Our old friend over at the Pro-Male/Anti-Feminist Technology blog is angry again. This time he’s mad at a legitimate target: National Rifle Association president Wayne LaPierre. But not because LaPierre is the head of an organization that has stood athwart every attempt at sensible gun control, making tragedies like the one in Newtown an all-too-predictable side effect of the easy availability of semiautomatic weaponry.
No, Mr. Pro-Male/Anti-Feminist Tech is made at LaPierre because he thinks the NRA big gun has turned into a feminist. No, really. Noting that in the wake of the Newtown shootings LaPierre launched a transparently opportunistic attack on violent video games, Mr. PMAFT accuses him of doing the work of the grand feminist conspiracy against men and manhood:
The most important reason why LaPierre is wrong is because what he is doing is feminist. Video games are an activity predominately enjoyed by men. So are guns. Both activities are under attack from feminists (just like other predominately male activities like science fiction are) because men are interested in them and women are mostly not interested in them. LaPierre is shooting himself in the foot (pun intended) by alienating allies among the video game community and helping out feminists in their war on male activities.
Never mind that nearly half – 47% — of those playing video games these days are girls and women, according to the Entertainment Software Association. (I await the inevitable comment from a troll telling us all that whatever games these women are playing just don’t count because blah and blah.)
What LaPierre should have done is form an alliance with the video game community. While the Newtown shootings are being used against gun owners right now, the next target will be video games and other mostly male interests and activities. Both the video game community and the gun community are fighting the same enemy, feminism. They should be working together to point out facts like how the Newtown shooter was raised by a single mother and how homes where the father is kicked out lead to more violence.
Never mind that the shooter — like virtually all mass shooters — was a dude; a woman is always to blame.
The NRA is in a position of weakness now because they are attacking video games and not the real causes of the Newtown tragedy, single motherhood and feminism. The NRA is in the same boat as the Republican Party where it needs to become an explicitly anti-feminist and pro-mens rights organization to survive. (Lots of conservative and right wing organizations are in this situation.) Guns aren’t the problem here, but neither are video games. The NRA needs to realize this and realize that its only way forward is by fighting feminism. Anything else leads the NRA to irrelevance.
So one of the most powerful lobbies in American politics needs to team up with a Men’s Rights “movement” that can’t organize a single event that draws a crowd bigger than 8 people, or else it will fade into irrelevance?
I dearly hope the NRA fades into obscurity, and I am hopeful that public opinion about guns is beginning finally to shift in the right direction, but I’m not sure the NRA needs any pointers from MRAs on political relevance.
Oh look! The notion that “single motherhood” is definitely and always a choice made by the woman. Again.
(Seriously, has there been ANY info/discussion about the father of the shooter? Beyond “he wasn’t there”? Divorce, widow, abandoned? NOT that I think that has anything to do with the case, because plenty of people (men included!) manage to grow up with a single mom and not become a mass killer of children (or anyone). But much like the exact nature of the shooters’ alleged “mental illness”, I’m not aware of any details of that kind being released. But people sure like to speculate.)
“I would just be happy if we worked harder to keep crazy people away from military weapons.”
As a resident crazy person, I’d like to note that I’m only ever a danger to myself — there’s got to be a bette term here, because I do know wtf you mean. The sort of self-centered empathy-less asshole who could and would hurt others to make a point…keep abusive personalities away from guns? (Honestly, it isn’t the keeping me away from guns that bothers me, it’s being lumped in with him.)
“Women must be more than eye candy? I really don’t know. My current sci fi is 20 years old, and the second named character is a woman with skillz.”
Yeah. Women in Scifi is something that’s been evolving since the 60s, when Gene Roddenberry figured out “hey, I can make a woman a real character!” It wasn’t much, but it was a start,
It was always bound to happen eventually, and I don’t see how female characters can possible ruin anything. It’s like saying “Gee, this novel would be great if it weren’t for all the black characters.” Good characters are good characters.
