Yesterday Warren Farrell – the intellectual grandfather of the Men’s Rights movement, the man who single-handedly came up with probably half of the terrible arguments that are endlessly rehashed daily in the manosphere – went to Reddit and proclaimed “ask me anything!”
And so we, and a lot of other people, did. And he even answered a couple of the questions I posted here yesterday – though as I sort of suspected he pointedly ignored the questions about his incest research. Still, there were so many astounding things said in that discussion, both by Farrell himself and by his various supporters, that it’s going to take a couple of posts to get to them all.
Let’s just start with the ass question, shall we? Because there was nothing quite so astounding in that whole sprawling thread, or at least the portion of it that I managed to read, as “Dr.” Farrell’s – he has a PhD in political science –answer to the ass question.
![DoloresCruz1982 86 points 22 hours ago (174|87) Why is a woman's butt on the cover of a book about problems faced by males in our society? permalink save report give gold reply [–]warrenfarrell [S] 2 points 20 hours ago (184|182) i assume you're referring to the profile of a woman's rear on the new ebook edition of The Myth of Male Power. first, that was my choice--i don't want to put that off on the publisher! i chose that to illustrate that the heterosexual man's attraction to the naked body of a beautiful woman takes the power out of our upper brain and transports it into our lower brain. every heterosexual male knows this. and the sooner men confront the powerlessness of being a prisoner to this instinct, we may earn less money to pay for women's drinks, dinners and diamonds, but we'll have more control over our lives, and therefor more real power. it's in women's interests for me to confront this. many heterosexual women feel imprisoned by men's inability to be attracted to women who are more beautiful internally even if their rear is not perfect.](https://i0.wp.com/www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/warrenbutt.png?resize=528%2C398&ssl=1)
That’s right. Warren Farrell literally believes that heterosexual men are powerless in the face of SEXY FEMALE BUTTS. They are BUTT HYPNOTIZED by women’s shapely buttocks, virtual prisoners to the power of DAT ASS.
Not only that, but they are slaves as well, forced to earn more money than women so that they can “pay for women’s drinks, dinners and diamonds.” Who knew that the wage gap was caused by the ass crack?
We like big butts, and we cannot lie. But that way tyranny, I espy.
Only if men can free themselves from the TYRANNY OF THE BUTT they can “have more control over [their] lives, and therefor [sic] more real power.”
But who will write the new Declaration of Independence from the tyranny of Queen Ass?
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for horny dudes to get rid of the boners which those ladies have caused with their smokin hot dumpers and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the babies who have got back requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation, and that is, ladies we can’t think straight if we’re looking at DAT ASS all the time.
Oh, but “Dr.” Farrell is worried about the ladies, too. I mean, he said so:
it’s in women’s interests for me to confront this. many heterosexual women feel imprisoned by men’s inability to be attracted to women who are more beautiful internally even if their rear is not perfect.
Yes, you’re beautiful on the inside to m….holy crap did you see the ass on HER!?
Now, this isn’t entirely new. As I’ve noted before, Farrell makes a version of this argument in his book, talking about secretaries manipulating their bosses with their “miniskirt power, cleavage power, and flirtation power,” [p. 21] describing “female beauty” as “the world’s most potent drug,” [p. 85], and arguing that “many men feel ‘under the influence’ the moment they see a beautiful woman.” [p. 320]
But these, er, arguments weren’t the central focus of his rambling treatise. Now, at the age of 70, by not only putting a naked ass on the cover of his book, but also by defending it in such ludicrously overblown terms, he’s decided to put this unsolicited update from his penis at the center of his argument about the alleged powerlessness of men.
Yep, the closest thing that the Men’s Rights movement has to an intellectual heavyweight seems to think that the most pressing issue facing men today is how sad and mad and confused they feel because they can’t immediately have sex with every hot piece of ass that walks by (and, presumably, the women attached to these asses).
It’s really hard to find a better symbol of the sexual entitlement – and sexual resentment – that lies at the heart of the Men’s Rights movement than this.
Oh, and by the way, my new book is still available for purchase. So far I have sold no copies. Which might have something to do with the $1000 price tag, and also the fact that I haven’t actually written it. But you’ve got to admit the cover is pretty good.
In case you needed a clearer explanation of the power of women’s bodacious hineys, one Redditor by the name of Doldenberg has scienced things up for us and provided us all this useful graph. First, his brief explanation:
Being a brave Alpha from TRP, I have found the solution to the evident misandrist oppression of men by cute butt owners meaning owners of cute butts, not cute owners of butts, or butt owners of cute, or…, that is, ranking butts on an objective BMV (butt market value) scale. I’ve made the data up in my head, but it seems plausible. According to this data, the butt loses BMV when having sat on to many objects, while it’s cuteness only works as a limiting factor. I have made a handy graph[1] with supporting data and sources to explain my theory.
Honestly, my biggest problem with Warren Farrell’s point about women’s behinds is that it is intended to tell women “You need to be grateful to us straight men because we struggle to not be overpowered by the sight of your butts.” That is undeniably a misogynistic rape culture narrative because it supports the notion that a man’s libido is difficult if not impossible to control and that women should just expect to be sexually abused and harassed by men. The notion that women oppress straight men with their shapely behinds is amusing and also indicative of misogyny, but it’s just one part of Farrell’s reprehensible claim, IMO.
I hoped you were being humourous here because the idea that male sexuality is a handicap? Seriously?
What he is saying with this & his book title is that it is a myth that women as a class are oppressed by men as a class. That actually women have the power in this dynamic because men desire women’s bodies. Thus (het) men’s sexual desires cancel out every other form of power (financial, political, societal) because a shapely butt distracts the man. That powerful men occasionally allowing a woman some morsel of power because they desire her means that women hold all the power.
