Yesterday, we looked at 6 memes from A Voice for Men’s “meme team” and decoded what they really meant. Today, some memes from AVFM’s Pinterest page that are a bit harder to decode, because they really make no sense at all. I’ll do my best to try to sort them out.
1) TALK TO THE HAND
What might it mean? “Ha ha girls talk too much, well joke’s on you because I’m GOING MY OWN WAY and later I’ll go home and make a poster about how I imagined I might I totally really did put that bitch in her place.”
I mean, that is what this poster is saying, right? It’s illustrating the notion that men and women should listen to one another by depicting a dude just up and leaving because he’s tired of listening?
How exactly does this advance any “men’s rights” other than the right of men to act like petulant children?
2) BREAKING BADDIE
What might it mean? Well, the quote itself makes sense. What doesn’t make as much sense is why alleged “human rights activists” would want to publicly identify themselves with a rage-filled amoral meth-maker and murderer who fucks up the lives of everyone around him through his own pigheadedness. I mean, Walter White is not really a good person, when you come right down to it. That made for great television, but as a role model for a “civil rights” movement, no so much.
3) VENUS MAN TRAP
What might it mean? That the person making it is very, very confused about a lot of things. This one starts off with ridiculously simplistic — and provably incorrect — premises. Men’s attitudes towards marriage haven’t undergone a 180 degree turn since the start of feminism; they weren’t that rosy(as it were) in the prefeminist world, and they aren’t so negative now.
But it’s that final statement that the real puzzler. Feminists aren’t blaming “patriarchy” for men not wanting to get married. That’s completely backwards. Marriage began as a patriarchal institution and is still steeped in patriarchal symbolism. The only thing that this poster makes clear is that the people behind it don’t know anything about feminism, patriarchy, or marriage.
4) HAVE A KNIFE DAY
What might it mean? That the person making the poster has a very vivid imagination. Once again, the folks at AVFM picture their feminist enemies as violent oppressors. This has zero basis in reality, but makes it all that much easier to justify their antifeminist hatred. The projection is strong here.
5) SUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP
What might it mean? That AVFM’s antifeminists don’t realize that feminists aren’t actually interested in chivalrous providers?
6) WHO’S THE PIG NOW?
What might it mean? That AVFM meme-maker “John Galt” — clever name, huh? — hates women, fat men, and good graphic design.
7) DUH NUH NUH NUH NUH NUH NUH NUH BATMAN
What might this mean? That AVFM meme-maker “John Galt” not only thinks he’s an Ayn Randian ubermensch; he also thinks he’s Batman.
Is Christopher Nolan’s Batman really the best role model for an alleged “civil rights” movement? I mean, I suppose he’s a step up from Walter White, but, seriously dudes, maybe try to model yourself on people who don’t solve problems with violence?
8) STUPID PATRIARCHY TRICKS
What might it mean? I have no idea. Seriously, what the hell?
Uhhh…. Can anyone explain the “Who’s the pig Now” one? Like, seriously, what’s going on there?
That last one… See, before feminism ruined everything, women could do those things that everyone knows all women secretly want to do as a career: pop out babies, and take care of babies and men. (Which makes men just like babies, but I digress.) Feminism ruined that. Now women are actually getting paid to do the work they choose, which is terrible.
(Please avert your eyes from the fact that women have always done difficult paid & unpaid work. Facts have no place in memes.)
I believe it’s implying that women, who presumably call men pigs if they judge women based on their bodies, are “the pigs now” because they’re presumably judging men based on their wealth. You know, same old tripe.
And the last one SOUNDS like it’s trying to defend and advocate for “patriarchy” (although I’m sure that word is used ironically) by.. um.. “arguing” that it gives women more freedom to choose (!!) instead of feeling the pressure to be super competitive and high-achieving that “feminism” presumably forces on women……. Not that we’re supposed to feel sympathy for the hoodwinked ladies, they’re probably just supposed to be dumb. But at their own cost.
Honestly, a lot of these you have to meet more than halfway.
Is number 8 supposed to be anger at women who pursue manly man only jobs in STEM? That’s my guess. Women only truly want to be receptionists, child care workers and waitresses. Evil feminism has convinced women to intrude and pursue jobs in computer programming. Women can’t ever just like computer programming. They only want the money.
