In a case of spectacularly bad timing, Fox News happened to choose the day before the Zimmerman verdict was handed down to publish an op-ed proclaiming “the White American Male” to be the most oppressed creature on Planet Earth. In a piece entitled “Men — The New Second Class Citizens,” professional antifeminist Suzanne Venker declared that
From boyhood through adulthood, the White American Male must fight his way through a litany of taunts, assumptions and grievances about his very existence. His oppression is unlike anything American women have faced.
What is revealing about this quote, besides its complete disconnection from reality, is that Venker makes no other references to race in the rest of her piece, which runs through a number of tiresome and oh-so-familiar MRA talking points about the alleged oppression of men.
Venker complains about schools being biased towards girls, from grade schools that force students to sit still to colleges with their infernal Title IX. She whines about “sit coms and commercials that portray dad as an idiot.”
Quoting antifeminist psychologist Helen Smith, a friend of and sometime contributor to A Voice for Men, she suggests that women can get their boyfriends or husbands locked up on a whim just by claiming abuse.
I’m surprised she didn’t talk about the evils of “friend zoning.”
But when Venker refers to “men” in all of these complaints, she is evidently thinking only of white men — why else would she switch so seamlessly from talking about the alleged oppression of “men” to proclaiming “the White American Male” the ultimate victim?
There’s really no other word for this than, well, racist.
The day after Fox published Venker’s nonsense, we were of course reminded (as if any of us really needed to be reminded) of the very real oppression faced by “the Black American Male.”
Trayvon Martin didn’t die because he happened to see a show featuring a bumbling sitcom dad. He died because George Zimmerman saw a young black man in a hoodie walking home from the store and assumed, apparently because Martin was young and black and wearing a hoodie, that he was up to something sinister.
Trayvon Martin didn’t die because he was male; he died because he was a black male. His killer walked free not because his victim was male, but because his victim was a black male.
Suzanne Venker did us all a favor by revealing the unconscious racism underlying so many Men’s Rights complaints. The Men’s Rights movement is not only a movement that is overwhelmingly made up of white men; it’s a movement that’s almost exclusively about white men, and their largely imaginary oppressions, as well. We might as well call it the White Men’s Rights Movement.
Babies, can’t take em anywhere without them sleeping, and then they keep you up all hours while home.
They’re channelling cats. If it’s perverse, do it!
So basically this last paragraph was ‘she was a racist so therefore anyone who agrees with her on those statements must also be a racist’.
make that ‘agrees with her on any of those statements’.
It was 32C today and we celebrated. Great White North my ass
32C celebration weather – eek!
81F here and yep, celebration time. Though Shadow “wins” (I’m so sorry, that must be horrible)
Snack31 – try reading it again, because you’ve missed the point. The MRM shows itself to be racist a lot of the time; this was just another example. Or are you saying it’s fine dandy to be a misogynist but that doesn’t mean one’s a (oh horror) racist as well?
Kittehself can you link us to one article where a mra makes a racist comment?
Hi, it’s good see feminism and it’s weak men are still lying & race baiting. You see guys i’m an Equalist & Humanist that’s not blind too your many fabricatIons and lies, lets not forget the your control over multiple governments.I know all your darkest secrets, yes that includes your true goals.Most feminism is mostly lesbian & weak minded females (not women and/or a woman) who were manipulated in every way possible into lesbianism and allot of evil & hatred while trained not too show it ever when around non-controlled men & women.Go ahead erase my comment your coward as it reveals too much about your goddesses.
Then how did you find out about it?
(Assuming you’re not a Poe, of course. It’s so hard to parody MRAs, because no matter how ridiculous you sound, there’s an MRA who’s said something even more ridiculous)
(Oh goddess I’m sorry for triple posting, you guys)
Wildshape, you have great timing! Check out the most recent post.
On the noodly appendages of FSM, we will not delete this comment. We LOVE batting around trolls, the asshattier the better — and you, sir, are an example of prime asshat!
Please tell us more about your theories.
[cloudiah rests head on hands with a look of eager anticipation]
Wildshape, check these out.
How about an entire archive?
Ninja’d pretty bad there.
I want to know what a fabricatlon is.
Is it a competition to see how long a cat can lie on fabric (preferably fabric a human wants to use)?
Is it fabricating cats, and if so, does tha mean 1) cats telling fibs or 2) a mysterious factory where cats are fabricated?
Or is it just stuff like these?
Enquiring minds want to know.
I guess I’m racist then. I think the minorities of this country get better treatment than any white person (ladies included) with all the exclusive black colleges and college funds, affirmative action, free health care for illegals and free education along with government aid (food stamps, welfare) us white citizens are just stuck with the bill and have to try harder to get jobs and scholarships. I dont resent minorities i resent my government.
Jeff, you could’ve stopped after the first sentence.
As for “white men’s rights” it’s a shame that none of you have come out against a real problem and that is the horrible abuse Muslim women suffer at that hands of Muslim men. You’re ominously silent on THAT one.
Pop quiz! Muslim women are:
a) A handy rhetorical stick with which to beat western feminists, who don’t have it nearly as bad.
b) Helpless victims in need of (western, male) saviors.
c) A perfect excuse for xenophobia and Islamophobia masquerading as feminism.
d) Half a billion human beings, from all over the world and with the whole gamut of human experiences, and perfectly capable of advocating for themselves.
Trick question! The answer is a-c, of course!
(Also, lurk moar. I don’t want to blow your tiny little mind, but just saying “you’ve never done X” doesn’t make it true.)
RE: Dan
You act like one of our commenters wasn’t recently fleeing an abusive situation from her fundy father. (Who happened to be Muslim, which has nothing to do with his abusiveness, but apparently this is the hill you’ve chosen, Dan, the thing you require to prove we care.) We helped with that. We cared. She got away.
Gee, it’s almost like you don’t know jack shit and just wanted to feel superior!
Jeez, what is it today with all these “Riddle me this, feminists!” trolls?
Oh, Dan. This blog is for mocking the new misogyny. The manosphere, misogynists in the atheist movement, etc. It’s not for discussing every instance of misogyny. This blog doesn’t have to discuss every topic someone wants discussed. Start your own blog instead of necroing threads on this one.
And how did I miss Brian Keener. That was hilarious!