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.
You have to set up a gravatar account, which is tied to an e-mail, and then that’s the system you use. It also comes with a wordpress account, generally.
You can then make it display stuff when you over over the avatar, like my eternal words “missing the point”, or kittehserfs rather more poetic and beautiful phrase.
Now getting them together with Mr Fern Phobic Freud would be interesting …
Speaking of ferns, the King’s Domain fern gully had its waterfall running again today. First time I’ve seen it in years, with all the water restrictions. I was so happy to see it. It was sad to see the pool all dried up so long.
http://media-cache-cd0.pinimg.com/236x/26/dc/e3/26dce31e505347e3b4edeee93133265f.jpg
Awww!
I’m glad that not too many folks are not leaving. Particularly you, Kittehs.
(I notice you’re not displaying MOD anymore. Are you still working as David’s unpaid help?)
Yippee, at least Kitteh isn’t definitely leaving, that’s some good news in the sadness rain. I just started the grieving process over learning I’m losing Fibinachi’s near-genius MRA mocking doggerel forever and I’m definitely stuck in the denial stage.
Re: Cassandra is almost always right.
This is most true with trolls, whom she immediately pegs out of the gate, while I’m still sheepishly giving them completely undeserved slack.
I’m (barely) too proud to beg you not to leave and since I can’t force you to stay via hypnotism though the internet, I’m going to honor whatever decision you make. I’d just honor a decision to not leave a whole lot more because this is about my needs, for me at least.
Re: Tumblr
Someone posted an link to a blogger on Tumblr, who was denounced as a TERF, when she’s really just a 20-something lesbian getting frustrated with people who have seemingly thrown gender and queer theory in a blender, chugged it down it and now perpetually vomit it out on the internet without thinking things through at all.
I stumbled across her debating someone saying ludicrously elaborate, made-up theories about how real lesbians are attracted to gender and was convinced that any reference to genitalia, much less having any preference for one, is always transmisogynistic and terrible (when it’s done by lesbians). The problem with Tumblr is people will endlessly argue with anyone without considering who those other people are. This became crystal clear when I read that debate and then looked at who was blathering all this anti-lesbian nonsense. It was a FOURTEEN year-old girl who identified as cis asexual. Not making that up.
So adults, stop arguing with smug, judgmental Junior High Schoolers who like to denounce strangers in weird pseudo-progressive show trials on Tumblr and Twitter. It doesn’t lead to positive things. If someone uses terms like “cisbian” and “bihet”, everyone other then their parents and schoolmates should stop trying to have a serious conversations with them.
—
I have plenty more to say about the cotton ceiling thing, but won’t. I will again compliment Cassandra for being right, because the most offensive thing about the “controversy” is how straight cis women are throwing lot that old classic “lesbians always use dildos and strap-ons, so what’s the big deal about penises”, which I used to only hear from guys wanting threesomes (or twosomes). Lesbians make up a wee, little tiny portion of the overall female population. I’m too lazy to dig up the statistical proof, but bisexual women outnumber lesbians by quite a bit in the not straight lady minority. I’m at the point where I miss the whole “lesbian invisibility” thing of yesteryear, when people hadn’t the foggiest idea what lesbian sex might or might not entail.
I’m not even going to try to explain why the “a dildo is just like a penis and all lesbians use dildos, right?” thing is so ridiculous, given that anyone making that argument must not understand how dildos, penises, or lesbians work. Like, huh? We already had “but I don’t understand what genitals could possibly have to do with sex” the last time this conversation happened, which, OK, the people making that argument were high school rather than middle school aged, but yeah – don’t try to argue about sexuality with kids, adults, including the adult right here who made that mistake last time. I really wouldn’t want my eyebrows to freeze in the “huh?” position.
I can’t sleep, and am not coherent, but Fibi, you’re leaving us? Noooooooooo!
