Pity the poor Men’s Rights activists. The real civil rights movements that MRAs like to compare their, er, “struggle” to may have faced many obstacles that MRAs haven’t — from legal prohibitions on voting to fire bombings and assassinations — but at least they haven’t had a hard time explaining just what it was, and is, that they’re seeking redress for.
When Martin Luther King so famously dreamt of a world in which “my four little children will … not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character” he was not only speaking eloquently; he was expressing an idea that was, well, pretty easy to understand.
And that’s where the trouble comes for the MRAs. It’s a bit harder to explain your alleged anti-oppression movement to the general public when the people on whose behalf you’re fighting aren’t actually, you know, oppressed. So is it any wonder that MRAs have such a hard time explaining themselves to the public?
I mean, all the Suffragettes had to put on their posters was “Votes for Women.” MRAs are stuck. Men already have votes. They already have civil rights. Heck, men already run most companies and hold most political offices and control most of the world’s wealth.
And so MRA propaganda tends to be muddled, a weird mixture of misogyny and special pleading and stuff that just doesn’t make any sort of sense no matter how you slice it. In earlier posts we’ve looked at baffling and/or offensive posters from A Voice for Men and associated sites, as well as at some of the awful graphics that sometimes make their appearance on Reddit.
Today, a quick stroll through the MRA underground on deviantART.
The graphic at the top of the post is from someone calling himself awesomeninja; for his propaganda work, he specializes in somewhat baffling text-based graphics in basic colors. Apparently he has convinced himself that “feminazis use child-bearing all the time to defend their sexist views,” and feels it is necessary to respond to this in giant letters in several colors with a black background.
He is also responsible for this similarly befuddling contribution to political art:
Wait, is this a trick question?
Dude, have you actually met any Men’s Rights Activists?
Oh, wait, you are one. Oops.
But wait, there’s more:
Of course, awesomeninja isn’t the only one spreading the MRA message of love on deviantART. Here are a few other graphics I found by searching for “men’s rights” and related tags on the site.
This lovely “stamp” from loqutor, who has convinced himself he is “debunking an ages-old feminist myth” with it.
A meme from Userbruiser, who apparently thinks that if a woman has alcohol in her system, it’s ok to rape her:
This bizarre castration fantasy from the same lovely fellow:
This rant posted by themodsquad, who also enjoys jokes about pedophilia and bestiality.
There’s some question about whether or not themodsquad came up with that all by himself, but this uglier and worse-written sequel seems pretty authentic to me:
Is he a “real” MRA or just a troll? I don’t know, but he does seem to be an authentic misogynistic asshole attention-seeker, and I’ve seen virtually every “argument” in the first graphic rehashed many times on assorted MRA sites; it’s pretty much standard-issue “we hunted the mammoth to feed you.”
Let’s close with several graphics from an aspiring Man Going His Own Way. millenia89 is proud of his own reproductive organs:
But he doesn’t seem to think too highly of most of his fellow male-identified penis-havers. Indeed, he believes most of his fellow men are like lemmings marching off a cliff — except for a tiny percentage of MGTOW like the two tiny fellows at the bottom right of the graphic below.
I know it seems confusing, but trust me, the MGTOW in this picture aren’t the ones going over the cliff, really. They’re the ones facing the other direction, underneath that little MGTOW sign. No, not under the big MGTOW sign, under the little one. Just trust me on this one.
millenia89 is especially unimpressed with men who step in to “save a hoe,” like this fellow, whom he sees as a handy “personification” of the sort of “manipulated tool” who, I guess, apparently likes women enough to help them out. I’m not quite sure I get it. Apparently this picture is inherently hilarious because it’s a picture of a black guy with an odd smile in a weirdly inaccurate superman costume. Heck, even the font is wacky.
Millenia89 may not think much of most of his fellow men, but at least he doesn’t want to render them obsolete. Women, well, that’s another issue entirely, as this utopian paean to the glories of artificial wombs suggests:
So awesomeninja thinks that “pregnancy is no excuse for misandry.” Millenia89 evidently hopes that in the future there will be no excuse for pregnancy itself.
This is how the Men’s Rights movement tries to explain itself to the world.
And MRAs wonder why their little movement has the reputation it does.
—
I was inspired to check out deviantART’s MRA community by some of the commenters here. Check out the comments in the “Feminist anti-obedience school” thread starting here to see some homegrown parodies of awesomeninja’s graphic works.
With that “Pregnancy is no excuse for misandry” one, could it be that they are referencing the idea that women are special/superior because they can create life? If that’s not it, I am baffled too about what kind of ‘misandry’ pregnant people are perpetrating.
Kim – I thought they were referring to child support or abortion, to be honest.
lionicle: What? Ugh, that’s terrible! No, I have never slapped a current or prior partner, or for that matter any human being since I’ve been an adult.
I think that artificial-womb one deserves some appreciation. I love how it sounds like the technology is just waiting in the wings and the only thing blocking it is public opinion. He later elaborates that it will be used for space colonization.
lionicle, no, there’s no indication that the article was satire. Just a terrible article Jezebel should never have published, and one of the reasons I don’t link to Jezebel in the sidebar.
katz – Wait, so no space sex? Awwwww…
All the Gawker sites love to engage in inter-network trolling. That article was probably intended as troll-bait for Deadspin, Kotaku, and so on.