Guns are bad, they shot bullet and bullet go fast and can hurt people. It is not the gun that is bad, but the bullet. Bad bullet.
Pseudo_star_17 — there was a thread here when it happened, give me a min to find it, but his parents were divorced.
That thread — http://manboobz.com/2012/12/20/quiz-whos-responsible-for-the-newtown-shootings-according-to-commenters-on-the-spearhead/
@freemage
How could I have forgotten atheism? As a feminist atheist, I’m on the front lines for that one.
“As a resident crazy person, I’d like to note that I’m only ever a danger to myself — there’s got to be a bette term here, because I do know wtf you mean. The sort of self-centered empathy-less asshole who could and would hurt others to make a point…keep abusive personalities away from guns?”
I meant it as more of a “keep assault rifles from average citizens” sort of thing. In the Newtown shooting, the shooter stole the weapons from his mother. The question is, what the hell did they need an assault rifle for?
Oh! We’ve also ruined fatherhood!
Women have also ruined sex, marriage, fatherhood, television, and cats.
Yeah, I figured that was more the gist of it, and my answer to that is a resounding “nothing” — I’m just sick of this being blamed on mental illness and how we’re all dangerous when we’re really, really not.
Also the internet, in that it’s not fair that women are allowed to use it.
Wait, we’ve ruined cats??!?!!!
Amen. Wayne LaPierre isn’t a feminist, he’s a ghoul.
Oh, feminism also ruined math, what’s this madness that girls can do math?! MRAs, as men, could never be bad at math!
Except they really are quite terrible at it!
I know MRAs are, by definition, not members of the reality-based community, but this guy has crossed over into tinfoil hat territory. His whole schtick is your basic “$GROUP is trying to take over the world and everything I dislike is part of their evil plan” paranoia, but with feminism in place of the more common CIA or One World Government.
“Web design, or more thing feminists stole, along with flash, CSS2 and HTML4 (and thus the body tag, I’m still getting used to that)”
Feminists invented PHP.
He makes David Icke look sensible.
@CassandraSays
And we can do it anonymously so that men never know if there’s a woman amongst them. (The fact that they don’t seem to care and just assume women are absent shows how little feminism has made a difference in default=male thinking, but that would let facts get in the way of gut male feelings.) Should we add anonymity to the list?
“I’m just sick of this being blamed on mental illness and how we’re all dangerous when we’re really, really not.”
Yeah, sorry if my statement was insensitive.
Speaking of blaming mental illness, I was shocked when Lapierre suggested creating a database and tracking anyone with a mental illness.
Ironically LaPierre is more dangerous than literally all of those people. He has both a dangerous ideology and the power to implement it.
Ach, the thread advanced quite a bit while I was typing. Feminism also ruined comedy, because rape jokes and “make me a sammich” aren’t funny anymore.
” but with feminism in place of the more common CIA or One World Government.”
…but Feminists ARE the CIA and the One World Government! D:
“He makes David Icke look sensible.”
For as much hate as David Icke gets, at least he preaches love and compassion. I can’t say the same for MRAs or the NRA.
I’m actually a bit disappointed that no MRAs have accused us of being alien lizard people yet.
“Feminists invented PHP.” — and jQuery! (I know, and love, both btw, well, WordPress php anyways)
Atomicgrizzly — I’m far more worried about people with the view you just mentioned than the general lump us all together crowd (that’s just annoying because this guy really was that fucking foul) — my parents would probably agree with that shit too, so I get defensive on this stuff.
“Ironically LaPierre is more dangerous than literally all of those people. He has both a dangerous ideology and the power to implement it.” — yeah, their the ones to fear, not those of us who might be a danger to ourselves, some times, but usually not really. Though I’m about to be a danger to my fingers, be back whenever I can’t finger notes anymore! (Oh my lovely violin, why must you hurt me so!)
Feminists ruined string instruments, and ballet, and cheer leading (going further back in history)