On Fathers Day, somewhere on the internet, the following meme was posted:
The Men’s Rights subreddit reacted, as it so often does, with manly indignation: how dare these women take our Fathers Day from us! Even by normal Men’s Rights standards for empty outrage this seems a bit much. After all, it’s not exactly news that a lot of women raise their kids by themselves, when the fathers of their children, refuse to act as, well, fathers to their children. Indeed, “financial abortions” — that is, consequence-free child abandonment for men — is one of the central demands of the Men’s Rights movement.
But to one anonymous commenter on the Men’s Rights subreddit, this meme could well be the final insult that transforms the men of the world into angry panda impersonators destroying everything within reach.
According to this anonymous observer,
this really scares me, enough that I wake up at night thinking about it.
Wait. You wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat thinking about … a meme?
No one could deny that there is open warfare on men all throughout western society. Whether or not it is deserved is somewhat irrelevant (you’ll see why in a second). There’s a minority of men who are alarmed but the vast majority just doesn’t have this on their radar…yet. This is mostly because it doesn’t affect them directly.
How can there be “open warfare” on men if most men haven’t even noticed it? Has there ever been a war in which the majority of those ostensibly affected by it don’t even know that it exists?
But never mind, because “[t]hat’s all going to change soon.”
Mixing his metaphors with wild abandon, this anonymous Men’s Rights Nostradamus predicts that
It won’t be long until the inroads that feminism has blazed start to butt up against the everyday Joe that’s just living his life.
Ah, the ever-reliable “everyday Joe,” beloved icon of reactionary grumblers since pretty much forever. In 2008, he took the form of a plumber (well, sort of). In 1970, they made a movie about him.
It appears that feminism doesn’t know when to quit and I clearly see the movement doing something that causes ‘Joe’ to not only look up from his newspaper but also impact him in a negative way.
You wouldn’t like me when I look up from my newspaper!
This lights the fuse.
Throughout history the one thing men are good at is responding to threats, whether they are real or not. I’m reminded of a video of a robbery at a convenience store I saw. The robber had a knife pointed at the clerk, demanding the contents of the register. Two random men were behind him, watching it all go down. One guy looked at the other and did the “upward head nod”. The other guy responded with the same discreet movement and they launched at the robber, taking him down. These two guys didn’t know each other at all but they, like most all men, are given to cohesive bonding when a threat is present.
Men also make up the vast majority of those robbing convenience stores, but never mind.
Feminism gives a perfect storm for this response and it’s going to be really ugly. When men get pissed, especially when they feel disenfranchised or morally wronged, they start breaking things.
Are you sure you haven’t confused men with toddlers having tantrums?
If this starts to steamroll it will make Ferguson look like a dress rehearsal.
That escalated quickly. Good old everyday Joe was just sitting there reading his newspaper, when all of a sudden he caught sight of a feminist meme on the internet. Next stop, literal rioting in the streets.
Those cops that will be asked to stop it? Those are overwhelmingly men too. Many will be sympathetic and I see lines being crossed.
A Man/Cop Alliance of Rioting Manbabies?
Yeah, it wouldn’t surprise me if this doesn’t get dealt with that it could be something on par with a major social upheaval. It’s going to be expensive, bloody, and it’s going to change everything for several generations. Once men start hammering, it ALL looks like a nail.
Yeah this bothers me a lot. I hope I’m badly wrong.
No you don’t. MRAs and other reactionary misogynists are forever airing these kinds of apocalyptic fantasies, in which the evil feminists “push men too far” and the men “finally explode” like some kind of “male bomb.” Civilization crumbles, and those evil complainy women get their final comeuppance.
Some of the men profess their deep “concern” that the women they want to shut up won’t shut up until it’s “too late.” Others can barely conceal their glee at the prospect of a bloody Manpocalypse that will put women back in their place.
Because this isn’t a warning. It’s a threat. It’s what every wife-batterer does when he “reminds” his wife that she won’t like him when he’s angry. It’s a way to control women through fear. Or at least an attempt to.
The only difference now is that the dude doing the “reminding” isn’t threatening his wife at home; he’s playing to the crowd in the Men’s Rights subreddit, and getting upvotes for it.
All over a meme.
So which gender is supposed to be the emotional one again?
H/T — r/againstmensrights
@PoM
Is there anyone who’s in a position of power (and on TV) that isn’t and asshole?