I really wish they’d stop doing that. It’s such a cheap, lazy way to generate hits.
I’m sorry to intrude & interrupt everyone’s conversations. I read this post this morning, but was too upset to respond to it. What made me upset were the so-called “graphic designs” of themodsquad. I was already upset over things in my private life, & reading his misogynistic garbage made me feel a million times worse. I even cried for awhile. At this point, I don’t know why I even bother. I already know I’m a stupid loser. I don’t need to be reminded by a bunch of sick MRAs.
Tristan – TBH, I think his posters pissed me off more. It did push me to write a blog post on why we don’t see more women in STEM fields. It’s also highly ignorant of history and whatnot, but of course what MRA ever studies history?
If it makes you feel better, the only people who makes these types of posters without irony are themselves losers. Even worse, they’re uneducated, ignorant losers.
You’re not a loser. *hugs*
JFC. I don’t know what to say when presented with that article but it’s making the rounds on tumblr and it’s awful. Why the hell?? I can’t believe they haven’t taken it down, retracted it, addressed it, something!
Welp, won’t be reading jezebel anymore, I had just read an article by this same woman today about one of the Real Housewives writing a book about marital rape.
Well, we already knew there wouldn’t be any space three-ways…
But everything they say is wrong. Always. Can’t find it now, but there was a Reddit guy who was talking about how Max from Elysium was the worst beta ever. So when they call you a loser, they are grouping you with Matt Damon in an exoskeleton ripping the heads off robots.
Jussayin’.
Now on topic:
I like how the two ones about superiority follow each other. Has anyone castrated “So you think you’re superior” guy?
Also the lemmings one is hilarious because I’m pretty sure in that game they will just turn around once the hit the side of the screen and then fall off the cliff a bit later.
Found it.
Tristan – you don’t need to apologise for coming into a conversation here. Everyone does it, it’s normal.
Also what several people have said already: you are NOT stupid, or a loser. MRAs’ opinions are worth less than an atom of flea shit. They are the stupid ones, and worse, full of malice. If they hate you, take it as a sign you’re doing something right!
*adding lots of extra internet hugs, chocolate and non-allergenic Furrinati of your choice*
Perfect example of why most feminists I know do not like Jezebel. And the comments on that one are even worse (I can tell it’s been invaded by MRAs, but the people posting about “sometimes a smack is all a girl can do” are just as bad.
Hatchetmaniac:
Your single qualification is insufficient, and I disapprove of your having separated out the subgroups. A person, in order to not be rightfully called into question, should be standing up for HUMAN rights and equality for ALL. If I person is, say, standing up for leprechaun rights, and in doing so, seeking to deny other subgroups, let’s say hobbits, some or all of their rights, it is a negative thing.
Are you saying that the injustices men have perpetrated against women should not lead to women seeking revenge and perpetrating injustice upon men? I will never convince you, but that is not the goal of feminism. I want to be able to work, not have babies, and carry on the life of my choosing without being locked into a role that does not suit me (subservient wife and stay-at-home mother).
I am not sure who made up the term “Men’s Rights Activist,” or its initialism MRA, but I am pretty sure it was a Men’s Rights Activist.
@ Lionicle To me it looks like that Jezebel article and comments within are mocking the premise that men can be abused,or might need psychiatric help if they’ve been abused.
I used to like Jezebel, but this is far from the only time utter swill has been posted there.
Brain bleach! Maddie showing she knows how to do a closeup.
http://youtu.be/H3zRkZ-77f0
Buzzfeed posted this tumblr user’s “history of the domestication of cats.” I found it very interesting!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/samimain/this-post-answers-every-questions-youve-ever-had-about-cats
“Hush, little baby, don’t say a word
Ever; your sister is talking”
HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!!! Oh thank you. Those were great. Above quoted ones are my favs. Especially since I’m often reading/singing lullabies to my children. Traditional lullabies are often disturbing. This makes them hilarious!
You are entirely welcome. I am a zooarchaeologist, actually – I study animal bones from archaeological sites. Of course, I have to know human bones as well. One of my areas of interest is early domestication of animals. I teach or have taught at times, Human evolution, Introduction to Archaeology, Cultural Anthropology, World prehistory, etc. Most of what I posted can be found in any introductory Human Evolution or world prehistory text. I find it sad that so many MRAs get it wrong. If they hunted the mammoth for us (and there were a lot of places where they didn’t – no mammoths), we gathered plant materials for them. And going by modern hunting and gathering groups, that was the more reliable form of subsistence. I lurk by the way, but I occasionally do come out. I guess I never said anything before that was all that noticeable. (Waves and relurks.)
Tumblr and pintrest!
One Halloween, my brother went as a cereal killer. He cut slashes in cereal boxes, dribbled them with fake blood, and attached them to a sweatshirt. Then he walked around with another box and a fake knife. It was a hit with the neighborhood parents.
OT: Reading about the earthquake in Pakistan, which sounds like it was pretty bad. It also created an island! But, this is the second time this has happened. Another island appeared after an earthquake in 1968, but disappeared about a year later.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/09/25/226050490/pakistan-quake-killed-hundreds-created-island-off-coast?ft=1&f=1001
Are leprechauns the new purple people?