Katz — it’s going to be awhile, my tank plans got all fucked up when I decided I needed to breed brine shrimp because the gobies just aren’t taking to frozen food. And then I bought a used 10g that isn’t actually water tight (I needed a new terrarium anyways, but wasn’t gonna worry about that until winter). So now I do have a tank set up, but it’s definitely only big enough for one. To make things more obnoxious, I think my mother’s putting her foot down on how much water I can have in my room, which means getting another either means moving them to the basement, or moving Puff to the sun porch (which, besides the sun problem, is a fucking mess, and utterly uninsulated)…after I get another, larger tank.
Yep, still babbling about my critters instead of the topic at hand, consider me the comedy relief?
Note – I mean sex the act, not sex the biological category. I’m not even going to get into the latter debate, but just to be clear, yes, there were people saying that they didn’t understand how someone’s genitalia could possibly be relevant to attraction or to sex, the act.
*looks down, looks at Cassandra, looks down again* I’m pretty sure that what’s down there is relevant to about 95% of potential sexual partners. We bi people aren’t exactly a screamingly large percent of the population.
Contrapangloss — no cooling besides having a mesh top instead of a glass one and we’re at 26°C — sun isn’t really up yet though, otoh the big tank is still at 28°, so I guess that lid makes more of a difference than I thought (w00t for that, since 28° is way too hot, 26°C is close enough that it’s why my American ass is using Celsius)
I wasn’t sure that they even got the idea that the mechanics of sex would be different based on what genitalia people have, honestly. Do they think people have sex by just sort of snuggling and looking into each other’s eyes or what? Even putting anything involving penetration aside, do they think it would make no difference in terms of how, say, oral would work? I’m so confused.
Thanks, Arctic Ape!
When I thought I’d have to leave, I suggested to David he’d need another mod. If I’m staying, I’ll be happy to do it again, if David wants. I emailed him about that but don’t reckon he’d have seen it yet (at this hour of the morning Chicago time, I’d hope he’s catching some zzzzz!)
brooked:
I should think not. That sort of mind power is the preserve of the Furrinati.
OW I sprained my eyes reading that!
Seconded HOW DID I MISS THIS?
🙁
Curses, and here I thought we’d converted you!
Maybe they think it’s aural sex and they just talk about it.
Or like that scene from Demolition Man with the virtual reality headsets.
Also, Fibi, don’t leave! Even if some of us end up doing so (I’m not sure yet, depends how this whole thing plays out, I’m still worried that there’s going to be a huge backlash at some point), there’s no reason you have to, and who else would write the limericks?
Popping back in to quickly say:
Hurray, kittehserf is staying! And cassandrakitty hasn’t ruled it out! Things looking brighter this morning.
Fibinachi, if you’re going, please reconsider! Poet laureates are hard to find.
And gillyrosebee in her 12:49am comment (one page back) summed up pretty much everything I was thinking/feeling as I made my way through the thread yesterday. Thanks for having the brains and the eloquence to say everything I wanted to say.
You’re telling me that’s not how you do it?
Oh.
Uhm.
huh. I may need to reconsider my stout assertions of incredible sexual prowess now. And I had gotten so good at not blinking, too! Although this rather explains a lot, including why my first girlfriend broke up with me on account of the “Creepy staring thing”.
Anyhow, no. No. I’m not. I never even considered it. Think we’re having an accidental miscommunication all around. The only expressions of any emotion I have made, and will make, is that I am very thankful for the existence of this site and the many people on it (you, reading this, you, have directly and tangible made my life measurably better in many ways and I am very thankful), who have taught me endless things about everything from practical coding (so much so that I am an actually paid website jockey for my wizard company, which is no end of fun) to self-resiliency in dealing with abusive personalities to just how one actually cooks a proper pie.
oh, and the feminist theories of social structure as it relates to the individuals that live in an often cruelly callous world of stunted, somewhat myopic perspective and unwavering pressure on the minds and bodies of everyone to perform on an often horrid and base level but which still has beauty and wonder and pies.
