I found this “meme” on the A Voice for Men Forums, and it was too special not to share.
The AVFM “Graphics and Art” forum is kind of a gold mine for baffling and terrible “memes,” terribly drawn comics, and “graphics” that aren’t really graphics at all — like, for example, these graphically challenged entries:
Dude, if you’re going to try to pass off a giant mess of words as a “graphic,” you could at least take ten seconds to proofread your, er, work.
This similarly verbose entry at least technically qualifies as a comic. The speakers are supposed to represent AVFM’s “Honey Badgers” facing off against some eeeevil feminists.
Some contributors to the “graphics” forum don’t even bother to make graphics themselves, hoping that others will be inspired to transform their ideas into brilliant works of art.
Alas, no one there has yet managed to turn this idea into a comic:
Cartoon idea – “the inevitable fate of Male Feminists”
Here’s my idea for a new cartoon (sorry, but I can’t draw for shit):
So you’ve got Michael Kimmel, PZ Myers, and David Futrelle, standing around talking together, each depicted with a human head on a praying mantis’s body. And the Kimmel mantis is saying something like, “Gosh, I think we’ve finally proven how valuable we are to the movement [Feminism]”.
You also notice a human head tucked in the corner of the room they’re standing in – it’s Hugo Schwyzer, with X’s drawn over his eyes.
And as they’re talking, you see another head roll in from the hallway, through an open door behind them. This time it’s Charles Clymer, and he appears to be freshly decapitated.
I would draw this myself, but, you know, I haven’t quite perfected my Michael Kimmel caricature.
If feminism creates equality like McDonalds solves world hunger, then AVfM creates equality like leaving a negative review of McDonalds on Yelp solves world hunger.
Oh! It’s just so cringe-worthy!
Do they understand the concepts of wit and irony?
Hmm I wonder if this sort of thing can be recreated: Feminism erodes the “patriarchy” like time tables cure old age?
*Patriarchy put in brackets because I imagine that’s what they’d do*
It seems you’re overthinking it way too much. The thing is, MRAs are neither creative nor particularly competent, so most of the time they just recycle their old talking points over and over again. In this case it’s restatement of this:
I.e. those who “really” suffer from hunger have little use of McDonald’s, which is really just another variation on WATM theme.
Yeah, the first strawminist is definitely her. It’s also such an obvious (and somewhat cliché) attempt at a dig at Elevatorgate…
Okay, firstly, I’m going to just ignore that this “graphic” is originally a list to determine if you are being abused by your romantic partner, which is totally, completely, and in every way UNLIKE dealing with people in society who disagree with your ideology.
Anyways.
I have had this same conversation with a number of guy friends — all good guys whom I dearly love: Someone (usually a superior at work) talked to them about changing their behavior. Stuff like, “Hey, don’t joke around so much during meetings”; or “Hey, it’s written all over your face that you don’t want to be here today, so please try to act more professional”; or “Hey, several employees are reading you as being angry with them all the time; how can we try to work on that?”
Then said guy friend comes to me, upset, because he isn’t allowed to be himself at work. He isn’t allowed to express his personality. He believes he’s being told to shut up and go away. And I’ve had to try and explain to him, “Um, but having to curb certain behaviors in certain contexts does not equal having to forfeit an important part of who you are.”
I’m dealing with a small sample size, of course, but I’ve never had this conversation with a woman. I’ve been wondering if this is tied to patriarchal stuff, e.g., “What do you mean *I* have to change to accommodate *other people*? I thought other people are supposed to change to accommodate me.”
Of course, this is clearly an entitlement issue when it comes to certain men insisting on their right to make hateful jokes and threats without facing social consequences. But it seems to me that it might be interlaced with an overall privileged idea that any social boundaries at all = a grievous affront to one’s identity.
Maybe they’re trying to say feminsisimmm and McDonald’s both make everyone fat?
