Uh oh! Dean Esmay of A Voice for Men is outraged by the latest terrible calumny besmirching the good name of the Men’s Rights movement. That Big Lie? That Men’s Rights Activists are boycotting Mad Max: Fury Road.
As Esmay puts it, in his characteristically overheated prose, the very notion that there is such a boycott
is a completely fabricated story by a handful of elitists abusing their power in the media–and betraying their fellow journalists while doing it.
Using his powerful internet detective skills, Esmay has managed to track down “the source of the lie,” which, as he sees it, “appears to have originated from a discredited hate-blogger named David Futrelle … .”
I’ve left off the rest of his sentence, as it is straight-up libel. Well, so is the bit about me being a “discredited hate-blogger,” and the part about the “lie” originating with me. I will give him credit for managing to spell my name correctly.
I’ll cop to the fact that my post on a would-be boycott of Mad Max: Fury Road set off an avalanche of articles on the subject. The Mary Sue, I believe, was the first to pick up the story, and was quickly followed by a few others. And then other writers piggybacked off of them. For better or worse, that’s how it works in online journalism these days.
But if Esmay is looking for the source of the incorrect notion that self-described Men’s Rights activists were behind the “boycott,” well, he’s not going to find it in my post, which contained no mention of Men’s Right Activists at all.
Yep, I reported the 100% true fact that a Youtube bloviater named Aaron Clarey had written a post on Return of Kings urging men, in his words, to “not only REFUSE to see the movie, but spread the word to as many men as possible.” I described his readers on Return of Kings as misogynists, not MRAs, though clearly there is a massive overlap between those two groups.
The idea that this was specifically a Men’s Rights crusade was, to be sure, a bit of sloppiness on the part of the journalists writing about it, who are not quite as familiar as some of us are with all the different varieties of woman-hating shitheads there are in the “manosphere” — especially since their belief systems overlap considerably. As I noted in a previous post on this subject, writing about Esmay’s accusations against a writer for the Huffington Post,
It’s true that the HuffPo writer, in the original version of her piece, wrongly described the MRA-adjacent Return of Kings — which has urged a
boymancott of Mad Max Fury Road — as a Men’s Rights site proper. There are in fact some differences between ROK and AVFM. For example, while AVFM writers have declared women to be “obnoxious cunts,” who control men with their vaginas, ROK writers have suggested that women are actually depraved, disloyal sheep.
You can almost forgive journalists for getting a bit mixed up.
Meanwhile, it’s clear that some MRAs, including some associated with AVFM, have views on the movie that bear a striking similarity to those of Mr. Clarey and his comrades at ROK. It was an AVFM staffer, not Aaron Clarey, who posted this meme on AVFM’s Facebook page. (It’s since been removed, possibly because it contradicts the narrative that Esmay is now promoting.)
And if you want many other example of MRAs saying they won’t go to see the film because feminism, you’ll find more than a few in this thread on the Men’s Rights subreddit. Oh, and in this thread (archived here) on … the official AVFM Forum.
Yes, that’s right: there are MRAs talking about boycotting Mad Max: Fury Road on AVFM’s own official forum. One declares himself “a (former) Mad Max fan,” another writes “going to skip this one. Mad Max is now dead to me.” “I’m out,” adds a third.
But Esmay seems to think that there is some vast conspiracy afoot, writing that
we are really serious with this question: was anyone paid to put this fake story in the press? If so, who was paid and who did the paying?
Don’t be silly. No money changes hands. At least no human money. We do it under direct orders from our feline overlordsladies.
But as long as we’re asking questions I have one for Mr. Esmay: Are you ever going to do anything about the Holocaust denier and Hitler fan you’ve published many times on AVFM?
Apparently, to Dean Esmay at least, posting that Mad Max: Fury Road is being boycotted by MRAs, when most of the boycotters are in fact merely MRA-adjacent, is a greater crime against truth than denying the Holocaust.
If I were you, I’d have ‘discredited hate blogger’ put on a t-shirt. But you’re probably more grown up than I am.
Oh, no, an MRA being contradictory and hypocritical. No way.
David: You can at least take this as acknowledgement that some more mainstream media sites have gotten just aware enough of you to get some of the facts about this place wrong. (Basically, because MRAs are one of your dominant foes, a lot of the secondary reports probably just assumed that if you were writing about someone, that someone must be an MRA.)
Aw, how adorable. They’re pulling the GamerGate tactic of “we support this view until it turns out to harm our image. When that happens, we obviously never supported it in the first place”
I don’t know. The idea that you’re a hate-blogger is pretty easy to discredit.
The harder people laugh at them, the funnier they get.
They really are insecure nit wits trying to convince themselves and the world that they aren’t as insignificant as…
Well, as they are.
They want their maleness to make them special because they don’t have to earn it. Skill? Wisdom? Bravery? Compassion? Knowledge? They’d have to work to gain those laudable traits. It’s so much easier to claim you are awesome by accident of birth. Bigots are lazy, selfish, ignorant cowards who can’t cut it in a society that does not give them an automatic advantage. They know that. That’s why they hate being reminded of it. That’s what all of the motivated reasoning is about. It keeps the fear and shame away.
I’m noticing that the manosphere uses the same tactics fundamentalist churches do to keep their pews and collection plates full. It called conversion ecstasy. You tell people they are special for being a part of your group. You give them an other to hate. You keep them riled up. You tell them they are prayer warriors or would be kings who are saving a lost world. It causes a kind of a high. It gives otherwise unexceptional people a purpose. It gives them a group to belong to. (The BEST group in fact) You tell them that it’s OK to be intellectually lazy, hateful and otherwise idle because just by hating the right people they are doing important work. You turn the worst aspects of those people into virtues and they will follow you anywhere.
