If the Men’s Rights movement is looking for a celebrity endorser, I think I’ve found just the guy for them: the mixed martial arts fighter, and erstwhile porn actor, War Machine, currently sitting in jail on charges of brutally beating and attempting to kill his ex-girlfriend, porn star Christy Mack.
Men’s Rights activists should be able to look past these criminal charges; after all, as they remind us all the time, women are forever falsely accusing innocent men of all sorts of terrible things.
And in so many ways War Machine is perfect for them. An MMA fighter, he’s already only one letter away from being an MRA. A misogynistic asshole with rage issues, he’ll have no trouble fitting in with the Men’s Rights crowd. And, especialy important for a movement that has a lot of trouble getting any good PR, he’s a bit more comfortable on camera than the Paul Elams and Dean Esmays of the world, with experience on television (on the reality show The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra), and in seven films (albeit pornographic ones).
Best of all: he’ll need no ideological education from what A Voice for Men likes to call Fuck Shit Up University. War Machine – real name Jonathan Koppenhaver – is already an outspoken proponent of many of the Men’s Rights Movement’s core beliefs.
Consider these selections from a little Men’s Rights manifesto War Machine wrote a few years ago during a previous stint behind bars, serving time for felony assault after two bloody bar fights. His rant, which a friend posted to the internet, would fit right in with the sort of stuff we’ve seen regularly posted on the Men’s Rights subreddit, or The Spearhead, or A Voice for Men. I’ve bolded some of the Men’s Rightsiest bits:
The oppression of MEN is worse than oppression of Jews in Nazi germany, worse than the slavery of Blacks in early America…
There has always been the oppressor and always the oppressed. Before, it was blatant … NOW the oppressor has learned to disguise his evil. You can see man, but you can not see MEN. How easy it is to oppress a minority that is invisible to the eye! How genius of the oppressor! And what a better target too! …
Men challenge injustice from Government, MEN fight for their Constitutional rights, that are slowly being taken away every year. …
And they don’t just oppress us by making more laws and taking away more freedom, they are far more clever than that! Ask yourself what your REAL dream was?? If you gave up on this dream, why? Because of the brainwashing of the Government, that’s why! They taught you to “play it safe.” They told us a responsible man has ONE wife, a house, good credit, good job, and kids. How are you supposed to chase your dreams while maintaining all of that!?
Men are supposed to take risks and be aggressive! What accomplishments have ever come of a man scared to risk it all!? None!? Where would the world be? Still ‘flat!’ Still ‘Earth at the center of the universe!’
If any of you have your Men’s Rights Bingo cards out, I’m guessing you might already be close to scoring a bingo. We’ve got a comparison to slavery that could have come straight from the pages of A Voice for Men, a marriage-is-death-to-male-dreams rant that could have been borrowed from any MGTOW forum, and an evo-psych-esque argument that men are the true risk-takers and the world’s real innovators.
And I don’t think War Machine would have much trouble with Paul Elam’s “Bash a Violent Bitch Month,” either.
[I]t’s Christmas day and I’m laying in my bunk wondering “Why in the hell do American men get married!?” … If your wife is being a bitch you can’t slap her, if your wife is yelling at you, God forbid you yell back … Next thing you know it will be illegal to fuck your wife! LMAO! Maybe then, MEN in this country will get the fucking hint and MOVE! This country forces you to be a bitch!
In another online posting, War Machine touched on another Men’s Rights hobbyhorse, the notion that the justice system is stacked against men:
[L]ook at the prisons, they are FULL of MEN, not women. Are men “evil” and women not? Or do the laws target and attempt to restrict NATURAL MEN’S BEHAVIOR? How many of the HEROES in American history would avoid prison if they lived today? Davey Crockett? Thomas Jefferson? David Bowie? General Grant & General Lee? Shit, George Washington. … Laws target MEN and men’s behavior. Women want to bitch and cry about their rights and equality… LMAO! MEN are the ones locked away like animals, while women run free!
Someone might have to explain to War Machine that David Bowie is not actually a famous American HERO but a famously androgynous British musician who once recorded an album called “Heroes.” (Mr. Machine may be thinking of James Bowie, a well-known 19th century American frontiersman and slave trader, and the guy the Bowie Knife is named after.)
But other than that, he seems ready to go.