Or that phesmsmm allows women to demand Happy Meal toys from the Drive Thru of Life? While men are the ones risking their lives slaving for minimum wage working with dangerous equipment, such as the deep fryer and the shake machine?
…I have no idea. In the meantime, I’ll join in the hearty applause for Sir Bodsworth and leocigale.
That certainly didn’t slow anybody else down. You know, I think the reason these guy suck so bad at art is actually a combination of a complete lack of empathy, and a belief that every one else is capable of reading their minds. Come to think of it, that also sort of explains the friend zone. And a lot of the general paranoia.
@volt
nicely said!
@leocigale and Bodsworth
You’re both awesome
Memes with a wall of text = Memesplaining?
@Luzbelitx: Or perhaps mansplemeing?
Yikes! …
A 15-second search reveals instances of Ronald McDonald House donating to feedamerica.org, and various McDonald’s franchises sponsoring food banks. I know that a number of McDonald’s franchises in Louisville KY donate to Dare to Care/Second Harvest, which (among other things) takes food that is still good but cannot be sold in stores or restaurants for whatever reason, and makes use of it in soup kitchens and food banks.
Soooo … actually McDonald’s does care about hunger, and that meme is, unintentionally, almost accurate.
All this talk of McDonald’s is making me hungry. I’m going to treat myself to a double cheeseburger for lunch now. Thanks for the suggestion MRAs! I deserve it because I’ve been working hard lately…I mean because I have a vagina.
MRAs understand feminism the way creationists understand evolution.
David:
Often it’s while mating. Not just once they’re done. Just sayin’. So maybe it’s good that the women feminists never actually have teh sex with the male feminists (since we all only like alpha dudes…)
In other words, McDonald’s does more activism than A Voice for Men.
But then Omni Consumer Products, The Umbrella Corporation, and any dozen other fictional evil corporations do activism than A Voice for Men.
Who told them about my golden uterus and my goddess-like control of the sunrise?! I mean, ffs, I really don’t need the press attention.
I want a long running comic stop featuring Rico and Carl’s many adventures.
The ‘feminisim’ mess of words is a hell of a thing. I know MRAs constantly conflate feminists, women in general, proponents of traditional gender roles and female evil doers, but this one takes it to new heights.
How does something think this up?
I’m surprised they haven’t whined about feminists drawing their cartoons for them. Since they expect us to do their activism why wouldn’t they expect us to make their graphics too?
It’s a (slightly) modified list of warning signs that you’re in an abusive relationship. It’s pretty clear that someone took the wrong message from the recent media coverage on the subject of IPV. This is a man going his own way, only he can’t because feminists won’t let him, by … ??? Read the list from the perspective a dude who thinks feminism is in some way forcing him to think constantly about women and write constantly about feminists on the internet. He thinks he’s in an intimate relationship with feminism and can’t get out.
I was watching a video that a man ate nothing but mcdonalds for almost a month. He started to feel depressed and very sick. He went to the hospital and almost died. But he’s fine now.
Golden uterus reminds me of that one guy who calls his sperm ‘liquid gold’ seriously these Mras just replaced what they say and placed ‘feminists’ in them. “Nope, we didn’t say this feminists did!”
Only the great goddess Amaterasu from Okami can make the sun rise.
Because if he tries to leave, feminism will….?
I think it would help if the memes themselves didn’t sound quite so bitter or butthurt.
Ha,ha!, who am i kidding?
Nah, that wouldn’t help at all.
The following statement is the basis for all MRA anti-feminist “thought” (my apologies for misusing the word, but I couldn’t think of an acceptable alternative):
Feminism teaches woman that they have other roles in life besides making my boner happy, and that some of them even are much more important and valuable than my boner. I can’t think of a more monstrous, thoroughly evil idea than that.
Everything else they say on the subject of feminism derives from that defining principle.
(My apologies, also, for using relatively decent grammar, spelling, and punctuation, but I was an English major and I can’t help myself.)
Jarred, feminism will laugh at him, of course!