British barrister Barbara Hewson caused a bit of a stir last week when she called for the age of consent in Britain to be lowered to 13 so as to end the alleged “persecution of old men” like those arrested in the wake of the recent Jimmy Savile scandal, which revealed a widespread culture of sexual exploitation of underage girls (and some boys) at the BBC in the 1970s.
Now one female Men’s Rights Activist connected to hate site A Voice for Men has done Hewson one better, arguing that the real culprits in these scandals weren’t the predatory adult men but the girls they victimized.
Janet Bloomfield, a fairly regular contributor to terrorist-manifesto-posting AVFM who is better known as JudgyBitch, writes on her blog that:
[B]asically, the girls were groupies. They wanted all the benefits of hanging out with a big star and they understood it came with a price and they paid it, perhaps reluctantly, but with full knowledge that the trips to London and the fags and the sweet weren’t free. …
And now they are claiming the MEN abused THEM? Looks to me like it was the other way around.
Yes, Bloomfield apparently feels that these poor little rich men were robbed of cigarettes and candy and trips to London by predatory teenage girls. She continues:
It’s a story as old as bloody time. Young women with nothing to offer but their youth and sexuality chase after powerful men in exchange for favors. If we are going to arrest every powerful man who has ever availed himself of willing women, we are gonna need to build a whole lot of jails.
Uh, Judgy, in case you missed the point of the whole debate here, we’re not talking about women. We’re talking about girls. In the case of BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall, one of the victims that he has admitted to assaulting was nine years old at the time. Nine. Savile’s youngest alleged victim was an eight-year-old boy, and dozens of his alleged assaults were upon children in hospitals.
In the end, Bloomfield kind of, sort of, admits that the men may have behaved badly in these cases. But she still wants them to face zero legal repercussions.
Powerful men always have and always will delight in young women hunting them. Young women always have and always will hunt for powerful men. Both sides are equally culpable. Both sides are engaging in abuse. Both sides are behaving shamefully. Both side are being idiots.
But only one side is being held criminally responsible? Bullshit. If the girls are not going to be strung up on charges of solicitation and prostitution, and I absolutely do NOT think they should be, then fairness and equality under the law dictates the men get a pass, too.
Again, you may notice, Bloomfield cannot seem to decide whether or not these girls are in fact girls or “young women,” and in the two consecutive paragraphs right above you’ll notice she slides effortlessly between the two. Perhaps her desire to tag these girls “women” is an admission that, at least on some unconscious level, she knows what she’s arguing is beyond the moral pale.
Elsewhere in her post, she puts up pictures of underage girls whom she seems to think would be impossible to distinguish from adults. Here’s one, of a twelve-year-old model. (She also includes a creepily sexualized picture of the same model at age ten.)
Anyone unable to tell that this is a picture of a child, not an adult, shouldn’t be having sex with anyone.
And anyone as morally deficient as JudgyBitch shouldn’t be judging anyone.
I walk away for a few minutes to get a beverage and balls posts something by the Amazing Atheist? Ewwwwwwwwww. Doesn’t he also have a bunch of videos of himself putting things up his ass? I mean, if that’s your thing, fine. But sometimes privacy is your friend, you know?
“If the modern American women were forced to become an American man for a month, she would be horrified. She would hate her life, without the inherent posh benefits of being an American woman. She wouldn’t be able to take it.”
I assure you, fella. Experiencing menstration and being subjected to pregnancy would be too much for you, let alone all the bullshit women have to put up with when they dare go out in public. Would you like it if your reproductive system was constantly subjected to the whims of politicians who push a pro-life agenda? If it’s so posh being a woman, can you honestly tell us that you’d trade places with any women anywhere and give up your cis white male priviledge?
“Take your balls and go home.”
I’d just put down my coffee.
Seriously though Evil Balls, you have nothing but sneering contempt for us because we don’t think it’s okay to support abusing children? Um…really? You really want to take that position? It isn’t defendable, you’d stand a better chance defending an amusement park castle from an army of cybers (cybermites! So cute, so dangerous!)
Oh hey, are there any Boobzers in Maine? Because I’m going to be tabling at MECAF this upcoming weekend! If you’re in Portland, you should say hello to me!
Haven’t done Rose Tree Cottage yet. How’s it stack up next to the Huntington Library Tea Room? (If you know).
Mordsith. Different, and much better. Not a buffet, table service. A lovely couple own the place, and have for decades. They had to move about five years back, and I confess I’ve not been in since.
LBT — stir fry almost counts, I guess. But I want cookies!! (Lol, I have awesome iced oatmeal store bought ones actually *passes around cookies*)
@Shiraz, I think that video was leaked or something, and in any case I’d consider that off limits — especially since TAA has given us so man valid grounds for criticizing him. I just really don’t care what things he puts up his butt, if any. Not relevant.
Posh benefits. Interesting. Let’s look at some of them.
