So it turns out that the heartbreaking yet highly implausible story of attempted spermburgling that got the Men’s Rights subreddit so riled up on the first of the month … was in fact fake.
Mr. ineedhelpnow1234 himself wrote me a note today alerting me to a post on his blog explaining the whole thing, and why he did it. Some highlights:
I wanted to reveal just how twisted these men can be in the pursuit of their agenda so I came up with a story they could not resist. …
The spermjacker trope is irresistible to “men’s rights” activists because they believe they are perfect Darwinian examples of masculinity and as a result are irresistible to the hormonally irrational schemers that make up womankind. Narcissism and misogyny collide to make a toxic brew.
Oh, and I added the twist that this man punched his girlfriend so hard in the stomach that she bruised. Surely such fierce proponents of “gender equality” would not support violence against women. Right?
Well, we all know how that turned out. Ineedhelpnow1234/the blogger Eschatology continued:
The “men’s rights” movement is morally bankrupt. It is made up of people who support hitting women. It is made up of people who refuse to say it is wrong to hit women. It is made up of people who are so paranoid of women that they think people actually talk like this:
You fucking bastard, how dare you punch me for what I’m entitled to! Call me the minute you get this god damn message or I’ll call the fucking police and end your future. CALL MEEEE.
Attention MRA’s: You have all exposed yourselves as rotten human beings and you have discredited your movement (again). …
I wrote this story by stitching together nearly every cliche I have ever come across in the “men’s rights” movement. I tried to see if the MRAs had any line they would not cross. Apparently they do not. Looks like the SPLC made a good call.
Heck, even after they got called out for supporting the (imaginary) puncher, both here and on Jezebel, and were roundly mocked for believing such an utterly ridiculous tall tale, this is about as close as any Men’s Rights redditor got to criticizing the punch that never was:
He panicked and hit her. Sure he should have just have restrained her and took the condom out of her hands but we’re human and its not like he continually beat her into a pulp.
Yep, no big deal, “its not like he continually beat her into a pulp.”
The comment containing that line got 11 upvotes, and zero downvotes.
The Men’s Rights Movement, beyond the pale — but also beyond parody.
EDITED TO ADD: The Men’s Rights regulars respond to the big reveal here. They are apparently determined to learn absolutely nothing from the whole episode. At the moment this is the most highly upvoted comment:
EDITED TO ADD AGAIN: Ineedhelpnow1234/Eschatology posted about this in the TwoXChromosomes subreddit, Naturally, a small horde of r/mensrightsers invaded the thread and pooped all over it.
Nevermind, that’s not it because the date is 2008. It appears to cover very similar ground, however.
@Dani Alexis
I see someone else has been endulging in a little Sims 3 besides me 🙂
As far as increasing MRAs fevered dreams, the ones that will take an obvious troll’s words as fact, even after they admit to trolling, are beyond redemption, and might as well serve as entertainment for others.
@Magz
http://www.theduluthmodel.org/pdf/Theoretical%20and%20Research%20Support.pdf
it’s always amusing to see how gender essentialist mras are when it comes to even suggesting women can do something better or saying something to paint women in a positive light (ie women are nurturing) The only time they reject gender essentialism and insist on equality is when it comes to painting women as equally violent as men.
Thanx Quackers. I’ve read all of the literatureon Diap. But, there is no way to convince me that a method of dealing with violence in which only men are subject to the program, presumes that violence is based on “patriarchial assumptions” and entitlement, and then pursues a shame based punitive model that even diap admits; “the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) released Batter Intervention Programs: Where Do We Go from Here? a report suggesting that there was “no benefit from batterer counseling” and that the Duluth Model “did not work.”
You’ll notice that women who are assaultive have “other treatments” – i.e. therapy. But, they state that even if a woman is violent, it’s pretty much the man’s fault anyway.
This is the basis for VAMA and its training programs to judges and police departments. It’s bigoted and outrageous.
