Oh dear. Roosh V’s rebranding campaign isn’t going well at all.
The increasingly reactionary pickup guru, who seems deathly afraid of being universally recognized as the creepy old guy at the club that he so obviously has become, is earnestly trying to transform himself into a philosopher of sorts, and a sort of manosphere elder. He recently gave his highly unoriginal philosophy a name — “Neomasculinity” — and proclaimed himself the headmaster of this “new” school of thought.
I put “new” in scare quotes because there is nothing whatsoever new about his “ideas,” such as they are; his philosophy is little more than a warmed-over version of Red Pill dogma, with some extra helpings of racism, homophobia, and good-old-fashioned patriarchy.
In an attempt to convince the world that he is indeed selling something new and improved, Roosh has launched an attack on his former Red Pill allies. In a post on Friday, he declared that the Red Pill was over:
The red pill term has served its use in the past five years, but a quick perusal of the red pill subreddit or related blogs show that it’s too focused on sex at sacrifice of greater political and cultural issues. It has become an entry-level group for men in their 20’s who just started getting laid, but this can only serve as a transitory stage.
Once a man has gotten his fill of casual sex, and is looking for deeper meaning in his relationships or satisfaction with life, the red pill has few answers besides running “dread game” on your wife, maintaining “good style” to attract young females when older, or the ever vague “work on yourself.” Neomasculinity will aim to fill in these gaps by serving men regardless of their age or involvement in the game.
He went on to complain that the Red Pill “has no council of elders to guide the ideology” and that it has failed to stop women from “declin[ing] in their virtue” and getting fat. (Yeah, he’s a bit obsessed with that.)
In a followup video yesterday, Roosh made very clear just who he thinks should be the chairman of the manosphere’s council of elders. SPOILER ALERT: It’s him. Indeed, in the video, Roosh claims that he invented the Red Pill philosophy, with some help from other reactionary “game” bloggers like Roissy/Heartiste and Rollo Tomassi.
He also declared that there would be no “homosexuals” allowed into his Neomasculinity club, because the idea of men using Red Pill techniques to get “buttsex” strikes him as inherently ridiculous.
It’s not hard to guess at what Roosh’s real motivations here are. He seems to have burned himself out as a pickup artist; apparently the years he’s spent trying to cajole or coerce drunken Eastern European women he hates into sex haven’t provided him with much lasting satisfaction.
He ran out of things to say on the subject a long time ago, and traffic at his personal blog has stagnated, at least according to Alexa’s far-from-foolproof estimates. His more broadly reactionary group blog Return of Kings is far more popular, but Alexa reports that its traffic has been down much of the year.
Not surprisingly, Roosh’s attempt to declare himself king of the manosphere did not go over terribly well on the Red Pill subreddit. Most saw it as a moneygrab, and a rather desperate attempt to hang on to relevance in a scene that’s moving on from him.
As BurgundyCarpet wrote,
The problem with Neomasculinity is that its synonymous with “Roosh V.” He’s trying to create an alternative to the Red Pill. Yet the only significant practical differences between TRP and Neomasculinity are:
Roosh has complete control
Roosh stands to profitI respected Roosh until he pulled this lame bullshit move. He’s trying to monetize TRP by changing the name of TRP. I like the guy and I like his work but this entire “Neomasculinity” thing is the most transparently self-serving bullshit ive ever seen.
Others were even less kind. Elatusa dug the knife in deep, and twisted it:
He was always a beta PUA who, once he got some pussy, decided to try monetize every tip anyone in the community ever shared. …
I have 0 respect for him as a man, especially now that he’s trying to sell TRP theories under his own brand.
“Fuck him, I never liked him anyway,” DOCTORxTEETH added. “His eyes stick out too fucking far.”
Red Pill clowner GayLubeOil, meanwhile, dropped the ultimate Red Pill dis, declaring that “Roosh doesn’t even lift.”
