Today is an auspicious day. For the Men’s Rights Subreddit, which we often write about here on Man Boobz, has won the prestigious World’s Greatest Shitlord Award. Oh, sorry, I mean it won the Subreddit of the Day award on Reddit. Which is, in this case, pretty much the same thing.
Here are some highlights from the official announcement , which I am totally not making up. No, really, you can go look. Someone – that being XavierMendel, one of the mods of r/subredditoftheday — actually wrote these things. And meant them. I AM NOT BEING SARCASTIC THIS IS REAL HOLY SHIT.
The topic at hand today takes a generous turn from our amusing and lighthearted articles of the month. On this, the last day of January, we look at something a bit more worthy to be called an article. /r/MensRights comes up a lot across reddit and, indeed, across the world as being one of the few centers for men’s help. It’s often attacked, and is always the center of one controversy or the other. My questions reflect that. MensRights is, undoubtedly, the home of great activists.
Again. I am not making this up.
There were some people close to me that suggested I not run this article. That the repercussions of doing so would be unreasonably bad. Well, here you go, people. This is my way of saying that a good reporter doesn’t care. A good reporter reports. It’s not in my job to care about consequences.
I’m not sure that Mr. Mendel quite understands the difference between “reporting” and “asskissing.”
/r/MensRights. Never in our society could the uninitiated imagine such a place. A place where feminism is questioned, and our culture is deconstructed to find what it’s really up to.
Hahaha, what? I was not aware that feminism wasn’t ever questioned on the internet, or anywhere else in “our society.” I mean, it’s not like I run a blog that features nearly 500 posts detailing people attacking feminism on the internet, most of them nastily and ignorantly and sometimes using the word “cunt,” and the vast majority of them not on Reddit. And it’s not like this only barely scratches the surface of the subject.
/r/MensRights is one of the last fortifications of free thought to exist on Reddit.
Yeah, that’s why I was banned – not for trolling or harassing or calling anyone names, but for politely if persistently disagreeing with the denizens until then-moderator ignatiusloyola threw a fit.
“Surely you jest,” one might tell me, “when you mean they’re alone in this regard?” No, hypothetical 19th century British gentleman, I do not. I truly mean it when I say that. What other subreddit openly questions feminism? None spring to mind, and I make it my duty to catalog various subreddits. Most end up banned or run down within a month. Only /r/MensRights remains.
Reddit: Bastion of Internet Feminism.
Nobody can say for sure whether or not they’re correct in any single regard. It’s certain that, due to the laws of probability, they’re not correct in every regard. However, it’s also certain that they’re correct in most of them. Occasionally a wackjob or two will suggest that feminism is behind Cinnamon Toast Crunch (The taste you can see!™). The accuser latches onto those wackjobs to denounce the whole movement.
Yeah, it’s not as if comments suggesting that a man allegedly wronged in divorce court should turn to murder got literally dozens of upvotes in r/mensrights, or anything.
Oh wait, they did.
Yeah, it’s not as if Men’s Rights Redditors gave literally hundreds of upvotes to a post about a t-shirt suggesting that men could be convicted of rape simply for being in a room alone with a woman.
Oh wait, they did.
It’s not as if Men’s Rights Redditors regularly give dozens if not hundreds of upvotes to posts from unhinged hate sites like A Voice for Men or Angry Harry,or fall all over themselves praising an internet-famous female MRA who thinks that many abused women “demand” their abuse.
It’s not as if they think “spermjacking” is a real thing in the world that should make all men think twice about ejaculating in the general vicinity of women.
It’s not like … oh, you can find many, many more examples for yourself.
After claiming that “people have died” after being called misogynists, while “nobody ever dies after being called a misandrist,” Mr. Mendel winds up his speech with this stirring conclusion:
I support the struggles of people who are in bad positions. I respect it, in a way, for I have also seen great struggle. My struggle is not over, nor will it end until my death. For I struggle with something that will not go away through legislation or social change. The Men’s Rights Movement, however, struggles with something very changeable. Very malleable, able to be fixed within a generation if so desired. So I will support them, for they have a fighting chance. …
/r/MensRights is controversial for a reason. In the same sense as Jews of the 1890s, Irish of the 1850s, Hispanics of the 1350s, and many more. Each generation has their controversial improvement in society. We’ve gotten off easy so far, but we have to make it happen eventually. As far back as anyone living can remember, the table has been imbalanced in one way or another, favoring men or women. It’s time the table stays level for once. We need equality.
And that’s what /r/MensRights is trying to do.
Oy yoy yoy. There’s so much ridiculousness to unpack there that it makes me tired. I think I’ll go take a nap.
Mr. Mendel followed his stirring introduction with some questions for the denizens of r/mensrights. And there was some discussion. I can’t even. Not right now. I’ll get to all that in a future post.
In the meantime, Skepchick’s Rebecca Watson – who has been on the receiving end of r/menrights’ heroic activism more than once — has her own reaction to the Men’s Rights is the Subreddit of the Day announcement.
LAST WORD AGAIN
Seriously, dude, give it up, you’re not going to get what you’re looking for here.
I’m just going by your words, jagoff. Own your weak shit.
Clairedammit: I hope your surgery goes well.
