And so the MRAs have found yet another woman to hate.
Earlier this month, as many of you no doubt know, a Men’s Rights group sponsored a lecture at the University of Toronto. The event drew protesters, and the protesters drew MRAs with video cameras. One of the MRAs filmed a confrontation between a red-haired feminist activist and a number of MRAs who continually interrupted her as she tried to read a brief statement.
Her crime? She wasn’t exactly polite in responding to the interrupters. And so, after video of the confrontation was uploaded to YouTube, and linked to on the Men’s Rights subreddit and elsewhere, she became a virtual punching bag for the angry misogynists of the internet.
A Voice for Men, naturally, led the charge, running an article by Canadian MRA Dan Perrins labeling her “Little red frothing fornication mouth” and commenting on her breasts. The Amazing Atheist weighed in with a video I couldn’t bring myself to even watch.
Since being targeted by angry YouTube misogynists and MRAs, the red-haired activist has received death threats, rape threats and literally hundreds of other hateful and harassing messages. She’s also been “doxxed” — that is, she’s had her personal information plastered all over the internet, including on A Voice for Men’s forum. Ten days after being uploaded to YouTube, the video of her faceoff against the MRAs has garnered more than 300,000 views, and YouTubers are still leaving threats and insults and crude sexual comments.
This, apparently, is what “Men’s Human Rights Activism” consists of: the doxxing and harassment of individual women.
Several days ago, she contacted me to tell me about the harassment she’s endured. Here’s some of what she wrote:
I’m the red-head. I’m sure by now, you’re one of the 260,000 people who have seen the video of me … .
Because I had the audacity to tell a dude to stfu, an MRA no less, I have since been the target of not only just online misogyny (as if that’s a surprise) but cyber stalking, rape and death threats. They somehow found my facebook, they found my tumblr, they found a twitter acct that I don’t even use, they even found an old [dating site] profile of mine with outdated info …
I also got an anonymous message on tumblr that specifically said “[name deleted] would be disappointed”. [Name deleted] is my dog that died 1.5 years ago, I don’t talk about him on tumblr, nor fb, so they would have had to reaaaaalllly dig to find this info. …
In about 12-24hours, I got about400-500 new messages on my blog, most of them hate, which included rape and death threats, also people wishing death upon me or the typical troll “kill yourself” message. They made a meme of me.
I dunno how many haters I have, and I don’t know where they are. I can’t be sure at any given second, if I’m ever outside my house … if anyone is going to recognize me and try to hurt me.
With her permission, I am reposting screenshots she sent me documenting some of the harassment she’s endured. Even though her personal information has already been widely disseminated online, I don’t want to contribute to that, so I’ve whited out any information that might reveal her identity.
TRIGGER WARNING for what follows, for threatening language and crude sexual remarks.
Here’s a death threat she received from someone claiming to represent the “Islamic Brotherhood.”
Here are some sample comments from her Tumblr inbox. I’ve whited out comments and parts of comments that consist of her contact info, which being sent to her in an attempt to intimidate and frighten her by letting her know they “know where she lives.”
Here’s another threatening comment sent to her via Tumblr:
Here are some comments sent to her via her YouTube account. You’ll notice that the second comment comes from AVFM’s Dan Perrins, who is clearly relishing the attacks on her.
And another glimpse into her YouTube inbox:
Here’s a screenshot from a Men’s Rights forum revealing her personal information.
Meanwhile, over on YouTube, the hateful comments continue to pile up. Here are some of the nastiest ones I’ve collected. I am deliberately posting a lot of them in an attempt to convey something of the relentless nature of the attacks on teh red-haired activist — though I should note I’ve only gone through a small portion of the total comments there and this doesn’t even reflect all of the awful ones I found. These are not in any particular order. I threw in a few non-threatening ones that struck me as a tad ironic or otherwise revealing.
Again, this is only a small fraction of the abuse she’s gotten on YouTube.
This is what happens when MRAs and other misogynists target a woman online. The only thing that’s surprising here is the sheer amount of the hateful comments.
I’ve seen no serious attempts from any MRAs to rein in this sort of hatred. A Voice for Men has tried to distance itself in a superficial way from some of the harassment it has played a central role in unleashing, with an official announcement asking readers to refrain from posting the personal information of the red-haired activist in the comments. Meanwhile, in the AVFM forum, comments linking to her defunct dating profiles remain up.
This is what MRA “activism” looks like.
Coming tomorrow: A more detailed look at AVFM’s role in the harassment.
Johnathon, honey, nobody here is interested in “debating” whether or not women should accept the limited role in life that you’d like to impose upon us with you. Everyone here has already thought this issue through for themselves and reached their own conclusions. Given that you’re clearly not open to having your mind changed on this issue, why on earth would you expect anyone else to be?
Hypocrisy isn’t a good look on anyone.
The slowly-becoming-more-troll-savvy part of me wonders if Chloe is actually whoever it was who was posting the video and lying about its contents, hoping that a new start with a girls name will make us say “BUT A GIRL SAID IT !!!! OMG!!! IT HAS TO BE TRUE!!!”
