I‘ve said it before, but the imaginary feminists that Men’s Rights Activists spend their lives fighting bear about as much resemblance to real feminists as the imaginary Elders of Zion do to actual Jewish people.
But even by typical MRA standards, the meme above (from A Voice for Men’s Facebook page) is a doozy. It’s hard to say which of these imaginary feminists demands is the most ridiculous. That idea that feminists demand “the entitlement to rape men and young boys” or “the right to take money from men under any pretense?” Or that they want “20 men in prison for each woman who commits a crime?”
As ludicrous as these are, I think the most insidious of the bunch is the complaint that feminists want women to have “the right to intoxication with no consequences.”
No, feminists aren’t campaigning for women to be able to drive drunk with no legal repercussions. The “consequences” being referred to here are, of course, rape and other forms of sexual assault. Yep, AVFM is angry that feminists don’t think that women should face the “consequence” of rape if they go out to a bar on Saturday night. AVFM is angry that feminists want the actual rapists to face the consequences of their actions.
The March of the Straw Feminists continues with more AVFM memes from their Facebook page, below.
(Straw) Feminists want to take away funding for prostate cancer:
(Straw) Feminists like to make shit up, as this made-up example illustrates:
(Straw) Feminists demand that fire departments hire women wearing “sexy firefighter” Halloween costumes.
I … don’t even know what the hell the point of this next one is supposed to be. That it’s wrong to talk about the dangers of rape? That women can’t have successful careers and happy lives unless they have children? That … I give up.
At least this one is clear: DANGER! DANGER! (STRAW) FEMINISTS WANT TO CUT OFF YOUR FINGERS!!!!
You’d think the guy would have noticed. I mean, those finger-clipping shears are fucking gigantic.
For more, many more, straw feminists, check out the rest of the memes on AVFM’s Facebook page.
Sorry, I meant ‘it is’
I’m honestly having a ball with all the “manspreading” whiners….gee, you don’t want other people regulating your body? Well that must just be tough…As a woman, I have no idea what that must be like!
Ugh. It’s not an infant until it’s born. When most abortions happen it’s just a bunch of cells. Funny that they fret about the cells “dying” and not the children that are being killed everyday in gun violence or by being shot by cops.
@Bina
A real- life example of the Murder, Arson and Jaywalking trope!
Likening being criticized by a woman to physical harm seems to be a real thing for guys with fragile self-esteem. I’ve had an online acquaintance rant about how feminists thought he was a rapist and a perv for being a straight man and how he wished he were a woman or gay since being harassed is preferable to being “deconstructed.” So yeah, dude is so oblivious to his privilege, being criticized–not even criticized personally, but having parts of his HOBBY criticized–is worse in his mind than the threats of bodily harm women and gays face. So yeah, that’s a thing.
And yet, when I told him (after many many attempts to argue him out of it) that he sounded like an online misogynist, he threw an epic tantrum complete with threats to kill himself and a warning about how angry his mother would be if she saw me being so cruel to her autistic son. I can’t even.
I have to imagine that those workplace death statistics cover only direct accidents. I remember reading an article a couple years ago about how manicurists have higher rates of cancer than the general population. It’s suspected that this is the result of breathing fumes from nail polish and polish removers. But that’s very difficult to conclusively prove and isn’t likely to be counted in the statistics. People in this occupation are overwhelmingly women.
If they cared so damn much about men’s lives at least one of these f*twaddles, would support # BlackLivesMatter. Or support the diffrence in sentencing for drug convictions for White and Black men. Not a single one of these a*holes has expressed one d*** moment of empathy, sympathy or support for the families of Black men who were shot by police. I’m going to make a wild guess, that while they’re busy railing against straw feminists on online, they’re also gleeful celebrating the murder of every one of them.
Ooh, ooh ,I got it!
The reason why all of their memes are contradictory is because they’re all so busy trying to one up each otherin awfulness, that there has been a failure to clearly communicate amongst themselves, exactly which horrific ideas they stand for.
