Here are some things that Alex Jones, the bellicose conspiracy theorist behind Infowars and Prison Planet, actually believes:
- That a secret cabal of Bilderbergers, Rockefellers and the Illuminati control the world, and plan to kill off most of humanity.
- That “devil worshiping pedophiles basically run the New World Order. They love death and they love killing babies.”
- That Jared Loughner’s attempted assassination of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, which killed six people and left Giffords with brain damage, was “a staged mind-control operation” directed by the government’s “geometric psychological-warfare experts.”
- That the government may have deliberately created the tornado that devastated the town of Moore Oklahoma in 2013.
- That the Adult Swim cartoon Mr. Pickles, featuring a demon-possessed border collie, “promotes Satanism, abortion, and the Illuminati agenda.”
- That men are oppressed by bumbling sitcom dads like Archie Bunker and Al Bundy.
Yep, Alex Jones is a Men’s Rights Activist in all but name.
In the video above, ostensibly an analysis of the “the political and social agenda pushed during the Super Bowl,” Jones argues – and I use the term loosely – that the secret cabal running the world is using the media to tear down men and destroy the patriarchal family.
One of their primary weapons? “Bumbling dad” characters on TV sitcoms, which make men in general, and fathers in particular, look silly. (Huh. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard this one before.) Demonstrating that he has his finger on the pulse of contemporary culture, he cites the examples of Archie Bunker and Al Bundy.
The rest of his rant is fairly typical Alex Jones material, an ominous if mostly incoherent assortment of dubious assertions and dire predictions about the future. Only this time he works in some oh-so-familiar MRA tropes. Strikingly, though his arguments in favor of the patriarchal family are thoroughly sexist, he displays none of the overt hostility towards women you see amongst Men’s Rightsers, whether on Reddit or on A Voice for Men.
He reminisces about visiting the homes of his alleged “black friends” as a kid, distressed to discover that the mothers were in charge. He suggests that Planned Parenthood’s is up to no good, but doesn’t explain why and tells his listeners to “look it up” themselves. (I looked it up: Apparently they’re a “Eugenics Death Cult.”)
At one point he claims that children are being taught “fisting” in grade school sex-ed classes. No, really.
But my favorite bit comes about 8 minutes in, when Jones, in the midst of explaining away the pay gap between men and women, declares that men are basically hard-wired to work harder than women:
It’s men that are meant to go out and not sleep for three days chasing down mastadons, to run them over the side of a cliff, to haul back enough … meat so that everybody survives for the winter.
That’s right: Alex Jones believes WE HUNTED THE MASTADON TO FEED YOU.
I only skimmed the comments over on Infowars, but I did enjoy this one:
I have to say that I am much less enthusiastic than Wirpaul about the prospect of bearing children, as I am under the impression it hurts a LOT.
This has nothing to do with Alex Jones, but you need to watch the cougar bit at the end… it is hilarious.
“Also, if the CIA is funding feminism, then why are so many feminist groups all over the world opposed to it?”
Bina, you should know better than anyone else that feminist opposition to the CIA is merely a black flag operation to fool the sheeple.
Once you accept that black can be white, up can be down, and in fact absolutely nothing is what it appears to be, you can explain the most impossible things. You can believe that 9/11 was an inside job and the government harvested airliner parts from a crash in the Andes and dropped them from military transport planes onto the Pentagon lawn without anyone being the wiser and without any of the hundreds of US troops that must have been involved either objecting or squealing.
By the way, Matt Taibbi did a hilarious account of how the plotting conversion between Cheney Rumsfeld et. al. would have gone: http://www.alternet.org/story/42181/the_idiocy_behind_the_%279_11_truth%27_movement
I can only buy the “‘bumbling dad’ representation is hateful” argument in cases where the character’s gender is the explicit source of the bumbling. And even then, it’s more stupid and lazy writing than it is hate. When people in your demographic are represented in such a huge variety of ways, a few bumbling dads represent, if anything at all other than narrative choices, PERMISSION for a man to be bumbling.
If and when they do use “reflections” of masculine characteristics in real life to joke at the expense of or criticize (innocent) men in general, it can be unfortunate, but alongside all the male snide attorneys and male inventive programmers and male fame-hungry musicians and male underappreciated painters and male lewd professors and male tasteful politicians and male kindly poets and male earnest call center employees and all the different types of people males are allowed to be on television, I’d say the effect is comparatively minimal. Men are still put in a box, but it’s a much, much roomier box.
