So this is … interesting. Last night, Saturday Night Live did a sketch, featuring guest host Lena Dunham, about Men’s Rights Activists. Alas, it wasn’t actually funny, or particularly on the mark, and it was kind of, sort of, maybe, a little bit racist (well, ok, a lot), but it did at least give a pretty good impression of what people in the real world think of the MRAs we know and loathe so well. I can’t embed it here, so go take a look at it on Hulu.
The folks in the Men’s Rights subreddit are up in arms about it, and have started not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, but six threads on the subject. (There may be more; that’s all I noticed.) Well, it’s not often they get this much attention, so I guess their excitement is understandable.
Given that the sketch was actually pretty crappy in a lot of ways, the MRAs did have some legitimate complaints to make against it — like the fact that the women in the sketch mocked the MRA character for being an unattractive loser. But naturally the Men’s Rights Redditors managed to undercut even this perfectly reasonable criticism by attacking the women in the sketch for being uggos. (Oh, misogynists, why do you hate Lena Dunham so much?) Here’s a rather delightfully ironic snippet of the discussion:
![SNL manages to misinterpret MRA arguments, shame man who are less physically attractive than others by implying they are somehow lesser, says that all MRAs are only MRAs because of bad love experiences, and accuse the MRHM of being pro-life, which is a blatant lie. (hulu.com) submitted 7 hours ago by Feminists_Are_Jelly 29 comments share source save hide give gold report hide all child comments sorted by: hot navigate by: submitter | moderator | friend | admin | IAmA | images | popular | new you are viewing a single comment's thread. view the rest of the comments → [–]MockingDead 16 points 6 hours ago (27|11) A bunch of unattractive unfunny women impugning a man for being not an apex male. permalink save source save give gold hide child comments [–]ugly_duck 5 points 5 hours ago (16|11) A bunch of unattractive unfunny women impugning a man for being not an apex male. Imagine if the genders were reversed. permalink save source save parent give gold [–]Grubnar 6 points 4 hours ago (12|6) I am trying ... and I can't. Men are not usually judged by their attractiveness, but by their wealth.](https://i0.wp.com/www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ironymrastyle.png?resize=536%2C556&ssl=1)
Indeed, I’ve rarely seen irony so thick as in the outraged comments of MRAs in these threads. Here’s another angry Redditor:
Heavens! Sexism and shaming! MRAs NEVER engage in either of those things!
Oh, wait. That’s pretty much the entire basis of their movement.
Ruwanimo, you say you can’t imagine how it would look if the genders were reversed? You don’t have to imagine. All you have to do is go to the Men’s Rights subreddit, or A Voice for Men, or any other prominent (or not-so-prominent) Men’s Rights site. Or you could read through the Man Boobz archives. Ta da! Literally hundreds — make that thousands — of examples of MRAs directing “flagrant sexism and shaming” at women. (Also note: this shaming is directed at women, not only at feminists, whereas the SNL skit directed its shaming only at MRAs, not at men in general.)
You’re welcome!
The AgainstMensRights subreddit is also all over this thing, though they’ve limited themselves to four threads — here, here, here and here, which is where I found that first discussion I screenshotted.
Sheesh Christine. Take a breath and put in some paragraphs. That wall of text would be hard to read even if it were interesting.
Hey, I’m just re-reading Thud! at the moment! 🙂
Christine does not use paragraph breaks. Mostly she says “blah”. No, Christine is not my cow!
Random Wanker is a lot like DKM in his approach to interpersonal relationships, but without the articulacy or the hilarious pretentiousness. Random Wanker says “wah”. No, Random Wanker is not my cow either!