Oh, dear.
Weregirraffe’s are hardcore, apparently.
Well, all the werewolves snigger behind their backs, so they have street cred to maintain.
Well, all the werewolves snicker behind their backs, so they have street cred to maintain.
@PoM:
From the four years I spent working in a kitchen while a student, my impression is that cooking is a very, very macho field. Especially for male chefs.
@Falconer:
This is why I’m closing down my fishing industry and abandoning the surface. It’s hazardous up there. Let’s go down below where there’s just magma and it’s safer.
@Jackie:
The weregiraffe is slain but the cost was high.
It managed to penetrate the fortress defences and cornered a mob of civilians. Tragically, by the time the soldiers could get there it had killed four and injured many more. The weregiraffe then proceeded to turn back into a human, possibly hoping to slip out. It didn’t work. The mob beat the living shit out of him so hard that I had to scroll through three pages of injuries, and then SevenOfMine turned up and proceeded to wield the hammer like John Scalzi.
RIP:
Mr Seven, soldier
Morrizaurus, cadet soldier
Mr. ej, weaponsmith
sunnysombrera, farmer
Four nameless migrants, two of which were children
Badly injured:
Kootiepatra, leatherworker
Several nameless migrants
Moderately injured:
M, mason
Bina, farmer
Several nameless migrants
I have a problem with rich parents getting their kids to do fundraising for their personal benefit, because it’s “character building” to raise the money themselves, without giving a thought to the fact that it’s not other people’s job to fund their kids’ expensive extra-curricular stuff when they are not disadvantaged, y’know? Like, what makes you assume that poorer people will just give you everything you need to live your perfect white-saviour fantasy trip abroad?
I saw another girl in Leeds with a sign that said “Send me to Africa (no country specified) to train people in… I forget what”, And ok she didn’t look rich, but it would be better to use the cost of her plane ticket to train someone living in a disadvantaged region in something useful… Because what the FUCK is a 16-year-old going to teach anyone to a competent standard?? As if there aren’t already any people with competent skills in all of Africa…
God, the well-intentioned Racism is just the fucking worst!
Sorry, more ranting. Am I out of order for finding this stuff really, viscerally irritating?
For context, I grew up working-class in the poshest town in the North, where the weekly paper’s society pages contain nothing but fundraising balls attended by well-meaning but extremely privileged white people.
I’ve seen people celebrate single dads on Mother’s Day, and I’m pretty damn cool with that. I understand single moms have it harder because of stigma, which is unfair as hell, but single dads do suffer as well, and it’s nice to give them some love where it’s deserved. Single parenting is hard enough without MRAs screeching about “unfairness” because single moms face stigma.
I celebrate my single mother on Father’s Day because anyone who I could have called “Father” either did attempt a “financial abortion”, as per the MRAs desire (and he was apparently also a neo-nazi. Mom mentioned to me he had a swastika tattoo on his hand he got blocked in so people would hire him), or a monstrous abuser who turned me into a mental wreck through every means necessary.
Mom not only was the only one who stepped up, as hard as it was, but she stood up for me and fought for me when I was told she’d abandon me (by my abuser’s mother) because of my step-father’s abuse. She also fought to get me recognized by my biological father and to get him to pay child support. He denied I was his, and still does to this day.
So, this Father’s day: Thanks to my biological father and step-dad for helping to make me a feminist! You’re both shitheads and deserve to rot.
http://img.pandawhale.com/post-18170-Leonardo-Dicaprio-raising-glas-Glmc.gif
I’ve noticed this kind of being a disturbing trend in the activism community.
People brought it up with the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, people brought it up with white girls wearing headscarves, and some other people brought it up with the recent Rachel Dolezal incident.
It’s one thing to want to understand the struggles people go through when they’re poor/ill/black/etc, but it’s another to attempt to put on their struggles for a week or however long, go “Well that was terrible!” and then go right back to being privileged. I can see it helping, but not that much. And I can see why a lot of people are frustrated with the idea.
Which is why I really emphasize that people listen to people who are actually disadvantaged and/or oppressed, and then boost what they have to say where their voices won’t reach.
It’s kind of ignorant and bigoted to not want to listen to what an oppressed person has to say until you filter it through your privilege. Whether that be through “Oppression Tourism”, or hearing it through the mouth of someone who shares that privilege with you.