Roosh’s response to all this was to indignantly deny that he was trying to cash in on his lingering celebrity. And to attack thee Red Pillers for posting on Reddit, which Roosh has somehow convinced himself is a “virulent matriarchy” run by radical feminists. No, really.
Here’s the rant he posted on his own forums, which is so jaw-droppingly divorced from reality that it’s worth quoting in full. I’ve bolded a few highlights.
Speaking of profit, The Red Pill members make a big show about information being free, but they seem to forget that they regularly post on a for-profit platform owned by the most die hard feminists in Silicon Valley, perhaps the world, and led by a litigious feminist itself (Ellen Pao) that is on the verge of passing more oppressive rules. TRP subreddit exists because the feminists who own the site have allowed them to post. For men who are obsessed with being “alpha” and maintaining “frame,” they have volunteered to position themselves on a lower hierarchy compared to these elite feminists.
Every single page view they give reddit, they aid feminists. Every single comment they post, they increase the profit of this anti-man corporation, and even if ads are not always directly on TRP, the huge amount of page views that the subreddit gives reddit overall is definitely used to sell ads sitewide through their advertising spec sheets.
So either indirect or directly, everyone who regularly posts on that site is increasing the money that feminists make, improving the popularity of their platform to better bring SJW and far left thought to the masses, and improving the financial support that Silicon Valley feminists receive. How they can reconcile that fact by critiquing me for selling books shows how confused these men are, and how they are merely parroting red pill ideas and not living in the spirit of them.
I wish no ill will on these men, but I told them from day one to go forth and build their own platform. They did not listen to my advice, and are now being overseen by the enemy—a virulent matriarchy—whom they so despise, and who can shutdown their so-called “frame” with only a few clicks. When that happens, they are welcome here in this community where they can finally learn from men who live more truly to masculine ideals.
Amazing.
So far the biggest winners in this little manosphere war are those watching on the sidelines, and laughing. It’s reminiscent of the embarrassing spectacle that ensued when Paul Elam tried to declare himself King of the MGTOWs. Expect much more hilarity ahead.
Correction:
“Neomasculinity blah blah blah” is technically a Paul Joseph Watson video that has 54k views in 6 days.
In comparison:
His “Caught in a Lie: Jade Helm 15” has 76k views in a week.
His “Taylor Swift goes full Ret***” has 107k views in 4 days
Granted the second one’s view was inflated by T-Swizzle, but “Neomasculinity”‘s number of views is still unimpressive considering Infowar fans pretty much watch all the Jone’s branded crap thrown at them on YouTube.
I think people are feeling uncomfortable to hate on him right now because of that picture. He looks so weak and miserable, it’s awkward to hit one while they’re down, and he looks very down!
@Dodam
He learned that men hit the wall at 30.
@portlantonio – I definitely see your point too. I’ve seen too many people who have become bullies and abusers because they themselves had a hard time of it, and used that to justify the person they became and their terrible behaviour towards others. I’ve seen too many people who clearly believe that a hard life is a free pass to treat others badly. Roosh, I suspect, is one of those.
I think you’re right – putting aside anger towards your own particular bullies and abusers, and trying to understand why they did what they did (which I had to do if only for my own sake), is different from being angry at bullies/abusers on principle. I’m sorry if I made it sound like everyone needed to forgive Roosh, that wasn’t what I meant. Roosh is a person, but clearly an awful one and people are right to think poorly of him, and even if he does change his ways I wouldn’t blame anyone for continuing to despise him on principle. There are things that simply cannot be amended and atoned for. Even 12 step programs have that recognition that sometimes, even the attempt to make amends would be distressing to the people who suffered because of you and that in that case you should not harm them further. I hope I’m making sense.
The Roosh V Forum thread “The Red Pill subreddit attacks me and neomasculinity” is full of hilarity.