There is, of course, that whole attempted murder charge to deal with.
It’s true the Men’s Rights Movement has had few problems in the past rallying behind men with histories of violence. But War Machine might be a harder sell as a Men’s Rights hero. His alleged attack on Mack left her with a cracked rib, a ruptured liver, numerous broken bones, missing teeth and her eyes swollen shut. (See here for photos of her injuries; obviously this link is NSFW and could be triggering.)
While Mr. Machine denies attacking Mack, he joked to a TV host last year that if she were to leave him “I would just kill her” and get a tattoo saying “Rest In Peace” above the tattoo of her name he has on his neck.
And several hours after allegedly trying to murder her, War Machine tweeted this lovely message about his ex:
https://twitter.com/WarMachine170/statuses/497663075831787521
War Machine does seem to be at a low point in his life. Even aside from the charges he faces, and the time he seems likely to serve, his career in porn is almost certainly over. The “Alpha Male” clothing line he helped start wants nothing to do with him. Nobody but the prison system seems to want this guy.
In other words: Men’s Rights activists, this is your chance! War Machine may not be the, er, hero you want. But he’s certainly the hero you deserve.
Actually maybe we have someone here who can answer this. If a dude goes to the doctor asking for Viagra, do they check to see what medical issues may potentially be causing the inability to get erections? Because given how many health issues it can be linked to that would seem like a good idea, but otoh the way the medical system usually works in the US makes me think they’re more likely to just have a 5 minute conversation and then write a prescription.
re: misogynist preaching about contraception, abortion, second-guessing sexual assault victims, dismissing harassment, or pretty much anything where they’re pontificating from a seat of ignorance, this quote just beautifully summed it up for me:
From a really well-written article about the myth that not fighting back sufficiently against sexual assault/rape is somehow a mitigating factor. [It should go without saying there’s a BIG TRIGGER WARNING for victim-blaming, graphic descriptions of sexual assault, discussion of violence, etc]
“I’d prefer to be taken as myself, but then again I think everyone would like to avoid being stuffed in a box of preconceptions.”
I’ve never cared much for labeling people, and now that we have so many permutations of trans/cis/a/whatever it’s getting REALLY hard for my poor old brain to keep up. Isn’t just people good enough?
cassandra: I know just from seeing the commercials that they’re supposed to check for heart problems at the very least, since Viagra and most other pills like it affect how nitrates affect the body (which can cause problems if you already have a weak heart or are on nitro).
RE: emilygoddess
LBT, please tell me “magical glitterbat” is your fursona!
IT WILL BE NOW! (The joke prior to that was that I was a bear, on account of Mac’s favorite romance novel and gay joke.)
Fun fact: viagra (sildenafil) was initially researched as a treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension, as it relaxes smooth muscle in the pulmonary artery and allows increased blood flow. It just so happens that the same kind of smooth muscle is present in the arteries of the penis, so relaxing those muscles leads to … increased blood flow. And billions of pharmaceutical dollars due to what was initially a side effect of a cardiac drug!
RE: GrumpyOldMan
Isn’t just people good enough?
Sure! Just as soon as we stop having higher homelessness and suicide rates and get our basic healthcare covered by health insurance.
Don’t leave me hanging bro! Share!
Additional fun fact: we administer it to animals where I work (no, they don’t get erections from it like humans do).
Tell you what: we’ll drop the labels when homophobes and transphobes stop acting like they matter.
@ grumpy 😀
Just people seems pretty good to yours truly. I answer to either gender pronoun or honorific, I figure both are semi-accurate.
My ex really got hurt when misgendered though… and I’d wince right along with her, even though I could tell it wasn’t meant in any hostile way. 🙁
Ex has a LOT of trouble reading intent.
…Sometimes people do “hostile gendering” though, that’s totally different. Like if someone called me an “it” I’d be pissed or if someone called a transman “her.” despite him living as a man and being legally male for years. To me, at least, intent matters a lot.
Speaking of male suicide, the AVFM brain trust published something horrifying today.
AVFM policy on comments regarding suicide
Way to throw depressed men under the bus, AVFM, and you complain about the high number of men who commit suicide? That’s just…cold.
cassandra: I’ve considered trying kendo, too, since I used to do fencing and liked it but would prefer something a bit more physically taxing, so if anyone has done kendo and has feels about it, want to share?
