Here are a couple of, well, let’s just call them very intriguing questions asked of me by a Men’s Rights Redditor. Since I can’t respond to them on the Men’s Rights subreddit — I’m banned — I thought I’d respond here:
Mr. Levelate, allow me to answer your serious questions with some equally serious questions of my own:
I’ve wondered for a long time how people like you react to the men’s rights mantra of ‘all women are wombats’, when you see a woman who isn’t a wombat, how do you explain this?
Also, many MRAs advocate turning all squirrels into bologna, what makes you think squirrel bologna would taste better than regular bologna, and what would the world do with all those extra uneaten nuts, were it ever to come to that?
Here’s the thing, Mr. Levelate: those things you think feminists believe? FEMINISTS DON’T ACTUALLY BELIEVE THEM.
That “all men are rapists” quote from Marilyn French you guys like to pass around? That was from a character in a novel.
The number of radical feminists who seriously want to get rid of men, or a significant number of them, you could probably count on your fingers. I’m not sure how many MRAs want to make squirrel bologna, but the numbers are probably similar. And, fyi, there are actually more than a few MRAs who fantasize about breeding certain types of women out of existence, like this dude on The Spearhead, and a small army of MRAs and MGTOWers who pine for the imaginary future where babies are gestated in artificial wombs and women are all replaced by sexy sexbots.
Listening to MRAs talking about feminism is a bit like sitting in on a book club in which no one has read the book.
Here’s what happened: Antsy found this gruesome picture somewhere and was enraged by it. He had to direct his anger somewhere, so what better receptacle than feminists? Naturally he needs some way to blame it on us somehow, so he decided to accompany it with a sarcastic comment about male privilege—because as we all know, male privilege means that all men have it easy all the time and can sleep on the back of any woman whenever just ‘cus.
Get therapy, Antsy.
Seriously. You need help.
I was about to post what Tulgey Logger said more or less word for word, but I see it’s unnecessary.
But yeah, Antz, you really do need help, and urgently.
Antz, you need professional help, and you’re not going to find it here or on AVfM. Find a therapist.
I think this genuinely merits a bannination.
It is not only justly deserved; it would probably help him, too, and I do not at all begrudge Antsy the emotional well-being he seems to be lacking.
*raises hand* I’m a feminist and I firmly believe in the bodily integrity of any male or female children that I have not to do things like pierce their ears or circumcise or do anything to their bodies that is not medically necessary per empirically proven scientific reasons.
Circumcision is something that I am dead set against, and I am willing to take on the shit and assholery that people seem to think a person deserves for not circumcising their child just to allow my child to make decisions about his body when he comes of age (if he wants to get circumcised as an adult, he is free to do so- it is his body).
Ostensibly, I’m not sure if I’m pregnant with a boy or a girl at this point, but the main idea is that if I have a boy, there are just as many horrible sexist things to worry about having to deal with simply because society thinks that boys are more important, and if he does not conform to those behaviors, he will be Othered and treated like absolute shit. Power only exists when it can be taken away. Removing privilege from men will give them the power and the ability to be whoever they want to be and cast aside harmful hypermasculinity and other nasty stereotypical male behaviors that do no favors to authentic human interaction.
Tulgey: I love how Arks follows the assertion that we can’t handle the truth with a reassertion of something he has been repeatedly challenged on, to which challenges he did not respond.
That’s because he gave us The Truth. We have just been crass enough to not accept it from him; as if it were from the Mouth of God.
Ungrateful wretches we are.
Just ask him.
The picture is about discrimination. Why are boys being given candy bars, and girls not being given candy bars? How is this not a feminist issue? It is like the draft, which has been described by many feminists as male privilege.
The money quote, the one that prove Dworkin hates men:
Amidst the generally accurate description of male crimes against women came this ideological rot, articulated of late with increasing frequency in feminist circles: women and men are distinct species or races (the words are used interchangeably); men are biologically inferior to women; male violence is a biological inevitability; to eliminate it, one must eliminate the species/race itself
I can’t even tell the genders there, but at a guess, those are all the same sex; probably female, as the cultures which practice FGM tend to also be those which circumcise at puberty.
Antz, wrong again.
