This just in: Men’s Rights Activists are some of the most gullible nincompoops in the history of ever.
The latest evidence of this? The regulars on the Men’s Rights subreddit were fooled by an obviously fake “screenshot” of an article from Jezebel that had been altered to make it look like a Jezebel staff writer thinks that paternity fraud is justifiable as a way to fight patriarchy.
No, seriously, the Reddit MRAs actually thought that Anna North of Jezebel had written that “the ability to lie about your children’s parentage is one way to break the rule of fathers.”
Here’s the “screenshot.” And here’s the original thread, which has been deleted from the Men’s Rights subreddit but which is still up, just not reachable from the subreddit.
The irony in many of the comments is off the charts. “It’s Jezebel, of course they think this way,” writes Riesea. “Wow,” says actorsspace. “If Jezebel had a sense of humor, I would suspect them of trolling.”
Blueoak9 — what happened to the original eight? — is stunned that even the evil feminists would sink so low:
There are, of course, a few teensy clues that North’s supposed quote about “break[ing] the rule of fathers” is a big fat fake (as are some of the others in that “screenshot”).
One is that nobody at Jezebel writes or thinks like that.
And second, there’s the tiny fact THAT THE REAL ARTICLE IS UP ON JEZEBEL AND IT DOESN’T SAY ANY OF THAT SHIT AND ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS GO READ IT FOR FUCK’S SAKE IT’S RIGHT HERE.
In fact, Anna North, the author of the Jezebel article, makes an argument that’s the exact opposite of the one attributed to her in the “screenshot.” Challenging a writer in the London Times who had argued that “the ability to pass a child off on a man was a potent female weapon,” North countered that such a stance was not only morally questionable but also pretty antifeminist:
I’d rather “make male claims to omnipotence absurd” by, say, being economically and politically equal to men — not by making them raise babies that aren’t theirs.
Now, you might wonder why exactly the Men’s Rights crowd on Reddit was reading a screenshot of a Jezebel article and not an actual Jezebel article. Well, that’s because the Men’s Rights subreddit has banned all direct links to Jezebel and other Gawker media sites because the MRAs are still mad about that Violentacrez thing.
Yes, the subreddit that links in its sidebar to a site — A Voice for Men — that not only has offered thousand dollar bounties for the personal information of its feminist enemies but that also carries an open call to firebomb courthouses and police stations in its “activism section” is still pig-biting mad about Gawker’s “doxing” of the man who helped to ruin the lives of countless teenage girls by founding and protecting Reddit’s Jailbait subreddit and dozens of other noxious subreddits.
And so someone was able to use this fact to exploit MRA ignorance and paranoia about feminism and make the inhabitants of the Men’s Rights subreddit look like fools.
Again.
Or some MRA with zero ethics wanted to make feminists look bad and failed utterly. I think this is less likely, but with MRAs, anything is possible.
When you’re done reading the original discussion of the fake article on the Men’s Rights subreddit, you can read the discussion there about how they were trolled. Including the comments from this person who thinks that “even if it’s a troll… so what? It’s still presenting an opinion that many a feminist has held.” Straw feminism is REAL! And this person (with dozens of upvotes) who thinks they should just ban all links to all feminist blogs because, hey, what’s the point in knowing anything at all about something you talk about constantly?
EDIT: Thanks to the AgainstMensRights subreddit, I was able to find the link to the original banned post, and so I’ve put the link (and some comments from the discussion) into the post above.
The worst thing my teenage son ever did to his dad was tell him he was watching TV wrong. Oh, and once he got really annoyed with us and hid the coffee filters.
I wouldn’t. Partly because I’m entirely satisfied that my kids are my own (even if my son didn’t bear a distinct physical resemblance to me, he’s the living spit of one of his paternal great-grandfathers to a degree that’s made more than one person go “whoah!” when shown photographic evidence), but mostly because I’ve been raising them for a decade, and I’m not suddenly going to change my attitude towards them if it was then revealed that their genetic makeup might not be along the lines I’d been assuming.
Quite aside from anything else, it would be monstrously unfair on them.
Aaaand Abnoy finally comes through with the lulzz
thebionicmommy: I see! Based on that logic I whould be…I donno. My Dad is a cop and my biological Mother (long story) works in homeowners insurance. I’m a walking contridiction! BIOFAX!
Troofy and Abnoy remind me of that line from Fawlty Towers, from a psychiatrist looking at Basil: “There’s enough material there for an entire conference.”
RE: serrana
Ha! Yeah, I’ve known a good few teenagers and shock of all shocks, a bunch of them are really nice people! I realize this flies in the face of all cultural wisdom, but a lot of teenagers are just young people who’re still learning.
RE: Abnoy
Wooooooooow. I’ma just… go over here and do something else now.
RE: Inconvenient Truth
What a nice loving person you are.
Seriously, y’all, this thread takes the cake for sheer lack of care assholes have for child welfare. I’m starting to think me and my system was LUCKY that we just ditched and took care of ourselves.
So… ,my dad was in journalism, and I went into journalism. He is a professional photographer, and I am a professional photographer.
We didn’t meet until I was 19, and both those interests were well established.
Of course he doesn’t really cook, is so-so at gardening, thinks motorcycles are for crazy people, believes in homeopathy (and regular medicine, but….) can write code (not my thing) is so-so at languages, has no interest in spinning, doesn’t care much for woodworking, etc.
Did my mother cuckold him, or not? It’s so confusing.
The idea that your child must be a no-good janitor-stripper because of zir genes, regardless of (or even in direct contradiction to) 18 years of observed behavior, strikes me as perfectly consistent for a group of people who also think women are hypergamous spermjackers, regardless of how they actually see them behave.
