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.
http://i.imgur.com/8lzd5Jh.gif
OPPRESSION. MISANDRY. BUTTS.
All hail Empress Minako! I for one welcome our fluffy-butt overlords…
Ahem. Where was I again? Oh yeah…
I’m quite partial to the one where she was photoshopped as a centaur. Palomino pony butts are cute. Not terribly oppressive, unless one is a horse’s ass, but cute!
So… My question is how do unattractive women fit into this worldview according to Farrell? From the crap Ive bottom trawled off MRA and affiliate sites is that unattractive women are entirely invisible or a subject of mockery. Unattractive men getting turned down by beautiful women is a terrible, awful, no good, very bad thing according and “settling” for an unattractive women is like the worst punishment evar. Its ridiculous how far their heads are shoved up their asses.
I swear I never hear anything about how unattractive women fit their paradigm. It’s like we don’t exist. They’re all too busy being angry that the hottest women won’t fuck them that the rest of the world is entirely invisible.
OK, time for a little mansplanation.
In boys, interest in sex precedes the capacity to engage in a mutually caring sexual relationship. The latter usually occurs along a range from about 18 (for precocious dudes) up to senility. Until that does occur, sex is mostly about status among one’s peers — i.e., the best thing ever is to bang the prom queen, even if her IQ is smaller than her bust measurement (in inches, not centimeters) and she has the personality of a Tasmanian devil. Most guys eventually get past this stage and find that there are more important things than impressing your buddies with the hottie you’re porking (or more likely claiming to pork). Some don’t. I would put Roosh V at a sexual/emotional age of about 14 years 2 months and the good Dr. Farrell at 15 years 3 months.
I suspect that the same sort of thing is true for girls but they tend to outgrow that phase a lot faster. It is also my impression that women find it fairly easy to figure out who’s interested in them as people and who’s just looking for a piece of ass, and — unless they happen to be interested in a no-strings roll in the hay — they tend to run away from the latter as quickly as possible. The result of this is that the more a dude is looking for a hot fucktoy who will make his bros jealous, the more he tends to repel most women including the ones he really wants.
Wasn’t it Mark Twain who said we’d worry a lot less what people thought of us if we realized how little time they spent doing it?
tl; dr: If you’re looking to score toxic masculinity points against your dudebros, looks are the big thing. If you’re looking to find someone compatible to share your life with, looks count a LOT less.
Actually, there is probably no such thing as an unattractive woman. Some years ago I had a co-worker who I liked, but was the ugliest woman I’d ever met. (I was married at the time anyway.) Then one day another co-worker told me he thought she was really hot but he couldn’t get up the courage to approach her.
Minako!
They’re the worst oppressors of all. Because bonersadz.
@Bad_dog: That is what that one brief response by Farrell is addressing: that it actually benefits the less traditionally attractive woman if men understand their biological urges and learn to override them. It behooves everyone to understand what they’re attracted to and why and then make the smart choice. Many men of the Manosphere feel they’re being passed over for the “bad boys,” and I hear women bemoan that men don’t care about them unless they’re a “ten.” To be quite frank, the war of the sexes will never end, but you can find yourself a separate peace.
LOL I love the way that guy just caves to the demands of the Fluffybutt Oppressor. I do just that movement (and expression, prolly) when Fribs does that while I’m trying to knit. 😀
The “war of the sexes” is a fabrication upheld by Farrell and his ilk, in part by labeling cultural standards of beauty and attraction as “biological urges.”
Oh, fudge.
Here’s the thing, though: what 21st century media deems to be “traditionally attractive” in women is not, actually, a universal, biologically-driven, genetically-programmed, hard-and-fast standard of what turns all men on everywhere. Beauty standards have varied widely depending on the place, time and culture. It’s not biologically programmed for a man to become powerless in the presences of “nice ass,” however one defines “nice ass.” I think I can say, with some certainty, that my husband does not have to override his “biological urges” in order to find me attractive. He doesn’t have to close his eyes and grit his teeth whenever we’re together, even though I most certainly do not fit into what anyone would consider “traditionally attractive” in the 21st century USA.
There is no such thing as a “war of the sexes.” Men and women are not at war. Men and women are not sworn enemies, out to manipulate and destroy each other. There really is absolutely no need for it. Really.
Ninja’d far more succinctly by kirbywarp.
The idea of two people who both think that men and women are destined to dislike and distrust each other getting married is so depressing. I mean, good that it spares other people from both of them, I guess, but still, it’s just sad.
So, Kate…how’s YOUR “war” going with your “enemy”, Mark?
@sparky:
Hey, you had good stuff in your expansion!
@Bina:
*snrk* Must… resist… urge to make… The Room joke…
Others have already pointed out that there is no biological definition of beautiful. Beauty is what we’re socialized to believe is beautiful.
Instead I’ll address another problem with your opinion. It wouldn’t actually benefit women who don’t fit into current beauty standards to also be viewed as a sex object or a trophy. I think Bad Dog’s point was that when Farrell is claiming women are more powerful because sexy booty his framework ignores women who don’t have the oppressive beauty booty power. Women as a whole can’t be more powerful and privileged if only a tiny percentage of women actually have the power to oppress men with their butts.
You and your social circle must be pretty shallow and miserable. Amongst the people I know, there is no war against the sexes.
It is funny how consistent misogynists are in using “bad boy” to mean “physically attractive man”, though.
Kirbywrap,
Allow me!
http://automaticlifestyledispenser.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/oh_hi_mark-600×389.jpg
So, anyways, how is your sex life?
I was just arguing about this with someone today. Apparently because many feminists like Joseph Gordon Levitt, Terry Crewes and Tom Hardy they are reinforcing toxic masculinity. Because muscles. But they seem like nice people, have a history of saying progressive things, they aren’t known for partying, getting arrested, and womanizing. So how are they “bad boys?” Oh right. Because muscles. Ridiculous.
I’m tired of the bullshit notion that nerds are “nice guys” and jocks are “bad boys.” I’m an adult woman, not a character in a bad teen movie and I’m not going to judge a man’s values and morality by his physical appearance.
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ly75uoauBY1qf30s6.png
“Joseph Gordon Levitt”
“Because muscles”
I am so confused right now.
I second everything on misogny in a nutshell with saying that men are supier to women in everything butt (pun intended) they are somehow ruling the world with their bodies because men can’t control themselves.
I made a skit
Fruitloopie’s skit #2 butt power
Fruitloopsie walks up to the White House and uses butt power. It’s super effective!
President: “congraduations you will be taking my spot as president of the United states from now”
Fruitloopsie: “sweet!”
WWTH
“I’m tired of the bullshit notion that nerds are “nice guys” and jocks are “bad boys.” I’m an adult woman, not a character in a bad teen movie and I’m not going to judge a man’s values and morality by his physical appearance.”
I’m tired of that too. The manosphere thinks it’s all about looks butt (pun intended again) it’s that they are so unlikable on the inside that no one wants to be around them except for other bitter and insecure people.
Terry Crews is a really sensitive guy, an outspoken feminist ally, and suffered bullying as a kid.
Tom Hardy, while a pretty beefy guy, tends to pair with people bigger than himself in action movies.
Meanwhile, in Avengers, it’s Tom Hiddleston who gets the fangirls despite sharing the screen with two massive hunks of meat AND Robert Downey Jr. playing an alcoholic womanizer.
Also, again, anecdotes aren’t data and all, but the nastiest treatment I’ve ever personally encountered from men has been from nerds, not jocks.
Why hello there, ridiculous sexist trope! Didn’t expect to see you here.