So our old dear friend Janet “JudgyBitch” Bloomfield — you know, the A Voice for Men PR gal best known for her habit of calling people “whores,” including the underage victims of the late, disgraced British “entertainer” Jimmy Savile — has been suspended from Twitter, for reasons unknown.
Bloomfield, for her part, is suggesting that it might have to do with some cakes she was baking. No, really:
So it seems that my account on Twitter has been suspended. I find that odd since most of my most recent tweets have been about baking a wedding cake. Not exactly controversial. I suspect some sort of automatic response was triggered when a lot of people simultaneously reported me for abuse but I have no idea.
Naturally, Bloomfield’s comrades at A Voice for Men have spun this as “Judgy Bitch was censored for a cake!”
Here it is, folks: the pastriarchal construct that got @Judgybitch1 suspended! #pastriarchy #FreeJudgyBitch1 #nomra pic.twitter.com/poK1puKcrn
— Hannah Wallen | Professional Smartass (@Oneiorosgrip) August 30, 2014
And in her most recent post, Bloomfield seems to have decided to go with this “explanation” as well.
Yeah, somehow I don’t think that was it.
Let me offer an alternate hypothesis: Bloomfield was suspended for sending threatening and harassing Tweets to assorted feminists on Twitter and/or for spamming Twitter with graphic images of a baby boy being circumcised.
Now, this is just a hypothesis, but I do have some evidence that seems to back it up.
While Bloomfield’s “JudgyBitch1” account on Twitter is suspended, as a helpful reader pointed out to me, you can still see some of the pictures she’s posted to Twitter in an archive over on Twicsy.com.
If you go there you’ll see a mixture of pics and broken pic icons. The pics that remain seem to be pics that she’s retweeted; the others are ones she tweeted directly, and most link back to her suspended account.
But there’s an interesting thing about these broken pic icons: if you click on them, some of them will actually load.
So what does a little bit of clicking reveal?
Well, in addition to a few pics of the cakes she’s been baking, we find pics featuring threatening language and imagery directed at feminists. Like the one I posted above.
We also find a graphic picture of a boy being circumcised, which she reposted several times, and which I imagine violates all sorts of Twitter rules.
Most of her pics, alas, won’t load. But somehow I suspect we’d find a few more like these in the bunch.
And if it’s not always clear what photos she posted, it is clear that she has her own little army of followers who are happy to spam feminists with these pics. Here’s a link to an old post of hers archived on Topsy showing various JudgyBitch fans all sending Jessica Valenti the same hostile message and the same (now deleted) pic. Somehow I suspect it wasn’t a picture of a cake.
Here are other harassing tweets sent by Bloomfield to Valenti, most of them retweeted by her fans:
- A sexually harassing reference to oral sex
- A misleading misquotation of Valenti, pasted onto an unflattering picture of her, that completely distorts the meaning of what she really wrote. As you may recall, Bloomfield has a history of fabricating quotes out of thin air and claiming they came from Valenti.
- More tweets directed at Valenti that offer up alleged quotations of hers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
These are just in the past ten days.
Going through these pics not only suggests that AVFMers are being dishonest in how they’re trying to spin Bloomfield’s Twitter suspension; it also reveals a lot about the workings of the Great Internet Lady Harassment Machine, Twitter edition.
Consider this tweet I ran across, which tries to equate feminist writer Jessica Valenti’s “male tears” t-shirt with beheadings carried out by Islamic terrorists.
.@JudgyBitch1 @AppSame @PolitiBunny @JessicaValenti Differences between the two are? pic.twitter.com/e4Jj57LVW2
— Andraos Al-Sulh (@AndrewV691) August 16, 2014
The original Tweeter, a reactionary antifeminist living in Canada, is clearly a reader of A Voice for Men and assorted alt-right racist websites. If you scroll down through his Twitter timeline, you’ll see that he retweets AVFMers like Paul Elam and Dan Perrins, as well as “dark enlightenment” Twitter accounts like the explicitly racist “hbd chick.” And as you can see, he included JudgyBitch1 in the list of recipients for his tweet.
