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?
“von” falsch, “zu” was ich gemeint habe.
Y’know, there was a Mary Roach book I read recently. I was reading a couple at a time, but I’m pretty sure this factoid came from “Bonk.” There is a serious problem in Thailand of wives cutting off their husband’s penises. It is long and ongoing. Apparently in Thailand Lorena Bobbit would be a ho-hum.
Oh dear… I forgot a “not” in there…
“Also, for #8, a stock photo of one woman acting confused is not great for representing the two-sidedness of the text.”
The last one…They must know that in the past (and, indeed, the present) there were jobs women weren’t allowed to do. They can’t be so dense that they actually don’t know that, right? They have to be deliberately lying, right?
@augzilliary:
I’m pretty sure some of these posters would be improved if the text covered up the images…
(And no, I didn’t have to google what “teal deer” meant, why do you ask? … You didn’t ask? Um… *jazz fingers to smoke bomb jujitsu*)
@katz:
They have a narrative they’ve built up that is independent of any historical context. If you asked, they’d know about it, they just don’t care. Or worse, they’d say that job availability in the past was a better match for what women really want to do.
Ok … so before feminism, women seemed like flowers and were, and after feminism women seemed like flowers, and are now Venus fly traps. So in this case it is a “feminism=suckyness because creepy plants” poster?
Also, I may be alone in this, but if someone was going to buy me a plant, I would much rather a Venus fly trap than a rose, because Venus fly traps are cool! 🙂
When I saw this poster I had a different interpretation. I thought that roses attracted pollinating insects such as bees and butterflies and I thought venus fly traps attracted a wider range of insects, including flies. So, I initially thought maybe it was a “bees=alphas, flies=betas, marriage used to be an attractive option to alphas until feminists broke it” poster.
This interpretation of course depends on what insects pollinate flowers and what insects are caught in Venus fly traps. Also, do flies pollinate flowers? Do they pollinate roses?
Personally I think the AVFM’s current logo looks like it’s been angrily scrawled in lipstick, in the style of one of those trashy 90’s sex thrillers like Fatal Attraction or Basic Instinct. Given those movies rather reflect their negative stereotypes about women, this kind of makes sense, kind of…
If you’re going to compare someone to a pig, maybe don’t use a cute cartoon pig? I mean look at it, it’s adorable.
I think the fact that Walter White and Batman are the two favored pop culture figures of the MRA movement is good evidence for my theory that their ideology has everything to do with some bizarre psychological attitude and very little with legitimate disagreement with feminism.
Walter White is not the hero of Breaking Bad, he’s the villain. And Batman is not the solution, he’s part of the problem. If you can’t understand this then maybe don’t form a movement based on your obsession with these two characters?
@auggziliary
I like it. 🙂
Also, in the pro-feminist case the tag line still kind of works.
I think these guys are missing the real injustice!
http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg595/capnben1/meme1_zps9d44a6d7.png
misery:
Yup! They’re both basically fictional case studies in what happens when you take the pressure of conforming to traditional masculinity to its logical conclusion.
Both of them have deep seated emotional issues. They are completely incapable of talking about their problems or admitting vulnerability, so instead they ailenate everyone who loves them and could help them. They engage in violent, self-destructive and ultimately selfish behaviour while operating under the delusion that they’re doing the right thing. They are both entirely ruled by pride, ego and need for control, while at the same time convinced that they are pursuing a higher purpose. They also both think that any problem can be solved by throwing money at it.
If AVfM actually cares about the mental health of boys and men – who are less likely to seek help for depression and similar conditions, and are more likely to commit suicide than women – then they should stop holding Batman and Walter White up as role models to be emulated, Because I can’t think of any other character who epitomizes the concept of toxic masculinity more than these two.
As someone who made the mistake of continuing to watch Breaking Bad after Gus died, I do think the writers had some definite, uh, let’s say non-progressive views that emerged by the end. I think we were seriously supposed to be cheering Walt’s awesome manliness when he spontaneously developed superpowers and the ability to invent magic gun-machines, outsmart everyone, and get everything he wanted (since the alternative was dying in a cabin).
I don’t think these AVFMers were watching the show wrong. Christ, the last episode had Walt getting awesome revenge on the evil rich liberal lady who spurned him for Weenie Short-Dick Coward Man.
I’m not familiar with V for Vendetta, and someone else has most likely already pointed it out but…I find it scarily appropriate that the symbol used for A Voice For Men looks bloody and violent.
As for that “The More You Know” poster, it brings up that whole thing about equality meaning men should be allowed to beat up women.
And “Suck it up, Buttercup”? Hmm. What do you think, Buttercup?
(Sorry, the show has better choices for clips that could be used, but this was the best I could immediately find on youtube).
@ Sir Bodsworth is that pic supposed to be a parody of whiny MRAs, or something actually made by them? Poe’s Law.
Am I the only one who sees the rose/Venus flytrap pic as an all-too-Freudian slip – vagina dentata, anyone?
::retires snickering::
So they’re sticking with the whole “I wrote this logo in the wall in the blood I took from my latest victim just for you, random men on the internet!” logo, then?
@kittehserf:
Nnnope, you are not.
God damn. These guys are dumb
I mean, I’ve known it all along, but these memes really make the obvious inescapable
@ kittehserf
I wondered about that too. Then I got distracted by venus fly trap awesomeness.
Really, rose bushes pose more of a threat than Venus flytraps. Venus flytraps are tiny little plants that are only dangerous to small insects that land on their leaves. Rose bushes are big, and have nasty thorns.
I don’t know anything about the history of Gothic script in Germany, but it is definitely associated with neo-Nazi movements, at least in the US. I’ve had quite a bit more experience with them than I’d like, and they were one of the first things I thought of when I saw the logo.
Brittersweet – love it!! Chocolate milk really masks the taste of condescension.
I just can’t even with that poster. DO NOT TAKE MY NAME IN VAIN, PATRONIZING JERKFACE. * ominous crash of thunder*
Re: rose bushes, they also require a hell of a lot of sunlight and manure, need regular pruning, and are prone to mildew, black spot, and rust. An awful lot of work goes into producing that fragile bloom. Something MRAs know nothing about when it comes to relationships. They’re all about maximum sex for minimum effort.
#4: I don’t understand why that guy has shaving cream all over his face. Is she channeling Sweeney Todd?
sparky – it strikes me that Daphne’s father should have turned her into a fucking huge rose bush instead of a laurel tree when Apollo was trying to rape her. She could have inflicted some serious damage.