But mainly the coding and the happiness and the pies.
I could never leave you. This is the second site on the internet where I’ve broken my personal “No comment” policy, and haven’t regretted it even once.
Fibi’s like a cockroach. Ten thousand years from now, it’ll just be cat pictures, raging PUA’s and limericks.
There once was a site that mocked it
those incessant tales of sucky Ids
Pua and MRA tall tales to tell
They don’t tell them well
and I’d rhyme better, but really, fuck it.
( Although the appreciation of my fantastic personality is obviously a bonus, and I feel I should maybe have Argenti accidentally assume I am leaving more often, so that my hideously underfed ego can suck up all these stray bursts of mentions of how I enrich the place.
Yeeees.
Yessssss I am a worthy human being aren’t I… where’s my full length mirror so I may bask in my own perfectednesnsnesness )
THANK CEILING CAT FOR THAT!
No no, Fibi’s like WALL E, only poetical. The cockroach is just the little buddy hanging around for the limericks.
I have a trans woman lesbian friend who has had the surgical procedure to remove her penis and create a vagina. Please let me know if I get anything wrong here. She had a girlfriend who, fully cognizant of the fact that she was a trans woman, asked her to wear a strap on. My friend had a really hard time processing that request but ultimately said no.
I have found, as I did discussing gender and sexually identity with my friend, this thread to be very provocative in furthering my thoughts around these matters and challenging my world view. I get the theoretical viewpoint around sex and gender as construction, but I can’t transfer it into a personal, lived experience without coming up with questions of preference and coercion. Someone said why are we asking individuals to examine their preferences and not taking society to task? I agree.
Bit tipsy, watching Supernatural.
*dances with pom poms*
Kittehserf’s not leaving
Cassandra’s maybe not too
Fibinachi never considered it
Hellkell, what about you?
That was bad and I should feel bad, but eh. Anyway, I’ll just mention here what I already said privately to another: It kinda felt like Ally had a tendency to make every thread about her. I did enjoy some of her comments and insight, but I mean that can get frustrating after a while. I didn’t want to say anything, though, because A) I tend to be conflict-avoidant, and B) I don’t get to post here as often as I’d like and it didn’t seem right to call out someone who was participating here more often than I was.
@Fibinachi
So you leaving the board is a completely unfounded rumor I weirdly made up in my mind? That’s good news to me, without actually being news.
@Argenti
Never stop discussing your fish, I love hearing people geek out about something I know nothing about.
—-
I haven’t comment anywhere even semi-regularly since the dying days of Usenet in 1990s.
This site has given me so much, most importantly it showed me how adorable baby stingrays are.
http://xenophilius.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/stingray.jpg
Kittehserf:
Oh, snap 🙂
Argenti:
You only get acceptable measurements in Celsius?
Arctic Ape, turns out the cheap new thermometer I got for the axolotl tank has much bigger Celsius numbers, which works since most of the world uses it, and damned near every page about them uses it. I had to get up to read the small C numbers on the big tank, my other tanks are all in F. Confusing, but when you’re used to working out parts per million, reading both sets of numbers is pie.
Fibi, W00T! I’m glad I misunderstood, whatever would we do without your poetry?!
Brooked, never, they’re my babies! Even my mother calls them her grandbabies, amazing for an Italian woman who’s long been “so, when are one of you going to give me grandbabies?”. Now she has fish (and great-great-grandfish, but I’m not allowed to mention that, it makes her feel old, despite cories reaching sexual maturity by a year and a half). Also, D’AWWW LOOK AT THE WITTLE STINGRAY!! If I ever win the lottery, a huge freshwater stringray tank is SO on my list!
Ray are actually really pretty irl, even the grown ones. The baby is adorable, look at its widdle mouth!
The only reason I brought up Ally is because the whole conversation on this thread started when (IMO) her views were misrepresented.
As I’ve said repeatedly, I think everyone here is in agreement on those points.