It’s hard to parody Men’s Rights Activists, because no matter how ridiculous your parody is, there’s a good chance that some MRA out there has already said, or written, or sung, something even more ridiculous already.
Not that long ago, a bunch of Man Boobz regulars set out to parody the bizarre, and often inadvertently surrealistic, posters that have been popping up on MRA sites like A Voice for Men and Artistry Against Misandry. It was hard, but I think some of us managed to come up with posters that were even uglier and less coherent than the originals. I especially liked these two, from (respectively) Cliff Pervocracy and Sir Bodsworth Rugglesby III.
But alas, we have been outmaneuvered by the all-too-serious poster-makers on A Voice for Men, who have managed to produce posters that make even less sense than our silliest parodies. Take a look at this one, which I believe is the work of an Australian MRA by the name of Roger O. Thornhill.
I mean, really. How can we compete with that?
This is an actual poster that some MRAs think will actually win people over to their cause. How, I’m not exactly sure. What exactly about a cupcake with a tiara is supposed to scream “men’s rights” to random pedestrians who might catch a glimpse of this poster wheatpasted to a hoarding while on their way to work?
For more of Roger’s fine work, see here and here.
Man Boobzers, can you do better?
Or, if you’re not up to that Herculean task, could you at least try to explain just what exactly you think Mr. Thornhill was trying to say with that poster of his?
EDITED TO ADD: I have been asked to contribute a poster myself. So here one is. You can find many more hilarious and incredibly ugly posters at ArtistryForFeminismAndKittens and, of course, in the comments below!
Here’s my butchering of the song in a more legible format.
More posters!!!! Huzzah!
Aww. Joe called me a misandrist bigot! I’ve never been called a misandrist before! *proud tears*
You do. You can not have sex. You can get a vasectomy. You can use a condom. All three valid and effective choices. If you have sex, have not had a vasectomy and do not use a condom there are potential consequences to that. One of the possible consequences is the woman you had sex with getting pregnant and deciding that she is willing to let her body go through 9 months of pregnancy. If you’re so horrified by that option, you have three perfectly good ways to avoid it entirely that I just listed above. (Also condom failure rates are mostly due to people using them incorrectly. And as I already said, doubling up on protection is a good idea in most cases to begin with!)
There would indeed, however, you’re ignoring the context. RISUG is not the only option for male contraception (see previous paragraph where I gave you 3). It is, however, the most non-invasive, long-term, reversible male contraceptive option we currently have, which seemed to be what you were after with the “male pill” thing. Women have a number of relatively non-invasive, long-term and reversible options already, and in the US it’s largely because there is a huge demand for them (meaning profit).
In other words, the problem is not with me. I’m not the one restricting this procedure from you. And no, I’m not going to start petitions trying to change that because if I did, you’d be screaming at me for daring to speak for you. I would however sign a petition if it existed (here in the US, my signature won’t help y’all much over in the UK), but then, your MRA guys aren’t real big on actually doing something productive to make the lives of men better. Shouting silly insults at strangers on the internet remains your forte.
Kitteh’s If you are using the “visual” interface, then save the entire link, highlight the text you want to link, click the “link” image, and paste the text in the box.
http://i.imgur.com/azZAV.png
Vasectomies are a great option for someone that is either done having kids or doesn’t want any kids. My husband had it done three years ago, and we’re both very happy with it. The procedure sounds scary, but he says it wasn’t bad at all with all the drugs they give you. He had to take it easy for a few days, get a follow up test to make sure he was sperm free, and that was it. They are much less invasive and expensive than tubal ligations, too.
The latest post has inspired a new poster.
http://i.imgur.com/r4Oox.png
@thebionicmommy – also doctors are not nearly as resistant to performing vasectomies as they are tubal ligation (though younger men, especially ones without kids, will encounter resistance too). I’ve heard a lot of horror stories from women, even ones in their mid-30s, who have had doctors refuse to perform sterilization on them “because you’ll change your mind later.” (I don’t understand this mentality. If someone is unsure about becoming a parent, why on earth would you want that person to go ahead with it? Child-rearing is immensely difficult and we should not be pressuring people who think they kinda don’t really want kids to do it anyway. Oy.)