No, it’s more like … actually it’s pretty nebulous. It doesn’t mean straight-out working class, though it’s a classist thing. It’s a little more like redneck. It’s easy to look at someone and say yep, bogan, but harder to define it. Nothing to do with drugs, though. Mullet haircuts, tight jeans, flannelette shirts, souped up or crappy Holden or Ford cars, probably tattoos, almost certainly cigarettes, probably a few missing teeth (dental care is largely out of reach of the poor here, too), a very nasal, ‘Strine accent – those are the sort of things I think of when I think of bogan stereotypes. It’s certainly a class thing and it’s about suburban stereotypes of things a lot of people are uncomfortable with. I admit to being uncomfortable too, because I do see people who pretty much fit that image on the train, and they’re the ones most likely to be drunk or obnoxious or swearing at their kids in the hours I’m travelling, not that it happens often, and it’s not like obnoxious behaviour’s limited to one type or one stereotyped group.
Wow, just wow. This is incredibly racist. I guess racism is acceptable when you are a perpetually oppressed victim. Attempting to make fat women commercially attractive isn’t going to make muscular men want to have sex with you fatties.
I’m so sick of FRAs like Christine. The whole fathers’ rights movement is a joke. Shared custody shouldn’t be the legal standard, and under the current system enabling deadbeat parents via the lack of child support is a recipe for disaster. Does it suck that custody is awarded to more mothers than fathers? Sure. But that issue boils down to gender roles and patriarchal stereotypes, not misandric legal standards.
she did point out one important thing, though. Respecting women’s reproductive rights is the most evilest crime of crimes!
Hi, budmin! Your tell is showing.
Such stunning and insightful commentary, bud.
Hey now, if you start calling him bud I’ll start thinking I can use him to get stoned, and that’s just a recipe for disappointment.
trans_commie, shared custody shouldn’t be the standard? why?
Awww, poor little budget troll is upset he was banned, now.
Guess what, idiot: you’ve already been reported again.
@BritterSweet: BTW, are you an Ed, Edd, and Eddy fan? I am. =)
Yep. Unless malaprop man has become a malaprop duo (unlikely), we have bud back!
Hi, Bud. How is stuffinglessness?
Rilian, I think it custody should be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Commercially attractive is a pretty obvious tell isn’t it? Well, I called impending sock in the other thread. Yay me?
I love that the trolls in this thread assumed we all loved the skit and didn’t notice or care about the racism. Try reading the post and the comments guys!
Hell, try reading the title of the post. It’s pretty informative.
Not that the trolls would ever waste their time EDUCATING themselves when they can just assume what their opponents’ opinions will be….
C’mon, buddy, say something ridiculous before you get banned again. I know you have another malapropism that you’re just dying to unleash.
Ooooh! Bud should tell us more about how hostel the world is! That’d be exciting.
Oops. I checked the IP (it’s different than bud’s original one) but somehow skimmed right past the “commercially.” Into the ban filter he goes.
We should really add that to the list of classic Manboobz moments along with SPINSTERS. I’m feeling very hostel today. Are you feeling hostel?
Damn, that was awkward as shit. I can’t get past the first 1:20 minute mark.
It’s pretty repulsive to portray the Latin American woman as particularly pliable to an MRA’s demands.
No, that’s what you read. I was saying that – if they were not cowards – they would honestly admit their beliefs in person. I mean, I know I do. But I’m also not ashamed of what I believe in…
Wow, only one sentence and you show your true colors already! That’s impressive in a pathetic kind of way…
You obviously haven’t read the thread. Well, that, or you are semi-illiterate.
Sheep don’t fucking “meep” – they “baah”. Your parents obviously gave you malfunctioning toys, growing up…
Richard Herring (discussed above) does a series called RHLSTP, the Richard Herring Leicester Square comedy podcast, in which he interviews (mostly) stars of (mostly) British (mostly) comedy.
Although he has generally sound opinions, it’s not at all a social justice podcast, so don’t expect that, but I find it fascinating and funny. It was on this podcast that Stephen Fry talked for the first time about his suicide attempt and there was alsoa great discussion with Mary Beard about the harassment she’s received on Twitter.
http://www.comedy.co.uk/podcasts/richard_herring_lst_podcast/