Janet “JudgyBitch” Bloomfield may not have mastered the fine art of public relations in the real world, but amongst those who live in imaginary worlds of their own making she is something of a PR genius.
Bloomfield, A Voice for Men’s “Director of Social Media,” was recently booted from Twitter (again) for “targeted abuse” — evidently her harassment of feminist writer Jessica Valenti, which included making up inflammatory fake quotations and attributing them to her.
Bloomfield, who once claimed (apparently at least semi-seriously) that a previous Twitter suspension was punishment for her posting a picture of a wedding cake, has responded with a petulant note to Twitter and a similarly petulant open letter to the world, insisting that she’s an innocent woman who’s been railroaded by an evil feminist cabal.
She is, of course, full of it, but she’s picked up support from several online publications popular with the reality-challenged: Alex Jones’ loopy conspiracy megasite Infowars.com, GamerGate propaganda hub The Ralph Retort, and right-wing garbage site The Gateway Pundit. She’s got her Twitter followers in a tizzy, and they are filling up my Twitter timeline with their usual brand of nonsense.
Bloomfield claims, in a Facebook posting that’s been uncritically reposted by her supporters in the imaginary-world media, that she’s a blameless victim of a “harassment campaign” inspired by, well, me.
No, really. Here’s what she wrote, apparently with a straight face:
My most recent suspension is the result of me tweeting the actual words of Guardian journalist Jessica Valenti back to her. Prompted by @davidfutrelle, a harassment campaign to report me for spam/abuse was undertaken by users who appear to be under the impression that I made up the Valenti quotes and falsely attributed them to her. This is not true.
It takes a certain amount of chutzpah to make this claim, given that Bloomfield has not only made up numerous false and inflammatory quotes she claimed were written by Valenti, but has also gone on to publicly gloat that her falsehoods were causing Valenti distress. The fake quotes were merely one egregious episode in an months-long campaign of targeted abuse directed at Valenti.
Here’s a screenshot of four fake Valenti quotes that Bloomfield tweeted last August. (I have helpfully labeled the ones that are fake; see here for details.)
More recently, Bloomfield Tweeted yet another fake Valenti quote that has been making the rounds in Men’s Rights circles for months. (The red scrawls on the screenshot are mine.)
See here for more details.
Though none of these quotes sound even remotely like anything that Valenti would ever say, many of Bloomfield’s followers had no trouble believing they were real, and in both instances the fake quotes inspired harassment and abuse directed at Valenti.
Back in August, Bloomfield seemed proud as punch that her fake quotes were causing difficulties for Valenti. In a posting on her blog (which I’ve archived here), Bloomfield gleefully wrote:
And she added, for good measure:
It’s not clear to me how Valenti having to deal with harassment caused by Bloomfield libeling her is an example of Valenti “having to own her shit,” given that the shit in question is not actually hers.
Bloomfield also pulled a similar stunt with a screenshot of an obviously fake Tweet ostensibly from GamerGate boogeywoman Anita Sarkeesian; it, too, inspired harassment against Bloomfield’s target.
Bloomfield has helped to inspire and direct campaigns of harassment against other women as well, including one school teacher she accused, with absolutely no evidence, of trying to shut down AVFM’s conference with death threats. She has also repeatedly libeled me. In all of these cases she used Twitter essentially as an amplifier of hate.
These tactics are pretty much the definition of “targeted abuse.” And “targeted abuse” is what Twitter gave as the reason for her most recent suspension, according to a screenshot that Bloomfield has herself posted on her blog.
But Bloomfield is attempting to convince the world that she’s been suspended for quoting Valenti accurately. In her posts on her suspension, she refers to one instance in which she did indeed quote Valenti more or less accurately – as if that somehow makes up for her fake quotes.
I’m no lawyer, but I’m pretty sure that Bloomfield announcing that not everything she’s said about Valenti is a malicious lie wouldn’t be much of a defense against a libel case.
But, of course, amongst her reality-challenged fans, Bloomfield’s spin has carried the day. Indeed, the headline on the Infowars post detailing Bloomfield’s imaginary victimization declares baldly that:
It seems rather telling that the theInfowars “reporter” who wrote that post touts his Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing from Nottingham Trent University in his Infowars bio. In this case, though, he merely repeated and amplified Bloomfield’s own fictions.
Speaking of which, Bloomfield also claims that “[m]y account has never tweeted abuse.” This is also patent bullshit.
Her peculiar wording may be a way to elide the fact that she used the official Twitter account for A Voice for Men’s conference last summer to call a bunch of people “whores.”
But the fact is she used her now-suspended @JudgyBitch1 Twitter account to post stuff much worse than this. In addition to abusive tweets directed at Valenti (like this salacious one), she also told one rape survivor [TRIGGER WARNING]
Bloomfield’s attempts to portray herself as the innocent victim of a witchhunt are especially ironic, given how carefully she’s cultivated her “mean girl” image. She attacks feminists – mostly women – with the malicious glee of a born bully, and mocks those who point out her lies and cruelty, using this picture as the profile pic for one of her Twitter accounts.