Also, commas. Commas are nice.
LAST WORD.
@CassandraSays, Kittehs – that is really the issue with cheese. I loved ice cream and yogurt but cheese was a whole meal (toasted cheese sammich, etc.) And I need to have protein with my food every time I eat, so losing cheese was a blow. *sigh*
Coconut milk ice cream, btw, although terrible for you, is quite yummy and the closest thing to actual ice cream for us lactose hostile folk.
@Deoidhe – I’ve heard it’s genetic but I’m the only person in my extended family who has it.
Oh and as far as hamburgers go? I’m a huge fan of Red Robin.
Sooner or later trollboy is going to read the masthead of this blog and feel like the idiot he has proven himself to be.
I’ve found this charming poster:
Hear that ladies? Not wanting to be pregnant anymore is not a valid reason for ending a pregnancy. But women are certainly equal to men, they just might have to move a lot.
“Can you provide evidence of your claim?”
I said no and explained why at least 10 times. It’s not my fault you can’t read.
“I’m checking into newgrounds now, but so far not only in the threads talking about men’s rights has no one id’d as an MRA, they’ve all been misogynists!”
Lots of threads come up in there about whether something is sexist or get derailed into discussions about it.
@clairedammit, maybe they’ll find kitties, although fibroids might be something you’d rather have. But a litter of kitties would be cute. I’ve had a number of friends with fibroids, who were all much better after diagnosis and treatment. 🙂
“By means of this approach, you can be extremely much certain of your national infrastructure getting increased very effectively devoid of you to definitely face just about any troubles by using it in any situations.”
My head hurts, I want Cicero after that!
“I never said it does, or that it was one comment. Although you guys only asked for one example, and that’s all I need to contradict a blanket statement.”
Um, sort of? That’d be correct if we were saying every last MRA held some particular view, when, in reality, we seem to be saying more like “anyone see many non-misogynist MRAs? Or this is basically required to be one for long?”
Note that someone specificAlly said earlier that it was quite possible for someone new to MRAs to not hate women, be honestly for men’s rights, but they’ll end up put off when they get more familiar with the men’s rights movement.
Maledict just started a second pot of coffee btw 🙂
This really smells like a sock. I remember having almost the exact same argument with some troll a while back who kept insisting that by quoting the actual words of actual MRAs on their own sites was saying “all people who identify as MRAs are evil incarnate” but could never actually find a direct quote of David or anyone else saying that. And then insisted that it wasn’t said, it was implied, nevermind the entire basis for my argument is bullshit, goal-posts moving like the wind, blah blah blah. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Anyway, I give you PUPPY PILE!
http://fyeahenglishbulldogs.tumblr.com/post/42133547437
Lots of misogynist discussions, apparently.
Do you know what misogyny is? Do you know what mockery is? Do you know what this site is for?
Do your lips move when you read? I rather think they do.
Onto burgers, none of them hold a light to Burger Fuel. They do vegetarian and vegan burgers as well: http://www.burgerfuel.com/nz/menu#gourmet-vege
But they got rid of the chickpea-based patty that I loved so much. 🙁 And you have to love a chain that does aioli with the fries.
Argenti is going to read Monstrous Regiment and go “OMG he just gets me, you know?”
*arranges for fathertime to be savaged by a Shaun The Sheep bath puff*
You know it was probably reddit. Not /r/mensrights, they’re mostly drama queens but somewhere there. Not that it matters much.
“No. I’m telling you I don’t have any proof and that’s it. Why is that so fucking difficult to understand?”
That you claim to have a point, and be correct about it, but readily admit to having no proof (with added claims that you’d have to be “a psycho” to have proof)…in short, what’s so hard to understand? Why you’re here, that’s what.
LAST WORD the umpteenth.
Argenti – Monstrous Regiment is a really good Discworld novel, btw. It’s a stand-alone, though it does have Vimes in it later on (he’s been around forever, he’s the protagonist of quite a few of the books now). Hmm, must be time I read it again …
This discussion is concluded. Fuck off, fatherwasteofspace.
CWS, please tell me you actually have a decorative cotton fish.
@fathertime
No. MRAs are not every guy who thinks that there are ways The Patriarchy Hurts Men, Too (or however they choose to say it). If they don’t id as MRAs, you don’t get to assert they are part of the movement. Are you implying I should stop searching because I won’t find someone who IDs as an MRA and is moderate?
Thanks hellkell and Kiwi girl. I wouldn’t mind having a litter of kitties, but I don’t think I want to have them, tyvm. I’m also having an ovarian cyst removed, so I’m sure I’ll be in much better shape afterwards.
Is this the most tiresome troll we’ve ever had, ever?
I sometimes wonder if our trolls interact with people irl the same way they do here. If so I kind of want to follow them around with a camera crew – would make great reality TV.
Lol, ok, let’s discuss how I’m a Prachett character I know nothing about, it’s triangle better than fathertime here!
Good luck clairedamnit!
Hilariously, there’s a discussion of socks going on upstairs — my brother just yelled something about having told my mother there was a sock (they mean actual foot-wrapping socks)
Did you see the made-for-tv Going Postal? Charles Dance was Vetinari, and he was excellent.