Jessica Roy, a reporter for Time magazine covering A Voice for Men’s recent :”Men’s Issues” conference in Detroit, found herself the target of a vitriolic tirade from AVFM maximum leader Paul Elam before she even sat down to write her account of her time amongst the MRAs.
Elam, evidently incensed about a handful of sarcastic remarks that Roy tweeted during the conference, denounced her as, among other things, a “hack,” “a liar and bigot” and a practitioner of “journalistic scumtardery,” whatever that is. Commenters on A Voice for Men happily joined in the hate, denouncing her as an “airhead,” a “disgrace and a liar,” “lil’ miss hair-o’or-her-eyes,” and a “little asshole [who] will look like a right nazi in five-to-ten years time.” Amazingly, no one pulled out the c-word. Evidently AVFMers are still on their best behavior.
Roy’s “What I Learned as a Woman at a Men’s Rights Conference” appeared on Time.com on Wednesday. Far from the hack job Elam and pals were predicting, her piece turned out to be a long, thoughtful and nuanced account that, while skeptical of AVFM and its brand of hateful nonsense, displayed considerable sympathy for some of the troubled men she met at the conference, men who could benefit from a movement that truly tried to offer solutions for men in difficulty instead of encouraging them to scapegoat feminists and women.
Reflecting on her discussions with several conference attendees, Roy wrote,
When you talk to someone like 68-year-old Steve DeLuca, the legitimate need to remedy some of the issues raised by men’s rights activists becomes more evident. A Vietnam veteran who was injured in combat, DeLuca spoke movingly to me about the two brothers he lost to suicide, and the unfathomable toll the high suicide rate among men can take. There are men out there, like DeLuca and [rape survivor] Brendan Rex, who have a real stake in the movement’s success. The paranoia and vitriol of its leaders can’t possibly do anything for them.
So how did AVFM fans respond to this article? By defending their vitriol. On Time.com, several commenters denounced Roy as “bigot” and a “fascist,” and suggested that their “righteous anger” was the only appropriate response to the evils of feminism.
Never mind that the quote Markham was responding to came from a paragraph in which Roy wrote with sympathy about the suffering of male Veterans and rape survivors.
Meanwhile, an anonymous commenter received upvotes for this, er, nuanced analysis:
In a followup comment, “Guest” doubled-down, suggesting that Roy was a “stinky twit” and a “human monkey.”
Roy made clear that she learned a good deal at the conference. The defenders of AVFM’s vitriol seem to have learned nothing.
NOTE: Picture of monkey party borrowed from here.
LBT — I only asked because any study claiming 100% anything is only good for TP or lining birdcages. The only times 100% anything can be scientifically valid is if it’s tautological.
And as for who commits most CSA — 90% of abusers are male ( http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/factsheet/pdf/CSA-FS20.pdf page 8)
LBT:
I second this idea!
Yeah, he did the “so what you’re saying is (makes shit up)” thing last time too.
“In America the odds of being murdered is greatest during the first year of life than at any other time.”
http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/htus8008.pdf — page four, try again
I do and don’t want to know what these alleged English feminists are up to. I know we will never get a citation, so I guess I’ll just have to wonder.
PS see page 7, where 2/3rds of those who killed kids under age 5 were men.
RE: rev
Yes I know, and readily available birth control. Doesn’t seem to be working.
HAHAHAHA you don’t know shit. My birth control cost as much as my month’s rent at the time, and also required an anal exam before I could get it. But yeah, readily available, sure buddy.
Look at the meth-head that dumped her six or seven newborns in the garage?
…all at the same time? Dude, sextuplets are kind of unusual. Also, seeing as you can’t even remember how many babies she has, I’m going to assume you’re making shit up.
Are you like those English feminists that want child murder legal for the first year,
Yes. Yes, I’m exactly like those feminists. I’m going to come and bake all the most adorable babies into a delicious cake, frosted with the blood of unicorns. And I’ll do it entirely to make men look bad, because since I’m a man, feminism will know I am against them. I am being totally earnest and not sarcastic at all. I promise. Pinky swear.
So, hellkell, cassandrakitty, you got any unicorn blood? I’d rather have the Goddess-powered kind, but the stuff costs a load, so…
I’m all out, sorry. It’s the virginity requirement, you see.
From the Fourth National incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect from the US Department of Health and Human Services (pages 14-15):
You will NOT be assaulting any of the unicorns in my stable!
Sparky (and LBT) — the other thing with neglect, and why I’m not surprised it’s where women do outnumber men, is that the non-abusive causes are almost certainly more common among single mothers. Can’t afford medical care, a well stocked pantry, etc? Well, who makes up the largest percent of people in poverty? (Last I checked it was *drum roll* CHILDREN!)
It’s almost like these things intersect or something…
And failing dismally at it, just as you’re failing dismally now.
Face it, dude: Infanticide is largely committed by males. And abortion isn’t infanticide. In fact it’s not even murder, as murder requires malice as well as forethought, and I have yet to see a woman terminate a pregnancy out of spite for a fetus.
But >yawwwwn< please, mansplain some more to us until the mods get tired and abort your presence here.
(And yes, that last bit WAS sarcasm.)
Oh Argenti, I love your stats. Your delicious facts. Oh, give them to me with unicorn blood, sanctified by the mother goddess! That is the best kind! Who would ever have thought that our lovely rev would’ve been lying?
RE: hellkell
I do and don’t want to know what these alleged English feminists are up to.
Terrible, terrible things!
It takes a special sort of misogynistic assbag to think that neglect is worse than sexual abuse just because women are the ones doing it.
LBT: all out of unicorn blood, sorry. I do have some male tears, would those work?
I love Hot Fuzz. I totally have a crush on Simon Pegg.
Remember when I imaginary friendzoned Simon Pegg? Those were the glory days of misandry.
(Still want to go drinking with him and Frost – just imagine the fights you’d have over the jukebox.)
Yes, I do remember that, more Pegg for me. See misters, he’s not even standard hot!
A pub night with those two would destroy my liver, but it’d be worth it.
RE: hellkell
LBT: all out of unicorn blood, sorry. I do have some male tears, would those work?
*sigh* Damn unicorns, being so endangered. I suppose if I have to, I can work up a substitution, if anyone else could lend me a condom filled with semen and hot sauce. (I know one of you must have one!)
I admit, Pegg impressed me. Going into Hot Fuzz, I really doubted I could believe him as someone like Nicholas Angel, but he really sold his performance!
LBT: I have frozen, not fresh. That OK?
LBT — I will give you stats and facts all you want, but you still can’t have the blood of any of my unicorns!
We just watched World’s End recently. Highly recommended, and the Sisters of Mercy t-shirt was a perfect touch (for people of our generation who’re able to laugh at themselves).
RE: hellkell
LBT: I have frozen, not fresh. That OK?
*sigh* This is going to be an AWFUL babycake. Oh well, I’ll just have to make the frosting SUPER-glittery then.
(Did we succeed? Did stats and babycakes drive the pain in the ass away?)
Eh, I’m sure he’s back off to home base to tell them about how all the eevill feminists agreed with the feminists in England (ie, had no idea what he was on about).