You’ll all be glad to hear that Paul Elam has returned to normal. Well, normal for him.
After several days of doing his best impression of someone who isn’t a rage-filled attention misogynist, he’s back to his old woman-bashing self. You’ll also be happy to learn that he’s found a brand new woman to hate: Time reporter Jessica Roy, who is apparently quite stinky.
I’ve heard rumors that most females are stinky, actually.
Roy, who is covering the conference for Time, hasn’t even published her account yet. Her crimes so far? She tweeted some appalling quotes from some of the talks at the conference and made clear that she was not having a good time amongst the assembled assholes human rights activists. A selection:
https://twitter.com/JessicaKRoy/status/482600517839777792
https://twitter.com/JessicaKRoy/status/482908761338572800
https://twitter.com/JessicaKRoy/status/483254279348555776
https://twitter.com/JessicaKRoy/status/482657796916146176
Oh, and she tweeted a photo showing the backs of a bunch of dudes’ heads at the conference:
As a result of these dastardly crimes against manhumanity, Elam has declared Roy to be:
- a “low rent hack”
- “a SWJ in all her hateful glory”
- “a liar and a bigot [who]will be exposed”
- a practitioner of “journalistic scumtardery”
Elam also boasts that whatever she writes about the conference — like all the negative coverage his conference has and will be getting from what he calls the “shallow, clueless and uniformed ideological hacks” of the mainstream media — will drive “more people away from places like TIME and into palaces [sic] like AVFM.” He also thanks Roy “for the donations that will hit AVFM” from new people recruited to the cause by her writings.
It’s rather revealing that he seems to think the true success of AVFM’s “activism” is measured not by what he and his followers are able to do for men and boys — but by how much money he can pull in. An unknown percentage of which goes directly to him.
Interesting that Adam Serwer, who’s already published a snarky piece about the conference for MSNBC, has not gotten similar treatment. Nor have any of the other male journalists who’ve written critically about the conference.
Wonder why that could be?
Anyway, here’s some more of the press coverage of the conference:
First International Conference on Men’s Issues: Day 2, by Arthur Goldwag, Hatewatch
Goldwag continues his coverage, concluding that
[T]he weekend wasn’t an unalloyed hate fest, though there was plenty of rancor, contempt, defensiveness, and anti-feminism on display. Some of the female speakers were the least restrained in that respect, especially on the contentious issues of domestic violence and sexual coercion and modern women’s infuriating desire to determine their own destinies. Many of the speakers signaled that they were chafing a little under Paul Elam’s no trash-talking rule.
It will be interesting to see how much bridge-building A Voice for Men engages in from here on out … .
Well, I think we already have an answer to this question.
Neavling, no fan of MRAs, summed up what he saw as the central message of the conference:
The “vast majority” of college women lie about being raped. Men are violent because of their mothers. Feminists are plotting to dominate men.
One thing was ringingly clear among attendees at the first-annual International Conference on Men’s Issues in St. Clair Shores this weekend: Women are becoming an increasing threat and something must be done to stop them.
In addition to highlighting some of the low points of the conference, Neavling also puts the conference in a larger perspective by pointing out some of the more noxious writings of Elam and of the conference’s PR genius Janet Bloomfield.
Drawing heavily on Adam Serwer’s account of the conference, Tbobb concludes:
Yup, the first International Conference on Men’s Issues rolled into Veterans of Foreign Wars Bruce Post 1146 in St. Clair, Michigan, this weekend and over ONE HUNDRED attendees, from all walks of life — if by ‘all walks of life’ you mean: ‘middle-aged divorced white guys with anger management issues’ — came together in brotherhood to address the source of all of the pain and suffering and existential angst that afflicts MANkind.
Resolved: Women are to blame.