@Falconer
I did see an episode of the British edition of Kitchen Nightmares, in which Ramsay took the father out of the kitchen of the family-run restaurant, because he absolutely sucked at it, and moved the teenaged daughter from waitress to chef. He was really patient with her. She started out knowing effectively nothing and he worked with that. So I think he can be a nice guy when the circumstances are correct. That seems to be largely the exception, however, when it comes to male chefs. They’re not all assholes, but they seem to have a higher-than-expected proportion of assholes in their ranks.
ej, can I just take a moment to rejoice that dwarf contrapangloss, builder of ridiculous menacing cloth spikes, is still alive?
And then mourn for the unnamed immigrant children.
Also, downloading dwarf fortress right now. Lazy Newb pack, of course, because I don’t like being totally lost.
@Falconer
Yeah, Gordon Ramsey is actually alright, just really likes yelling and cursing. He seems like an alright guy when he’s not in the kitchen. It’s understandable in a way because you need to keep the kitchen running like a well-oiled machine when you’re serving a lot of people. Even Anne Burrell can get mean in the kitchen.
Jamie Oliver is just an ass from what I’ve seen and heard, though.
Whoa whoa whoa.
Since when was Doctor Who on Disney?
@PoM
oops, AfK for too long. Sorry for the misunderstanding, I actually like JOHN Oliver.
Re: DF:
Oh yeah, I’ll need some time for that one. I’ve downloaded Peter Tysons tutorial and played around a bit in the lazy newb pack, but I haven’t gotten far.
One of the unnamed migrants the weregiraffe bit has turned into a weregiraffe and attacked people in the hospital and then the hallways outside it. This is straight-up bad.
RIP Catalpa, sparky, two nameless migrants, one child.
I really noticed the difference when I retired. Instead of hurtling home at the speed of trees (ninety minute commute, public transit) and getting dinner on the table within an hour, I could start whenever necessary. Curious, but all these years later I still enjoy cooking.
Washing dishes sucks great mossy boulders, though. I can console myself with the fact that I don’t have to pump the water or cut wood for heat, but that wears thin after a while.
This Dwarf game sounds hilarious and amazing. I might fire up our old XP machine – will it run on XP?
On the food topic – my family were food donation recipients when I was in high school, and as someone who has a few intolerances and gut issues I beg of you, when donating canned goods, non-bean protein is really, really appreciated. Lentils are great and all, but some folks just can’t do the legume thing without pain.
@EJ Summoned by socks,
on the road to a grave,
death, I find; fitting.
@EJ
Maybe you should just lock everyone up for a bit so you can get rid of all the weregiraffe because it seems to me you’re gonna have people killing people and turning them into weregiraffes forever.
Overrun by weregiraffes. Fortress abandoned.
You know what’s the worst thing? You know what makes it all so unbearable? It isn’t the weregiraffes. It isn’t the galena. It isn’t even the total lack of iron. Dwarf!Falconer is partying. That smug fuck is taking the time to drink himself through the downfall of our civilisation.
@EJ
“Throughout history the one thing men are good at is responding to threats, whether they are real or not.”
And MRAs are the undisputed equivalent of kung fu ninja masters when it comes to responded to imaginary threats.
“A Man/Cop Alliance of Rioting Manbabies?”
Don’t you remember how some officers ran to the media to whine about how oppressed they were when murderous cops were getting criticized?
It isn’t that hard to believe that those same idiots will jump on the “I’m so oppressed because of something trivial” MRA bandwagon.
I have found something so…amazing…I want to share it with you guys.
“Amazing” in, like, “awesome, cool, cute”, “amazing” as in “awe inspiring”, and not awe inspiring as in “awesome to the max” but, like, who a plane crash is amazing. And I want to share it but I don’t know if you guys are prepared.
I also don’t know if everyone already knows about it or not. Maybe the British peeps but I’m not sure.
Hey, at least you succeeded in keeping Dwarf!Falconer happy? Since that was originally one of the goals…
You know what’s wild? How these MRAs who wring their hands about how men will be pushed too far by evil feminazis know exactly how to sound like an abusive husband… and yet don’t realise that sometimes, when you abuse your wife over and over, she fucking snaps and murders you while you’re asleep.
Charity galas. To quote the great Daria Morgendorfer, “helping the little people while staying as far away from them as possible.”