Roosh has 15 posts on that 8 page thread in which he obsesses over his Reddit TeRPer critics, then shills his “response” video and later complains how “MGTOWs are swarming the comments of the video and went on a downvoting brigade”. Apparently, despite having a blog and two websites to promote his brilliant thoughts, he has plenty of time to whine at length about his meanypants critics.
http://www.donotlink.com/f9vx
Does Roosh realize David, despite being a mangina, a cat owner and lacking any conclusive proof that he’s ever gotten laid in Norway, doesn’t discuss what his critics say unless he needs to factually counter online libel and/or defamation?
Roosh V can’t handle a random Redditor saying “I have 0 respect for him as a man”. Roosh is pretty thin-skinned and definitely has “an emotional ax to grind” in his many, many posts.
Roosh isn’t even the best part of the “Wah Wah” Roosh V forum thread because noted filmmaker and plastic skull enthusiast David Aurini pops in and comments at least eight times.
Professor Skull supports Roosh against leftist Reddit, posts an old video of his own, pretends to be a philosopher, blathers about the Neo-Reactionary movement, throws in some racism and complains about how “finding men of the calibre this forum attracts in the real world is extremely difficult”.
http://www.donotlink.com/f9vv
I find that the problem with sorting people only into the ‘complete monster’ or ‘decent human being’ categories there tends to then be a smokescreen effect of predators having ‘decent human being’ traits and thus are incapable of being complete monsters. She’s kind to animals, so of course she’s not racist! He gives to charity and volunteers, so of course he can’t be a sexual predator! That sort of thing that’s slung around.
People are people, and very few people have no so-called ‘redeeming qualities’. Good things do not negate bad things, and bad things do not erase good things. If people can be reformed and taught to be better, that IMO, should be more important than delivering some kind of karmic retribution. That said, there are some people for whom the best option is to simply limit their ability to harm others, because they refuse to change for the better. I’m pretty sure Roosh falls into the latter category,though.
megpie71: “I think he’s basically come to the realisation that even the best sex only lasts for about two or three minutes”
…What now?
Righteous anger has an important place. No social change ever occurs without it. Without righteous anger at injustice, nobody does anything about the injustice. I’m not going to agree that being angry at a horrible person in some way makes me horrible myself.
It’s not dehumanizing Roosh to be angry at him, and remain angry at him even though he seems to be kind of down right now. He doesn’t receive a get-out-of-my-fury card by becoming unhappy with the lumps in the bed he’s made for himself. Is he unhappy with his life? Good. He should be unhappy. He should be very unhappy, because he’s a rapist, and would be a horrible person even if he hadn’t raped anyone, because he gives advice for how other men can get away with rape. Rapists and advocates of rape need to be unhappy. It is my goal to make them as unhappy as possible.
Good call on the ban, David.
@redneck (if he’s still lurking)
Isn’t it funny how easy it is not to know of something when you don’t make the slightest effort to educate yourself on the subject?
Quick question- I don’t know much about this Roosh guy, but is there any evidence he has actually had sex, coerced or otherwise? He just strikes me as one of those who at 15 make up imaginary girlfriends…
All I can guess is that he’s saying that since reddit lies outside of the manosphere, it is therefore “feminist.” Either he thinks feminism = the illuminati, or he thinks anyone who disagrees with the manosphere.
He is a human being who is suffering, and thus in a sense deserves sympathy, but obviously that pain is due to his own short sighted life choices, bizarre beliefs, and hateful attitudes. Hypothetically you could redeem him, and such an act would improve the lives of both Roosh and all those around him, HOWEVER it would not be practical, or even necessarily possible. Limiting his impact on others is indeed probably the best way to reduce human suffering in this world.
I’m not sure that there is only one right emotional response to bad people, nor it is impossible to feel pity and anger at the same time.
I really don’t see that much suffering in Roosh rebranding to be honest. After have skimmed his neomasculinity speal and info about his upcoming “tour”, I see a guy who wants leave behind the overcrowded PUA market and sell himself as a self help guru with broader appeal.