See????!!! BIOLOGY IS DESTINY! NO FREE WILL! JANITOR-STRIPPERS FOREVER!!!
Let’s see. Troofy could concede that this makes a hash of what he said.
Or he could assert that hypergamy means you can have muliple fathers.
Sure, why not, sounds legit.
My dad is somewhat nerdy and into sci-fi and superheroes, which I am too. Clearly this shows we share at least some genes. It cannot be because of environmental influence, which counts for nothing. My dad’s also a fireman… and my mum is a dentist nurse… and I’m a philosopher? How did that happen?
😀 😀 😀
i’m late, as always. this was hilarious. you all are like the equivalent of a really satisfying sneeze. but an intellectual sneeze.
but re circumcision as i don’t think anyone brought this up — could be a public health tool against hiv. citation: http://www.who.int/hiv/topics/malecircumcision/en/
@hellkell – “if a troll hates you, you’re livin’ right”
yes
Abnoy is brilliant. The average man lives with the instinctive subconscious/unconscious fear that his son will eventually kill him someday in order to replace him. –
So the father thinks that his son wants to have sex with his mother. And will kill him.
Whoa.
My dad is somewhat nerdy and into sci-fi and superheroes, which I am too. Clearly this shows we share at least some genes.
What, that sounds like my dad! DUN DUN DUUUUN. Omg, my mom must have cuckolded my dad with your dad! Or, um, vice versa! And that’s why I like sci-fi and superheroes! MY LIFE IS A LIE.
*sadly quits nursing school, goes to be a janitor-stripper*
Janitor-stripper: “I’ve heard we have some …dirty… girls in here!” *twirls around mop*
RE: bahumbugi
I actually REALLY dislike that reason for arguing for circumcision, since condoms are SO much better and don’t require cutting off bits of people’s anatomy. Also, I feel like some people would just use them being circumcised as a reason they don’t need to do other forms of STD protection.
bahumbugi: Note that that’s a report by WHO, and is dealing primarily with African nations. I alluded to that benefit of male circumcision when I mentioned societies that don’t have ready access to condoms or regular hygiene in my Privilege-Check Post-Script. In the U.S., you can get better forms of the benefits of CMIC by teaching your kid that he should use condoms and play with himself in the shower (like THAT will be a hard-sell).
the public health issue, at present, is that people, globally, really don’t like using condoms, even when you control for tons of variables. on top of that, so many people don’t have the power to insist a partner wear one. so yes LBT that argument could possibly be true, although i doubt it, but people just so often don’t use it to begin with. and, yes freemage you are correct about the efficacy of the approach translated to the u.s. i personally probably wouldn’t circumcise if i had a boy in the u.s. (hypothetical son i don’t plan to have)
i think the ethics around the issue are complicated, but if it can cause a huge net benefit on a population level, it seems worth considering as an intervention in areas where hiv is endemic. i don’t know, public health involves all kinds of coercion and it’s overwhelming to think about sometimes, so i don’t feel totally comfortable raising the issue
Even Freud the Ubercreep would look at Abnoy and say “Son, you’re overdoing it.”
bahumbugi: That’s kind of why I refer to it as Cosmetic Male Infant Circumcision. In the U.S. and Europe, that’s what it is–a cosmetic procedure, with no real medical benefit. There are parts of the world where that’s not true–it’s a preventative procedure. While I’d like there to be a growth in the use of condoms, I am at least sympathetic to the notion that as a stopgap approach, MIC may be desirable in some parts of the world.
I need to come up with some punnett squares to help people learn important things about their genetics, like if you will be a janitor, if you will be a stripper, if you like crunchy peanut butter more than creamy, and if you think it’s too early for classic rock stations to play music from the 90’s. Everything can be explained by BIOFAX!
thebionicmummy – makes me think of a Rubik’s Cube.
Hmm, my old man was a teacher, did various management jobs after that, and has alternating fixations with religion, beer and football.
I can’t abide the latter three, and would never in a million years want to be a teacher or a manager.
Mum comes from a line of farmers and millers, trained to be a nurse, has mostly been a SAH parent, and had one admin job.
Nursing’s another job I’d never want to do, ditto farming or milling. Clerical work/customer service with one interval of cutting up dead things has been my job history.
Does this mean I’m not related to either of them because BIOFAX?
Can’t say I’ve ever felt drawn to be a janitor or stripper, though.
Hmm, but this does play into my theories about our general manager – I’ve long said he was replaced by aliens as an infant ‘cos his parents are lovely, and physically tiny, and he’s a lumbering oaf who’s a lying liar. He’s a lousy manager but quite good at fixing door hinges and carrying stuff. HE IS A GENETIC JANITOR, THERE IS THE PROOF.
… hope to god he doesn’t want to be a stripper ::barf::
@kittehserf,
Hmmm. Your punnett squares will be complicated. Based on the information you’ve given me about your parents, we can use biology to determine that you like kitties and pizza. Of course I did not make guesses based on your blog name or things you’ve said from other threads. I used science, because teacher + farmer equals feminist in Australia who likes kitties and pizza. And even though you say you don’t want to be a teacher, administrator, farmer, nurse, or miller, science says you do. Sorry, BIOFAX trump everything.
Now, who else wants me to use science to
read their palmsgenetically determine everything about them?Well I ain’t being a stripper AND a farmer. Sunburn plus frostbite, it’s not a good combination. DESTINY, I DEFY YOU.
A good compromise is to be a stripper with a farm theme. It’s like “Hey, everyone, let’s have a party and fertilize some crops!” I could also come up with innuendo involving seeds, cucumbers, roosters, and so on. Actually, I think most of this material would be funnier with a male stripper.
OMG I hope Mr K (keen gardener that he is) isn’t reading this.
Scratch that, I hope he is!