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.
Triple shit. And I’m out of critters for one.
1 more person toddling off to bed. Night, all.
Night, Unimaginative!
(Pops back in to hug the bewilderness)
If it’s any consolation, I feel like I just ran a marathon, but the marathon was made of theory and emotional rollercoasters. Anyone have some damn Gatorade?
2
@unimaginative: night
@katz: /waves I was wondering where you were. I wanted to ask about whether you had all the kitties adopted out now. So, have all the kitties been adopted out now?
3! Plus virtual gatorade!
4, and I’m off to bed as well. Night, all.
Night, gillyrosebee!
5
First things first, these are the ramblings of a cis, straight dude, for whom these matters do not have a bearing on my own life. Also, if anyone feels uncomfortable with me being part of this conversation please feel free to tell me to stay the fuck out of it and I will happily do so (I can’t stress that enough, I will not take offense in the slightest and will toddle along with zero ill fellings).
So, when the whole cotton ceiling thing kicked off back when (not talkng about the Eday thread, I’m talking about when the convention was being organized) I was coming across two different camps in my readings. One camp was trans and cis women that were partnered/slept with trans women who were angry because their relationships were being described as straight, and their sexuality was being described as straight (in the case of trans women) and bi (in the case of cis women). The second camp was trans women and queer women urging cis lesbians to rethink/examine their sexuality and why they are uninterested in trans women with penises. I barely read anyone in the second camp because fuck that noise, but I was not sure where I fell on those in the first camp (a large part of that is because I’m obviously not a lesbian).
I remember, that in my early days on the blog I made a comment to the effect of “X isn’t straight, they’re trans” (or something like that. I really can’t remember what it was, but the gist was that I was correcting someone about someone else’s sexuality because they or their partner was trans) and even though it was a man and a woman I thought that the fact that one of them was trans meant that they weren’t a straight couple/pairing. That’s when someone (I wanna say jumbofish) told me that trans people that are attracted to people of a different gender consider themselves straight. I was quick to accept that, and quick again to extend that two people of different genders who may still share the same genitalia. Like I said earlier, though, this in no way meant that I would in any way consider sex with someone with a penis, be they man or woman. Now obviously, this is not exactly the same thing because a) straight people aren’t under societal pressure to change their orientation the way that lesbians are and b) straight men are under basically no societal pressure to change anything about their sexuality. I don’t bring this up to claim Grand Poobah of Inclusivity or anything like that, I just wanted to explain exactly how much I’ve read/thought about this, and what my experiences with this whole thing has been, and so that people understand that I’m in no way claiming to have come to my own feelings about this topic through the same experiences that other posters have.
That being said, all of the above is kind of why I’m wondering if extending the phrase “lesbian” to trans women who are only sexually interested in women is actually incompatible with the fight against the idea that a lesbian’s criteria for her choice in sexual partners is something that’s up for debate. Because it seems to me that if this was only a question of what trans women called themselves then gillyrosebee’s thought that “cis lesbian” and “trans lesbian” may have to suffice would be something that’s workable. However, I don’t see how this can help those cis women who identify as lesbians, but have partnered with trans women with a penis, and are being told that they are therefore not lesbians. Would they have to also identify themselves or their relationships with a descriptor like “pan lesbian” or something? Is that offensive and erasing to them (genuine question)?
Aaaaaannnndddd like an idiot I forgot to refresh and check on the conversation before posting. Please ignore that teal deer. I know pretty much everyone is going to end up reading that post before reading this one so I’d like to apologize at least.
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Yeah, I just don’t have the energy to be on this topic right now.
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Yeah, Shadow I should acknowledge that I did read both your comments, I just have nothing to add.
BTW, I bought Not This Shit Again Blvd and I am currently building a toll bridge at one end. The toll is don’t be a self-centered pain in the ass. Please feel free to come add bricks when you have some spare time, refreshments will be served.
7
Hugs to the bewilderness.
Hi, Shadow!
I’m off to bed. If I’m not around the board the next couple days, it’s because I’d like to take Friday off and make it a really long weekend, but I’m gonna have to turbo bust ass at work to make it so.
Night hellkell!
Virtual bricks on their way.
1 person wondering if we’ll get to 10
@Alex and pallygirl
Yep, my apologies.
@hellkell
Hi!!!! *doles out bear hugs to you and cassandra* I’m so happy to see you! G’night, and g’luck with getting your work out of the way
8 (totally forgot how number ninja works)
I haven’t any bricks, but there’s a drainage pipe in R’s yard inhabited by a chipmunk (who I creatively named Chip) — maybe if I bring the pipe Chip will follow? A trail of raisins might help, little guy likes them, which works, cuz they’re in all trail mix and I don’t much care for them!
But is that bridge over fresh or salt water? I need to know what species I’ll be stocking it with!
Lol, new “may you step on legos” — may you encounter a pacu while swimming. They’re piranha cousins, but herbivores. Looks terrifying, eats fruit and such. And, unlike piranhas, get to be 2’+ long.
No, I still have Mika and Julius. But there’s an adopter coming to look at them tomorrow.
Shadow, scroll up, I explained to Auntie Alias earlier.
And add me to the list of people calling it a night. Good luck with work hellkell, and g’night!
This seems like a good time to ask what the hell an axolotl is, other than cute.