Roosh Valizadeh — the racist, woman-hating, fat-shaming pickup artist and rape legalization proponent — is trying to reinvent himself as a philosopher of sorts, a man with unique insights into the perils of masculinity in “a degenerate world.” He seems undaunted by the fact that his unique insights are neither unique nor, well, insights; he’s little more than a regurgitator of a lot of old, bad ideas, and a not-very-competent regurgitator at that. If he were a mother bird, his chicks would all die.
Part of Roosh’s attempted reinvention is a “world” lecture tour this summer that started in Berlin in late June and that will, barring mishaps, end in Toronto in mid-August.
Tomorrow, he’s making an appearance in Manhattan, where he will be making a canned speech on “The State Of Man” followed by several hours of Q&A and mingling with his fans. Or at least that portion of his fans who have managed to stay awake through 40 minutes of Roosh droning on in his characteristic monotone.
On his “Roosh World Tour” website, Roosh highlights some of the topics he addresses in his speech, including
- “How to mentally approach living in a degenerate world”
- “An examination of three different time periods men faced in the past”
- “The overall benefits we can expect from women in the pursuit of relationships with them”
- “One important need that all men require in life”
Based on the portion of Roosh’s oeuvre that I have managed to force myself to read, I’m going to guess that this “need that all men require” — isn’t a “need” by definition something that is required? — is women touching their boners (no fatties). Or something else equally stupid. Honestly, I don’t care. I feel a bit sorry for any man pathetic enough to pay the $47-$59 he is charging for his “4-hour event.”
Roosh is keeping the exact location of the event secret until the last minute “to prevent unattractive feminists from petitioning the event,” as he puts it on his reservations page.
Roosh’s so-called World Tour is only hitting 4 countries in total. One country he is not visiting: Iceland.
Why might this be? Well, the last time he went to Iceland, Roosh convinced a woman who’d lost her phone and been abandoned by her friends after a night of drinking in a Reykjavik bar to come to his apartment. Then this happened, as he himself tells the story in his Bang Iceland eBook:
I hooked her arm and off we went. … There had to be a moment when she realized that all her friends are gone and the only reasonable option left was to go home with a strange man she had just met.
While walking to my place, I realized how drunk she was. In America, having sex with her would have been rape, since she couldn’t legally give her consent. It didn’t help matters that I was relatively sober, but I can’t say I cared or even hesitated.
I won’t rationalize my actions, but having sex is what I do. If a girl is willing to walk home with me, she’s going to get the dick no matter how much she has drunk. I’ll protect myself by using a condom (most of the time), but I know that when it comes to sex, one ounce of hesitation or a feeling of morality will get me nothing.
Quotes his, emphasis mine.
This isn’t philosophy. It’s not even pickup “artistry.” It’s just what rapists do.
EDIT: A few tweaks and a fixed typo in the headline; added the bit about the “secret” venue.
Well, duh. When an estimated 10% of US citizens are finally granted rights equal to those of the other estimated 90, and the country as a whole pulls up alongside where Canada was ten years ago, that’s kind of a momentous occasion, dude.
Actually, what I love is how ridiculously unaware Roosh’s little ass-barnacles are of, well, just about everything. If they knew anything about feminists (OR MRAs), they’d realize that no, we’re not two sides of the same coin with those fuckheads — MRAs and PUAs are. Because both have placed themselves in direct antagonism to women, while feminists are not against men, but against sexism. (Men ≠ sexism, fucktrucks.)
And I do hate to pour cold water on ya (well, actually, NO — I quite enjoy taking the wind out of PUAs), but dude, feminists aren’t looking for government to save us from our woes. We recognize that to a large extent, governments over the centuries have propped up our woes — by depriving us of basic rights and legal redress. Some of our most protracted battles have been with governments that refuse to recognize that women have a right to be something other than sex toys or chattel. We’re not looking for government to rescue us — we’re looking to become the government, so that we can finally fix this shit and get some real autonomy.
Well, duh again. Elliot Rodger went on PUAhate (now Sluthate) because he was a PUA who’d failed dismally in his attempts. As all PUAs must, because their whole “philosophy” is shit. He was for it before he was “against” it, but what he was against, most of all, was women’s right to refuse. Which is, incidentally, the same thing PUAs oppose.
By their fruits shall we know them, dude.
https://www.change.org/p/the-government-of-canada-deny-roosh-v-entry-to-canada-for-the-purposes-of-disseminating-hate
@weirwoodtreehugger
“You’re way out of line. Cut it out. When you’ve labeled most American parents and most Jewish and Muslim parents globally, child abusers, perhaps you’ve gone just a touch too far.”
I’m not doing that. I’ve said multiple times that I don’t think that parents who didn’t know any better are guilty of abuse; I’m saying that such parents are enabling further abuse when they try to justify what they did, as so many parents do.
“If you care so much about bodily integrity and autonomy, maybe implying that someone’s body is broken and damaged is not the way to go.”
In what way have I done that? If I have, I certainly didn’t intend to, & would appreciate being corrected.
“You don’t get to dictate how somebody feels about either their bodies or their parents.”
I don’t believe that I’ve done that either. If you believe that I have, I’d appreciate an instance being pointed out to me.
