It’s here at last! After numerous delays, the 20/20 story looking at the manosphere — and the part it plays in the online harassment of women — will be running on ABC this Friday, October 18, at 10 PM EST. Among the featured participants: the always charming Paul Elam of A Voice for Men; Anita Sarkeesian, the much-harassed feminist video game critic; and Jaclyn Friedman, the ass-kicking founder of Women, Action & the Media.
Here’s a teaser story on the ABC website which suggests that the 20/20 piece isn’t exactly going to be a triumphant moment in the history of the Men’s Rights Movement.
Naturally, the comments section over there is already filled with A Voice for Menners crying foul and spouting nonsense.
EDIT: And stop by here Friday to live chat during the show! (Well, live comment, anyway.)
Reblogged this on iheariseeilearn.
Please, please, please gods of television, make this play on my computer in Europe. I don’t want to miss out!!
I’m bummed that I’ll be in a budget meeting and so won’t be able to watch this until after the fact.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when Paul Elam states the obvious and completely misses the subtext.
“There has been a change in the world, especially in the last 50 years. Women’s roles have changed drastically,” he told “20/20.” “What a lot of us in this area find is that men’s roles have not changed very much. Many find now that they have to react.”
Mildly magnificent, I’m hoping they show just how nasty elam and the script overseas is too. It shouldn’t be hard given what’s plastered all over their sites.
If I am watching television, I shall give this the attention it deserves: i.e. will be watching the Dodgers play the Cardinals. I can see this later, on my computer.
Why is it that when unsavoury things are reported about the internet they’re described as being “Deep in the underbelly of the Internet”?
Do youtube comments count as “a hidden corner known as the ‘Manosphere'”? Because this shit is not isolated to some dark corner.
So wait, are they going to put Paul Elam, Anita Sarkeesian, and Jaclyn Friedman in the same room, or will they speak separately?
Probably to draw viewers in to make it sound more interesting. But yeah, I agree with you, the darknet or Tor network would probably fit that description better.
Also, will this be streamed since I don’t have a TV?
@Weston, I know, right? Reddit isn’t exactly obscure either. Although, I have long considered Youtube and Reddit to be the armpits of the internet. MRA blogs are much more obscure and filled with garbage nightmare content. So when I think of it that way, calling the Manosphere the “underbelly of the internet” is almost a compliment.
But yeah, Cthulhu’s Intern probably hit the nail on the head. It just sounds more newsworthy to say “deep in the underbelly of the internet” instead of “somewhere in Canada, an angry old hack has discovered this thing called blogging”.
Reminds me of the episode of Parks and Rec where they try to make a campaign ad for Leslie and the guys all try to say “Bobby Newport” in the scariest way they can manage to make it sound more sensational.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_KfYYd1Us8&w=560&h=315]
/prays she did the embedding right
This is 20/20 we’re talking about. Even if they make them look bad they’ll find a way to make it about how the Internet is Bad, or they’ll pull some “both sides” shit by dredging up some TERFs or something like that. Is John Stossel’s mustache still on that show?
I think Stossel and his ‘stache have fucked off to Fox where they truly belong.
Aw man, I’m working tomorrow night, I’ll have to catch up on Saturday. Assuming I can stand to see and hear Paul, given that his inert image and writing already turn my stomach. Maybe I’ll make my partner watch it with me.
Chances are 20/20 will defend MRA’s and demonize everyone else. 20/20 nearly always takes the wrong side, and will use dishonest editing techniques to do it (like asking a question during an interview, then recording a completely different question in the studio to make them look bad.)
Which is freedom of speech according to the courts.
I’ve seen Sarkeesian’s videos, and I don’t know why people are mad at her (other than she accepted a lot of money to make a certain number of videos over a certain period of time and she didn’t bother to. The people that funded her should be mad but I somehow doubt that the people threatening her gave her one thin dime…)
I think youtube comments count as the “why I occasionally despair for the future of our species” corner of the internet.
Hey, is the Recent Comments widget disabled for anyone else?
I’ll be working at the time in all likelhood, but I’ll try and find it online after the fact.
Yes, the recent comments widget is disabled for me.
Yep. And Disqus just vanished entirely on another site I comment on. (back now!)
I suspect that Disqus may be being buggy. I know this a radical idea, as it’s probably never happened before, but…..
I can’t wait for the live chat!
I hope there are lots of Manosphere women on the show – the Manosphere would cease to operate without the handful of women allies who give them cover.
I’ve got mixed feelings about this. On the plus side, they’ll probably get exposed for the haters that they are, but on the minus side, they’ll be getting publicity. Nobody is going to stop self-identifying as an MRA upon watching the show, I bet, but furious misogynists who had heretofore never heard of them will rush to join up.
But in the spirit of shining the light of truth into dark corners, I guess overall I’m looking forward to it.
I think not. Over on Reddit, the shieldmaidens of AVfM are pretty mad about it too, because they think their existence proves that there’s no misogyny.