Arthur Goldwag, the author of the SPLC’s recent report on hatred in the Men’s Rights movement, has now responded to some of the hysteria his article provoked amongst MRAs. As Goldwag notes, contrary to what most MRAs seemed to conclude from the report,
the SPLC did not label MRAs as members of a hate movement; nor did our article claim that the grievances they air on their websites – false rape accusations, ruinous divorce settlements and the like – are all without merit. But we didcall out specific examples of misogyny and the threat, overt or implicit, of violence.
Thomas James Ball, for example, who was hailed as a martyr on so many men’s rights forums, called for arson attacks on courthouses and police stations. The Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik wrote extensively about the evils of feminism. We included as much as we did about Register-Her.com because it is so intimidating to its targets, not all of whom are criminals. When Elam accused Vliet Tiptree, a pseudonymous contributor to RadFem Hub, of “calling for extermination of half the human race; the male half, that is,” he offered a cash reward for her real identity. The names and locations of several candidates were publically aired.
Goldwag also takes a look at some of the radical feminists that have become boogeywomen for so many MRAs, and deals with other MRA complaints.
If you’re a regular reader of Man Boobz you’ll want to read the whole thing.
The Men’s Rights subreddit has already linked to Goldwag’s article, which has provoked not only the predictable SPLC-bashing but also some criticism of A Voice for Men and Paul Elam.
Obviously Elam and other MRAs will respond to Goldwag’s latest as well. Post links in the comments below as you find them, and I’ll add them to this post.
EDITED TO ADD: And, right on schedule, AVfM responds to Goldwag’s response. It’s a John the Other post, so be prepared to read a lot of words saying not very much.
On his own blog, Goldwag responds to Mr. The Other.
Goldwag’s piece also got some criticism from the STFUfauxminists Tumblr blog for quoting a RadFem known for her transphobia.
I’ll add more links as I find them.
ETA 2: MORE LINKS
The whole agenda of SAVE is to repeal any laws that help victims of intimate partner violence. Even though the VAWA already helps both male and female victims of DV, SAVE wants it to be repealed or replaced with their own bill. SAVE also opposes no drop prosecution policies and predominant aggressor laws that are already gender neutral. They peddle false stats try to make DV seem like a 50/50 crime, and try to make it appear that most female victims of DV are false accusers. They try to hide their anti victim agenda with euphemisms in order to appear legitimate, but their stated goals show what they’re really about.
SAVE is being tarnished with same brush as the other MRA groups, because they are an MRA group.
A lot of MRA’s come here to manboobz to say he is one of the moderate voices in the MRM. Do you disagree with that, garvan?
Paul Elam is a parody, but he doesn’t know it.
Paul Elam’s not smart enough to be a parody.
God, your feeble attempts to ape feminism are so adorable (and pathetic)
oh cool, the retconning of mra history is starting. ‘we were always at war with paul elam’.
welp, that goes pretty well with directionless and tasteless, but i love how you’re throwing out your total lack of organization as a plus. that is a quick way to get things accomplished.
From an MRA, with no sense of irony
Actually, no, this is interesting. So if Paul Elam is a parody and doesn’t really mean what he says, does that mean that MRAs actually secretly agree:
-That domestic abuse and sexual violence by men are real and serious problems?
-That women deserve, and do not yet have, an equal stake in politics, business, and media?
-That historical sexism against women was real and is not yet over?
-That parents owe financial support to their children?
-That women have the right to make their own sexual and reproductive decisions?
-That “fuck their shit up” is threatening and despicable?
Feel free to answer in non-parody format, just for a second, so we’re on the same page before you go back to the hilarity
Thank you for the LOL.
Shadow, by the way I am very mad at you. I was in class last night, sneaking peeks at the blog when things got boring. You said something funny on one of the threads, making me laugh out loud and then I had to disguise it as a coughing fit. I will try to forgive you. 🙂
I’m pretty sure garvin is just trolling, but who the fuck knows at this point.
I think “the MRM is a leaderless movement” is actually a fair response. I hate it when they take us to task for anything done by any feminist anywhere.
Still, “The MRM has good actors and bad actors” is only a useful reply if someone can point me to any good actors, anywhere, seriously.
“Paul Elam is a parody” — at best he’s a Poe that you’ve all been agreeing with for ages, more likely, he’s sincere. Either way the rest of you have a serious clean-up job to do now.
Popcorn anyone? 🙂
The MRM may be a leaderless movement, but Elam’s been trying to take the title.
rational misogyny is not a oxymoron!!!!!!1
Argh, blockquote fail.
How is hatred of half the population irrational?
normally i would agree, but in the case of the the mrm i think it’s a telling comment in that their behavior seems to suggest they’re literally incapable of being lead, it’s a thousand little jealously guarded fiefdoms where nobody can sacrifice their sliver of power long enough to come together and do something.
it might have been better to say they suck at coalition building, but that’s a form of leadership, too, and one that’s totally inimical to the way the mrm operates.
I’m going to pretend you didn’t ask that, because I cannot begin to unpack the ignorance contained in that question.
Well, unless they all did something really bad… Um, yeah, I’m gonna kick burden of proof for your trolly, ridiculous attempts at “Devil’s Advocate” back to you.
Maybe you want to explain why it’s rational to hate newborn girls? I’d be fascinhorrified to hear that.
isn’t there a playskool bubble pipe somewhere you should be vigorously puffing on?
That’s what they don’t seem to get. Elam excptional only because he runs AVfM. He’s no more extreme than any of his readership though. The only way Elam can be a parody is if the whole MRM (or at least the N American one) were a parody. And even though they ARE a parody of a social justice movement, you’d be hard pressed to convince me that that’s intentional.
The rationality of bigotry is incomprehensible to me, but Harlan’s not irrational solely because he’s a misogynist. He’s irrational because he’s built this whole persona, and his life, around fighting this false rape epidemic that he created out of whole cloth
*Elam’s exceptional
the thing that’s i think makes harlan look ‘rational’ to guys like omega virgin is that in their eyes, he doesn’t hate a full half of the population. it’s not ‘all women are innately evil’ it’s ‘many, if not most, women are arbitrarily evil’ and to them that’s moderation