…Nop, your tone has been very sarcastic and derisive. For instance, when I politely asked you to please try to tone down the “all circumcisions bad” and acknowledge that they can be medically necessary, you posted very sarcastically and questioned my knowledge of the subject.
Even though you didn’t at the time know the circumstances, your immediate response of “only a monster would do it as a prophylactic measure” essentially called my friend a monster, when really he did more harm by trying so hard to avoid circumcision for so long, and he feels guilty for that harm.
Since I elaborated *which I really would have rather not have had to do, but felt pressed to by your comment), you started adding “medically necessary”. I appreciate that. Still, your tone remains very… strident and pretty absolute.
Some commenters have felt like they had to justify their own circumcision to you. Your use of saying “I don’t blame you for being conned by a very powerful and pro-circumcision lobby” puts them in the corner of either feeling like they have to admit that either their parents were weak-willed or ignorant (and thus free of your blame) or that their parents were abusive for making that decision, even if it was the result of the best medical knowledge of their time.
Medical knowledge changes a lot. Seriously. Do some reading into how fast CPR is changing and the newer emphasis on compressions over airway (for single rescuer sometimes even forgoing airway completely for the first 5 minutes) in ‘high performance CPR’, which has increased save rates in the US.
That’s not saying that medical practices of 10 years ago were really the best possible, but it was the best they knew.
Also, you use very powerful language. For instance, you’ve referred to circumcised boys as being ‘mutilated’ multiple times. Even though you might be referring to strictly non-necessary procedures, you don’t state that and instead worded it as a blanket statement for all circumcisions.
“mutilated genitals” is super powerful imagery, and in effect, you’re saying that people who are in the commentariat and are circumcised are ‘mutilated’, and thus broken, or deficient. Mutilation gives the impression it isn’t something that they should ever be okay with, because they are mutilated. It gives the impression that no one who is circumcised should ever be able to find peace with their body, and if they aren’t disturbed by being mutilated there must be something wrong with them.
I don’t think you’re posting with bad intentions. I really don’t. But the way this discussion is going down is not… super helpful. I really don’t think you’re trying to be abrasive and harmful, but that’s kind of how you’re coming off.
Hopefully that helps? I tried to give specific words and phrases, and explain their impact, but I’m not quite at my peak. It’s been a long day, and I have to wake up soon.
I’m off to check in on new comment policy and then to bed…
@contrapangloss
First off, I want to thank you for being kind enough to take me at my word, & explain your thoughts. I really do appreciate it. 🙂
“…Nop, your tone has been very sarcastic and derisive.”
That’s true. It’s a topic that I feel very strongly about. One of the things I hate most about the MRA assholes is that they’ve effectively poisoned the well when it comes to debating the genuine abuses that are particular to men & boys, such that – quite understandably – feminists have a knee-jerk “whataboutthemenz?” reaction to the topic.
“Even though you didn’t at the time know the circumstances, your immediate response of “only a monster would do it as a prophylactic measure” essentially called my friend a monster, when really he did more harm by trying so hard to avoid circumcision for so long, and he feels guilty for that harm.”
Your friend did something that was obviously medically necessary, under the circumstances, & I didn’t intend to say (or even imply) otherwise. Sometimes, things like that can’t be helped.
“Since I elaborated *which I really would have rather not have had to do, but felt pressed to by your comment), you started adding “medically necessary”. I appreciate that.”
You may not have seen that I added that same caveat to previous comments.
“Still, your tone remains very… strident and pretty absolute.”
It does. I feel very strongly about child abuse, & absent a medical emergency, genital mutilation of children is child-abuse.
“Some commenters have felt like they had to justify their own circumcision to you.”
If they are referring to their own genitals being mutilated, then I really hope they didn’t get that feeling from me. If they’re referring to having their children’s genitals mutilated, then I’m sorry, but I’m not going to try & make them feel okay with it, especially as people have made comments stating that “it’s the parent’s choice” when it very much shouldn’t be.
Again, it’s forgivable when the parent concerned didn’t know any better at the time.
“Also, you use very powerful language. For instance, you’ve referred to circumcised boys as being ‘mutilated’ multiple times. Even though you might be referring to strictly non-necessary procedures, you don’t state that and instead worded it as a blanket statement for all circumcisions.”
Genital mutilation is what it is, whether for girls or boys. Calling it anything less is super offensive to anyone who’s been abused that way.
““mutilated genitals” is super powerful imagery, and in effect, you’re saying that people who are in the commentariat and are circumcised are ‘mutilated’, and thus broken, or deficient.”
They are. They may well have come to terms with it – as African women who’ve undergone FGM have had to – & really, what other choice does a victim of abuse have? – but the fact is that their genitals have been mutilated, & calling it something else is dishonest.
“I don’t think you’re posting with bad intentions. I really don’t. But the way this discussion is going down is not… super helpful. I really don’t think you’re trying to be abrasive and harmful, but that’s kind of how you’re coming off.”
I can be an extremely abrasive person, particularly when I feel that people are trying to minimise or justify child-abuse. This can absolutely be a fault of mine, & unproductive at times, but on balance it seems to work out well enough that it’s not something that I wish to change.
“Hopefully that helps? I tried to give specific words and phrases, and explain their impact, but I’m not quite at my peak. It’s been a long day, and I have to wake up soon.”
It really does, & I appreciate you taking the trouble. Thank you again!