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.
Cassandra: Nothing, that’s why I said that’s what he should’ve used instead. And looking at pallygirl’s comment and Dawkins’ own history, yeah, I suspect you’re both right–he did it precisely because he figured it would stir things up, which seems to be his primary use of Twitter these days.
I read the plot of God’s Not Dead on the wikipedia page. It was… even worse than I could’ve imagined–not only do we have the Angry At God cliche, but then he’s allegedly ‘defeated’ because a bunch of his students aren’t atheists and are willing to say so. the entire thing is based on a couple spam chain email stories.
Rubbish. You know perfectly well, as does everyone else here, that scrotosphere = MRAs, the misogynists who think their precious genitals are SO SO SPECIAL. This article isn’t even about trans women. Why claim an identification with a body part that’s the epitome of All About Teh Menz when you don’t identify as male?
Ditto about “men are terrifying”. Yeah, right, we also know some men are; too many. But you really think it’s okay to say that to all the men here, while talking as if every last thing includes something about trans women’s issues?
Humanist,
What part of “No trolls” didn’t you grasp? GTFO. This woman’s abuse is not your opportunity to spew your MRA bullshit here.
Seriously, could these people be any worse?
Gosh, why would anyone want to silence this poor man’s belief that he owns his ex girlfriend and has the right to rape her or beat the shit out of her if he feels like it? Feminists are so mean.
Hey, Humanist!
I agree with you that men do have issues that need fixing. The MRA is not doing the fixing. I have never seen David mock a program that is specifically working to correct those problems.
I have seen him mock mightily the dudebros who only pay lipservice to said problems in order to use them as a misogyny-bludgeon, when they aren’t too busy doing just straight up misogyny.
Try again?
If you want to help men, there are a few links towards the bottom of the right sidebar. Or, you can go hunting for other programs. They exist!
Don’t hang out with self proclaimed MRA’s online. They uphold a lot of the toxic things that make problems like male suicide that much worse.
Have a nice day.
@Humanist:
… Ok? Go off and address them then. Literally nothing is stopping you, except the fact that MRAs are more interested in hating women (sorry, FEEEMALES) than in helping men.
@Humanist:
Look at the sidebar
Isn’t it neat?
Wouldn’t you say that it’s quite link complete
Wouldn’t you say
Yeah
Yeah that sidebar it has everything!
Look at those links
What does it hold?
links to pages both new and quite old
They’ve got links to pages ’bout male death
Pages ’bout abuse, not that obtuse
quite a few mentions of ressources to use
I would say
would say that you just don’t
don’t seem to give A SHIT about getting it…
One small problem with the men’s rights should only be addressed by men theory in this particular case – David is a man.
I read about Dawkins’s latest effort on Pharyngula yesterday. He really is saying it’s immoral to knowingly have a Down’s Syndrome child. There’s no way around it: that’s what he’s saying. I don’t believe for a minute that he’s being tactless or so precious up in his ivory tower that he says these things without malice. He’s deliberately causing distress and anger.
I have a theory that he’s really a sleeper agent for the fundies. Nothing like adding eugenics to his list of basic humanity fails.
Humanist: way to be an abuse apologist. You can go now.
Humanist
“It’s this kind of mentality that actively seek to silence even the genuine concerns men have. Just as much as there are extremists in mens rights movement, there are equally extremists in feminists movement which you are obviously happy to ignore in your DESPERATE attempt to be politically correct.”
Citation
“There are men rights issues that should be addressed, denying that makes you not worth listening to at all. Men rights issues should be addressed by men themselves, NOT by females.”
Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaales!!!
Like, seriously, did Humanist just pick the first post he could find to comment on? Because he seems to have a little problem with relevance here.
My theory is that Dawkins is a troll, who believes what he writes. Which makes it worse. It would be nice if people stopped inviting him as a speaker to conferences, it’s only encouraging him.
