Here’s a meme posted recently to A Voice for Men’s Facebook page. I know, a graphic suggesting that any man who enters into a relationship with a woman is bound to end up “miserable, or divorced and broke” is pretty darn misogynistic.
The creator of this graphic, who has imaginatively picked “John Galt” as his pseudonym, explained his thinking thusly in several comments on the Facebook page:
In making it I was in fact thinking of the Nash Equilibrium in Game Theory, popularized by Russell Crowe in the Movie ‘A beautiful mind’. In a society where the hypergamous instincts of many women are driven to cruel extremes by feminism It is ever more relevant to highlight to men that being shamed or encouraged to compete for something that is repeatedly demonstrated as worthless is not only important but very healthy. …
[I]t is in fact Marriage I had in mind but these days cohabitation is the same as marriage under the law. Effectively it is impossible for men to trust even a purportedly good woman simply because of the law, but then it is up to women to change that – all we can do is defend our own freedoms and rights and that is what is most important to me. Of course competing for the right to be treated like garbage is the main point and intentions mean nothing without actions…for men that action must needs be self interest first – ironically the one thing we have been trained and bred to ignore.
So, yeah, in addition to being nearly incoherent, this is pretty much misogyny turned up to 11.
But I think we can do better. Let’s consider this graphic a challenge. I invite any readers here who have graphic talent — and those completely lacking graphic talent whatsoever — to come up with a fake AVFM meme that’s MORE misogynistic than this. BONUS POINTS if you can incorporate an actual quote from an AVFMer in the graphic.
To inspire you, here are some completely unrelated gifs of tiny animals being adorable. (I found them all here.)
If you don’t want to make a graphic, you can always post some more cute animal gifs. It’s been a long week.
I’ve had guys flirting with me, guys obsessing over me, but never fighting over me.
If two guys ever fought over me, I’d walk away from the both of them while they were distracted by their “alpha” posturing.
I IS NOT A TROPHY! I am a person.
It’s also ironic that he cites Nash, who’s still happily married in his late 80s. But I don’t know if Russell Crowe played that part, so Mr. Galt might have missed that.
I do agree with part of his sentiment though: men definitely should stop competing for women.
Men fight over women in tv shows and movies all the time. Therefore it must be true!
I think you guys are being to harsh about the OP’s poor writing. Sure his writing is undeniably terrible, but this sentence is a perfect distillation of the MRM.
@Michael
When it comes to AVfM, I have low to near nonexistent expectations and they always manage to fail to meet even those.
I’ll take her out in the Surrey with the fringe on top! That’ll fix ‘im!
I believe the correct game theory term for this meme is “upending the checkboard and stomping out of the room because you didn’t get your way”.
And then coming back in repeatedly to check whether the world ended after you left.
Whoops, that should have been checkerboard ^^^ Need to spellczech my posts more closely.
…well, of course it’s up to women to change all those things. After all, women are vastly over-represented in Congress, in every State House, in governorships, in county and municipal governments, and especially at the White House. I mean, when’s the last time we didn’t have a female President?
Mid-shot: Russell Crowe scribbling feverishly at the blackboard as his distressed wife looks on. After a few moments, he steps back admiring his work.
Cut to an over-the-shoulder shot of Crowe looking at blackboard. It is covered in crudely drawn breasts. His wife covers her eyes and sighs in impatience.
Logo: AVFM
subtitle: Ruining everything.
It is VERY fitting that the genius who made that poster picked “John Galt” as his nickname. After all, Randism is nothing but whiny entitlement distilled into a philosophy, down to holding endless unwarranted assumptions as “self-evident”.
If feminists control government policy, and feminists = women, and women are all hypergamous and freeload off of husbands/alimony, wouldn’t it be in their interest to keep all men as successful as possible and do something about the male poverty problem?
I’m shocked at this inconsistency!
Oh wait, did I say shocked? I meant the opposite of that.
I’m sorry guys. 🙁 I couldn’t help it. (Also, beware, this one has transphobia, gender essentialism, and rape apologia all together.)
I have a sudden craving for bananas.
Here’s something quick I came up with before work.
I like how the penis in LBT’s plate seems to apologizing.
Umm – it embedded from imgur. That was not what was supposed to happen! Ahhhhhhh! Why WordPress, why??? David feel free to delete and I’ll try again (I just pasted the link, I swears)
We will try it like this.
This is probably a good time to incorporate my patented “having sex with women is so fucking beta, GO YOUR OWN WAY.” Too bad I”m not so very good at graphic design.
Are you saying Popeye cartoons aren’t an accurate portrait of average human social dynamics? Preposterous!
This is an actual meme from them? Oh my god. It’s just so fucking ridiculous. They have no idea do they?
The only men fighting over a woman I enjoy are Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. It’s silly and humiliating and the bystanders are so ridiculous.
Fighting makes you look like a goober, seems to be the overall message.
I lurrrve John Galt. The twisty, nonsensical “memes” that are supposed to be propaganda but only make sense to people already in on the groupthink; the tortured, pretentious purple prose. I think this dude’s brain might literally be a pretzel. He’s nearly a Fidelbogen-class intellectual threat to feminism.
[I]t is in fact Marriage I had in mind but these days cohabitation is the same as marriage under the law. Effectively it is impossible for men to trust even a purportedly good woman simply because of the law, but then it is up to women to change that – all we can do is defend our own freedoms and rights and that is what is most important to me. Of course competing for the right to be treated like garbage is the main point and intentions mean nothing without actions…for men that action must needs be self interest first – ironically the one thing we have been trained and bred to ignore.
So – wait, what?
They’re going to go on strike from women, not marrying or shacking up with them, until women change the law to make themselves good little old fashioned wifies, subservient sex slaves who are economically shackled to their husband and penniless should they leave?
And women’s incentive to do this is…?
Well, as it stands, if they were doing a full reverse-Lysistrata, women would be eager to stop any changes to the law. But all he’s promising they’ll do is not marry/live with women. No promise about not having one night stands, unfortunately. However, anything that keeps men who believe this away from women should be encouraged. Maybe we could pretend it was the one night stands keeping us strong..?
(Does this make sense, I know what I mean, but I’m not sure if I’ve phrased it correctly)
I do know they were lying to me about the benefits of spinach, so the accuracy of Max Fleischer cartoons is rather suspect. (Well, no the Superman ones, of course.)