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.
“The singer is so goth he shits bats.”
I love it, Cassandra. You mind if I use it sometime?
Argenti, your dad sounds like a mean bastard. He’s pissing me off too and I’m not even there.
Argenti: I’m sorry you have to deal with this, he sounds like an asswaffle.
Ack, Argenti, sorry.
Carla Bozulich has my favorite voice. Ever.
Bras!
The trouble I have with bras (when I bother to wear ’em) is that so many have really inadequate chest bands and feel like they’re going to pull up. I’m not small – about a 16C last time I got measured – but the things just don’t feel secure, however I adjust the straps. Plus there’s the matter of them needing to be cotton or cotton lined so as not to get horribly sweaty, and not have seams across the nipples, which is too irritating for words. Found a good design a couple of years back: the Hot Milk maternity bras. I couldn’t care less that they’re maternity bras, they have the elements I need and they are quite pretty (not necessary but a nice bonus).
@CassandraSays – I think you meant that paprika comment for Kiwi Girl.
Now I’m flashing back to a Rosie O’Donnell standup routine where she talked about going to a wedding shower where someone had wrapped all the individual spice jars in a spice rack and she had to sit there while the bride unwrapped each one. “Ooh, paprika!”
“You think I can be crunchy here?”
Actually, being able to stay crunchy — even in milk, shows lots of character, Argenti. Good for you.
“But he won’t answer any of the questions posed to him.”
I’m curious, what have I failed to answer?
@ Shiraz
I’m going to end up wishing I could copyright that, aren’t I?
Another Carla Bozulich:
Dude, you know what I asked. Why are you defending MRAs if you’re not an MRA? Don’t be coy, I’m all ears.
Argenti – Seconding all the “your dad sucks majorly” comments. And your psych sounds like a fucking moron, honestly. It’s just SO normal to smilingly go along with with a redneck bigot with a cruel streak as wide as the Atlantic.
“The singer is so goth he shits bats.”
Oooh that reminds me of a joke advice column in a short-lived Goth magazine I was involved with in the 90s. Sir Poobah of Poowong* wrote saying he’s such a Goth that he does bat-shaped poos, but their wings get stuck in the S-bend, so what should he do? Auntie Obnoxia said he needed to squeeze his butt-cheeks together when he pooed so the wings would be nicely folded.
*a real place in Victoria
Ayup, he didn’t stay away.
Thanks guys. Shiraz, this is part of my issue with my current psych — she just got back from maternity leave, and the temp psych I had before her called my stubbornness a positive trait…she seems to see it as some “trouble playing with others” type thing. Yeah, I have trouble playing with assholes.
As for my father, well, there’s a reason Pecunium’s requested not to meet him (should we ever manage to meet in person, he’s probably going to be meeting my mother, I don’t really travel alone, so this isn’t just a random aside)
Ahhh. We’ll, we all have trouble playing with others at times. Let me offer up a fistbump of encouragement.
Stubbornness about playing with assholes is a fine survival strategy I think, Argenti.
One of my favorite African musicians:
@Argenti
Well, I’ve found there are substances that make assholes easier to take, and some of them are pills, but none of them are legal to take for that purpose. 🙂
Shame really.
The way I deal with my mother is by limiting contact and loving the boyfriend’s parents. It is really nice to have good parents to contrast with your own. (Try not to tell your parents that though. If my mom is any indication, they get upset. 🙂 )
Seriously, this psych is an amateur. Does she actually know what words like racist, homophobe, bigot, misogynist and fuckingtinfoilhatwearingHolocaustapologist mean? Has she led such a sheltered life that she thinks any decent person should be expected to play nice with such an asswipe?
Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft
Is it time to bring this out again? Present for you, trollboy. This is what you look like right now.
“I’m going to end up wishing I could copyright that, aren’t I?”
*Giggling* Yeah, maybe. But don’t worry; if I ever use it in conversation, I’ll say “My friend Cassandra said that once.”
Except the plant monster is cuter and has more to contribute than trollboy.
Audrey kind of sounds like Isaac Hayes, which is always a good thing.
(I’m trying to make myself forget that he’s a Scientologist now.)
@fathertime89 – Dude, you showed up here accusing David of cherry picking, insisting that to quote actual MRAs saying horrible shit in their own spaces is the same thing as saying all MRAs everywhere are evil, and claiming that David’s writing is unfair. You, like dozens of other trolls, have insisted that David needs to address your concerns without finding a single actual quotation of David saying all MRAs are the same to support your argument, and without offering a single example of a reasonable MRA who could be quoted as a counterpoint.
This is someone’s blog. It’s not a newspaper. It’s not public property. Even if David was cherry picking, which he isn’t, even if he was saying all MRAs are evil, which he doesn’t, there’s nothing you can do about it, because it’s not your blog. He doesn’t owe you anything.
If you feel that strongly about how important it is for the mythical reasonable MRAs you insist you’ve encountered somewhere on the internet once to be represented, despite claiming not to be an MRA yourself, go make your own blog and do it. You’re not going to change the mind of anyone here. David is not going to alter how he runs this blog based on your whinging.
Trust me, I know you think you’ve making a brilliant logical attack on this space and your ego is puffed up with glee right now, but you’re not. You’re not even the first one to say this nonsensical crap. Nothing about your comments tonight has been original, or thought-provoking, or worth the electricity used to send them.
“Well, I’ve found there are substances that make assholes easier to take, and some of them are pills, but none of them are legal to take for that purpose”
Lol, so true!
Re: my psych — I’m not sure she really believes he’s as bad as I say. Whatever, she’s reduced me to half hour every other week anyways.
@Argenti: if people in your household are walking on eggshells around your father, it’s your father who’s the problem. Not you. Does back-from-maternity-psych do hypotheticals well, so you could give her a hypothetical based on a time you did (or wanted to) yell or answer back to your father? If you could walk her through it slowly as a scenario then she may become less antagonist.
On the poo theme, it reminds me of a line from Ab Fab where Patsy said about a po-faced sales woman: she was so anal retentive, she couldn’t sit down for fear of sucking up the furniture.
🙂