Roosh World Tour 2015
Brooked, he so, so desperately wants to be a serious thinker, but every “serious thought” he thinks is just some old reactionary cliche. His “social criticism” is so trite it’s painful to read.
@ Glen H, I suspect he is on the level about being sexually active. If he was making it up, wouldn’t he at least pretend to be a good lover? As it is he’s posted many a moribund screed about how shallow women are for constantly losing interest in him.
That said, an artist posted an appeal for women Roosh had slept with to get in touch for a project she was putting together called ‘Banged’; as far as I know no one came forward.
It just occurred to me: It can’t be a coincidence that he’s named his red pill spinoff Neo.
Goddamnit, MRAs, stop fucking with The Matrix. I love that movie.
@brooked:
Aurini is involved in this? Fantastic. Thanks for that quote; it’s made my day already and it’s not even 10am. Everything that man does is made of solid comedy.
@portlantonio:
No offence to you either, and I see entirely where you’re coming from. I agree wholeheartedly that what matters isn’t that he’s hateful but that he’s a rapist and an abuser. This is fucked up and wrong of him and I absolutely do do whatever is in my power to get him to stop raping people and encouraging young vulnerable men to rape people (which sadly is very little.) Please do not think that I oppose his actions any less because I refuse to stop regarding him as my fellow human being.
I’m trying to teach myself to not wish even the slightest misfortune upon even the worst person in the world. It’s a long journey, I’m not there yet, and I won’t think less of you because you decide to take a different path.
@Quantuminc:
That’s a sensible point. Since it seems unlikely that Valizadeh will see imprisonment, perhaps hoping that he alienates his followers and becomes merely another bitter hermit is the most practical thing to attempt to achieve.
@Catalpa:
Agreed, although I would go further. The most dangerous belief is not “she can’t be a murderer, she gives to charity”, but “I’m not a bad person, so clearly whatever I do must be fine.” If people don’t regard themselves as capable of evil, that’s when bad things happen.
Dammit M, I didn’t notice that until you pointed it out and now I can’t get it out of my head. I will be heartbroken if Matrix iconography becomes associated with MRAs; for one thing I would have to change my wardrobe.
@David
I’ve admittedly already commented too much on that Roosh V forum thread, but it was fascinated watching Roosh and Aurini congratulate each other for being such great thinkers who stand tall among the manosphere riffraff, and then tell the dopey forum commentators that they are super exclusive group of truly exceptional men.
And the posters eat it up.
The whole thread shows how some misogynists will immediately label their male critics as “emotional” and “crazy”, it’s not just for the feeemales.
Other fun moments:
1) Roosh recommending Aurini’s hour long podcast on neomasculinity, which has to qualify as torture under the Geneva Conventions.
2) Rollo Tomassi sort of criticizing Roosh led to much shade being thrown Rollo’s way. One poster was particularly offended by him comparing Roosh to Max Tucker.
That’s a unique way to defend Roosh.
I can’t stop, here’s more fawning from the thread.
Bro, does your critical thinking even lift?
ahahahahahahahahahahahaha…
I really really hope MRAsterpiece Theatre parodies Aurini’s fawning. *gasp* And a guest appearance by a Roosh puppet!
Can someone please link Glen H to something that documents where Roosh confessed to raping that woman in Iceland? I’m not sure which is the best piece of evidence for it.
Nah, Doosh’s thing about Reddit is not so much his being divorced from reality, as it is his clever, clever lie to make TRPers come over to his blog. He’s not much smarter than his commenters if he thinks they’re likely to fall for that. And he’s a massive fool for thinking he can compete with Reddit.
Also, Doosh, stop trying to make neomasculinity happen! It’s not going to happen!
‘the time added value of his efforts, his materials, lost the vote of my time to continue following.’
I have probably already wasted more time than I should have trying to figure out what this means.
Dear Santa,
Pweeeeeese can this happen? I never ask you for anything. I’ll be good, I promise. I’ll even forgive you for not bringing me that pony.
– EJ