Fundy preachers use the Bible to whip up their flocks but the source material does not have to be religious at all. It can be evopshych BS, Warren Farrell’s rape apology, Mein Kampf, or The Turner Diaries. It can even happen when people join AA.
Conversion ecstasy is clearly demonstrated among atheists who treat authors and popularizes as idols who hand wisdom down to them from upon high. They often have the same us vs. them mentality and “them” does not have to be religious folks. It can be anyone their heroes don’t like such as feminists or people who “look Muslim” aka brown folks.
I had a touch of the conversion ecstasy when I de-converted. I had alot of resentment toward my religious raising and the impact it had on my life. I was so jazzed to read everything I could get my hands on about atheism and skepticism. I thought the term “Hitchslapped” was hilarious. It can happen to anyone. Feelings like that happen for various reasons (some of them completely benign) but without constant encouragement, they fade. You are supposed to mature past them. You’re supposed to get a grip on yourself and move on.
The thing is, it feels good and people can get addicted to anything that takes the pain away. When they are constantly being pumped up and assured that they are constantly at war with the other, they stay jazzed. People don’t like to think too hard about things that make them feel good. So, it is very seductive for people in painful situations.
Just to be clear, I am not trying to pick on Christians. I know there are ministers who warn new converts that when the ecstasy fades, the real work begins and that is when many converts lose interest in religion again. Faith is not a feeling. Feelings are fleeting. My former preacher described it as a marriage. The ecstasy is the honeymoon. Faith was every day after that.
While I’m not a person who values faith I think it’s still a good analogy.
We watched Ex Machina last night. Great thriller. Probably one of the best movies I’ve seen this year.
I can’t wait to tell my grandkids that I knew the Great Hate Blogger when he was just a regular guy. Assuming I ever have grandkids.
Hey, Dean got a haircut. Not bad.
Too bad he needs a bit of work on that being a hateful douchebag thing.
But yeah, go David. I wish this blog weren’t necessary, but really hope it continues to be a success.
The more Dean yells the more it shows the attacks sting.
I’m pretty sure that’s his default setting.
RE: Lea
You just got me to understand what it is about some people that cause them to join cause after cause, utterly fervent every time even when it’s something completely antithetical to a cause from earlier! Thanks!
My favorite bit from the article is where he twitters “Jus FYI A Voice for Men and others are doing an investigation alleging corruption and/or incompetence.” and he then follows that with the hashtag “#MediaGate”.
He’s started copying from the 8chan “#gamergate” troll brigade. Isn’t that just adorable!
“discredited hate blogger”
Will the manurespherians’ projections ever end? (rhetorical)
“Elitists”
Why don’t people know what that word means?
I mean… it’s not a hard word.
Almost everybody is anti-holocaust denier. How exclusive can this club possibly be?
Or did Webster’s suddenly change the meaning of “Elitists” to mean, “Person I don’t like and/or wish to generate disdain for.”?
Chaos-Engineer
Ha! I’m pretty sure someone already made the “it’s about ethics in film journalism” joke way back on the first Mad Max thread here. Now they’re «–this close–» to spouting that line with a straight face? Priceless!
A hilarious parody of the dudes that are mangry at Fury Road http://jezebel.com/the-new-mad-max-film-is-so-feminist-my-scrotum-killed-i-1705273679
Aw, David, is this a picture of you?
http://i.imgur.com/8SG1PHa.png
I didn’t know you had such a cute nose.
My first time posting. I’ve read this blog and love it! Thanks David, for doing the research on this online misogyny. I’ve been doing the same sort of research for some time, and sometimes I lose faith in humanity by reading some of those blogs like Chateau Heartiste, ROK, AVFM and all the rest of the senseless garbage. Reading your blog, and the comments, restores a bit more faith, because I know that there are better people out there.
Anyway, all this kerfuffle about Mad Max: Fury Road makes me want to see this movie more. I saw the originals when I was a kid–well, snuck seeing them because my parents thought they were too violent for a kid to be watching. What is more telling is that all the Cain these guys have been raising about being “misrepresented” and yet not doing something about a Nazi sympathizer and Holocaust-denier among their ranks. Very telling. Seems like hate breeds hate, but also attracts hate.
Also, why is there not a “Feminist Moray” tee-shirt out there somewhere? Because I would totally buy a few in different colors (including pink).
“Don’t be silly. No money changes hands. At least no human money. We do it under direct orders from our feline over
lordsladies.”…and kittycats love chase scenes…
It’s actually about ethics in movie boycott journalism.
Needless to say the principle that overrides all other is that if you’re against us you must be terrible in every way it is possible to be terrible.
I definitely agree with Lea’s conversion Ecstasy theory. A buncha dudes with little else going on in their life and then someone gives them a sense of belonging and a big fat scapegoat.
I also agree with the notion that “Oh God CONSPIRACY!!!” is Esmay’s default setting.
Have any misandry gifs been made using scenes from this movie yet?
“MRAs” is shorthand for “Movement MRAs, PUAs, MGTOWs, #GamerGaters and other manospherians.” If they don’t like it, they could try, I dunno, not being all exactly the fucking same in all but name.
WWTH,
If there aren’t, I have a feeling there will be. Tumblr and Deviant Art are probably all over Fury Road by now.