Oh, don’t worry; the conference got some positive press as well. From the husband of one of AVFM’s press conference panelists:
A kinder, gentler turn to the gender wars? by Glenn Harlan Reynolds, USA Today
Reynolds — the husband of sometime AVFM contributor “Dr. Helen,” whose bizarrely chipper reckoning of the conference we looked at yesterday — offered up a surreal account of the conference as a kind of cross-gender-love fest:
[T]he thing that struck me most about the gathering was the palpable lack of gender tension. Men and women at this conference seemed to be on the same page, and the same team, in a way that seems almost surprising in these gender-divided times. Maybe that’s because gender-talk, long a female domain, is also now about men. … As Farrell concluded in a Friday night dinner speech, the goal is “not a men’s movement, not a women’s movement, but a gender liberation movement.”
With men and women both talking and listening, it gave me some hope that perhaps we’ll see something new, and better, in the politics of gender.
Dude, you might want to read that post by Elam before you go all kumbaya on us.
Meanwhile, Sworebytheprecious reports that she was able to infiltrate a post-conference gathering of AVFMers in a hotel lobby and … actually talk to them for some time. At least until Dean Esmay showed up, recognized her, and got her tossed out.
i got the restaurant where they were celebrating and i even found myself sharing a dessert with a very nice redheaded gentleman who works for A Voice for Men, although i have not discovered in what capacity. i also found my way to the hotel where Elam and the inner circle were staying. at about midnight, i spent about two and a half hours talking with GirlWritesWhat, [Barbara] Kay, some guys i don’t know off the top of my head, and some other members. …
i was terrified. it never once stopped my commitment. i went as far as i could.
at about 2 30 am i was pulled away from a very enlightening conversation with Barbara Kay by hotel security and asked to leave. i was in the lobby of the [will add when convention is over]. to my knowledge i had done nothing illegal or caused any disruptions; i doubt my presence would have been welcome with the AVfM staff for long had i posed any real risk. i even allowed one man to take multiple pictures of me and i will describe that interaction in detail later. hotel security was very apologetic with me in any case. i believe Esmay was the instigator because he had been liaison between the table and the front desk. before i left, Esmay and Straughn let everyone know who i was and said “i was part of a hate group” and a journalist who worked for Futrelle. i denied these things, because i do not work for Futrelle. …
the security guard pressed. i left the hotel without incident and waited for my ride.
There’s a lot more to her post, and Swore promises that many more details will be forthcoming. She’s also going to be staying in Detroit for another week to talk to and report about activists there, and NEEDS MORE MONEY to cover her expenses (though not $25,000). Her gofundme is here.
And no, she doesn’t work for me, or with me. I gave her gofundme a signal boost at one point, and have exchanged some messages with her; that’s the extent of my connection with her. I only found out about her late-night confab when she Tweeted me about it today.
In the Men’s Rights subreddit, they’re worried that she’s going to falsely accuse some AVFMer of rape.
EDIT: Rewrote the big about Swore staying in Detroit because she’s still in need of cash to pay her expenses.
Elam is back into frothing rage mode, I see.
had a feeling they’d end up attacking her :/
“Practitioners of Journalistic Scumtardery” is my new thrash metal band name. I called it!
*fills house with Jessica Roy-scented candles*
…Their movement is literally called the “men’s rights movement.”
Has Elam ever spoke or written about a non feMRA woman without name calling? Ever?
My goodness, when Elam took to the youtube comments on the press conference to comment on how he had handed out 29 press passes he seemed so proud and happy that Time had sent a reporter. Now the AVfM crew are calling her a yellow journalist and denigrating her previous writing. How quickly the bloom fades from the rose.
Is it just me, or does the dude nearest the camera look like he’s falling asleep?
Also, it is profoundly funny to me that MRAs have apparently decided that Dave Futrelle is an Octopus-style archvillain, complete with a spy network. Becaause apparently the main reason they haven’t won over the public is the machinations of a mid-level blogger…
I’ve only been following these misogynist movements (I absolutely refuse to call them a ‘rights’ movement) for only a month or so now. I find it interesting that some of the membership ‘chafed’ under the no trashing-talking rule. What I saw of the conference’s speakers and audience and twitter feed wasn’t trash talk? Holy Frick. Wowzers. /dumbfounded.