And the MRAs lap up this idiocy.
LBT, just finished reading your “love letters…” and… Just ALL THE CYBERHUGS. I’m so sorry for you.
“I hoped you were being humourous here because the idea that male sexuality is a handicap? Seriously?”
Humorous? Not that I know of. It’s not an idea I came up with if that’s what you mean?
Thanks, @Deor, good to know you’re a troll rather than a friendly de-lurker.
He also studiously neglects to mention that women’s sexuality — or more plainly, their SEX — is used against women all the time. The male boss has all the power to hire and fire, so of course he’s going to put a pretty receptionist in the front lobby, and have a sexy secretary whom he’s constantly pressuring to “put out”, or be fired — her “choice”. He’s not going to hire a male receptionist or personal secretary (even though he could), much less a plain, unsexy woman whose pants he’s not going to even want to get into, no matter how good she is at the actual job. That’s the reality of male power, but he pretends that it’s women who have all the power simply because of Dat Ass.
Meanwhile, female bosses are fewer and further between, by far. And they don’t hire or fire based on sex and looks, when they have that power at all. The number of cases of male employees sexually harassed, quid pro quo, by women in charge, is vanishingly small.
And yet, Farrell wants us to believe that women hold all the “real” power. To do so, of course, presupposes that we must ignore where the real power actually resides…and it’s not in some shapely lady’s butt.
Deor, if you’re our latest troll, try to be entertaining while you’re here. Seriously, how is it possible for each new troll to get more and more boring when they’re not being downright creepy or offensive?
“Thanks, @Deor, good to know you’re a troll rather than a friendly de-lurker.”
Why? By the looks of it, Warren Farrel was making that assertion before I said anything about it. And I was for the most part disagreeing with him, as he seems to think it renders men of any autonomy. His attitude seems more troll-like to me…
he was making the assumption that men are powerless b/c some women are attractive. but it’s a faulty assumption. any “power” you get from someone finding you attractive is granted by them and can be taken away at any time. the power to be objectified isn’t real power.
and yup, male sexuality is definitely not a handicap. the only thing that’s a handicap is… an actual disability 😉
“any “power” you get from someone finding you attractive is granted by them and can be taken away at any time”
Exactly. That’s one of the reasons I disagree with Warren’s view on this.
@Deor, you know that this isn’t a competition for you to be more of a troll than WTF, right?
That would be yes and yes. Take a look at the rest of the comment thread.
Oh wait sorry, I forgot about this quote. >>secretaries manipulating their bosses with their “miniskirt power, cleavage power, and flirtation power,”<<
Ok well this does look like blaming women so I'll stand corrected.
RE: Dvarghundspossen
LBT, just finished reading your “love letters…” and… Just ALL THE CYBERHUGS. I’m so sorry for you.
It’s okay. It happened a long time ago, and I’m safe and with loving people now.
Yup. Be jobless or be raped. That’s such power, that is.
@Deor, you might want to remember that WTF is also a rape apologist and has said that women who see being fucked by their fathers as negative are just saying that ‘cos society tells them to. He’s an out-and-out misogynist and pedophilia apologist; he just hides it under mealy-mouthed phrasing.
Yes I do remember that (about the daughter-father comments, ick). I don’t really feel like defending him now. I just got caught up in that quote and probably derailed the comment thread needlessly. Sorry about that.
(By the way I just worked out WTF stands for his initials. I didn’t know his middle name. I thought you were referring to a prior commenter you had a run-in with).
No worries, Deor. 🙂
Heheh the “WTF” works well for W F Price of the Spearhead, too.
That’s Dr. WTF to you!
That’s Dr. WTF, PhD to you.
Hey there, Dr WTF, PhD, are you opressed by men in yoga pants too? Is this man making butt fraud?
Wow! David, you are so wise! I had no idea that ad hominem fallacies are now valid forms of argument.
Hey, you know what, I think your overwhelming, awe inducing intellect is surely going to waste on silly shit like logic. I mean, when I read the sentence “…the heterosexual man’s attraction to the naked female body…” I stupidly thought it meant male sexual attraction to women. It really took that luminous star of a brain of yours to connect that missing piece of the picture of a woman’s butt on the cover. You know, I read The Myth of Male power, and I never took notice of the cover.
I think it’s the patriarchy that made me miss the picture on the cover. I mean, “don’t judge a book by its cover” is a clearly oppressive patriarchal structure that I, get this, SYSTEMATICALLY, apply! Holy fuck! You just blew my mind David!
Serious, David, I’m telling you, you need to take the next several years off from work that is so clearly beneath you and go write the follow up to Plato’s Republic. I mean, The Republic is subtitled “On Justice”, and you, as a Social Justice Warrior, and an intellect rivaling that of any man born, surely must have a better account than that “father of western thought” asshole Socrates!
So please David, don’t say no! Stop writing these articles, and go write The Republic II: On Social Justice.
With all my love,
Your greatest fan
So what your saying, Roger, is that men are oppressed by women’s butts and that the sight of a woman’s butt can hypnotize men and force them to do things they normally wouldn’t?
How misandrist of you.
Roger provides another fine example of “if you’re sarcastic and also stupid, it just ends up confusing.”
I think he’s saying “if you put a picture of a hot female ass on something marketed to straight men, that has nothing to do with the fact that straight men are attracted to hot female asses?”
Ha ha, David should write the follow up to Plato’s Republic. Good one, Roger. You really know how to take down these Social Justice Warriors, who of course hate Socrates because they don’t love the “father of Western thought” like reactionary MRAs do.
What a burn, fucking classic stuff.