If you’re still looking for last-minute Halloween costumes — play along with me here, huh? — might I suggest what might possibly be the scariest one of all? Dress up like a (gasp!) Men’s Rights Activist, like the fellow above, a real-life MRA cosplayer I found on STFU Assholes.
If you’re looking for more MRA costume ideas, I suggest perusing the pictures here. (Warning: these are actual MRAs.)
Good, would it be “shaming” to point out that racists are generally unlikable people also?
Good,
Its like making fun of a KKK. KKK doesn’t represent all white people, juts like MRAs don’t represent all men (knock on wood). How is shaming misogynists bad? Its like saying shaming KKK members is about making white people pander to Black people. Its simply idiotic! Misogyny should be shamed and yes men not being misogynistic is a good thing and they shouldn’t be encouraged to be misogynistic. Also women aren’t monolithic, what is liked by one woman isn’t liked by another, but yes I’m sure most women like a man who isn’t a misogynist and this isn’t a bad thing except to a misogynist. Also alot of MRAs have been proven to live in their parents basement well into middle age and Sodini couldn’t in fact get a date. The real women have curves is merely meant to discourage women from feeling shame if their bodies aren’t the catwalk ideal. Also the real women have curves meme has been criticized for establishing new ideal body norms to replace old ones. Seriously, ten seconds on google, try it. Also don’t think what advertisers do to sell products is in any way endorsed by feminists or even objective evidence.
Whoa, I though Good was being sarcastic when he/she made their post above
No, it’s a joke intended to mock typical MRAs.
Uh, no, the image has nothing to do with the importance of social status. It’s about being “likable”, as explicitly stated in the image. Being likable doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with social status.
Youre not seeing forest for the trees. If I dress in a Republican costume it does not mean I’m trying to “shame” Republicans or all political adherents into conforming to Democratic expectations or ideals, it simply means I’m making fun of Republicans.
Hi Moma Sita, here’s your welcome package!
Good is a troll, just so you know. A very boring one, too.
Claudiah, no it wouldn’t since it is not playing upon anyone’s insecurities. It would be an ad hominem attack though.
Men are defined by social status. The image would not have the same effect if it was portraying a female MRA. On the flip side, feminists are shamed as being fat and unattractive. The difference is that there is actually a movement of fat acceptance going on with regard to women whereas there is no movement of socially awkward male acceptance and social awkwardness among men is still ripe for ridicule. Also, a woman’s physical appearance is observable. A man who is accused of social awkwardness cannot easily prove otherwise once the accusation is made and “fat shaming” is not utilized throughout society to make women adhere to male desires.
MRAs are not comparable to racists and are definitely no more comparable to racists than feminists are. MRAs support equality feminism while gender feminists are all about female advocacy even if it comes at the expense of men’s rights and well being and the well being of society as a whole.
@good
What is your definition of meme?
@Good
Quite a subjective notion. I could say the same thing about feminists.
Yeah, you could? And people make fun of feminists all the time? The difference is I don’t think I’ve ever seen an anti-feminist* mockery of feminists that wasn’t in some way misogynistic, either because it characterized feminists as ugly and therefore bad women (based on the misogynistic idea that women are meant to be attractive for men — this one comes with a bunch of bonus fatphobia and racism and homophobia too) or because it used the word “feminist” as a stand-in for women, or any of a million other things. The Halloween costume above is not the same, because it does not equivocate “men” and “MRAs.”
Making people feel bad about the bad things they do in an attempt to make them change their behaviour is not some new-found tool that women have just happened upon. Encouraging others to feel shame for their actions is a pretty common human thing. “Shaming” someone is not inherently negative — what is relevant is what you are shaming them for. Shaming people for a morally neutral behaviour, like engaging in a lot of sex with other consenting adults, is a bad thing to do because there’s nothing wrong with the behaviour you are trying to discourage.
If you want to get a little higher level (which obviously you don’t) we could talk about how social repercussions, particularly from women, do not affect men (particularly white, cis, straight men with money) the way that they affect other people who do not dominate public spaces in the same way men do, or who are not afforded the same level of control over their own actions regardless of public opinion.
*I’ve seen plenty of criticisms of feminism from other feminists as well as womanists on the movement’s various failures to represent and fight for all women, but that’s not what you are referring to I imagine.
Blockquote fail (the first line after the first blockquote is Good) and also, sorry about the wall-o-text. I didn’t realize I was being that wordy.