@Magz
Meh. You’re entitled to your opinions but based on everything I’ve read the claim that DV is totally equal and that women harm men as severely and even kill men in equal numbers is complete BS. Even the NIJ states this. If the Duluth Model is completely useless they would not use it. And there is no way to convince me that there is some mass feminist conspiracy forcing them to because grrr they hate men.
Context is key.
Indeed it does. Suddenly I’m picturing a parade of really angry clowns in squeaky shoes marching down Main Street, USA thinking that they’re oh so intimidating.
Because this is how MRAs think the world works. The idea of a woman being a crazy, evil conniving bitch was readily accepted because MRAs themselves think of women as crazy, evil conniving bitches. The troll post was terrific because of how easily the bait was taken.
@Quackers, Mags’ citation is apparently in response to that article by Gondolf.
Here’s the link:
http://lab.drdondutton.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dutton-D.G.-Corvo-K.-2007-The-Duluth-Program_-A-flawed-and-data-impervious-paradigm.pdf
Personally, I do not exactly have familiarity with the literature or with the Duluth Model to be able to judge much about this, so I’ll just say that if things are exactly like they say then I might consider their conclusions.
I guess that’s some weekend reading for me!
Mags’ quotation in context:
Honestly I just really envy the name Gondolf. If I were him I would change my middle name to Olorin.
Ah, Quakers…a student of the Dr. Pangloss school of reasonng? “…all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds”.
Truly, Gondolf is a name worthy to be borne only by the greatest of individuals.
For what it’s worth, I do think that a legitimate MRM could spread. Issues that men face specifically are worth discussing and solving.
The MRM as it is now though? the angry websites with the misogynist ranting and the calling to revoke women’s right to vote and legislating dating so them hypergamous bitches don’t get out of line? The MRM who stalk feminist bloggers and dig up their personal information and home addresses? the MRM who calls for always voting not guilty on a rape trial regardless of the facts?
Yeah…no way a movement like that is getting big. Unless all men are secretly misogynists and are lacking of all morality, empathy and logic, that is the only way the MRM in their current stage will ever get big. Even neo-cons won’t touch them. That’s saying a lot.
Ya know, when I first read this story, I basically thought that it was idiotic in general. There’s a surefire way to never have a woman take a condom and impregnate herself. Just flush the damn thing down the toilet when you take your post-coital piss (as most men do). Condoms don’t tend to clog the pipes (unless you have really old shitty plumbing), so you’ll be fine.
On top of that, I didn’t honestly feel like I wanted to get pregnant until I was married to my husband for at least a couple of years and had full medical benefits to cover the cost. Even then, a host of fertility issues and other crap led to me waiting a little longer before my husband and I started to unofficially try to conceive. And after years of using hormonal birth control and condoms, we eventually conceived, but it took a long time, and I highly doubt that it’s a “surefire pregnancy” even if you dump a used condom full of sperm (eww, the idea is really…..gross to me, but ok) into your vagina. And by the way, it’s REALLY hard to get the sperm out of the condom (most condoms have spermicide on them/inside of them) and then “get it all the way up against the cervix” within the timeframe before the sperm die or lose mobility.
There is also a totally reversible, all-natural way for men to make themselves infertile. But it involves steaming your scrotum for long periods of time on a regular basis. Apparently, it renders the little swimmers totally inert as long as you do it regularly.
Or, if you don’t like steam, you can simply hold your laptop over your balls for 20 minutes:
http://computingondemand.com/my-laptop-is-birth-control/
So yeah….men can control their fertility more than they think.
And I think it’s basic Good Choices 101 to choose to have sex with people who aren’t dead set on controlling and abusing you, regardless of their sex or gender.
No one takes the “revoke the right to vote” fools seriously. I have always argued against the stalking that avfm does. I think that there are lots of guys that are hurting and confused, but have no societally accepted way to communicate their pain but through anger. So, I give people a lot of latitude – even feminists.
