I sometimes refer to A Voice for Men, the Men’s Rights hate site that has evolved into something of a hate group, as a cult. Up until now I’ve only done so half-seriously; while there are a lot of things about AVFM that are cultish, from the apocalyptic rhetoric to the constant demands for money to the organized harassment of its critics, it seems to lack some of the central elements of a real cult.
I mean, they’re not holed up in a compound in Idaho; they don’t wear funny uniforms; and they don’t talk, at least not publicly, about their single-minded dedication to serving the group’s leader — one Paul Elam of Houston Texas.
Or at least I thought they didn’t.
One of my readers has pointed out to me an interesting moment in a video posted on Youtube last year by a woman — known by her internet handle SworeByThePrecious — who had been talking to AVFM’s Dean Esmay about getting a press pass for AVFM’s conference last year. The video features the uncut audio from a long and contentious 4 AM phone she and Esmay had to discuss the matter. (Ultimately, she didn’t get the press pass; here’s her account of what happened when she caught up with some of the conferencegoers at a bar afterwards.)
The really interesting bit in the recording — which I somehow missed when I listened to this last year — comes just short of the 23 minute mark, when Esmay pointedly tells Swore that he and other AVFMers are “a group of volunteers dedicated to a cause, and the cause is Paul Elam.” Here’s the audio:
Yep. You heard that correctly. The Number Two dude at AVFM doesn’t say that their cause is Men’s Rights, or fighting the evil “hate group” that is feminism, or any of the other things that Men’s Rights Activists like to say that they’re about. He says, plain as day, that their “cause is Paul Elam.”
If you don’t believe me, you can find the quote in the original video here. (The link should send you directly to that part of the phone call; if not, it’s 22:50 in.)
Now, I’m assuming that this was a Freudian slip on Esmay’s part, but whether it was intentional or not it’s pretty damn revealing, huh?
What I want to know is how they managed to start a cult of personality around somebody with no personality whatsoever.
Check out the comment section response from the AVFM numbskull division
The beard and bulging eyes don’t count?
I thought it was obvious by now, AVFM and its staff exist to fleece vulnerable/guillible men. Or they would have had a shelter or something to show for their “activism” by now, hell Paul won’t even shell out a few bucks to fix his seconds obvious dental issues.
Which would explain any erratic behavior, much like that old by-line: “God works in mysterious ways”.
“We’re only here because we’re doing what Elam wants.”
Such activism. Much men’s rights.
That is one hell of a Freudian slip.
dudeinthewoods,
I don’t think Paul’s looks are relevant.
So they are Man’s Rights Advocates?
Oh, wow, oh no. How horrible. How could this be true.
I am in shock. Total shock of this. A whole movement based around one man, totally didn’t expect that.
http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/are-you-done.gif
Although my earlier comparison of MGTOW to Altruist Cult has never been more relavant.
How badly would a person need an authoritarian father figure’s attention and approval to
A) pay him to notice them even if that means living on instant ramen noodles?
B) settle for Paul Elam?
@Lea
I was actually answering Scented Fucking Hard Chairs lack of personality comment, I should have made that clear.
It appears that this whole MRM is actually a One Man’s (Paul Elam) Rights Movement. What a charlatan.
Paul Elam is not even a good charlatan — if he was, he be a financial adviser or a televangelist — that’s where the real grifting money is. He has managed to find a group that is so clueless even his sixth-rate scamming works.
I’m gonna start my own cult. The Cult of Misanthropy. And as head misanthrope, none of you suckers are allowed to join. ‘Cause I hate you all.
So there.
NaniNani Booboo, stick your head on doodoo.
Just watch for when they start stocking up on purple shrouds and Nike shoes.
I am not at all surprised that this is now a semi-official cult of (shitty) personality.
Thank you, David! You’ve sucked these women into a losing battle from which they’ll never recover! The men’s rights groups owe you a deep, deep debt of gratitude. You DA MAN!
I LOVE DAVID FUTRELLE!
MGHOW!
Sometimes I almost feel bad for Dean Esmay. Almost.
What on earth was Tim’s comment supposed to convey?
+1. Dean, Dean, Dean…
Y’know what? If being “sucked into a losing battle from which I’ll never recover” means reading funny blog posts mocking horrible people – which is what David does here, write funny blog posts mocking horrible people – then I fail to see how that is so awful. Or how this is some grand victory for men’s rights groups. Try harder, Tim.
I would feel a little more sympathy for him if he didn’t devote so much of his time and energy to running around yelling at people and spreading lies about them. He’s very much an enforcer in a Scientologist sort of way, and, in his own weirdly mawkish way, a gigantic bully though he clearly sees himself as a victim.
Hell. right before this bit in the phone call he was going on at length about what an evil bigot “sadist” I am, because he had decided based on nothing that Swore was working for me.
@PoM – I’ve read it three times now and still can’t puzzle it out. Don’t MGTOW usually hate AVfM? Why would a man who’s turned his back on women care what we’re doing? How does pointing and laughing at a bunch of fools constitute being pulled into a losing battle?
So many questions.
(I’m responding to WWTH about Dean, in case that’s not clear.)
There are a small number of MGTOWs who support AVFM; presumably this is one of them. Though how his comment is related to Esmay’s creepy hero worship I have no idea.
It’s good news for
John McCainBitcoin Paul Elam!