You mean motherhood isn’t the ultimate life goal of every woman? Who knew?! /sarcasm
@Pecunium – thanks! I tried that, using “manboobz.com” but it didn’t work – I must be doing something wrong but I don’t know what, just now. However I have added Man Boobz to the short list of blogs in the sidebar of mine, so if anyone does want to check it out they can do it that way.
Not that David’s going to miss a heap of traffic from my grand total of fourteen followers! 😀
Not that I’ve done it myself, but I’ve heard that getting sterilized if you’re young and/or childless is a big hassle for both genders.
I’ve heard anecdata about that too – the whole “but you might change your mind!” stuff with heavy implications (for women; I haven’t read men’s accounts) of “all women will want baybeeeez eventually and you’re too young to know what you really want and anyway you must have something wrong with you to even think about not having baybeeeez.”
::gag::
Someone on the new thread thought we needed a poster on a particular topic…
http://i.imgur.com/vPT6y.jpg
I know of someone when I hung out on Slacktivist who’d gone and got himself snipped pretty young (but he was an adult when he made that decision). The doctors didn’t hassle him, but he got a lot of grief from his mother when she found out.
Aaaw, thanks <3
cloudiah beat me to it,
I like yours better!
There is plenty of room for two foreskin posters.
Only two?
http://i.imgur.com/YT4us.jpg (special guest appearance by Truck Balls, just for Tulgey)
@Katz and Kitten: It’s weird how people go on and on about sterilisation being for life… Yeah it is, but so are babies. It’s not like one can magic them away once they’re born. Yet, mysteriously, people don’t go “BUT WHAT IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND?” to people who announce they’re trying to get pregnant.
It’s ridiculous for doctors to try to pressure people out of getting vasectomies or tubal ligations. As long as someone is an adult and making the choice for themselves, then it’s none of the doctor’s business. Besides, it’s better for someone that doesn’t want children to not have them rather than have them and not take care of them.
Even though we have two children, the urologist kept asking “Are you sure? Reversals don’t work well, so are you sure you want to do this?” I told him, “Well if you don’t give him the vasectomy, I will get a tubal ligation as soon as possible.” That finally got him to stop making such a big deal about it. I could only imagine how he would act to someone who doesn’t have children.
Never too many posters, foreskin or not.
http://i.imgur.com/W3ElB.png
http://i.imgur.com/KItTh.png
To be obnoxious, or to not be obnoxious…
😛
@Fitzy –
Yeah, I hear that BS rhetoric directed at men allll the fuckin’ time. Here’s the thing, tho’:
Try standing up in front of a feminist women’s conference and telling THEM that they don’t NEED the post-conception choices of abortion, nor abandonment / adoption because, as YOU said: they should only use pre-conception birth control, get their tubes tied or “they should have kept their pants zipped up”.
I expect that will go down like a turd in the trifle.
Please film yourself doing that and post the ensuing riot up on YouTube, so everyone can point and laugh at you.
Men want the same / similar* post-conception reproductive rights as women.
Equality – it’s not just for women anymore.
@Pecunium – Please, spare me your crocodile tears over the “Needs of the children”.
You’re a feminist. So, no doubt you are pro-the-choice-of-abortion (me too! Something we agree on!).
If you’re not Pro-Choice? do come out as a Pro-Lifer here on this blog! I double dare ya!.
Certainly pro-choice is a fundamental plank of feminism.
Which means that you and feminism PUT THE NEEDS / WANTS OF WOMEN AHEAD OF THE NEEDS OF THE CHILD**. There is no more fundamental “need” than not-being-killed, in fact ALL other needs stand secondary to that.
Given that: you have ZERO moral ground to stand on in attempting to deny men the EQUALITY* of putting their needs / wants ahead of the needs of the child.
Your attempts to argue such are the rankest hypocrisy.
Men just want the same* equality of reproductive choice that women have, post-feminism.
(*Actually a bit less than equality, men aren’t asking for the right to abort kids in the womb, just disown them.
**Many of the key feminist victories have been about freeing women from the previously inevitable biological “tyranny” of child bearing / rearing.)
@Futrelle – by all means, ban me, whatever. Just know that if you do; you’re acknowledging you cannot cope with any rational challenge to your POV and that this is nothing more than a cosy echo chamber / circle-jerkfest.