Congratulations, A Voice for Men. You are having an impact upon the world.
Or at least upon one organization in India, a truly reprehensible group called Masculinist India, which has adopted the histrionic rhetorical style, and even some of the specific arguments, advanced by AVFM and other North American Men’s Rights groups for a series of graphically challenged “masculinist” memes posted on Facebook and on the group’s web page. Masculinist India has even adopted AVFM’s preferred nomenclature, describing its members as “Men’s Human Rights Activists.” They are of course the complete opposite of “human rights” activists, campaigning instead against basic rights for women.
The influence of AVFM and other Western Men’s Rightsers can been seen again and again in Masculinist India’s posts and memes, which have all the sophistication and subtlety of Chick Tracts.
The “feminists made me a misogynist” logic of the meme above, for example, echoes the argument made in “Hate Bounces,” an influential MRA screed by MRA/MGTOW elder “Zed,” and by countless other MRAs including former AVFM Number Two John Hembling.
Other memes borrow not only the arguments of Western MRAs but recycle the same tired stock photos, like the angry woman in this meme, a favorite amongst Western MRAs.
Masculinist India’s graphics-makers are as obsessed with this “argument” as is AVFM’s Paul Elam.
And they share AVFM’s fondness for threatening rhetoric — in this case complete with violent imagery.
And while AVFM’s Elam argues that men serving on juries should vote to acquit all men charged with rape, even if they’re obviously guilty, in order to protest an allegedly “misandrist” court system, the Masculinist India crew celebrates a court decision allowing married men to rape their wives with impunity. The following meme appears on their website under the taunting headline “Know Your Role, Girls.” [TRIGGER WARNING for rape apologism, offensive imagery.]
.
.
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I don’t even want to know why they chose bloody fingers for this graphic.
This meme, meanwhile, suggests that it’s an injustice that men are not allowed to forbid their wives from wearing blue jeans.
Human rights: You’re doing it wrong.
Unfortunately, Masculinist India is not some obscure little group with no influence in the world. Its Facebook page has nearly twenty thousand “likes” — several thousand more, that is, than that of AVFM itself.
Apparently in India as well as the United States there is a market for this brand of hatred.
NOTE: Thanks to Cloudiah for bringing these memes to my attention.
RE: cloudiah
My kneejerk response: WELCOME TO CROWDFUNDING, DUMBASS. What, do you think you just suddenly jump into the magical spotlight and money comes raining down on you from the heavens? Come on!
And what a loud purr that Devon Rex kitty has!
I wish we could just bring all the women and children from India (and other misogny countries) to here.
Not to be a buzz kill but the pro-rape bloody fingers kill the levity for me. That’s a lot of wrongness.
He’s complaining about being surrounded by hatred and bigotry, and admits that much of it is coming from the “loyal opposition” (i.e. the anti-Sarkeesian camp). And then how hard it is to live a normal life surrounded by hatred and bigotry. With no self awareness.
Hey dude if you find crowd funding draining, wait until you make a full length documentary feature. It’s actually takes more effort than yapping in front of a web cam and throwing that shit onto YouTube. (Assuming Johnny Whiner and Anton LaPUA actually make a real doc.)
Just did!
@brooked, yeah, there was no levity in any of these posters for me. Acid in faces, young girls gang raped and hanged from trees, dowry murders, witch hunts … no, I can’t laugh at misogynists in the context of a country where such extreme hatred of women is so widely accepted and practiced. They’re not like powerless MRAs: they are far too mainstream.
Ooooooo, I’m dyyyyyyyin’. That’s a keeper!
Agreed with everyone saying that the bloody fingers kill the humor. That’s fucking horrifying. That’s some serial killer level fuckery.
FYI, Reservation in India is the process of setting aside a certain percentage of seats (vacancies) in government institutions for members of backward and under-represented communities (defined primarily by caste and tribe).
from wikipedia
Goats:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=58-atNakMWw
Bina
“BTW, there is a Feminist India on Facebook. They seem to be well ahead of these guys in terms of “likes”, but if you haven’t already, please consider adding your thumbs-up.”