It’s physical. It’s fun. It’s more stylised than fencing. The equipment is pricey (though most dojos have some practice gear for use). Mistakes can be bruising.
I forget who it is on the board (not presently active) who is an active practicioner, and could give you better feedback.
What the fuck? I think the bit about Googling a suicide hotlines is what really puts the cherry on top if the horrible sundae. Elam isn’t even letting commenters dig up contact info for resources in that area?
No, you shouldn’t act like someone’s psychiatrist if you aren’t, but you don’t need a license to show compassion and concern.
Such human rights going on!
RE: emilygoddess
Don’t leave me hanging bro! Share!
*laughs* Okay, okay. So, you see, once, we Loony-Brainers were having fun doing an Internet meme Googling “[NAME] needs” and seeing what popped up. It was all amusing. I mostly got misspelled Seth Rogen stuff.
And then we found that there actually is one fictional character in all of Google who has my name: Rogan the Wolf, the lead of a romance novel. A HIGHLANDER romance novel.
Naturally, hubby had to have this. And he got it as a gift. We’ve MSTed certain scenes of it. I blame it for hubby’s thing for kilts.
I, however, lack Rogan the Wolf’s beefcakey physique, ergo, I got the moniker Rogan the Bear.
RE: Auntie Alias
Keep being shitty, AVFM. Nothing says caring about men like a form letter to possibly suicidal people. (A form letter that doesn’t even link to other resources!)
Before I came to this website I didn’t know what trans, cis or inter-sex was. I didn’t know there were different waves of feminism either.
I didn’t know a lot of things because I’m pretty sheltered and I’m not that smart but I’m glad that I came here to learn.
I feel a little bit smarter and I feel like a better person. So thank you all 😀
@Auntie Alias:
I don’t think they’re entirely wrong to be saying “You need to get some help, we’re not qualified to handle this”. My problem is:
a) they’re doing it with some emotionless boilerplate they want their members to cut-and-paste instead of directing suffering people to assistance with a little empathy and personal connection, and
b) more infuriatingly, these are exactly the same people who tear shreads off feminists for supposedly not doing anything about male suicide. That seems a little bit double-standard-y, given that here they’re pretty much saying the only way to help someone who’s suicidal is to get them some psychiatric assistance. The only logical corollary is they assume all feminists are trained suicide counsellors and/or mental health professionals. But I don’t think logic is the point.
ninja’d multiple times. Stupid lack of preview function. 😛
Auntie alias
They should have links on their site like David has.
I used to think this way myself, but then I realized that these labels exist, not to box people in, but because certain concepts exist, and so do people to whom those concepts apply. Long story short, I adjusted. Give it time, you might do the same too.
A person contemplating suicide desperately needs immediate and appropriate feedback. Imagine how long they’d be left waiting for a mod to come along to paste the boilerplate statement while the conversation continues to flow around them.
Not every piece of advice is going to be worthwhile but at least it shows that people care.
…And don’t let the door hit you on the way out KTHNXBAI…
Wow, guess at AVFM, if you are down, you just have to pull yourself up by your own jockstrap…
@strivingally
As long as that’s not the only thing they say. I’ve been on a few sites where commenters jump in to help suicidal people, including this one. I have never seen any of them worried about legal ramifications. The idea of criminal charges for giving advice strikes me as absurd. The only way I can see that happening is if someone encouraged suicide.
@fruitloopsie
Indeed. I suggested that in a comment section once and you can imagine the response, I’m sure.
Doesn’t the AVfM policy boil down to: Don’t do anything human because we might get sued?
Seconding Fruitloopsie on receiving some excellent education from this site and the discussions. In my case, this was the first place where I encountered “trans*” with the asterisk. I must sheepishly admit that the first few times I saw it, I started hunting for the footnote! (Please tell me this happened to someone else as well.)
“Compassion for Men and Boys” = Covering Paul Elam’s Ass.
And throwing money at it, too.
True that.
When I questioned my gender Identity the first time, I thought…”am I a guy? well…um, not really.” “So, ok, I’m a woman then…” It took me years later to realize the answer to that was “Um, not exactly that either.”
So realizing gender’s not a real binary but more of a spectrum is probably a good thing. Also that gender’s unrelated to who you want to do the horizontal hokey-pokey with.