Does that make sense? I feel that my post is word salad. That’s how little sense that meme makes. Any attempts to explain will inevitably lead to more garbled nonsense.
Uh…pride was most definitely Walter White’s downfall. They certainly weren’t watching Breaking Bad critically at all. No surprise there.
Yeah, I think the last one is trying to say that feminists pressure women into taking higher-paying jobs, regardless of whether or not those jobs bring them personal satisfaction. I suspect the thought behind it (using the term loosely) is that men have generally been pressured into pursuing higher-paid careers, like law and finance, in order to support their families; feminists want women to be just like men; ergo, feminists want women to pursue high-paying careers.
Yeesh, the symbolism in some of these is really weird… Considering a rose is classically symbolic of female genitals, having a rose represent marriage before and a venus fly-trap represent after reveals a weird castration anxiety.
The “who’s the pig” is rooted in the MRM thinking that the “you’re a pig” insult is only paid to physically ugly men rather than obnoxious or self-centered ones. This is bizarre, because they are trying to say that the woman who greedily marries an ugly man for money is a pig, so they know that “pig” doesn’t just refer to looks.
Number 8 is about the MRM crowd trying to prove that Feminism actually inhibits women rather than freeing them. They already believe women all naturally desire to be subservient to a man as a house wife, and they also believe that feminists look down upon women who actually do want to fill that role. This may have been true at one point, or it just may have been the hollywood portrayal of feminists… I dunno, I haven’t been around all that long. But this is them trying to be clever by proving (poorly) that feminists actually take choices away from what women naturally want to do.
7 is actually pretty funny… The classic image of a white knight is all about the doing rather than a being. The white knight in fact wears heavy armor that covers their face, to the point where there are tropes about removing the helmet and finding something you wouldn’t expect. The modern idea of white knight is also completely based on doing instead of being, so if you want to read 7 as an admonishment to white knights, it fails completely. As for reading it as John Galt being indignant, I dunno him well enough to know what that’s about.
This is actually kinda fun, I’m gonna have to come back to it when I have time.
Here are my respective take-aways for each of these bizarro memes:
1. Girlfriend is better off without that childish bore, anyway. MGTOW are not so much “going their own way” as droning on and on about how awful women are. Who the hell wants to listen to THAT?
2. Walter White is a fiction, and his life doesn’t bear emulating. But if there are any morals to be drawn from his story, they are: (a) Teachers are not being paid enough to teach; (b) socialized medicine is a Good Thing, and (c) crystal meth is a Very Very Fucking Bad Thing.
3. Men viewed marriage as a bed of roses before feminism? That’s funny, I seem to recall them kvetching about all the thorns throughout history and time immemorial! As for the Venus Flytrap: That’s how women (rightly) saw it, and how I still see it, at least where these guys are concerned. Men still have it way better in marriage than we do. But yeah, dude, go whine about how rough you have it since you have to go through the motions of being equal to an “inferior” woman. Is it any wonder no woman wants to marry YOU?
4. WTF is “feminist bias”, and why are these poor delicate flowers so “afraid to speak up” about it? And why does their fear take the form of a particularly ridiculous stock photo and a nasty, ugly meme like this? Also, the fact that some jackass made this meme tells me that someone isn’t actually afraid at all, he’s just out there to project a role-reversed picture of the kind of society HE wants. And giggling like a serial killer as he posts it to the Internets.
5. “Chivalrous providers” aren’t a feminist goal, they’re a patriarchal condescension to the “inferiority” and man-made dependency of women. DO NOT WANT. Suck on THAT…”buttercup”!
6. “Who’s the pig now?” Um, same as it ever was. Having money to pay for the sexual favors of women doesn’t make you magically not-a-chauvinist-pig, dude. If she’s a gold-digger, well…she’s just playing the part that you wrote for her.
7. Dude…the Goddamn Batman is a crappy FICTION. White knights, ditto. But thanks for telling us that you’re just pretending to be a good guy. It’s not as if we couldn’t guess that you’re as genuine as a three-dollar bill, and it’s not like we don’t avoid you for that very reason. Bam, thwap, kaplinko.
