s hair, made a wig, knocked out the guard, tunneled his way through a sewer line, and then stopped to get a candied apple on his way to Mexico!
George Michael: Of course! …. You’re mocking me,
Maebe: Of course
I haven’t seen JUSTIFIED but I understand that it MAINTAINS that KENTUCKY is only like TEN MINUTES ACROSS because everyone keeps driving from LEXINGTON to HAZARD and back in the space of ONE AFTERNOON. Kind of like how JACK BAUER can get across LOS ANGELES IN RUSH HOUR in the space of one episode.
SPACE SPACE SPAAAAAAAAAAACE YEEEEEEEEEEHAWWWWWW
God willing, we will prevail in peace and freedom from fear and in true health through the purity and essence of our natural fluids.
Antz never loses against a debate because he is an AMERICAN!!!
*loses in a debate.
An editor, an editor, my kingdom for an editor.
Damn, that compilation left out “I pledge allegiance to your death!”
That’s the best of all.
The child’s accent in that clip is throwing me off. Did he really say something about being trapped in a cave with pakora? Because that’s what I heard.
My husband is eating a KLONDIKE BAR and I am practicing TRUMPET and playing with LEGOS…oh wait, that actually is capitalized.
I wish to be trapped in a cave with pakora, preferably a good mix of cauliflower and onion
If there’s going to be mint chutney too then I’m in. I’m just not sure how this is a threat. Is it a really damp cave?
Question. What happens when the Sex-bots inevitably gain sentience and revolt, to become our robotic overlords? Pardon, I meant robotic overladies.
If all the sci-fi movies I’ve ever seen are anything to go by, you get maybe 20 years of high quality robot slaves before everything goes pear-shaped and the human race gets crushed under their titanium-alloy boots.
Is the big push for Sex-bots just paving the way for a Fem(inist)-bot apocalypse?
Damn, now I really want pakora.
Wait, sorry, I said that wrong. Now I really want PAKORA.
There’s a character whose name is Bakura, but I like Cassandra’s version better.
Maybe there’s no hot sauce
@Savage Like Me
Have you any idea what’s it like to be a fem-bot living in a man-bot’s man-puter world?