On her blog, which is often worse than her Twitter account ever was, she blamed the underage victims of Jimmy Savile’s sexual predations for exploiting him, and declared the 16-year-old victim of gang rape in Steubenville a “dumb whore.”
The woman who calls herself “Judgy Bitch” now finds herself being judged for her vindictive, bullying behavior, and doesn’t much like it.
NOTE: If anyone has screenshots of other abusive tweets from JB that I have missed, please email me with them or post them in the comments below; I may want to add more to the post or use them for a followup post.
Absolutely Spot on Lea.
She looks a bit like J K Rowling but there is no other resemblance, as JK seems like a good person.
JB: Own your shit feminists!
*JudgyBitch guffaws about how awesome she is and gloats about starting a harassment campaign against someone with false quotes*
*someone points out that JudgyBitch was libeling someone and making up false quotes*
JB: Wait, what do you mean I libeled against someone? I didn’t do that!
JB: *casually deletes anything that may be incriminating* See! No evidence of that here!”
Typical MRA stunt. If they do it, it’s fine. If a feminist does it, then it only proves their point that feminists are EEEEVIILLLLL and are out to destroy everything manhood stands for (like violence against women, turning women into sexual objects, and telling other men they can’t have feelings because everything that is feminine is evil)!
Because they’re the “good guys” and are just “fighting for REAL justice”!
The hypocrisy burrrnnnsss.
Given JB lies about every other damn thing, I wonder if these children of hers are even real? Be a relief if they weren’t.
She wants so badly to be a Mean Girl, but Mean Girls are popular. Maybe “try AVFM” can be the new “try Sears”.
@kitteh,
God, I hope that she’s lying about their existence too. She codename her daughter Pinkie Pie, ffs. Guess that she’s been hanging around the Bronies too much.
I don’t even know how people fall for these fake tweets from @femfreq; that is obviously so much longer than 140 characters.
I really, really hope she’ll end up in real-life prison for her bullshit.
@fruitloopsie, don’t forget the live action movie version!
alaisvex, being her kid would make a person wish they were imaginary!
Lea
I thought about that too but you said it much better. I wonder if that goes for the other female mras as well?
As I read some of their articles here I don’t think they truly care about men I think they might be afraid of them if they don’t do as they say they’ll get hurt or worse or just using them for their own personal gain like money and attention like if they are out of the spotlight for even a minute they feel worthless.
Proof: JB has called a couple of men the ‘w’ word and Camille has even compared men to animals.
I don’t know there are tons of reasons we could think of why they do this but none are good enough to excuse their behavior.
kittehserf
QFT
I realise that kids and homework and housewifery can be a bit dreary if you’re not totally immersed in the yummy mummy or earnest home schooler or craft or charity work or other worlds. But there are still satisfactions and pleasures to be had living that life to the full. If you don’t want to immerse yourself in your kids or your household or you find it too dull/ frustrating/ burdensome when you do, then you should apply yourself to doing some other thing. Pointlessly flitting from one activity to another on a whim or a flight of fancy is not the way to do that.
I don’t know why people like to “other” evil people, as though they couldn’t possible be held accountable for it; why not just call them evil? Evil doesn’t have to be some big grand thing, it can be a banal bully, just like JB.
A lot of it probably is indeed othering, but not necessarily all of it. Saying “I really hope she is ill and that is why she is doing this” can also be – having trouble wording this right – based in empathy sometimes.
I have empathy for others. At least I try. And because I would never consider treating someone the way JB is treating…everybody…well, I cannot fathom her reasons for doing so. They seem literally alien to me.
So, as best I can tell, there are two explanations:
A) She has a mental illness that causes her to view the world (and her relationship to it) in an incredibly warped, probably horrifying way. This is treatable. This can be improved, should she choose to use available resources.
B) She is evil and her actions are unmitigated evil. This cannot be fixed.
So I guess I’d always rather it be option A, because at least in that scenario there’s some hope. With time and help, this person might not be a blight upon the soul of humanity.
But then, I struggle with depression, and I’m not using “mentally ill” as an insult. There is no shame in mental illness – the problem is when you leave it untreated and thus force whatever ugliness you’re fighting to be everybody else’s problem.
I hope that made sense, I’m half asleep. Trying to avoid giving the impression that I condone ableism, and I’m still trying to sort out my thoughts on this subject, so if anyone has thoughts I’d love to hear them! I try to keep an open mind 🙂
It makes me sad to say this, but J.B. reminds me of my mother. According to mumsy, any woman who got raped or had sex with anyone except her “owner” was stupid, a whore and deserved anything that happened to her. Sigh. She slapped me in the face and called me a slut when I got my first period.
I REALLY feel sorry for any daughters JB may have.
Kittenserf
That would be a relief indeed if her kids and her husband didn’t exist
cassandrakitty
“She wants so badly to be a Mean Girl, but Mean Girls are popular. Maybe “try AVFM” can be the new “try Sears”.
http://youtu.be/fh-ND4Wx8OE
Bogdan
Oooh I like that version
Mouse farts
You sound like a very good person and I understand on how you feel but Im mentally ill myself and been compared to a child of my way of thinking and actions so I don’t think we should think that JB may be mentally ill. She does need help and therapy I’ll tell you that!