Uh, the fat acceptance movement is gender-neutral – it just happens to be espoused by many feminists because of its relation to the body-shaming of women. And on numerous occasions people here have objected to MRAs (yes, your kind) making fat-shaming remarks about David, who is a man. The basis of the fat acceptance movement is an opposition to all forms of body-shaming (and no, it has nothing to do with making men like fat women).
As for what you say about accusations of social awkwardness against men, that’s complete nonsense. Both socially awkward men and socially awkward women are made fun of. One could make the case that the latter group is more likely to be seen by men as charming for being socially awkward, but the reverse is also true. Moreover, it’s pretty easy to deflect the accusation of social awkwardness; if people see you acting in ways that aren’t awkward, their perceptions will change quickly.
Momma Sita
MRA’s are not misogynists. Would you accept feminists as being misandrists? If not, you are practicing true bias.
Ally,
Your social status tends to be based on your level of popularity. The image implies the desire to become an MRA based on personal insecurity and people of high social status tend to be less insecure.
BAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I totally forgot to buy candy this Hallowe’en and then I worked too late to pick it up last-minute, so I spent the evening hiding from children and feeling like a jerk. >.>
Went to a fun party on the weekend though! We have some friends who go way out every year with the decorations and all.
It’s true that social status and likability are linked in some ways, but this poster was talking only about likability – your accusation of man-shaming only applies if the poster made a clear connection between social status and likability. If I accuse you of being insecure, that doesn’t really mean I think you’re of low social status. You’re conflating a correlation of two personal traits with an accusation of having a trait that happens to be correlated with another trait.
Let me guess, you’re referring to so-called “creep-shaming” here?
Thing is, as Viscaria very nicely put it, shaming someone for morally neutral behavior is a shitty thing to do, since the behavior doesn’t hurt anyone else (which is why slut-shaming is shitty behavior; consensual sex is not morally wrong). However, being “creepy” is not morally neutral behavior. A very important part of acting like a creep is ignoring boundaries, i.e. ignoring other peoples’ personal space and dignity in favor of your desire to make contact with a person who is clearly not interested, which is not morally neutral. Ergo, “creep-shaming” is a tactic used to shame someone for their shitty behavior as it relates to other people. Claiming that others have a responsibility to put up with your shittiness due to your lack of desire to take other people into consideration is indicative of massive entitlement issues.
Unless you are in truth talking about shaming people for simple social awkwardness. In which case your argument doesn’t make sense. As Ally S rightly pointed out, both men and women suffer from social awkwardness in an environment that favors extroverts over introverts, and claiming that it’s a male issue is dishonest.
Leaving for work now, so no time for chewing the toy, but you guys seem to be doing great anyway!
Halloween night I had fun passing out candy to the kids and little paper cups of espresso to their parents. All while wearing my Zee Captain outfit.
@Argenti
Good luck… assuming it hasn’t already happened, in which case, how did it go?
*hugs on standby*
As has been mentioned before, man =/= MRA.
Seriously though, you spend your time ranting about irrational nonsense, citing spurious statistics and misapplied science to support your ignorance, while claiming intellectual superiority, and you complain that people mock you? People tend to mock the ridiculous. That’s not the evil of women against men, it’s just human nature to laugh at the laughable.
No it isn’t. It isn’t subjective by any definition of the word.
A man is a person who identifies with the male gender. An MRA is a person of unspecified gender who irrationally opposes feminism, using the demonstrably false claim that feminism is the cause -or a hinderence to the solution- of many of men’s problems to justify doing so.
Those are plainly not synonymous definitions.
And, seriously, because I know you would consider me a man and because you think it’s subjective to point out the obvious fact that not all men are MRAs, I feel I should mention that you do not speak for me.
You could. You should.
The fact that this is something you felt the need to say demonstrates a startling ignorance of who feminists are, considering the amount of time you spend sharing “interesting links” with us.
Of course feminist is not a synonym for woman. You may not have noticed, but the person who runs this website is a man. Many of the commenters are men. Some of us don’t identify with either gender.
Again, mocking the nonsensical is not a shaming tactic. It’s a natural reaction of human beings, which is a group that includes – but is not limited to – women.
No, not really. I don’t care whether you “defer to the desires and expectations of women,” as a result of my laughing at you. I laugh as a reflex, not with manipulative intent. I do find it odd, though, that you would whine about one group supposedly attempting to control all men, while belonging to a group which actually does hope to control women.
The point is that masculism is not a necessary thing. Men face a number of problems, this is entirely true, but these problems will not be solved by campaigning against feminism, but by campaigning against unregulated capitalism; against militarism; against the rape culture that you guys deny even exists; against patriarchy and racism; against fundamentalism and intolerance.
