In an apparent attempt to prove that they’re not misogynists, the folks at A Voice for Men have decided to take a temporary break from their practice of vilifying individual female activists to vilify a male activist – University of Toronto Student Union VP for University Affairs Munib Sajjad.
As far as I can tell, the folks at A Voice for Men decided to target Sajjad, perversely, because he told Toronto’s CityNews that he was afraid he was “going to be targeted” after announcing publicly that he thought a campus Men’s Rights group should be banned. The A Voice for Men post about Sajjad is a typically long-winded, and largely content-free, rant from the excitable John Hembling (“John The Other”).
But what’s more disturbing than Hembling’s empty bloviating on Sajjad is the way A Voice for Men has framed the attack. “Munib Sajjad, it’s your turn in the barrel,” the headline declares, and Hembling repeats the phrase “your turn in the barrel” in the post itself.
I wasn’t familiar with this phrase, so I looked it up, and found that it derives from a rape joke. Here’s the definition of the term, from Urban Dictionary:
To say someone is “in the barrel” or “taking a turn in the barrel” means it’s their turn to do an unpleasant task or to suffer an unpleasant experience.
Click on the “definition” link above to see the gang rape joke it’s derived from.
Rape jokes aimed at men — even men you don’t like — are certainly a, well, counterintuitive way of showing “compassion for boys and men,” as the A Voice for Men slogan has it.
EDITED TO ADD: Looking again at Hembling’s piece, I realize I hadn’t noticed his, er, argument that the term “mansplaining” — which I find useful from time to time — is somehow equivalent to the incredibly offensive term “[racial slur redacted]splaining,” which Hembling has just made up. (The slur in question starts with an “n.” You can figure it out.) This is ridiculous on its face, not to mention that it’s frankly racist not only to compare the alleged oppressions of men — who are not systematically oppressed — with those of black people — who are — but also to use a racial slur in doing so. Of course this isn’t the first time that A Voice for Men has used the n-word in an attempt to suggest that men, collectively, have it as bad as a historically disadvantaged and still systematically oppressed group.
Rape jokes and racial slurs: A Voice for Men has it all!
A goddess committee? I’m in.
Goddess committee? I’ll bring the booze.
@Cthulu’s Intern
I couldn’t remember what Hera offered him, but according to what I found on wikipedia, she offered to make him the king of Europe and Asia? Does that sound right to you?
Anyway, if he took up on her offer, he already would’ve been king
It’s like, Hera offers him something valuable
Athena offers him something valuable
Aphrodite offers him a person
Obviously, this ancient Greek myth was signifying the dangers of hot women and how men are ruled by their boners.
I’ll bring a nice selection of cheeses to go with hellkell’s booze.
I’ll bring domatas! if that’s how you spell it. They go perfectly with feta cheese, which is no doubt on your nice cheese list, right? *puppy dog eyes*
Oh, hell yeah. I always some feta around, Fade.
Is there any room for a petty demon in the Goddess club? I’ll bring brownies.
Did he go away and get banned? You’re a dumb troll. I am certain.
I keep inadvertently using “he” in referencing trolls. Deeply entrenched misandry!
Wait, you’re having a party and no one told ME? 😀
What should I bring? I make these oyster crackers seasoned with dill & stuff that are pretty tasty, and I think they would go well with dolmas and feta.
i’m bringing semolina honey cake!
Of course there’s room for petty demons! Especially if one of the plates of brownies has walnuts in them. *loves nuts in brownies*
I’ll bring an assortment of marinated olives. I know not all Goddesses are Greek, but speaking as a mostly-atheist who can’t stop worshiping Athene, I approve of all the Greek food 😉
Wow, I’m sad this isn’t happening in meatspace. *sniff*
Stands across the street selling golden apples. Or at least they look like golden apples. They might just be pinecones (mildly NSFW, explicit on other pages).
Pinecones.
Ooh ooh Goddess committee I can bring the party games. Viscaria, goddess of CRM. It is administrative professionals week so I have already begun collecting tributes.
Why can’t we get a high-quality troll in here? Is that really too much to ask?
Ah, well, let’s get those scented candles lit and get this party rollin’.
Ha, that’s what I was totally thinking: Eris has the box that makes you want whatever’s inside it.
Please GTFO forever. You’re insufferable already and I just started looking at the comments.
I make a fantastic serving of a recipe that has a name referencing a nation that doesn’t even have the same dish let alone the ingredients used in it. I’d love to join the apotheosis party, but being a reptile mostly made of Internets, I’m not sure I can really fit in with you semi, demi and actually divines 🙂
—
Prester John the jester troll
dances merily at the end of the rope
he used to hang himself, as he spoke
referencing the divine plan and satanism
while raging against feminism with far too much simplism
Because it’s simple, he simply doesn’t get God
and is still waiting for Godot, good god
Get out.
Let’s get the argument about continental vs. English knitting going:
Continental is faster so long as you don’t have to purl. I drop the needle when I knit English, but that’s what my mom taught me. Knowing how to do both allows me to do colorwork and double-knitting.
Actually, the barrel “joke” reminds me of my first “humorless feminist” experience. It was sixth grade, and one of the boys tells a “joke” where the punchline is a man’s punishment in hell is to be forced to perform oral sex on another guy.
Neither me nor the other girl thought it was funny at all, and the boy just kept trying to explain why it was so funny, further ruining the lack of humor.
@wordsp1nner I find continental faster even when I’m purling, once I get into a rhythm. I find throwing slows me down a whole bunch–when I’m working one color I’d much rather just use continental the whole time. 🙂
I am not a deity, merely a mythical beast.
I saw a cartoon years ago in a gay porn mag. Scene: backwoods lumber camp. Foreground: two macho dudes fist fighting. Other lumberjacks watching. One says, ‘there they go again, fighting ’cause they both want a turn in the barrel.’
Also, I prefer the Prester John in the Alfred Noyes poem, “Forty Singing Seamen”.