8. As I recall, the only jobs women could “choose” under patriarchy were teaching, nursing, and menial minimum-wage McJobs that wouldn’t pay the rent on a broom closet. But really, we were supposed to “choose” housebound wifeydom and Sacred Holy Motherhood. And if we didn’t, we got pissed on nine ways till Friday. You’re damn right we want higher paying jobs…being a “feminine” woman doesn’t pay enough to live on, and I’m sure there’s a reason for that. Which these poor, put-upon providers don’t want to admit. PS: More recognition of our intellects wouldn’t hurt either. We do have ’em, you know.
I think the last one is referring to the idea of the gender pay gap. A common tactic (especially in libertarian circles in my experience) to argue that it either doesn’t exist in any meaningful way or that it isn’t a bad thing is to say that women simply choose to work in fields that pay less overall, whereas if you control for “life choices” the pay gap disappears. Thus, AynRandyGalt69420’s implied point is that feminism’s thrust runs counter to its stated goals, ironically providing less choice for women than the patriarchy (he doesn’t think exists but embraces anyway) does.
*eyes roll so hard they bore through my skull and roll off into the sunset*
If all men hate marriage, why do so many still get married? If all men want post-feminism is to have sex, they don’t need to marry because so many twenty somethings are riding the cock carousel. Manospherians talk about all the slutty sluts all the time. They must not be too hard find? I’ve always been really confused about the stereotype that men don’t want to marry. Doesn’t the fact that men willingly get married (sometimes to other men) falsify that stereotype? Especially since it’s still the man who proposes the majority of the time.
The thing about mens rightsters is that they imply all men everywhere view marriage and women the same way they do, and if they don’t, then they are just low quality, betas, white knights, or manginas.
Their bitter and hateful opinions are not revolutionary.
Oh fuck off MRA fucks stop trying to claim Batman as one of your own he is not and he never will be.
Hey, kirbywarp, how are you? ::waves::
Under no possible interpretation can one honestly say that none of these posters are misogynistic and bigoted in other ways.
Also, you know your movement is reactionary when you have objectivists on your side. I mean, holy shit – are they actually proud of having posters with “John Galt” on them?
“Humanist counter-theory”. It’s the best they can do…because they have no genuine theories of their own. And because men are the only real humans, anyway.
That “Who’s the pig now?” poster manages to be misogynistic, transmisogynistic, and fat-phobic all at once. The joke implied in the man touching his breasts is a common form of transmisogynistic ridicule; it implies that AMAB women don’t have “real” female breasts.
They are really on a roll these days.
One of the (female) board members of a community college in an oil town was known to have vociferously objected in 2000-ish to paying competitive wages, because staff didn’t need to make that much money, because their husbands all worked for the oil company. I shit you not. Male or unmarried staff apparently didn’t exist.
Vaguely related: my (male) roomie literally made 5 times what I did last year, according to our T4 slips. This is pretty much a supply & demand kind of thing, because his skills are rare-ish, and mine are a dime a dozen. What have I done with my life?
Is anybody else getting an ad at the bottom of EVERY SINGLE PICTURE on this blog lately? How do I make it stop?
The first one is such a good representation of the mgtow fantasy that they are punishing women by going their own way.
In order to know if this is true, they’d probably have to start by going their own way. I’d be curious to know who all are these people (other than their parents I guess) begging them to date or get married.
Funny nonetheless.
I’m most confused by the first one. Listening is not just for men… okay, fine, but the man is walking away, so he is neither listening nor given the woman an opportunity to listen. I mean, what is the picture even supposed to mean?
And to #4, I dare an MRA to produce evidence of feminists holding men at knife point, ever.
Perhaps I’m overthinking things, but I find it pretty fascinating that the woman in #6 is nothing more than a sexy silhouette. She’s doesn’t get a face.
@ unimaginative
Yeah, I got the ads too.
*She doesn’t get a face… This is what I get for only halfway-editing.
Yeah, I’m getting that too, Unimaginative. It’s Luminate ads, I think; I hear you can use an ad blocker to not see them. Of course, then you come up against the moral question: to adblock or not to adblock? My choice is made for me because I can’t install any adblockers on the device I’m using most of the time. I’d feel kinda bad using it here even if I could, though; I don’t like using adblockers on sites I visit frequently and whose message I support.
I haven’t watched breaking bad, but I find one thing a little funny.
Walter.
White.
Pride.
Own pride.
Probably as in own, but probably also your own, as pride in your own…. says Mr. White, in this case.
Hm. That’s probably unintentional, right? Funny nonetheless.