The AVFMers also pay attention to him; if you look at the archive of this tweet on Topsy, you can see that Elam retweeted his graphic comparison of Valenti to a terrorist, as did AVFM fans Markis One and Cora Newbold. One of his other retweeters is a big fan of Roosh and a regular retweeter of assorted other “dark enlightenment” assholes.
[EDIT: AndrewV691 is perhaps better known, at least in Skeptic circles, as AndrewV69, a prolific contributor to the SlymePit, an online forum largely devoted to attacking feminist skeptics on FreeThoughtBlogs and elsewhere, where he has offered his considered opinion on topics such as “Ophelia Benson is a complete fuckwit!” Needless to say, his Twitter avatar is not actually a picture of him; it’s of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.]
Now, MRAs like to pretend that they have no connection with the alt-right – that is, racist – assholes who populate much of the “manosphere.” In reality, MRAs and “manosphereians” intermix freely, and there are more than a few who are both MRAs and racist right-wingers.
It’s not just that these people share remarkably similar ideologies, similar obsessions, similar buzzwords, and similar misogynistic attitudes towards women. They also work together in a de facto alliance to harass feminists online.
In other words, MRAs and manospherians are both heavily implicated in what I call the Greater Internet Harasssment Machine. Indeed, as we can see from the above, notable MRA figures like Elam and Bloomfield are themselves part of the Harassment Machine.
Whatever it was that got JudgyBitch1’s Twitter account suspended almost certainly had nothing to do with cake.
@Lea, I have read news stories where a parent gets in trouble with the law (usually falsely accused of something) and the parent talks about how the publicity affected their kids at school. Kids will use any old thing to pick on other kids. It’s a reality.
What if she was sued for libel or (unlikely) arrested for her actions and that had a negative impact on her children? Would you still hold her blameless?
The argument is not and was never about whether or not kids deserve to be bullied. Why do people keep framing it that way when that is not the issue? The issue is that JB is not endangering her children with her actions. Nothing invites bullying just like nothing invites rape. If she is endangering her kids, then so is every parent here. In fact, we are more guilty of that than she is because we know for certain that there are misogynists who are willing to threaten feminists’ families. Feminists aren’t making death threats. The people we speak out against do. It does not matter if we are right and she is wrong. That is not the point. The point is that parents do not cause people to bully their kids.
This thread needs more cat games!
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse.php?manufacturers_id=6706 (Catthulhu.com publisher page, all their stuff is Call of Catthulu related)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/92647/Cat-Revised–Expanded (The first cat RPG I ever found, it’s a small indie game and currently pay what you want too)
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/128524/Cathulhu (This is a cat setting book for Call of Cthulhu.)
I like to go easy on icing. Cream and sprinkles though? Yes! Also, I have one really good icing that’s basically good chocolate melted into double cream with a dash of vanilla. I like to put it on my really, really dark chocolate fudge cake. It’s not the sweetest of cakes, but it’s pure luxury.
No shit? Tell me how the world works, Auntie, because I had no idea that kids and teens will bully kids for their parents being poor or black or the wrong religion or gay or fat or or imprisoned or of the “wrong” political leaning. Do they really? I had no idea that was reality. That’s for clearing that up for me.
Meanwhile, how do you say that kids will bully for any reason and then claim it is a mother’s fault if her actions are the excuse a bully uses to bully? How do those two claims add up in your mind?
Don’t move the goalposts. This is not about a lawsuit.
Do you have kids or are you just ‘splaining to women who do that they should watch their mouths for their children’s sake?
The “rage alcoholic” remark and the abusive mother who finally got on Prozac for her OCD and depression resulting in “everyone being happier” is coming dangerously close to me as equating abusive behavior with disease/mental illness. But maybe I’m just a bit sensitive right now, I don’t know. Reading too many comment threads lately with “bipolar” being the armchair diagnosis for asshole.
