Apparently, to a lot of the regulars in the Men’s Rights subreddit — like the hundreds who upvoted a post of this picture — the notion that men should raise their sons to respect women as equals is nothing more than foul propaganda and MISANDRY of the highest order.
And seriously, those guys in the poster look like total White Knight Beta Manginas.
Some of the Men’s Rightsers were especially offended by the white ribbon at the bottom of the poster, which they saw as a vaguely sinister reminder of a World War I campaign to shame British men into enlisting in the army. Because suggesting to your sons that boys and girls should be treated equally is the same as being guilt-tripped into becoming cannon fodder:
![TheOtherBono 54 points 1 day ago (80|26) White ribbons. Just like the white feathers handed to non-conscript men of the UK during WW1 by women to shame them into enlisting. How sweet [–]froggymorning 14 points 22 hours ago (23|9) What a subtle and effective slap. MRMRising [-2] 6 points 23 hours ago (12|6) ...and just as destructive.](https://i0.wp.com/www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/whiteribbon.png?resize=536%2C245&ssl=1)
Others used the poster as an opportunity to rail against … marriage. The top comment in the thread, as I write this post, is this one.
Elezeid expanded on this theme:
Caspian_Drifter responded to the eeeevil poster with a rhetorical question that unintentionally helped to underscore the whole point of the campaign in the first place:
Seriously, ladies, why do gals like to go on and on about “equality” so much when your ladybrains weren’t even smart enough to come up with the idea in the first place? I mean, really, you ungrateful gals, you have a man/men to thank for that.
If I remember correctly, it was T. Reginald Equality who came up with the idea, with some help from his brother Ned (who suggested that he name it after himself).
Chinchillas as in the cat breed or the species?
Not that it helps either way …
The rodent, the same kind I had.
Oh dear!
Being that closely linked to Hugo would depress me. Here, have a nice comforting distraction.
He’s a member of the species homo sapiens sapiens, that’s close enough relation for me to be
depressedunable to comprehend our species. Here’s my favorite reminder that humans can be decent, as well as horrible:http://youtu.be/fPaUvYPRzrM
@Katz
You are a manboobzer. He is not. Therefore you are superior. Once the Furrinatis come out of the Shadows and into their rightful place as world dominators, you will be rewarded and he shall be punished.
@neuroticbeagle – that should be engraved, if not in stone, then definitely in gold plates. 😀
Nawh, on a gold plaque.
neuroticbeagle — that’s the perfect answer for everything, I love it.
@karalora
😮 The conspiracy runs so deep!
@neuroticbeagle
This makes me giggle XD ALL HAIL THE FURRINATIS!
Thin-skinned little peach, ain’t he?
That’ll happen when you freeze peaches, the skins just slide right off!
Aren’t “gender equality” and “equal relationships” supposed to be the goals of the MRM, anyway? I know they define those things in their own, um, unique way, but at the end of the day, there’s nothing gender-specific or MRM-agenda-exclusive about the way these posters are phrased.
Between the reading of gender neutral language as implicitly feminist, and the unwillingness to embrace a campaign that could actually be used for their own goals, this might be the best demonstration yet of the MRM’s preference for angry circle-jerking over actual social change.
LBT,
No worries, I’m happy to talk about it. 🙂 I’m probably not the best one to give a great description, though, so I’ll mostly just drop a link here: http://www.thirdway.com/menno/?Topic=23|Basic+Beliefs is a pretty good explanation.
The main things that attracted me to the Mennonites were their strong commitment to pacifism and social justice. I had been attending a Quaker meeting, but the one in my community was a little too wishy-washy for me. About half the people there didn’t identify as Christian (which I don’t have a problem with at all, except that I want a church community that has similar beliefs to me) and I felt like they talked a big game about social justice but didn’t actually do anything (and again, this is just the meeting in my community at the time; I know this is not true of all Quakers). The Mennonite church in my town had similar emphasis on social justice but actually worked on it in tangible ways, and was very Bible-based, but socially very liberal. I also really like their emphasis on adult baptism (rather than baptizing infants as in many denominations) and the expectation that every church member should actively choose their faith as an adult. Education about the Mennonite teachings as well as other denominations and religions was encouraged before someone who was raised in the church was baptized.
The main reason I wound up leaving is that, like many religions, their views on some things tend to vary from place to place. I moved to a town where the Mennonite community was much more conservative and some people held some pretty sexist and homophobic views. The church didn’t officially espouse them, but I was in a relationship with a woman at the time and felt unwelcome bringing her to church with me, and I felt uncomfortable for other reasons as well. So I left, and found another church I am very happy with.
Texas actually has quite a large Mennonite community if I recall correctly, but they’re mostly Old Order Mennonites (the ones who live similarly to the Amish), so it doesn’t surprise me that you never ran across any.
Hope that helps, and I’ll be happy to chat more if you’re curious. 🙂
@emilygoddesss
Their problem seems to be that it’s about teaching boys about equality, and not girls. Somehow that means that men are eeeevil because they need to be taught (Disregard the fact that the posters are very specifically telling men to teach boys these things).
“Men are incapable of compassion” Isn’t the whole point of the campaign that men ARE capable of compassion, if only they’re raised well?
Emilygoddess:
The MRAs know that 99% of general audience will perceive “gender equality”, without further clarification, in feminist context, which for them means general misandry and female supremacy. I think the the MRM doesn’t even much use the term “gender equality” because it would sound too feminist. They just talk about rights and responsibilities.
Moreover, the message that boys (future men) need to be educated about gender equality implies, in feminist context, that men are the oppressing gender.
Well said.