So in my email inbox yesterday, alongside a nagging reminder from my dentist to schedule a checkup and my latest marching orders from the Gynocrat Central Committee, I noticed an email from an unknown correspondent with the intriguing subject line “The Holy War against Feminism.”
Clicking on it, I found an angry little manifesto from someone calling himself Mortago Black. It started off with a bold all-caps claim:
THE MENS REIGHTS REVOLUTION IS AT HAND.
The revolution will not be spellchecked.
But apparently, if Mr. Black has any say over things, it will be “liked” on Facebook: our manifesto-writer followed his bold headline with a link to a Facebook page – which, by the time I got around to looking at his email, had been taken down, probably because it contained stuff like, well, the rest of his manifesto.
Mr. Black continued:
The dawn of men’s rights revolution is fast approaching. We are rising to destroy the evil of modern day feminism. The lies, the bigotry, and the hatred of feminism must be erased from the surface of our earth.
We are sworn to our lives to wage a holy war of men’s rights against feminism.
Huh. You know, before starting this blog, I probably would have dismissed something like this as obvious trollery. But too many Men’s Rightsers talk exactly like this for me to assume it’s not for real. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be a troll, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if it was 100% real.
You will see my profile picture is the flag of the men’s rights revolution.
Wait, they have a flag now?
The 3 colors represent the heart and soul of our holy struggle:
You haven’t even specified what the “evil of modern-day feminism” consists of, and you’ve already moved on to the flag-describing stage?
Black: The black represents the darkness that is the evil of feminism. The shadow the oppression of feminist bigotry casts over the land, and the blackening of hearts against that which is good and just.
Ok, black = evil. No points for originality here.
Blue: The blue representatives man as society expects him to be, the role we have written for us, the character society forces us to play.
So, the Blue Pill? The Blue Pill is bad, right? Why are you giving 2/3 of the real estate on your flag to things you don’t like?
Red: The red represents the blood shed by fathers, husbands and sons of the past. It reminds us of the struggle and sacrifice we must be willing to make to destroy feminism.
Oy. Now I’m seeing why Facebook tried to nip your little revolution in the bud.
We shall cast this flag over the United States, and one day, over the world. We shall unshackle ourselves from the chains of feminist hate. We shall cleanse the world of this cancer, of this filth, of this plague, of this DISEASE that is feminism. We shall DESTROY those who seek to hurt us simply by virtue of birth. We shall ERADICATE the hatred and enemies of men.
Dude, hate to break it to you, but when you start talking about “cleansing the world” of the “disease” that is your enemy, you don’t sound much like Thomas Jefferson. You sound a lot more like the guy who wrote this:
[T]he discovery of the Jewish virus is one of the greatest revolutions that has taken place in the world. The battle in which we are engaged today is of the same sort as the battle waged, during the last century, by Pasteur and Koch. How many diseases have their origin in the Jewish virus! … We shall regain our health only be eliminating the Jew.
Yes, it was indeed Hitler who wrote that. Yes, I just compared you to Hitler. But you can’t call Godwin on me because you are LITERALLY USING A FASCIST TROPE.
If you find yourself, consciously or unconsciously, spouting rhetoric that sounds like you plagiarized it from Mein Kampf, I think you might just have to consider the possibility that, well, you might be the baddies.
Also, would it kill you to proofread your hate manifestos before you send them out?
EDIT: Added a bit more on the question of whether or not this is real or a troll, since I can’t tell.
And in a few years when people say “whatever happened to the mens rights revolution?” A load of mra’s will just start raging about how it was that feminists job to start it.
Typo in my last comment,should be:
the feminists job to start it.
Well, they would have had a better flag if their bloody “movement” didn’t exclude loads of creative people who could construct a good flag.
Given their goings on about how men do all the work, I would have thought their flag should include a hammer and sickle as well.
The feminist flag needs this cat on it: http://www.neatorama.com/2014/07/02/Demon-Cat-has-Fabulous-Ear-Hair/#!7Sdo1
I can knit or crochet feminist buntings if we want those.
Purple. Purple represents the prose that will be spilled in the coming revolution.
Not to mention the colour of the poodles!
@magnesium:
Well, not initially XD but definitely now!
Lolz, pallygirl. You’re right about MRAs going on how mens create everything and the world would crumble without them. If they, en masse, are so literally constructive, why can’t the MRA contingent of them grab a hammer and some nails and build some men’s shelters? We know from Paul Elam’s fundraising efforts that they’re able to pool their monetary resources easily enough. Where does the rubber meet the road in terms of actually helping men?
*crickets*
Yes. Yes it did.
Our side also has the catchy songs:
Why is it a holy war though? Which religion are they supposed to be representing?
Are they admitting they’re a cult now?