Also, regarding the bullying argument, it is 100% the fault of the bullies when they go after children regardless of the assholishness of the parent(s) in question. This being because there’s no way to draw the line. A kid getting bullied because his mom works at the abortion clinic is just as abhorrent as a kid getting bullied because his parent is one of the abusive picketers at said clinic. Of course we should all take our children’s feelings and risk of bullying into account when we as parents choose to “put ourselves out there” but it’s fucking sad we have to do that. Think of obama’s kids. I would never want to be the president because of the exposure to abuse my kids would get. I’m sure that weighed heavily on their minds, but they made a choice. Parents should not have to agonize over these things, even if they are complete shitstains like JB. My 2 cents.
NonServiam, I require that cake immediately.
http://egotvonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/jacob_1908_mouth.jpg
The shape of the cake looks good – not uneven or listing. I disagree with roses in that shade of blue, which reminds me of Play-Doh, and I don’t like the covered-with-frosting-details type of decorating; prefer a nice smooth buttercream with just a bit of embellishment. Of course, I can’t decorate anything worth diddly and loathe most frosting anyway (except a real buttercream or whipped cream) – those British spongecakes with a layer of something in the middle are more the sort of thing for me – but I do bake a good cake.
I mean, JB’s opinions are loathsome, but don’t drag cake into it. Cake is innocent.
Way too much hostility, Lea. I’m dropping out of this conversation.
I’m not religious. I go back and forth daily on whether or not there’s a god. My daughter’s public elementary school has lots of things that I think could be considered pretty blatant violations of this: mainly signs in common areas exhorting the students to pray, Christian rock played at school assemblies, and teachers who display crosses and Bible verses on their classroom walls.
I’ve done nothing about this, mainly because there isn’t an overtly hostile environment toward other- and non-believers (just kind of a quiet affirmation of certain beliefs) and the faculty doesn’t personally proselytize. If anyone ever goes over those lines, though, you bet your bippy I’m going to reverse my laissez-faire position.
If you have any more bippy, you can also bet it that my actions would negatively affect my daughter. I’m pretty sure she’d be picked on by the other kids, and probably even shamed by a few of the teachers. Those concerns are a big part of the reason why I drew my battle lines where they are. If I wasn’t afraid of my kids bearing the lion’s share of the burden for my free speech, I might think differently. And though asking a school to follow the darned U.S. Constitution isn’t the same as being arrested or sued, there are people in my area who would consider my actions just as shameful and worthy of censure.
TL;DR – FWIW, I don’t think anyone here is advocating for silencing someone or picking on kids. I’m with Lea, though, in that I don’t like where this argument can go. “Think of the children!” can have a silencing effect whether you mean it to or not. And as much as I dislike JB’s beliefs and the way she chooses to express them, I don’t think her freedom of speech should be circumscribed by the way other people choose to react.
I concur. I just found out that this was an acceptable way of caking. Where have you been all my life, cake with jam and a little cream in the middle? I must now make up for lost time!
OMG, chocolate Ex-Lax. That was the stuff every kid’s mother had to learn either to hide well, or lock up. Preferably on a high shelf. Not that anything could stop a curious enough kid. Some kids even fed it to their dogs and then had a sad lesson in what not to give Fido for a treat (chocolate is also toxic to dogs, so it’s a double no-no.)
I’m guessing they don’t make it anymore? I wouldn’t know from personal experience, since I have the diarrheal form of irritable bowel syndrome, and can count on one hand the number of times I’ve ever needed help going to the bathroom. And for that, there’s glycerin suppositories. I’ve never bought laxative pills.
Okay, so here’s my secret of really tasty cake, y’folks ready? Take notes.
What you’re going to need is a sponge cake, cut neatly to layers. Bottom layer should be weebit thicker than others.
Unsweetened, thick cream (lactose-free, for me, no sugar or just minimal amount of it to it!)
Pureed peaches or strawberries (no added sugar)
Raspberry jam (real, not imitation or anything)
Custard (with real vanilla, make it thick)
Mix couple of tablespoonfuls of raspberry jam with some water, to create “juice”. Use a spoon to smear it all over the bottom layer so it becomes a bit moist.
Smear custard over the bottom layer. Tuck to the fridge to let it settle and let the cake suck in more moisture from it. 30 minutes is good.