And what exactly are you doing to try to prevent that to happen, Antz? I mean, harassing women on the internet isn’t really going to do a whole hell of a lot for a worldwide anti-circumcision campaign.
However, I have read some lady bloggers (some of whom even identify as feminists!) speaking out against circumcision. So you know, you could go do that even, rather than feed your apparent need to be an asshole to everyone who doesn’t think we’d all be much happier with sex robots.
Same here. In fact, the relevant discussion took seconds, since my wife and I have identical views.
Fortunately, we live in a country where circumcision isn’t widely practiced and so there were no social/cultural/religious pressures to conform. But even if there had been, we still wouldn’t have done it, since we both agree that permanent mutilation is something that needs to be done with the informed consent of the owner of the body, and that informed consent implies a minimum age (which is why my daughter hasn’t had her ears pierced yet, much though she’d like them done).
So, not for the first time, I haven’t a clue what point Antz is trying to make.
You’re not implying that I was oblivious to the fact that Dworkin was going Godwin on some separatists in that essay, are you?
AntZ, the picture is fucking disgusting, as are you. Seriously, get help.
I agree with bannination.
No. I was making sure the MRAs, and anti-feminists realised it too.
@AntZ:
Kindly go fuck yourself with a pine cone. Tricking people into looking at a disgusting picture like that is cruel. Even without specific triggers for that kind of thing, it made my stomach turn. I’m not going to lose my breakfast on account of your ass-hattery.
@Argenti:
I actually really liked your discussion of statistics. I took a stats class in college, so I have at least a decent understanding of statistics, but combining them to get new information makes my brain hurt a little (an Anthropologist’s brain). It is one of those “sure I can do it, but do I really WANT to” issues.
AntZ said:
“The picture is about discrimination. Why are boys being given candy bars, and girls not being given candy bars? How is this not a feminist issue? It is like the draft, which has been described by many feminists as male privilege.”
Well, that’s his story and he’s sticking to it. Arsehole.
Ugg what is wrong with you? I think the bigger issue is those poor kids are bleeding with nothing to stop the blood rather than the fucking candy bars. Did you think that was funny? You are messed up dude.
As a Feminist, I’ve never believed all men are rapists, and don’t know any woman who thinks that. Unfortunately, there are many men who would love to live in Stepford.
I certainly think there’s a strong case for banning Antz – what he did is easily on a par with B_____n’s stupid jibe about feminists deserving to be raped.
But I imagine he’ll interpret it as “those scaredy-cat feminists can’t handle The Truth” and take it as a badge of honor.
That said, I really don’t think his continued commenting here can be healthy for him, given what I suspect may be genuine mental health issues. (Especially if his various anecdotes about his childhood are true).
I would never circumcise a child.
I would absolutely ban Antz for his bullshit.
In regards to super heroes: I would totally become a super heroine, but only if I got to be a heroine in the Silver Age. Funny villains and no risk of horrible fridging.
Agreed with smacking Antz with the Hammer of Bannation. Really tasteless metaphor, too.
Also, against circumcision for both genders, but I do want to point out that male circumcision is not the same as female circumcision, from a function standpoint. Yes, both are awful. Yes, circumcision on boys can have terrible and tragic consequences when gone contrary what the procedure intended.
But for girls? Do they know what happens during female circumcision?
I doubt it, Amphitrite. In fact, another thread on here (thought I can’t remember which) just had some asshat complaining yesterday that people act like female circumcision is sooooooooooooooooo much worse than male and it’s just not faiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir.
I kind of lost my shit.
I’ve removed Antz’ picture (but not his deliberately misleading caption) and put him on permanent moderation for posting it.
Graphic pictures like this are not welcome here, and the deliberately misleading caption makes it worse. Graphic pictures featuring girls or women as victims would also be deleted.
General note: If you feel you need to point to graphic pictures to make a point — and I don’t think anyone does– you need to provide a link to those pictures ON ANOTHER SITE and you must provide a non-triggering warning as to their graphic content. I would strongly recommend that you not link to graphic images at all.
But it demonstrably IS sooooooooooooooooo much worse than male circumcision, and it equally clearly IS just not faiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir. So what’s so controversial about that position?