One of AVFMs memes on their Facebook page is a direct rip off of the Make Your Move Missoula campaign.
https://www.facebook.com/102001393188684/photos/a.392418540813633.89052.102001393188684/789881604400656/?type=3&theater
MRAs keep trying to pass it off as “satire” or “parody” despite the fact that whichever dingus made the image neglected to remove the small text that says the MyMM campaign is supportive of the message. Not to mention that it’s pretty terrible satire and in the context of AVFM, doesn’t come across as non-serious at all. So instead that’s a charge of copyright infringement (again) and libel. MyMM notified them and made a request for the photo to be taken down but so far there has been silence. Stay classy AVFM.
PPT: It’s okay. I’ll even for you!
Dayyum!
@WWTH Very true! A sizable proportion of factory workers during the Industrial Revolution and the two world wars were women, working with dangerous substances like radium, phosphorus, munitions, lye, and hazardous machinery under dirty, unventilated conditions. Many of them then went home and put in a second shift of equally hazardous domestic work (burns, chemical exposure, and repetitive injuries, to name just a few).
Not only that, a lot of occupations that have a heavy emotional/psychological toll are filled primarily by women – jobs where women are expected to be the caretakers of other people’s emotions, soothe people who are under stress, prevent fear, and create customer loyalty (flight attendants, nurses, and retail workers come to mind). Also, men might lift a very heavy object once, while women lift smaller objects dozens of times (scanning items at a supermarket, for example). Many traditionally female occupations also require a lot of standing (teachers, waitresses), which causes muscular/skeletal strain over time. In fact, I remember Barbara Ehrenreich citing an ergonomic study that showed that the hardest-working occupation of all is waitress, in terms of units of energy expended during a typical work shift.
The problem is that “male” workplace hazards get a lot of attention, while “female” hazards get very little recognition or compensation, as the effects are cumulative and gradual. Death or disability may not occur till years later, and may not have an easily recognizable link to workplace conditions.
“Unlimited sex with male students with impunity”
Only sex with male dropouts and graduates is sanctioned!
Re: Sexy Firefighter, I’m having trouble reconciling “My milkshake puts out all the fires!” with the idea that woman have somehow shirked their responsibilities by not being draft-eligible.
Either women are silly and weak and ineffective in emergency/combat situations (in which case stop whining about the draft) or they are strong and capable (in which case quit making stupid-ass memes where all the women look like they just stepped out of a Russ Meyers flick). You can’t have it both ways.
I wouldn’t collect them, but I have thought of leaving them in a bag in the truck bed, along with a “spay and neuter your pet” bumper sticker.
Also, it’s interesting that their reworking of the female symbol resembles that awful AVfM Pinterest meme a few months back that showed a fist punching up through a pelvic X-ray into the uterus. They could have put the fist on the other end of the symbol (the end that actually has contact with the outside world), but no.
They really can’t hide their burning desire to punch women, can they?
I’m totally fighting for the right to berate my future husband.
They forgot to mention how we hop on our broomsticks during the full moon and fly off through the night to commit horrible misandries in the name of Satan.
The “Women of Courage” meme, some of those points are the fault of men.
Women raping men? Male lawmakers took an Ice Age to class that AS rape. And having “sex with male students with impunity” links in to that, as it’s men who go “HUH HUH WHAT A LUCKY LAD” about statutory rape against boys.
“Right to equal pay when 98% of job deaths are men?” The majority of bosses are still men, especially in jobs like construction and factories; most managers are men too. Guess who is responsible for those deaths?
The draft and war in general? Usually ordered by men and organised by men, with lawmakers who are mostly men being the ones who decided on what roles women should have in the forces. (And the same people complaining “MEN FIGHT THE WARS” complain about women being in any part of the military)
Mutilation of baby boy’s genitals? If you mean circumcision, well, I hate to break it to you but the people who decided this should be done and who do it…
Seriously. I expect that one of these days, we’ll hear one of them argue in all earnest that penises literally shrivel up and die when a woman criticizes a man.