Mix peach or strawberry mash with some raspberry jam, until nicely mini-lumpy. The idea is to let natural flavors to do the work, not load the cake with excess sugar. Smear this over bottom layer + custard.
Take a new layer of caek! and smear some “juice” over it as well, and then put whipped cream over it… and lay that over the custard layer. Yes, whipped cream down.
From top down, you should have:
caek!
whipped cream
raspberry jam + peach or strawberry mix
custard
caek!
Keep layering this way, and ZOMG.
@Auntie Alias:
I’m sorry, but I can’t let this one slide. It reminds me too much of the argument against equal adoption rights – that gay people shouldn’t be allowed to adopt children since they might be bullied at school for having two parents of the same sex. Who, exactly, is teaching kids that bullying is okay for any reason?
Kids are not naturally prone to bullying. Bullying is learned behavior, which has much to do with them having learned somewhere, from their parents and/or the general social consensus, that it’s a-okay to be a jerk to certain people. It’s also something that can be unlearned. Saying that bullying is “a reality” is a defeatist attitude that goes against the essence of social justice. Social narratives and learned behavior can be changed, and no one should be the target of bullying, no matter what their parents are like.
That said, JB is a piece of shit and I hope her children will grow up healthy and happy despite everything.
Oh, shit. I should learn to refresh before posting.
Speaking of cake, beloved and me made chocolate cake last night. It’s a bit dry, but awesome with some whipped cream. Om nom nom.
(Poop, I’m sure, is more appetizing than those horrid blue roses. Yecch.)
Anarchonist, luckily you already have the cake reward for that comment.
There’s an obvious thing to say here here, regarding intense use of food coloring in pastry, that I’m not going to actually say but only refer to it so everyone thinks it.
Credit where it’s due, “pastriarchal construct” was kind of funny.
Anyway, I don’t have a Twitter account, so I tend not to be up to date on anyone’s tweets. But upon seeing what tweets and retweets of hers managed to stay up, I was simultaneously glad to see she’s finally booted off and thinking, “What took so long?”
“those British spongecakes with a layer of something in the middle are more the sort of thing for me”
Hurrah! Is that a shout-out for the Victoria sponge? I had a cracking one from Marks and Spencers just the other day, for no other reason than, “Hey, it’s Wednesday!” So moorish. (sorry, can’t blockquote yet).
Cake cake cake
(I support you Auntie Alias and have no idea why Lea was being so aggressive)
Cake is yummy.
Thank you, daintydougal. 🙂
Me too, Auntie. I’m sensing a lot of hostility being imported from elsewhere.
Don’t really dig in this idea that if you refer to bullying as a reality urdoinsocialjusticerong either. That seems super evangelist. “It’s a reality” isn’t the same as “Kids can’t help it” or “Parents aren’t responsible for teaching their kids not to be little assholes”. It’s just saying some parents are shitty and that in conjunction with the fact some kids are not nice people at all and bullying is still percieved as normal, even beneficial, is our reality. How do we stigmatise bullying so parents are horrified when their kids behave this way, so much so that they actively teach their kids not to from a young age, and kids who otherwise would know the social cost of being a bully isn’t worth it?
Anyways, I think a lot of unfair extrapolation is happening here and people are importing badfeels from elsewhere making civil disagreement impossible. Not cool.
That cake needs more Happy Falker Satherhood.
Is that the new trend? Autism had been the internet diagnosis for asshole for awhile.
That is enraging. Why don’t the Christian fundies grasp that separation of church and state is not just good for the state. It’s good for religion. Do they really want government mixed up in their church? I guess they’re just so eager to shove their religion down other’s throats that they don’t even bother to think through the implications of theocracy. Assholes.
I’d like to think I would contact the ACLU if I were in your shoes. However, given that I can be conflict averse and also lazy I can’t say with certainty that I would. And unfortunately, as you said there are consequences to rocking the boat.
I’ve got to say, the internet has really made me appreciate Minneapolis more despite the terrible winters. That shit would never fly here.