Also, hi guys! I’m finally delurking x3
bleah, Lily Allen ain’t writing the anthems for MY feminism. (intersectional or bullshit)
(still pretty cranky about the H.O.H. video and ensuing reaction to reactions)
@Lea
These video game zealots bring such vehemence and self-righteousness to arguments that make absolutely no sense to me. Mortago Black in the OP doesn’t make a good argument for his anti-feminism and likely has no idea what feminism actually is, but “feminism is bad” is something I’ve heard before.
Sarkeeeeeeeesian Derangement Syndrome doesn’t even have that. Are they arguing games aren’t sexist, that games are sexist and that’s not a bad thing, that games are above criticism, that the gaming industry is endangered by criticism, that women shouldn’t make games, it doesn’t matter if women makes games, that girls are icky? I can’t tell because they haven’t moved past inchoate rage.
http://www.reddit.com/r/againstmensrights/comments/28zpe4/a_voice_for_men_forums_anita_sarkeesian/
This post has a bunch of choice posts from AVfM of alleged gamers enraged over Sarkeesian “attack” on their beloved “fandom”.
What the hell is that about? I’ve played video games since the late 1970s. I really hadn’t playing anything in the last five years for a variety of reasons, but I’ve owned over a dozen gaming systems. There have been mistakes on my part, I’m looking at you 3DO and Virtual Boy, and emotional ups and downs, but no battles or physical injury.
Black, blue and red… Ick! They sound like the worst combination of flag colours that I’ve ever hear. How were they arranged? Like, horizontal or vertical? Or were they in zigzags or something? The shape of LIGHTNING – all the better to SMASH the, er, gynocracy. At any rate, they’ve got nothing on the old green, white and violet. (“Give Women Votes!”)
Also, “The revolution will not be spellchecked.” has got to be the best Gil Scott-Heron reference I’ve ever heard.
Thanks for this! =]
@brooked: I have no idea what is up with all that male gamer hate. It would be like me hating on males who have returned to knitting and crochet, because I wear my battle wound of taking a few years to learn to do crochet with pride.
I remember the Gamer Console War. We went off as boys, and came home as dudebros.
Seriously, I would love to know what that wowbagger considers his ‘battle wound’, as long as I don’t have to interact with him to find out.
Did the winning side in the Gamer Console War get fedoras?
One of my favorite responses to the whole Anita Sarkeesian Derangement Syndrome (nice one brooked)
Still laughing…I am terrified by Captain Dark Helmet and his band of Merry Minions. It must be the flag that did it.
One more time with feelings: FAIL
Ah…clipped my whole paragraph before the video somehow.
The thing that really amazed me about the frenzy to destroy Anita Sarkeesian was that she states multiple times that she is not interested in banning or censoring games, that she plays games which have violent & deeply sexist content but since popular culture doesn’t exist in a vacuum, understanding what those tropes are, why they are there, and what enjoyment is derived from them is important.
That and video game developers being pushed towards more inclusive content is a GOOD thing, not a scary attempt by women to take over.
The defensiveness in some of the attacks and the straight up violent misogyny in others was very telling. Similar to the way some people react when their privilege is pointed out to them, refusing to believe it exists in the first place while proving that it does by acting terrified it will be taken away.
On gaming:
The video game industry is why I found this blog. I was lower-management at a video game retailer. I have played games for my whole life, so I thought it would be a great fit.
Ha ha. Ha ha ha.
I had a stalker. I got hit on daily. I had my validity as a human questioned constantly. I got called every derogatory anti-female name you could ever think of. I often had to work alone (in a high crime area, after multiple thefts, one of which was at gun point, though thankfully I was not on duty at the time) despite voicing very valid concerns for my safety.
I no longer play video games.
While I do really appreciate that people are starting to question the representation of women in the end-result of the game industry, it goes so, so much deeper than that. The whole culture is sick.
Lea: I thought of the Leather Pride flag as soon as I read about that flag too! As in,
“How dare that sexist asshat try to steal our flag, without even using the cute heart! We pervs had those colours first! Get your own damn misogynist colours!”
I think I’m going to post a pic on FetLife, with choice bits of the manifesto. Especially in the groups run by Dominant women. 😉
I also can’t help but think of a number of lesbian bikers in my aquaintance who would be very offended at his appropriation of “our” colours for his icky purposes, and how he would react if confronted by the lot of them. Methinks he will need some new trousers, should he ever meet any of us.
At the American Library Association conference this past weekend, there was a screening of this documentary about women video gamers with a discussion with the filmmaker.
Obviously a lot of you would probably find it of interest: http://www.gtfothemovie.com/about.html
Actually, I know some wonderful Leathermen who would not take kindly to this bullshit either. I doubt he’d enjoy a visit from them, either.
After all, he doesn’t seem like the type who would enjoy a three hour lecture on respect and consent, given by a bear in assless chaps…