This whole thing is wet and wild and amazing. I’m trying to imagine what the MRA reaction would be to a feminist conference where a man who was invited to speak described his fellow men as herd animals, and what it would be if the organizer were a woman who had declared that men who get raped were freaking begging for it, and all I can come up with is an image of sheer vitriol. Imagine how often terms like “hate group,” let alone “mangina” or “radfem” would be used. Nor would the anger be particularly ill-directed, if the MRA vision of the world were reality. But the MRAs are building themselves in the model of their imagined oppressors and see nothing wrong with doing so.
It really goes to show how small and irrelevant the Human Men’s Human Rights Movement is. Any PR representative to a reputable feminist or otherwise professional conference who acted like Janet Bloomfield has would be booted out of the position summarily and would be resigned to the fringes. With the HMHRM, it’s literally all fringe. That MRAs can’t step outside their own perspective to see how bad this all is—how bad it looks and is—and instead see it as a model of harmony tells you everything about where they’re going and what real influence they’ll have in the near- and middle-future.
whore’s glory, it seems!
Young-ish, blonde-ish woman who isn’t offering them praise and blowjobs? No wonder they’re angry. Jessica Roy is a threat to the very future of Western civilization.
I am kind of curious what Kay had to say.
I can’t wait for Jessica Roy’s article on the conference. But I wonder if the amount of publicity the MRM would be given is worth it.
I was hoping it was me.
I must work harder at mocking them!
Meanwhile, what is “gender tension” anyway?
I Googled the term and got back the following results.
I found it mentioned in a sexist blog:
Here is one gem from it:
I also found this:
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/men-boys2003/EP11-Lewis.pdf
Accoring to this paper, “gender tension” has more to do with men feeling that the workplace is their sphere, women being rightfully worried about workplace harassment
Blockquote>Though some men would stop short of sexual battery, they see no harm in
engaging in sexual banter in the workplace or creating an uncomfortable environment for
women, lesbians and gay men
Um…that sound uncannily like the MRM. So, I don’t know how they felt that area was free of gender tension unless by that they mean to say that all the women in attendance were well heeled and thus, nonthreatening.
They made a real tactical error not letting DarkHorse Swore in. She is familiar with the MRA viewpoints and issues and would have done her best to give them a fair hearing. Their fear of her is comical; did they really think the mainstream reporters would be bamboozled?
I look forward to hearing more from you, DarkHorse.
Sorry, I borked the first blockquote.
When I read “will be exposed”, I thought “are they going to try doxing her?” That seems like it would be monumentally, audaciously stupid on their part. Time Magazine is still a major publication, has very influential contacts within the government, and A Voice for Men has a history of legal shadiness. The day they start a feud with Time Magazine would be the day the IRS and/or FBI opens up an investigation.
Damn, if it didn’t mean that a woman was doxxed or otherwise harassed first, I would LOVE to see that happen.
At least we know it won’t be a whitewash (assuming the editors don’t interfere). I’m also looking forward to seeing what Vice.com publishes. They are hostile to the MRM.
Here’s some fiction about Swore written by a commenter:
How would someone look when they’re about dox you?
She was representing someone else’s blog?
These people create the strangest fictions in their warped little minds.
Wouldn’t a reporter for a national mag like TIME be pretty low-hanging fruit for doxxing? In sorta related questions, who is Laurelai (net persona, not real person even if you know it) and why are they so scared of her?
Vice was there? ooh, another upcoming article for them to cry about! (Rawstory was appropriately harsh)
I like certain parts of Reddit, especially metasubs, and the MRs seem to be constantly confused by why people dislike them.
Should we tweet puppy pictures and videos at Jessica Roy?
What the heck is a SWJ? I’m familiar with SJWs but not this new acronym. Is it to confuse the menz into falling for our dastardly plans to take over the world and institute the matriarchy?