If Chloe is a girl I will eat my…well actually I don’t have any hats right now so I guess I’ll have to eat someone else’s.
What on earth happened at that protest that is so horrific to you? Some university students exercised their charter rights and fundamental freedoms in the form of protest. There was mild civil disobedience in the form of pulling a fire alarm, but except for that it was entirely lawful. You entered the public with your ideology. The public booed you off the stage. Them’s the breaks. But you don’t want freedom of speech, you want a monopoly on all expression. Well, you don’t get that. Also, universities are semi-private institutions- students get a say on what goes on behind those doors. If you don’t want to be reviled, be less revolting.
But rather than accept your place in the public dialogue you are targeting individuals who actively counter your ideas in the hopes of terrorizing others into silence. That’s your place in the narrative.
Also I saw some dudes in the background who appeared to be supporting the feminist protest rather than the MRA event. Why aren’t these “activists” going after any of those guys? Wait, I already know the answer to that question.
Try harder, “Chloe.” You’re roughly 1500 comments behind.
Here’s a thing- are American protesters usually more polite than this? Shut the fuck up is pretty standard fare at a protest back home, though there would be more fist swinging and police involvement if the picket lines weren’t clearly kept.
TTF: depends on the protest.
@cassandrasays
I don’t have a hat, but I have a hairband, so that can be eaten 😉
TTF, thanks for that. You’ve organised my thoughts on the matter for me.
I love how pulling a fire alarm has suddenly become a cardinal sin in MRAland. I expect them to now go on a crusade against every frat boy in America.
And in other news, water is wet.
No fucking shit. I think I, and everyone on this website, made it clear that she didn’t deserve that. But you can’t use that to pretend she was inherently right.
If you even bothered to apply the slightest bit of reading comprehension to my comment, you’ll see that I said she noticeably cheered when the false alarm went off.
Skip to 0:25 to see for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2KPeMcYsuc
She’s screaming at the top of her lungs, helping to drown out the discussion going on inside. Then the fire alarm is pulled and all the feminist protesters start cheering, including Red. Dare I say that cheering for an illegal act that silences a conversation pretty much makes you an asshole?
You fuckwits are really having that hard of a time admitting and reprimanding some of your own for sinking to illegal means to disturb a conversation? And way to downplay her open mocking of suicide victims as “not exactly polite,” Manboobz. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KWuLVtH6vgM Coddling a woman’s actions makes you a true fucking champion of women’s rights.
http://yourlaws.ca/criminal-code-canada/437-false-alarm-fire
http://www.simcoe.com/news-story/2005643-prank-fire-alarms-costly/
Huge difference between speaking out and silencing. Anyone who objected was invited to participate in an open debate. Instead, these shitstains actively disrupted it by blaring through their megaphones, banging on doors and lockers, and effectively cutting off the talk prematurely. Here’s a reporter’s live-blogging of this, via Canadian-Liberal: http://live.ryersonian.ca/Event/Protesters_expected_to_disrupt_mens_issues_awareness_event_at_U_of_T?Page=0
You know what’s hilarious about this? Feminists are always telling MRAs not to invade their spaces and talk over their issues. Well, now MRAs created their own space to talk about men’s issues, and guess what feminists do? Trample over it, and scream over them. The same hypocritical shit that they accuse MRAs of doing.
Chloe: This. Post. Is. Not. About. Whether. She’s. Right. Or. Not. It is about the despicable, misogynistic behaviors of the MRAs. Get that through your fucking head.
And… how is protesting a hate movement wrong? I mean, if I heard there was a Klu Klux Klan meeting in my neighborhood, I wouldn’t say “okay, well they need a safe space to talk”. People can can demonstrate against things even if you don’t agree with it. I don’t think anyone’s saying MRAs don’t deserve a space (well, I personally wouldn’t give a shit if they didn’t have one), but people have already pointed out that hello, university? Not a private club or anything they invaded. A school campus.
*sigh* Chloe is so boring. We had this talk before Chloe. I should be sleeping, but instead I’m going to be trying to hit all the points on why you’re wrong, Chloe.
See, you say everyone knows it, but in the next breath you say we should be talking about what she did wrong. So clearly everyone does not know it. You can’t just say ‘everyone knows death threats are always wrong’ and then add a ‘but-‘ there without making it clear you are lying through your teeth.
Also, big ass citation needed on everyone pretending she was inherently (lol?) right. Nobody said that Chloe. Try to engage with what is actually going on.
…The horror? Doesn’t make her not a jerk (I don’t think it’s a jerk move, but different opinions) but the point is that she is not the one who pulled the fire alarm and it is not relevant here.
And earlier I thought you said you knew death threats were never justified. It’s almost as if you’re pretending to agree so you can claim you’re in the right. No, Chloe, you are a horrible human being who is trying to justify a fuckload of harassment against one woman because you don’t like what she did. You don’t like that she was a jerk, and you think she deserves death threats because of that. Your disguise is paper thin, you’re fooling nobody.