I think one day I’m going to make a silly video about this that uses the acronym “RUMP” (Reflect, Unfold, Mandate, Permit) and share it with you all.
I’m still trying to process how “we hunted the mastodon” can live in the same world as “not all men.”
Like, you want credit for some asshole killing an animal 15,000 years ago? Then you get to take credit for some asshole stalking a woman last March, jerkoff.
I certainly would be mildly surprised to discover that Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-97) had had CIA backing. But I’m clearly not joining the dots in the right way.
@Mrex “Why does it seem that all these guys are so hung up on fisting?”
I can only assume it’s cause there’s no penis involved, making it the height of misandry!
Especially considering their laughable beliefs on how vaginas break down from being used. They might think it’s a conspiracy to stretch all the vaginas till they won’t be able to please any man! Misandry!!! The CIA is probably in on it too! Government misandry!!!!
(obvious sarcasm is obvious, there’s no such thing as misandry)
This is what I know about Alex Jones, one day he will go super saiyan:
http://youtu.be/uR2UXmTGK4M
(Hope this works)(If not copy/paste it’s a 14 second clip and it’s hilarious)
LOOOOL!!! What a fucking ass hat. WOW.
Reminds me of #GamerGate: Any small amount of charity is from all of them, but the dizzying amounts of rape and death threats are from none of them.
Referring to all the nonsense about hunting mastodians (do they score more points than mammoths? FFS…) I suddenly remembered a book I read many years ago, and still have. The Descent of Woman by Elaine Morgan. She was not a scientist but took it upon herself to wade into anthropology after losing her patience with the type of nonsense written by Desmond Morris and the proponents of the ‘Man,The Mighty Hunter’ baloney. She coined the term “hunter gatherer”. Morris for instance, came up with the idea that women developed breasts to mimic our buttocks, the better to entice men to copulate ‘frontways’ and thereby begin to pairbond. Many male anthropologists tend to theorise that everything about women, body and mind, has developed to make men happy, in the ways men believe they have to be happy. Elaine Morgan toppled Tarzan. She was logical, coherent and what she said was obvious, the minute she said it. I.e. breasts developed because they protrude and are easier for a baby to grasp when feeding. The book will also make you laugh out loud. Some details could do with updating now, but I think Ms Morgan is no longer with us and the body of her book is to this day, I think, underestimated as an academic text. Maybe many people here know of it. If you haven’t, read it and laugh! – http://www.amazon.com/The-Descent-Woman-Classic-Evolution/product-reviews/0285627007/ref=cm_cr_pr_top_link_1/187-6568193-9321700?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
Re: the Bumbling Dad trope – Yeah, it’s unflattering on paper, but I think it’s not quite as simple as a negative stereotype. Because while these sitcom dads do bumble up a storm, they are also the main protagonists of the story. They’re doofs, but they’re lovable doofs that you can’t stay mad at. Besides, everything works out in the end. And the consequence of their doofiness is that they should be left to the couch in front of a game with a beer, so a) they’re happy, and b) they don’t mess up the house and/or kids.
And yeah, if you’re a guy who cares about keeping up with the house and kids, that’s going to be (rightly) insulting. But if you’re a guy who thinks your wife really should be doing those things anyway, then it’s a pretty convenient out. “Oh, but gee, honey, you’re so much better at loading the dishwasher than I am. You’re such an amazing cook, why don’t I just stay out of your way.” etc. etc. The wife is put on a pedestal for being apparently smarter or more capable, but she’s derided as a nag if she complains about carrying a disproportionate amount of the family/housework.
I guess what I’m trying to get at is that, generally, in media, when wives are portrayed as juvenile, it allows their husband to dismiss them and their ideas since they clearly don’t know what’s best. But when husbands are portrayed as juvenile, it’s to let them off the hook for doing hard grownup things that should really be their wives’ jobs anyway.
So yeah, the Bumbling Dad is a negative stereotype, but it was invented to reinforce a patriarchal status quo.
Oh lordy, the bumbling dad thing.
