Over on Reddit, a regular on the Blue Pill subreddit — devoted to mocking Red Pill ridiculousness — recently reposted the cartoon above, one of The Onion’s brilliant parodies of the terrible political cartoons that are pretty much omnipresent in every second-string newspaper in the country. I don’t think I’ve ever posted it here before — I’m not sure I ever saw it until today — so I thought I’d share it here as well.
What makes this particular cartoon extra delicious is that its “argument,” such as it is, is one that a lot of Men’s Rights Activists actually believe. Indeed, it calls to mind the cover of the revised ebook edition of Warren Farrell‘s seminal MRA manifesto The Myth of Male Power, in which a picture of a woman’s posterior is presented as if it truly is, somehow, a threat to the rights of men:
Hell, as you can see, that woman’s butt is literally shattering the word “power.” The only question in my mind is whether the butt-damage was caused by some overenthusiastic twerking, or by a particularly powerful fart.
But Farrell — who is essentially the Founding Father of the Men’s Rights movement — didn’t mean it as a joke. As he explained in the new introduction to his book, he intended the cover to highlight the power “genetic celebrities” — his term for attractive women — have over hapless horny men:
When asked about the cover in a Reddit Ask Me Anything thread, Farrell doubled down:
MRA’s: when the arguments of your most famous “intellectual” are indistinguishable from a parody editorial cartoon in The Onion, it might be time to rethink your whole movement.
So seriously, the highly intellectual argument of the most intellectual of the MRAs is that when dudes are horny they don’t always think straight? Amazing.
You could almost even think this made sense if you thought women were immune to the thrilling effects of lust and infatuation and that we used any good looks we have to calculatedly squeeze assets out of men…
but only someone who was profoundly disconnected from reality and a little dim would actually think that.
oh wait
Ah, yes, the “‘genetic celebrities’ make men powerless by existing with nice asses. Which is of course why men aren’t overwhelmingly represented in positions of power and control most of the world’s wealth, etc, etc. The poor fools are too befuddled by their libidos to do anything! Which is why Kim Kardashian is one of the most powerful and respected people in the world and is never, ever shamed for posing for sexy pictures.
POM said:
But if people who weren’t white, male, heterosexual, cis, thin and middle class were considered human beings then white, heterosexual, cis, thin, middle class men might have to feel bad about the way everyone else gets treated! And that would be awful!
/sarcasm
Wasn’t that basically one of the things Warren Ferrell wrote? Or am I thinking of someone else? Or maybe just the general “pointing out injustice makes me feel vaguely bad/guilty so just shut up about it!” theme that floats around the manosphere.
All these MRAs and their bs kind of blend together after awhile.
you know, I read a comment on metafilter once that made a lot of sense to me… hir idea was that a lot of the time when a relationship isn’t working out people will seize on whatever “flaw” seems most obvious (weight, lack of ambition, weird chin, whatever) as an explanation but that’s not necessarily actually it… the real problem is a lot deeper and more subtle but it’s intangible and so hard to articulate.
so it’s not that odd that people will wind up dating someone later who’s even more unambitious/chubby/whatever than the previous partner… and be happy as a clam.
I had a partner once who was always on me about my weight, and it really stressed me out. I wasn’t even overweight! Even at a perfectly “normal” BMI, I’m busty and have a broad backside: this was all before Big Butts were a Big Thing in mainstream culture.
so he and I both considered this an unfortunate flaw that I could and should overcome through discipline. I felt like I was really failing at life because I couldn’t get my butt into a size 6, let alone the 2 or 4 that would have REALLY signaled success. *rolleyes* He really idealized a very slim, petite frame. And so did I, but I couldn’t get there w/o hurting myself and was absolutely terrified that I couldn’t keep it up longterm, so we were at an impasse.
We had very little chemistry and disagreed about a lot of really important stuff other than my butt, and were with each other I think largely out of boredom and a fear of being alone. When we split, I wound up with someone who actually likes a lot of “fleshiness” (and whose personality and ideals were more in tune with mine on a lot of other things) so I was happy, and I was sure he’d wind up with one of the petite, rail thin ladies who fit his ideal better. There were plenty of them around at the time, and he’s a tall, pleasant, good looking guy with options galore.