Also, Chloe, found the comment I wanted a citation, it was on:
I want you to show me where the protestors promised ‘militant action’, and how they tried to intimidate people. I also want you to tell me how the hell protesting something happening is the same as silencing, as I’m sure your explanation would be amusing, albeit unintentionally.
I gave zero fucks about the fire alarm shit. Normally I’d assume it was just a misunderstanding, but my patience is low today, so I’m getting the vibe you chose the one that was easiest to provide a citation for…
Ah, they didn’t protest quietly enough for your tastes. Like father ted:
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpjy6gRmGE1qzb8ebo1_1280.jpg
Really good protests are meant to be disruptive. And if your response to a very loud protest is to inundate an individual protester with cyber harassment that keeps her living in fear for years to come, then you are the one in the wrong. Period. Sometimes protestors shut down events. Events get rescheduled or they go to a different venue. And this manages to occur without inviting thousands of threats of death and rape on any relatively powerless individuals who hurt your feelings.
Thanks for saying so, ArchaeoHolmes!
@ Marie ‘I suspect this threat of ‘militant action’ is similar to the gang of box cutter wielding maniacs who John the Otter had to battle unarmed, alone, and with nothing but his expert kung fu skills to save him.
Oh shoot, forgot what I came here to do- look, the redhead made it to Jezebel!
http://jezebel.com/rape-and-death-threats-what-mens-rights-activists-rea-476882099
Maybe she might get some support this way.
@TTF
Probably. We’ll see what Chloe comes up with…if zie comes back. Kinda boring, so I’m apathetic to it. Anyway, I’ve seriously got to turn in now, so all you manboozers, have fun with the troll, if such a thing is possible with this one.
G’night.
Niters, Marie!
—
Allow me to introduce to you a concept
of which I’m most fond
It’ll be instructive in our foray into this world of fun
I refer thee to the Wiki, fortwith, “Splitting”
(Although I’ve always been taught it’s called fragmentation)
Now, don’t quibble, I’m not here
to pretend I can see the conents of your mind laid bare
You’re an individual person with all that entails
And I wouldn’t try to tarnish you with the notion that you’re in any way actively dysfunctional
I mean to imply, that with the statements you make
You set up simple groups and that this is fake
Us fuckwits, admit, one of our own
those feminists! The MRA! Always and on
Listen: People do things.
And people think things.
And it don’t take no Seuss to suss out that sometimes people disagree.
You still with me?
So when people disagree, they sometimes do so violently
and this is, in this case, regretably THE case
Now “Red”, was filmed and “Red” was haunted
hunted
And you, “Chloe” (You poe) is trying to claim that that is somehow okay
because we ain’t calling her out.
Haven’t we? Pulling fire-alarms in debates (which she didn’t) is bad and male suicide
which is high
is sad
and callously dismissing the concerns of others when stated
is not often good practice, although the utility can be debated
In other news, water is wet.
But let’s go back a step.
What kind of person barges in here and demands, reprimands
calls us fuckwits
in their attempts to portray our lack of wits (and fucks)
those being things we’re too busy to fuck with
(That was wit)
You feminists this! You MRA’s that!
The basis of ONE person does not a movement make
And the statements of ONE person does not a movement *break*
And slamming “feminists” all over, for the acts of just one
Is the same kind of stupid
that lets me
quote you
and go “Ah, so you’re an MRA then, yes, and you support public whorehouses for single mothers?”
The answer, I hope, is “What the fuck? No! Why would you even *suggest* that?!”
If it isn’t: leave.
So let’s drop the tacky attack of going “Ah, so you all!” when what we mean is “Ah, so you”.
It’s cheap, and we’re not.
Secondly, on the order of fire alarms and public tax payers:
Indeed, it’s a waste of ressources.
Does this trivialize the death threats? How many thousands of tax payer dollars is equal
to your home address published at forums for diseminating violent rhetoric?
Oh, sorry, am I conflating the issue with another issue and clouding it in a third issue?
Is water fucking wet? I bet. Was that a cheap rhyme? Yes. And since we aren’t, here’s the sum up:
“Chloe, if your position is such that public debate is a must then that position is vaunted and noble, and congratulations to you – if your position is such that public discourse is okay, but hunting sluts is much more fun, then that position is ignoble, and you should get a clue. If your position is fire alarms is equal to death threats, then that’s wrong, and I’m sorry that’s the case, and if you somehow mistake people stating “Wow, I disagree with her statements that male suicide is a non-issue but I don’t think it warrants death threats to voice that disagreement” then get your eyes checked.”
A little less groupthink, a little more wit. It’d do your good. Doctors orders.
Chloe, you asshat, your asshat has been handed to you on a silver platter.
Any response?
😀
Fibinachi, if you were any hotter tonight, your hair would be on fire.
This made me so sad and angry…