Never let it be said that Men’s Rights Activists cannot effect meaningful change in the real world through the power of their activism.
At least if your definition of “effecting meaningful change in the real world” is “voting their preferred definition of MRA to the top spot on Urban Dictionary.”
Over on the Men’s Rights subreddit, the regulars are celebrating this rare victory as if they’d just won men the right to vote or something. No, really: they literally compare themselves to the suffragettes.
![MenandBoysareGood 27 points 1 day ago "first they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.". I've seen the men's movement evolve substantially and I'd say there will be a day where it will be plain wrong to try and ridicule the movement. permalinksavereportgive goldreply [–]Kryptof 8 points 1 day ago Kind of like it's just plain wrong to ridicule examples of "real" feminism. Fighting against discrimination, actual discrimination and sexism, is quite admirable. I hope this marks the first step to overcoming hate and preconceptions of what we stand for and we can be taken as seriously as suffragists.](https://i0.wp.com/www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/suff.png?resize=579%2C268&ssl=1)
Another commenter warns his comrades that the battle isn’t over yet.
Go forth, young men! For there is more crap for you to upvote on the internet before you secure your victory!
Totally unrelated, but my favorite “today I learned” from this week was that IBM’s Jeopardy-playing computer Watson was once taught the contents of Urban Dictionary, and then was promptly un-taught them when it learned to swear.
Well. Shocking. Just shocking. I’ll be clutching my pearls and gasping for air on the fainting couch. If anyone needs me please bring the smelling salts.
I want to make a joke, but I’m speechless. If an Urban Dictionary definition is a victory to them, well… uh, congrats? I guess?
http://i.giphy.com/de6I1WFt0CBkA.gif
Urban Dictionary? It’s not exactly the OED, guys, it’s just a website where people go to look up jokey definitions of sexual euphemisms and swears. So, yay for you? *fist bump*
“Hey everyone, did you notice how an organized group of people can game any sort of website based on voluntary voting to push a message?”
“Awesome! I’m so glad we all hang out on reddit together!”
Given that 99% of the top-voted definitions are either “A swear word we just made up,” “A sex act we just made up” or “THERE’S FEMICOMMUNAZIS IN MY SOUP, ALEX JONES AND HITLER WERE RIGHT” anyway… Good work pissing in an ocean of piss, fellas!
As dumb and insignificant as it is, even this “victory” is unlikely to last very long.
The preferred MRA-for-MRAs definition has about 7k votes for and 1k against right now. But the six current runner-up definitions all have somewhere around 15k for and 10k against. And every single one of those runner-up definitions mock MRAs as being idiots.
So basically, they got a big mob of manbabies to dump all their yes votes into one obscure manbaby definition that most urban dictionary people have never bothered to look at, let alone vote on. Or it WAS obscure, rather, before they got it slapped up at the top of the page. A page full of anti-MRA entries with fifteen thousand yes votes apiece.
Nothing could go wrong with this plan.
How can they overcome hate when that’s what their bowel movement is based on?
Also does this mean that they’re going to stop threatening people online?
If this puts an end to their shitty behavior then I say we let them have the win.
After that we can train all of the flying pigs to become part of our air force.
Normally I’m of the opinion that M is the wittiest of us, but Prios narrowly takes the lead here.
Wild guess: No.
Oh goody, they were able to vote! Now the world can take them seriously as suffragists!
Maybe they ought to consult a real dictionary from time to time…
@Buttercup QS
Haha! I totally missed that perfect piece of irony.
Well, I know it looks like they’ve gotten the upper hand, but I’m sure our heroes will figure a way out of the cliffhanger next week.
… Wait. Shit. This wasn’t about Doctor Who at all, was it.
@Falconer
Everything is about Doctor Who, it can just take a while to work out exactly how.
@matchstickuk, now that I think about it, the comparison between the MRAs and the Daleks is a little unfair, and I’m sorry for it.
Sure, they’re both hate-filled, blustering, knock-it-all-down trolls who spend all day shouting slogans, but the Daleks haven’t actually hurt any real people, and the MRAs contribute to very real online harassment.
Urban Dictionary? Well ok, congrads MRAs…I guess. I mean its a site run by 12-year-olds making up dumb sex joke positions.
But I guess every movement has to have a peak somewhere.
@Falconer
the Daleks also do some good by (if I recall Genesis of the Daleks correctly) uniting other, disparate forces of the universe into a coalition to oppose them.
“Taken seriously as suffragists”? What… exactly is the type of “suffrage” they’re seeking? I know they occasionally try to convince folks that they are feminism for men, even as they demonize feminism, but I’ve never seen this direct comparison to a group that had a tangible human right (voting) as a goal.
So far, the most I’ve seen them truly try to accomplish is to fight for the “right” to be taken seriously in the absence of any serious activism.
@Kirbywarp: They stand against the tyranny of other people being allowed to have an opinion and they fight for freedom from criticism.
In your last post you disparaged Elam and his visionary strategy of using a teeny-tiny Revolutionary Vanguard to overthrow Bourgeois Gynocentrism. You thought that the whole thing was just sour-grapes posturing to spin the fact that AVFM is hemorrhaging visitors. But who is spinning now but the Feminist Running-Dogs?!!! In the face of this earth-shattering victory, brought about entirely by the advanced Strategy of Our Dear Leader, you can do nothing but spin. For the armies of justice have LIBERATED Urban Dictionary from the occupation of the SJW Hordes!!!!
Ever Onward To Victory!!!
./jk
@ Falconer
There’s an interesting debate going on at gallifreybase about the latest Dr Who episode (well I say interesting, more like a train wreck).
To give you an idea of the level of discussion my favourite quote so far is:
“Well at least the Daleks will be pleased to know that there are some people more concerned about ethnic purity than they are”.
@Alan Robertshaw: Oh my god, is it because of the black guys at the beginning? Is gallifreybase losing its shit over the implication that the Kaleds and the Thals might include other than pure Nordic types?
(That guy who ran after the boy was the bravest person in that whole episode.)
@ Falconer
Wow, you’re psychic!
[There’s also a bit of a meltdown because 12th Century England was portrayed, albeit historically accurately, as not exclusively white]
@EJ, OT, but no worries about not managing to meet up on the demo last week. It was an awesome afternoon and I made friends with a woman who’s helping take supplies to the make shift camps outside Calais including ‘The Jungle’, I was able to help her out with some donations the following week.
As far as the MRAs go, wow what a victory, Urban Dictionary isn’t mocking them quite so much for the time being! Now they just have to win hearts and minds over on Encyclopaedia Dramatica, which may be tricky as those guys tend not to have either.
‘First they ignore you.
Then they laugh at you.
Then they go back to ignoring you.
Then you alienate your few allies by throwing a big mantrum all over the place about how unfair it all is.’
– Galileo
Horray….?