-Being disproportionately affected by sexual harassment
-Being more likely than men to be sexually assaulted and/or abused
-Being paid less for the same amount work with the same qualifications in the same job
-Being constantly told about how to not get sexually assaulted
-Being blamed for getting raped because of being perceived as promiscuous
-Being seen as childish, irrational, and emotional
-Being assumed to fit in a role that offers zero socioeconomic independence
-Being objectified and dehumanized via misogyny in the media
Those are some great perks!
Iced, yum!
I’ve a yen for chocolate. My own fault for talking about it before. My BiL just managed to bust a tooth out eating a piece.
“If the modern American women were forced to become an American man for a month, she would be horrified”
On Tumblr, when people in characters change sexes it usually results in one thing: wanking. Lots and lots of wanking.
Aaliyah – not to mention being forced to give birth even if it means she’ll die, in some places in the US.
Given that you’re attacking straw men, I think you’re the one who should fuck off.
So much more fun than what happens on MRM sites. 😀
Which can be abstracted to the benefit of being seen as less than fully human and the benefit of being seen as less worthy of bodily autonomy.
It’s great to be a woman, I tell you.
Not just less worthy of bodily autonomy, less worthy of life.
“@Shiraz, I think that video was leaked or something, and in any case I’d consider that off limits — especially since TAA has given us so man valid grounds for criticizing him. I just really don’t care what things he puts up his butt, if any. Not relevant.”
That’s fine with me, cloudiah.
You show that straw feminist what’s what!
The first part of this sounds like standard MRA fare, but the last sentence sounds like the stereotypical whiny teenager* going on about how they didn’t ask to be born, so gad, don’t treat them so unfairly, parents1
*not sure if they exist outside stereotypes XD
I did not even have to watch two seconds into that amazing atheist video:
(some white guy whipping himself with a belt, saying “Sorry I”m white! Sorry I’m male!”)
It sounds like it’s going to be thirteen minutes of a guy whining about people pointing out that privilege exists.
Oh… what the heck. I’ll see if I can watch any more
He whines about tumblr being full of “whiny, self-obsessed pseudo-feminists”
Also, I cannot stop rolling my eyes.
Two tenets: all white men are evil (He whines in front of a mirror “why am i white? why am i male? why can’t I stop oppressing people?”. Hint: it’d work if you stopped whining in self pity and started working on dismantling your privilege)
second tenet: rape is bad. he says tumblr feminists think rape is worse than genocide. X|
He says he thinks the tumblr feminists think that they’re awesome mistakenly. I think he could be talking about himself.
Then he has to “explain” the joke.
He also has a really annoying voice. X|
he goes onto stuff that’s been going on in tumblr…
A woman posted picture of self w/ hand fucked up b/c she punched a man in face for telling a rape joke. Then Amazing Atheist goes on about how this is just a joke and every group has someone like that. Then he calls the joke “off-colour”. Then he calls her a bully for using violence to silence people, ignoring that rape culture is violence and rape threats are routinely used to silence women. I guess it’s only silencing if it happens to a man, cuz women don’t have anything to say amiright?
Okay, this is too boring.
TL;DR that video didn’t say anything Eil Balls thought it did, except that there are other people just as whiny and boring as he is.
Yay!!! Man!!! Sign me up! I get to get paid more, treated as not a sex object, treated as more competent, seen as more able to defend myself… why am I horrified again? Oh, yeah, I can’t make rape jokes. (at least if you agree with amazing atheist video you posted) :puke: also, people might point out the social advantages I have, which is just as bad as having all the social disadvantages women have, somehow.
I wonder if this latest idiot thinks “stop being a misogynistic arsehole” is synonymous with “apologise for being a man”?
As we’ve seen so often, if you want real man-hating, go to an MRA.
Thanks, Shiraz.
I don’t think it makes sense to that rape jokes are a form of violence (if that’s what you’re implying – if not I take back what I said). But they are certainly agents of marginalization and trivialization, and that’s what makes them wrong.
hmmm.
I think you’re right. I didn’t mean like, being hit, though it sounded like that’s what I meant, so I apologize.
I mean they help facilitate violence. Trivilaizing rape via joking feeds into rape culture, which feeds into rape.
But yeah I definitely made it sound over-simplified and icky, so I’m sorry.
I just caught up with the thread and:
I demand that EB apologizes to balls everywhere, because he is giving them a bad name.
On the original post:
I don’t know what I can say to this. It’s just awful.
Hey yew guize!!!
I’m not going to apologize for liking David Bowie’s music!!!!
I know no one asked or cares at all in any way, but I just thought I’d let you know that I refuse!!!!
Something something, horses, amazing atheist is ridonkulous and makes me sad for humanity.
I’m starting to despair here. Is there anyone female, any woman or girl, that MRAs don’t feel they are entitled to use sexually? And this coming from a woman? I guess she thinks that being one of the “chill girls” means that this excludes her. Until it doesn’t.
And I love all the stories they tell each other that exonerates rapists places the blame on little girls who have no say in the matter at all. This…creature’s… victims were way below the age of consent and many were hospitalized, so there was no way they could get away. In what universe is that being a “groupie”?