@Tulgey
I must admit I only skimmed both papers, I have them bookmarked to read more thoroughly. I linked the paper to Gondolth because I wanted Mags and everyone else to see the 2 sides to this debate. Since its a refutation posters and lurkers should see what Dutton and co are refuting.
So yeah, I’m not an expert by any means. I just have a hard time believing that the Duluth model has absolutely no merit. Maybe it just needs revising.
@Quackers/Tulgey, I think this is Dutton’s latest word on the matter:
Donald G. Dutton, The case against the role of gender in intimate partner violence, Aggression and Violent Behavior, Volume 17, Issue 1, January–February 2012, Pages 99-104, ISSN 1359-1789, 10.1016/j.avb.2011.09.002.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178911000942)
(I am trying to get you to do my homework for me. Seriously, I have no background in this area, so I am outsourcing it.)
Of course, that’s behind a paywall because EVIL CAPITALISTS. I sometimes forget I have access to things because I work for a COMMUNIST LIBRARY.
Wow! you work for a library? that’s awesome. I just signed up for a masters in library and information systems. I want to change careers and become a librarian
Yep, Mags, I am an evil, feminist library person who helps people find information on- and off-line. And yes, it is awesome. Except I hate copyright and licenses, because they prevent me from connecting people with information. ARGLE BARGLE.
Child porn is another line they are willing to across, apparently. According to their moderation policy in r/mensrightsmeta, CP is “a challenging topic.” what the fuck is so goddamn challenging about it? Finding it? Managing to beat off despite the tears and what I assume to be a crying kid? Getting it up to that imagery in the first place? Fuck these little clowns.
Does it really say CP is “a challenging topic?” Oh, that sux. I just became a mod over there.
The actual quote:
“Child Porn: This is again a challenging topic. Discussion of (in)appropriate punishment for use of child porn, discussions about self produced pornography (i.e. sexting), discussions about whether cartoon images count as child porn, and discussions about mid-teen level “consensual” relationships are allowed. Advocacy for the use of child pornography, even as a way to curb pedophilia, is not condoned. Pornographic images/video of children require the abuse of a child to produce, and thus is not acceptable no matter how much it may curb pedophile urges.”
While I don’t think the paragraph is crafted thoughfully, I don’t think the message is that “child porn is a challenging subject because some people think it’s all right and other disagree and it’s a close call.”
I think they are saying that just mentioning the the phrase child porn is not bannable by itself. There may be a legitimate reason for discussing the subject, but not for lusting after kids.
I think that there are lots of guys that are hurting and confused, but have no societally accepted way to communicate their pain but through anger.
Yeah, okay, I’m bored enough to bite. BULLSHIT.
There is virtually no situation in life so bad that the only way to communicate is through violence and hate. Okay, if you’re Sarah Connor and you have to prevent the robot apocalypse, fine, but everyone else has to use their words.
And the causes of this “hurt” and “confusion” are so pathetic. Your wife walked out? You have to pay child support? The girls in the underwear catalog won’t go out with you? Tough titties. That doesn’t justify throwing an extended tantrum at half the human race.
I hear this “oh, but they’re HURTING SO MUCH, they HAVE to express their SUPER SPECIAL PAIN YOU COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND by attacking innocent people” crap all the time, and you know what I’ve noticed? It’s always used to justify a more entitled group beating on a less entitled group. White supremacists use it to justify hating on black people. Misogynists use it to justify hating on women. Homophobes use it to justify gay-bashing. And their enablers use it to keep the status quo in place.
Fuck that. The world contains enough non-assholes with real problems to keep me busy, thanks.
as soon as you said “entitled” i pretty much knew your argument was going to be a polemic. That fact that you don’t care about men, but would take to the streets to help women, is just about as much as i need to know.
the invectives come from both sides.
I know. This is creatard level of stupid.