Samantha
WHAT. THE. F***************! (And I dont even like to cuss)
I am SOO sorry hugs and kisses by the truckloads coming your way
mildlymagnificent – oh, but JB does have a pastime she’s immersed in – being a horrible person and sucking up to Pauly & co.
Mouse Farts, well said. That’s the core of the “there must be something wrong with this person to act this way” reaction for me, too; it’s not “mental illness = bad,” though I know there’s a hella lot of splash damage and stigma because too many people do think that. It’s like you said, partly the reluctance to think an allegedly functioning adult can just be that bad, and, in JB’s case, an extremism that just isn’t grounded in any sort of reality. The instinct is to wonder what the hell’s going on in her head. But … we’ve no evidence that there’s anything going on in her head except massive shit production. Whatever else she’s got going on, or not, she really is just an evil person.
Jeez that got long!
samantha –
WTF????
That just broke my brain.
fruitloopsie – I like the distinction you drew between being mentally ill and needing therapy. JB needs a crash course in Being a Decent Human Being 101, though I suspect she’d fail.
@samantha: that was awful, and demonstrates a complete lack of biological understanding on the part of your mother. Getting your period is already a stigmatising time, without having a parent pile onto that.
Re using mental illness, anyone who does this, no matter their intent is saying that mental illness is causing JB/whoever to act the way they do. That is, there is the explicit link between presumed cause (mental illness) and effect (really horrible attitudes, thoughts, and deeds). Mental illness is neither a necessary nor sufficient cause for people to be vile. Being vile (and in very specific ways, for example targeting the vileness only at feminists) is not one of any diagnostic criteria.
There are already enough issues with people generally not understanding mental illness – conflating types, believing negative myths – without us contributing further to this.
Thanks. Sadly, I found out what made my mother who she was. When I was 45, I asked my grandmother about her daughter, my mother. She told me that being in labor with my mother revealed a weakness in her uterine wall. It tore and the resulting problems deprived my mother of oxygen long enough to cause damage, apparently to the part of the brain that governs things like compassion and the ability to connect with others. Empathy was something she was not capable of, and she became abusive – torturing animals when she was a kid and stuff.
45 years of hating her for the horrors she inflicted on me and my sibs sort of started to evaporate. I could never like her, but, when you know that someone is damaged beyond repair, hating him or her just eats you up. She died almost 2 years ago and I truly wish her spirit peace and the opportunity to come back in a happier fashion.
“That just broke my brain.” It would have broken my brain, too, if it hadn’t been already broken by JB’s behavior. She just seems to be filled with limitless, uncontrollable anger, and you DO have to wonder where it comes from. I find myself wondering whether she might just be a Paul Elam sock, but I guess she has appeared in public with the MRAs. But I wouldn’t be surprised to find that 98% of what she says about herself is made up. I don’t know how someone so filled with anger and hatred can function as part of a family. Maybe she’s just an actress and Paul pays her to act. I just can’t …
There are more than those two explanations, I don’t consider with people with unpleasant personalities mentally ill and I save evil as a description for worse behavior than this. She’s a childish egotistical close-minded petulant asshole devoid of empathy and has jaw droppingly shitty manners to boot. It’s not that much of a mystery IMHO.
With JB and her ilk, it’s not “mental illness makes this a horrible person” but “is this total disconnect from reality because there’s something going on in their head?” that’s the knee-jerk question (if there is such a thing).
But it’s still not a valid question, because there are so. many. horrible people with brutal, disgusting ideas that have no basis in reality – hell, look at all the ones infesting governments around the world – and we know full well that cognitive dissonance and utter shitbaggery are very easty states for human beings to attain. Mental illness has nothing to do with it; it’s the infiinite human capacity for FAIL.
samantha, I’m so sorry you had to go through that. 🙁
That, or they hired some really hard-up person to play her. 😛
Samantha
I didn’t know that was possible anyway I’m glad you forgave her. Not forgiving someone is like drinking poison and expecting that person to die.
I never truly hated anyone but yeah I’v been angry and abused but I learn to forgive them, my family and I deserve peace after all and I want to love people that’s who I am.
I’m glad you shared that it’s not easy but it is certainly brave.
kittenserf
“Fruitloopsie – I like the distinction you drew between being mentally ill and needing therapy. JB needs a crash course in Being a Decent Human Being 101, though I suspect she’d fail.”
Thanks glad I could help and I’ll be the one giving the big F- on her grade report in that class.
Yes.
Some people are just assholes. It doesn’t mean they’re special, or ill, or unmitigated evil. Assholes are quite common, and sometimes the asshole trait co-occurs with the craving attention trait. JB isn’t special. She’s just a loudmouth asshole.
Sometimes assholes learn the error of their ways, and sometimes they don’t.
In bright red ink! 😀