Um, dudes…
They do make bunker gear (firefighting PPE) in women’s sizes. I should know, I’ve got a set.
Also, can I as a young lady 2 months away from getting entry qualified say how ridiculously obnoxious how heavily skewed the search results for “woman firefighter bunker gear” are?
Apologies in advance for teal deer ahead:
I mean, the firestore and fireengineering are my first two hits, because I lurk on those pages all the time, but the image results?
Staaaaahp it, stock art peoples! No-one wears lingerie under thier bunkers! It’d be completely trashed after a day, plus uncomfy because that innermost lining is not made of flannel or silk (if you know what I mean), plus fudge to the no you don’t want to have to stay in the bunkers all the time to stay presentable!
Seriously, I know image searches have to do with browser history, but I don’t think I’ve browsed anything that would justify more than 70% of those image results not being…
…useful. Like for sizing comparisons, or for getting tips on what pockets to put things in, or for comparing the different turnout companies fitting options for women, or…
…anything but either ‘sexy bunker gear costumes’ or ‘Imma just going to be mostly nude under this stuff.’ Likee, I don’t really object to that sort of imagery, in principle, that results skew is something else.
It’s almost like women aren’t taken seriously, or something, on the internet.
For real, do these guys really think they make MEN look good? Because they actually rank among the worst human beings on the face of the planet. And they all happen to be men. Really, even anti-feminist women might have a hard time backing these guys up.
Magpie, was a legal opinion from 1902 meant to serve as some sort of “gotcha!” in the year of our Lord 2015? If those are the rules, I’m sure that we can pull out some “gotchas!” from 1902 as well.
@Ikeke35
Thank you for your even. I was all out of evens with this guy.
Mainstream relationship advice is awfully close to that point, like this one that lists “Criticize or downplay his achievements” as one of the “14 Things You Say or Do That Emasculates Your Man!” Or 4 Reasons Why Your Husband Not Interested In SEX (all-caps in the original), advising “Instead of a woman constantly criticizing her husband, try to build up his feeling of self worth. Show appreciation for his simply being in your life, and watch his libido increase.” Yes, the subject to that first sentence got switched out after the comma. I weep for the English language.
Or to save time, I could just point out that the “battered women” defense isn’t even a legally accepted defense. Battery and effects can be used to establish a self-defense claim or diminished responsibility, but it does not in and of itself get anyone off the hook for murder.
BEST STRAW FEMINISTS OF ALL TIME!
http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=341
@Magpie
Did you, like, try scrolling to the top of the page to continue reading that column? Because the judge makes it clear that he only applied the general right of self-defense to the case (emphasis mine):
“Under the old common law a man could flee from an assailant until his progress was barred, then he could turn and offer resistance sufficient to repel his assailant. This is not the law of Illinois. In this state a man need not do so. He can defend himself, and doesn’t have to try to get out of the way. If the attack upon him is of such a nature that he fears it will result in severe bodily injury or death, he can lawfully kill the attacking party. Now, this rule applies to a married woman, even though the assailant be her husband.”
But that’s the part you’re really mad about, isn’t it? That a woman has the temerity to defend herself from her husband and the law recognized her action as justified, as though she’s a human being or something. Yes yes, it does suck that your right to kill and maim women was infringed upon. Feel free to cry in a butthurt fury over this 100+-year-old news, you only expose how ridiculous and reactionary you and your entire “movement” are.
Hey, um PussyPowerTantrum?
Magpie’s generally been in good faith. It’s a hobby of zir’s to find old articles and blog about how the more things change the more they stay the same. There’ve been a couple really awesome ones in the past, even though this ones more on the meh side.
@Magpie,
It might help a little if you’d just elaborate a bit more when you drop links, because those who weren’t around when you first introduced yourself are definitely going to be prone to the mistake above.
Because, yeah, there wasn’t much context there.
Oh and what are these “handsome rewards” we get for falsely accusing? I only got a cheap off-brand tv for third false accusation prize. Looking at the catalog, the prizes are generally crap. Doesn’t seem worth it.