But sure enough, he turned back up a few years later with someone who… kinda looks a lot like me. I think they’re happy, but it’s little to do with how thin she is or isn’t. They just have better chemistry and a shared vision of The Good Life.
Policy – yes I am aware that attractive people are advantaged – but that includes men. Very good looking men still get taken seriously in the workplace, do not get told that they ‘brighten up the office’ or that they got the job because the boss fancied them (OK maybe occasionally). Farrell does not seem to include men at all in his stupid GC theory, but I would have thought that a tall, good looking, muscular man is one of the most supremely advantaged beings in this world!
This idea about beautiful women being the real holders of the power reminds me of the song “Thank god I`m pretty” by Emilie Autumn.
@Chaos-Engineer: Oh, yes, they have been quite successful.
“Every heterosexual male knows this”.
That’s odd, because I and most other heterosexual males I’ve discussed this sort of thing with is entirely capable of remaining calm, rational and civilized in the presence of an attractive woman. Perhaps this this guy only thinks people who turn into slavering troglodytes at the sight of female flesh count as heterosexual males. Or he needs to get out more. Or both.
They really don’t understand the difference between fantasy and/or some random thing some person said and reality, do they? You see this problem all the way from the Gamergate dudes to Kate’s comment, in which she mistakes a really rather obvious attempt at marketing for a thing that actually happened. It’s as if they take in all information in a completely undifferentiated way, without applying any discernment at all, and just kind of assume that if they’re seeing or hearing it then it’s true. I suppose media literacy courses in schools might help, but I think there’s an underlying issue about the way they choose to interpret information (if this agrees with what I already believe it must be true!) that’s going to be hard to overcome.
The intellectual stature of these quotes is creating some kind knotty blockage in my pink girly brain. Not sure if that’s my upper, lower or mezzanine level brain. But as an aging ‘genetic celebrity’ it’s with gratitude I look back on the years I spent not having to ‘initiate’ and therefore be spared looking like a fool when I got it wrong. No, there were no humiliations, rejections or other socially painful struggles. Nor did I appreciate how that meant I didn’t ‘deserve to be physically hurt’ or ‘financially hurt’ and ‘humiliated’ because I never ever had to ‘initiate’. No, those sexual assaults, harrassments and stalkings I endured were piddling things in the face of these apparently horrific mortal dangers men face when they see a ‘piece of ass’ they like. Their utter helplessness when presented so thoughtlessly by a simple body part. But there I was – unaccountable and irresponsible by existing and having to occupy a particular point in space. I can only apologise. But hey, we have the solution. We confront…er…it. And those women who learn to confront this because they are made to feel imprisoned by being internally beautiful without the backside to match…but…if, .when….oh christ, I’ve blown a girly fuse with that last quote. Wtf was that all about??? And what the hell am I going to do with all those diamonds they felt they had to buy me just to grab a piece?
Squeeeeee! Wookit dat widdle spiky tail! I’s in WUUUUUV!
Ahem. Where was I again? Oh yeah:
That makes sense, and yes, it’s quite possible. He wouldn’t be the first dude to break up with me under false and cowardly pretences, either, if that was the case. I did sense that something was up because he kept talking about some other woman at his job, one I’d never met. But who knows? Maybe he was really just friends with her. Or just being an ass. Or just really, really unable to cope with tired, depressed me-at-the-time.
Heh…same here. My butt was J-Lo before J-Lo was J-Lo. And thanks to the Pill, my boobs finally caught up to it, years later. I’ve gotten a lot of positive comments on it from other guys, so maybe this one was just looking for nits to pick in order not to feel too much like the baddie for breaking things up. Or for getting ragged on by his buddies because he “could do better”. Or for being unable to cope with my illness, which all his ham-handed efforts to “cheer up” were only making worse. We were each other’s first sex partner, after all. And if I had to express any disappointment in him for stupid physical things, that would have been it right there, except that I already knew not to expect much of someone who was just as inexperienced as I.