RE: Richard Dawkins
Can we just pass a movement that cis men don’t get to moralize about abortion anymore? Seriously, they really need to shut the fuck up about things they know nothing about and will never experience.
RE: cassandrakitty
I’ve been thinking of maybe starting with tai chi classes since they don’t tend to attract the macho crowd
My sister Miranda does tai chi! (Will be leaving for it in an hour, actually.) She really likes it, and the group is mostly old folks, mostly women. Not douchey or competitive at all! I used to do aikido, but I’m one of those dumbasses who gets hurt doing ordinary things and tore cartilate in my knee doing it. I really enjoyed it while I did it, though, and it helped me with a few of my touch issues.
I really would like to do something to up my upper body strength, but seeing my bad knees and also my eating disorder history, I’m really cautious about it.
RE: Nova
I do know that she has a lot of caring people around her and trying to make sure she’s taken care of.
I’m glad. What a terrible thing to happen to someone!
RE: Humanist
there are equally extremists in feminists movement which you are obviously happy to ignore in your DESPERATE attempt to be politically correct.
Name them. No really. Name the feminists who are beating their husbands to death and using feminist rhetoric to justify it. Go ahead. Please. I am just DYING to know. (Let me guess, it’s that one stupid Jezebel article AGAIN.)
Oh NO!!! Now I have to dislike Kevin Sorbo, too?
Bedpan! First I lose Jayne Cobb, and now Hercules. This is too much.
“Don’t beat your ex so badly that you damage her liver and break teeth” is just so desperately PC. Nope, that’s not a disturbing attitude at all.
(I’m still going with the theory that he just commented on the first post he saw.)
http://youtu.be/3RdrQy0j39E
I’m pretty sure Dawkins has simply found a way of remaining in the public eye with having to go through the effort of writing books.
@Fibinachi:
…
<_<
>_>
dammit.
You want to be where the charities are.
You want to see, wanna see them helping
Male abuse victims, but they… (what’s the word?)
Do!
Whining at us won’t get you too far,
This world ain’t split between men and women.
Organizations help all genders, it’s (err…)
true!
Outside your room, out in the sun,
There’s real support and work to be done!
Off of the net, men’s rights should get
to the real world!
RE: GrumpyOldNurse
Aw man, I’m weirdly disappointed too. I haven’t even WATCHED anything with Sorbo in it except for that Hercules/Xena animated movie since the 90s.
Why the hell does it bother us when a celebrity, who we know nothing about personally, turns out to be a jerk?
Humanist – Really? Saying “it’s wrong to beat people to a pulp” is PC? I, just don’t know WHAT to say right now.
Oh, no, wait, it’s come to me! Go chew on a bedpan!
@LBT – I think it’s easy to conflate actors with the characters they play. Hercules (in the Xenaverse, anyway) was a sensitive, righteous guy who always stood up for what was decent (not like the mythological Hercules). He was also really hunky. So, finding out Kevin Sorbo is a reactionary bigot is very disapointing. Jayne Cobb was a macho jerk, but he had a soft side and reminded me of some semi-decent guys I knew growing up. Same let down.
TL;DR – my own projection.
Ugh. That God’s Not Dead tripe played in a multiplex near me, which caused me concern about my new neighborhood. For a while, Godzilla was playing the same theater, and its title was just above Sorbo’s flick on the marquee. I kept hoping people coming to see God’s Not Dead would ask for a ticket to “See that ‘God’ thing” and end up at screening of Godzilla instead. Of course, that would be rewarding them with an actual good movie.
Actually, I kid. Godzilla wasn’t a good movie, It was an AWESOME one. Eat it, Sorbo, Godzilla’s cooler than you and always will be.
LBT: I figure it’s because we see them as their characters, and so we hope they’re as awesome off-screen as they are on-screen.
Probably the biggest disappointment for me was finding out Ben Stein was a creationist and a pretty vulgar conservative in general…he seemed so cool back in the 1990s!