Read your comment then went to their page and saw their ‘likes’ and I have to say is
http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/240470-some-faith-in-humanity-has-been-restored
The “reservation” bit pisses me off in particular. You see, we have “reservations” for women in certain places here in India, like buses for example have a few seats in the front section reserved for old/disabled people and a few other seats reserved for women. The reasoning behind this is that buses here tend to be overcrowded and are a very unsafe public space for women – with women constantly being harassed or molested. Somehow though, the fact that they get reserved seats but men don’t has become a sign of “female privilege.”
Oh, thanks for explaining the reservation thing! I had no idea.
BTW if all of that above wasn’t bad enough for you, here’s a post on their Facebook page saying women should learn how to love a man from dogs, “man’s best friend.” Seriously. I wish I was kidding. I tried to see if someone might post “this is satire lel” but unfortunately not. As a matter of fact, one of the comments is even more reprehensible.
@Bina
Yeah I’ve been following that page for a year or so now. One problem though is that I am seemingly unable to comment on anything or even “like” anything. “Share” is the only option I see on posts. I used to be able to do that but I guess because of the amount of trolls it got or something, they must have put in place some restrictions. I don’t know, but that’s one reason I don’t really check out that page all that much nowadays.
There was a big drama recently though where the admin of the page kept making harsh remarks about the current government and people started attacking her saying “why are you talking about politics? Talk about feminism!” and ultimately she left and some other admin took over in her stead.
And then how hard it is to live a normal life surrounded by hatred and bigotry.
So precious.
I could only listen to the first ten minutes of this, but apparently the hatred and bigotry consists of people asking questions like, “Why are you doing this?” and, “At this point, aren’t you basically just stalking this woman?”
I know it’s mean to say this, but the chunk of apartment visible in the video is exactly the way I picture these guys living: slumped on an Ikea couch with trash and empty food containers strewn everywhere. Because cleaning up is for girls, dammit.
The bloody fingers make it so much worse. Don’t read this post unless you are prepared to be horrified.
It’s a poster about marital rape being legal. In England and parts of Europe, these two fingers are the equivalent of giving the middle finger in America. It’s a symbol of penetrating a woman, front and back. India, being a former colony, no doubt has a similar meaning for this gesture. The fingers are bloody because they have been used to assault a woman.
I don’t have words for how sickening this is.
@LBT – YAAAY! I’m so glad for you!
And I hope things continue to improve.
On that note, I’m off. I need to go have my evvvviiilllllll female sim run a business of her own, get rich, and break up with her boyfriend.
Or maybe I’ll do a Build-A-City Challenge, consisting entirely of males and cyborgs.
Someone on r/AMR saw that and said something about showing her boyfriend she loved him by taking a shit on the carpet.
@Sam, oh more ick. Infinite, recursive ick. Now I need more brain bleach.
Sam – the two-finger gesture is used here in Australia, too, and digital rape is exactly how I read that poster.
Emcube
Really? I had no trouble.
Shaenon
“I know it’s mean to say this”
Sweetie, compared to what they do and talk about I think whatever you say is pretty much nothing.
Sam
“I don’t have words for how sickening this is.”
Me neither. Let’s look on the bright side there are great people out there who are working on bringing them to justice and helping to have others speak out.
Michelle C Young
I salute you and wish you luck in conquering a city for our Fempire!
Cloudiah
Brain bleach to the rescue! And lol at the AMR comment
http://youtu.be/0TsVL4Ib13A
So I read this today – http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/03/world/asia/india-freedom-project/index.html – and yeah, India is one country that reaaaaaaaaaally needs Men’s Ri… OW! Sorry, I rolled my eyes back too far as I was writing that.
Awww, kitty videos.
Also, this:
I kind of love Jay Smooth, but in a platonic kind of way. He’s funny.
@cloudiah
Ha, yeah, I saw that. That was actually in response to me (I posted the dog thing there as well).
@fruitloopsie
No I think it’s selective or something, I don’t know. I have an online friend who can only “like” posts and doesn’t have the option to comment or share. Maybe this is actually an error. Sadly I can’t see any way I can contact the page admin.