This isn’t even the negative trope it appears to be. It’s actually celebrating and promoting men over women, as per usual. It’s “look at these funny guys and their boring wives!”
No one’s favourite Simpsons character is Marge (sorry to any unexpected Marge fans out there!)
These characters are usually the heroes and main focus of the shows. I wager that if someone made a gender swapped version of the trope, with a wacky wife and her sensible, intelligent husband, the MRAs would complain about it not focusing on the dude.
You know who else has to stay up for days straight? Parents of coliky babies. Babies that could only be nursed then. Little ones must be nursed around every two hours, 24 hours a day. I did not sleep all night long until my baby did and I didn’t have to fend off predators and scramble to find enough food to meet the additional 800 calories a day my body needed to make enough milk to keep a growing baby healthy. Women still got the postpartum back then. It must have been hellish.
Ever watch the “Living with the _____” shows where two dudes go live with people who are still living as their people have since forever? The women do all of the day to day labor and most of the food production.
These babymen could not survive a day as a prehistoric woman.
Yet more research for this project, I assume. I don’t suppose the prospect of becoming less of an asshole is more appealing to these people than something so… fictional? No? Let’s just keep working on life without women.
@Orion: That super saiyan clip was hilarious 🙂
Off topic, but I know you all will enjoy it–Buzzfeed has a great new story up about our pal, Paul:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/adamserwer/how-mens-rights-leader-paul-elam-turned-being-a-deadbeat-dad?s=mobile
David gets a shout-out! And it’s by ICMI14 veteran/AVFM Hate Machine target Serwer! And Esmay is already stinking up the comment section! Wheeeee.
I am sick with flu, so I am sorry I haven’t been commenting more. I just had to share this.
Dr. Scott!
When’s the last time Alex Jones gave a woman anything but a stress headache or an increasing sense of dread and regret? Women are waiting on those mastodon burgers he seemingly wants to cook up and serve them out of the generosity of his big male heart.
Oh, right. Alex Jones would have been the Nice Guy™ of the Clovis world, expecting “payment” for his excellent mastodon-stabbing skills. I’m sure Clovis women could get their own mastodon meat, if they wanted it, without Clovis Alex’s “help.”
Hehehe. In my head, I gender-swapped Wirpaul’s first 3 paragraphs and replaced “CIA funded feminist” with “Men’s Rights” and it rings much more true. Classic projection. 😀
Janet!
Every time I hear the phrase, “I love women, but ,” I think of the song “That Ain’t Love” by REO Speedwagon.
Now I want to listen to that song.
So what, are we going to have to change the domain name again now?
Also, many people making good points about the “bumbling dad” stereotype.
Thank you, I was wondering. Although actual gooses are scary enough, I wouldn’t blame anybody for running all the way home.
So the score stands at one sufferget drowned, one whipped, one implied to be severely injured or dead, and one who is arguably dead.
Jolly.
http://mylittlefacewhen.com/f/8608/
This Alex guy has taken the red pill hasn’t he? I heard it has acid in it. Btw you know whom makes those sitcoms? Men. Not women not aliens but men. Most of the things we watch and listen to are men, by men for men with male leads. Men are not opressed when they rule and own most of the world.
Alex
“Women are pretending to fear men but they really are jealous”
You mean after years of been physically, emotionally and sexually abused by my father and been taught the ‘boys will be boys’ phrase is just me being jealous and not afraid of being around guys? Okey dokey smoky
Alex
“Mothers train their sons into submission to hate themselves and their gender”
I’v read about men and been around men at church that it’s their misoygnist fathers that made them hate their fathers, themselves and their gender. It’s mostly Misogny that creates misandry. But I know that there are abusive mothers I can’t understand why this is feminism fault.
Alex
“I love women”
Lol mras/puas/red pillers be like “I love women”
And I be like:
http://youtu.be/G2y8Sx4B2Sk
Love is when you care about someone very much, you are kind to them because it’s the right thing to do and not just be doing it to get something back, you hold them close to your heart and willing to protect them. Love is very special. What you feel is ‘lust’ you don’t see us as individual human beings you just love us for our bodies that’s it.
Everything else he said is the acid talking he wouldn’t last a day as a woman and bearing children yeah good luck with that but no seriously don’t have children, I can’t imagine what the poor dears will go through with someone like him.
Rocky!