The point is that the MRM is a movement of ignorant fools who are making no attempt to understand or solve the real problems they face.
No… it wouldn’t. An ad hominem attack is where you criticise the person, rather than their argument. Here, I’ll demonstrate:
a) Racist: “Black people are inferior because the parts of their brains that determine submissiveness are enlarged.”
Non-racist: “Racists are generally unlikable people.”
b) Non-racist 1: “I met a racist today… he wasn’t a very likable person.”
Non-racist 2: “Racists are generally unlikable people.”
A is an ad hominem, because the non-racist points out that they’re unlikable, rather than tackling the racist’s claim. B is not an ad hominem, because it’s a simple statement of fact, giving support to the previous statement outside of a debate setting.
No. You are defined by social status. Some other men define themselves by social status. Many men really don’t give a damn about that crap.
Speaking as a socially awkward person, I resent being used as cover for misogynists.
There’s actually nothing wrong with being socially awkward, whatever your gender. The problem is when you’re disrespectful of people’s basic rights as humans. That’s the thing for which there is no movement for acceptance, and rightly so. Fuck your disrespect, and fuck your attempt to excuse it with awkwardness. Awkward =/= disrespectful.
…anyway.
Who wants to bet that I’ve escaped the wrath of the blockquote monster?
Read a single MRA article. Any one. Pick one completely at random. How much of that article is not hatred of women?
Do the same with a feminist article. How much of it is hatred of men?
Rinse and repeat about 60 times. How often is the MRA article nothing but misogyny? How often does the feminist article include any misandry? (And I do actually expect you to find evidence of hating men, not just criticising some men for harassing someone or holding rapists accountable for having raped people – that’s not misandry, I’m sorry, I know you think that’s man-hating, but it’s not.)
Semi-OT: was thinking of going as a feminist according to Pat Robertson*, since I already have witchy and rainbow accouterments, but I couldn’t think of a way to represent killing one’s children that wouldn’t risk being upsetting to people who’ve miscarried or lost children. Maybe I can go as a more general straw feminist next year.
*”The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.”
I got no trick-or-treat-ers, last night, due in part to my carefully maintained reputation as “weird woman with cats” and in part because I went down to my car in the dark, dragged a heavy sack out of my car and lugged it up the garden. The group of small children standing in the street watched me in horror. I wonder what they thought the sack contained.*. It was like a scene from “The Burbs”. Bwahahaha!
*chicken feed
In Sweden there’s an old tradition where kids dresses up as witches for Easter, go from house to house and give Easter pictures (pics of chickens and the like) in exchange for candy. The kids here do a sort of mash-up of traditional Swedish Easter and American Halloween for Halloween – they go from house to house dressed as witches, and give pictures of spiders and spooky castles in exchange for candy.
Oh, and they write “glad Hällovin” on the pics, because they can’t spell English words.
@Aebars
Maybe I’m picturing something different than you are, but this sounds like it’d be easy to mistake for one of those horribly obnoxious “pimp” costumes.
@Good, *sigh*, here we go again:
OK, I have no real love for “real men”/”real women” memes, but dude, do you understand context? “Real women have curves” is a response to the social expectation that women must be thin to be pretty/lovable/worthwhile. The only “real men” meme I can think of is “real men don’t hit their wives”, which is and always has been a widespread social problem. Both are responses to women generally having the short end of the stick in this culture, so while it’s technically true that both are about what women want, the common theme is women wanting to have dignity and be treated like human beings. So terrible, right?
Anyway, what do “real [gender]” memes have to do with the OP?
Fat acceptance is ridiculed plenty. Said ridicule has been featured on this very blog, very recently. Do you even go here?
I see the problem: you’re writing from an alternate reality. Here in this reality, women are constantly shamed for not being appealing to any given man, and fatness (or accusations thereof) is one of the more common forms.
Feminism and the MRM are not equivalent.
Are you in high school?
I’m sorry, if you look in the Basic Set — Characters book, you’ll find Social Status can be purchased for 5 points a level, and grants a +1 reaction per level. It can also be a disadvantage, going down to -3 I believe, for -5 points.
No point combining high Social Status with Obnoxious Personal Habit, though — they’ll cancel each other out in both reaction points and character points. Might as well buy less Social Status and spend the rest of the points on the Savoir-Faire skill.
Funny, I can’t find Social Stigma (Whiny Internet Whiner).
High school-esque archetypes seem to be a fixture in MRA worldview. They think they are the eternal high school nerds and women are still all attracted to the jocks. Moral of this story: MRAs are a bunch of angry dudes who are not well-adjusted adults. (aside from their more legitimate gripes about which they do nothing)