In the end, I can only be thankful that he is someone else’s problem now.
yeah, I was going to explain to Kate that “the butt that broke the internet” thing was a jokey slogan, not a literal fact but it was too tedious and I’m not getting paid for remedial ed here. No, I don’t think media literacy classes would help most people like that: you would have to get them to memorize by rote a list of exact things to look out for, and if something deviated from that authoritative list they’d get taken in again.
I know a guy who posted a blatantly OBVIOUSLY photoshopped sign from the Ferguson protests. My feelings about Ferguson are honestly kind of ambivalent but wouldn’t you have to have a subnormal IQ to ACTUALLY BELIEVE a kid there was holding a sign that said “No mother should have to fear for her son when he robs a store”?
This guy is pleasant and hardworking in person, not obviously mentally deficient… but OMG! Seriously. THINK.
I…um…the fuck? Again, I think it’s a case of people being willing to believe any ridiculous shit if it’s telling them what they want to hear.
@cassandrakitty yeah, I sent the old Link To Snopes that had the original photo (sign said “No mother should have to fear for her son when he goes outside” or something actually logical like that)
and the guy was like, “oh yeah, forgot photoshop was a thing now.” Like photoshop (and photo manipulation in general) is a newfangled tool and protest signs don’t have a long history of being maliciously photoshopped and omg, you know what?
Bless your heart. *pats head, deep sigh*
/goes to happy place
Man Oppressed by Butt
http://iruntheinternet.com/lulzdump/images/cat-sitting-guys-face-kitten-1310824453G.jpg
@Cheryl Kerkin
Look at the entertainment industry, where an endless supply of young beautiful women are aggressively exploited and used, without gaining a lick power, influence or money. I know an aspiring actress who worked at a private club as waitress and what the rich clientele would try to do to her was hair-raising. She was protected at work, but the walk to her car always involved aggressive stalky assholes who wouldn’t take no for an answer. She’s just grateful that she was only endlessly harassed and gropped, but never full-on sexually assaulted. Such power and privilege.
The thing is everyone knows about this shit, but TeRPers and MRAs, not burdened by any pesky empathy, only care about their own rage against women. But these dumb asses are as pretentious as they are self-involved, hence their threadbare, comically ridiculous pseudo-social analysis which always in the end posits that their male rage is the one great true cause in the world.
@skiriki OH NO THE LITTLE TAIL I AM OPPRESSED BY THE CUTE and must immediately go and write a book about the myth of human power or something.
@Lea “It’s about being more acceptable to the class actually in power” is a really, really good way of putting it, and I’m going to steal that line to explain these concepts to people in the future (if that’s ok!)
@kittehserf I love how smug that cat looks. Absolutely zero fucks are being given.
lacerta viridis – the default Cattitude! 😀
I’ll admit I’m feeling a little jaded after my work Christmas Party last night but this represents an all time low in logical arguments.
I think Farrells ‘ theory ‘ (and mra’s in general) in a nutshell is.
Listen ladies. Mens brains have evolved differently to womens ,which just happens to mean that men are better at maths, creating things and controlling their emotions. Infact we’re better at everything ,ever , in the whole wide world and are soley responsible for building civilization.
Uh, except when it’s convenient and suddenly we can’t control our emotions at the sight of a womans ass and shouldn’t be made to feel responsible for that because that’s just how our brains evolved. Poor ickle us.
http://i.imgur.com/tuXURME.jpg
Too late lacerta, David has already written that much needed expose, or at least photoshopped the cover.
https://www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/2014/04/30/warren-farrell-men-are-oppressed-by-womens-butts/
http://i1.cpcache.com/product/199796497/follow_chairman_meow_cat_posters.jpg?height=240&width=240
Ninja’d by Kitteh’s cover, which is more art nouveau and less fluffy than David’s version.
But it just shows how true it is, because two humans have written about the oppressive power of kittybutts!
A playcat bunny.
http://giveitlove.com/wp-content/uploads/Cat-Dressed-as-a-Bunny-For-Halloween.jpg
TOTAL OPPRESSION!