The repulsive pickup guru and wannabe philosopher of “neomasculinity” Roosh Valizadeh has long made it clear that he has a problem with women making decisions about their own lives, whether that decision is picking a college major — or saying “no” to sex with him.
In one notorious post, he explained to his readers that, as he sees it, a woman’s “no” pretty much never means “no.” Only if she uses the magic word “stop” does he stop. But he doesn’t think she really has a right to use that word, because, in his mind, once a woman “gives” him an erection, she owes it to him to finish the job.
“A man’s nut is sacred,” he wrote, “and for her to impede that should be criminal. I’m serious.”
Given all this, it perhaps should not come as a shock to hear that Roosh thinks women should have their right to make decisions taken away from them altogether, not just when he’s trying to get his “nut.”
In a blog post with the blunt title “Women Must Have Their Behavior And Decisions Controlled By Men,” Roosh sets forth his thesis:
After a long period in society of women having unlimited personal freedom to pursue life as they wish, they have shown to consistently fail in making the right decisions that prevent their own harm and the harm of others. Systems must now be put in place where a woman’s behavior is monitored and her decisions subject to approval of a male relative or guardian who understands what’s in her best interests better than she does herself.
As Roosh sees it, the whole “woman having control over their own lives” experiment has failed, and it is time to return to the good old-fashioned patriarchy that had previously served us so well. In this golden age, he writes, a woman
was not allowed to study any trivial topic she wanted, sleep with any man who caught her fancy, or uproot herself and travel the world because she wanted to “find herself.”
He’s really stuck on this whole women-choosing-their-own-college-majors thing.
And he’s also deeply offended by a woman’s right to take sexy selfies, interact with men in ways he does not approve of, watch TV shoes he doesn’t like, and, of course, with her ability to control what food goes in her mouth.
When a female lacks any urgent demands upon her survival, what behavior does she pursue? Obsessively displaying her half-naked body on the internet, flirting with men solely for attention, becoming addicted to corporate-produced entertainment, and over-indulging in food until her body shape is barely human. …
Once you give a woman personal freedom, like we have in the Western world, she enslaves herself to one of numerous vices and undertakes a rampage of destruction to her body and those who want to be a meaningful part of her life.
Never mind that men do all these things too, and that men in the US are actually more likely than women to be overweight or obese. Maybe men need to have their rights to make decisions about their own lives taken from them as well?
Roosh is also angry that women get to choose when they get pregnant, whom they marry, and whom they vote for — invariably choosing the candidate “who is more handsome and [who] promises unsustainable freebies that accelerate the decline of her country.”
Really? When I look at politicians in this country, “handsome” is not really the first word that comes to mind.
But never mind, because to Roosh this is all proof that a women’s right to make significant decisions about her life and the world should be taken away from her and handed over to the nearest man. Pretty much literally.
Men, on average, make better decisions than women. If you take this to be true, which should be no harder to accept than the claim that lemons are bitter, why is a woman allowed to make decisions at all without first getting approval from a man who is more rational and levelheaded than she is?
Lemons are sour, not bitter. But let’s ignore this little glitch in his logic and continue on,
So which men get to make decisions for women? As Roosh sees it, there are two possible ways his plan could work.
I propose two different options for protecting women from their obviously deficient decision making. The first is to have a designated male guardian give approval on all decisions that affect her well-being. Such a guardian should be her father by default, but in the case a father is absent, another male relative can be appointed or she can be assigned one by charity organizations who groom men for this purpose, in a sort of Boy’s Club for women.
She must seek approval by her guardian concerning diet, education, boyfriends, travel, friends, entertainment, exercise regime, marriage, and appearance, including choice of clothing. A woman must get a green light from her guardian before having sex with any man, before wearing a certain outfit, before coloring her hair green, and before going to a Spanish island for the summer with her female friends.
Roosh’s second “option” is just as flesh-crawlingly creepy.
A second option for monitoring women is a combination of rigid cultural rules and sex-specific laws. Women would not be able to attend university unless the societal need is urgent where an able-minded man could not be found to fill the specific position. Women would not be able to visit establishments that serve alcohol without a man present to supervise her consumption. Parental control software on electronic devices would be modified for women to control and monitor the information they consume. Credit card and banking accounts must have a male co-signer who can monitor her spending. Curfews for female drivers must be enacted so that women are home by a reasonable hour. Abortion for women of all ages must be signed off by her guardian, in addition to prescriptions for birth control.
Welcome to 1984, ladies! Big Brother will be watching you! Or perhaps your own big brother, if dad’s not available.
While Roosh acknowledges that “my proposals are undoubtedly extreme on the surface and hard to imagine implementing,” he thinks they’re necessary to protect Western Culture from the barbarians.
The barbarians, in Roosh’s scenario, are all those brown people from other countries who are entering our country.
Allowing women unlimited personal freedom has so affected birth rates in the West that the elite insists on now allowing importation of millions of third world immigrants from democratically-challenged nations that threaten the survival of the West.
Roosh declares that he’s making “these sincere recommendations not out of anger” but because they would be the best thing for Western Women, including the women in his own family. “They would not like it, surely,” he writes, “but due to the fact that I’m male and they’re not, my analytical decision-making faculty is superior to theirs .. .”
I’m not sure many people are going to be agreeing with you on that, dude. Your “analytical decision-making faculty” is pretty much shit.
Those who like to pretend that Roosh isn’t as terrible a person as he so clearly is may assume that he is being “satirical” here, as they said about his at-least-half-if-not-three-quarters serious proposal to supposedly end rape by making it legal on private property.
But these proposals are entirely consistent with the reactionary, misogynistic worldview Roosh has set forth in countless previous posts. Most of the commenters on his site, last I checked, were taking this post seriously, many of them agreeing with him.
And if that isn’t enough to convince you, Roosh himself states, in the top comment of his own post, that
this article is not satire in any way. I firmly stand behind the recommendations I made.
We can only hope that the increasingly blatant evidence of Roosh’s repugnant extremism ends up alienating his more casual readers, those who’ve somehow convinced themselves that his “teachings” simply offer awkward men “self-improvement” tips to help them navigate the dating world. Because he’s not a self-help guru; he’s a reactionary ideologue and rape-enabler with increasingly obvious neo-Nazi sympathies, pushing his own misogynistic brand of far-right hate.
Let’s do what we can to grease his inevitable slide into irrelevance.
i’m pretty sure the thought process is as follows:
1. Get to be in charge of all the hot women evar
2. tell them what to do every minute of every day
3…
4. Profit! (ie some sort of pseudo-victorian fantasy of a harem of meek subservient women “eager” to serve his every whim…)
ugh. I need to shower in chlorhexadine…right after I drink the excellent gin and tonic my boyfriend made me before he started doing the dishes 😉
If carried out, these guidelines would amount to women’s total enslavement and exploitation. “For her own good…” What a joke that is.
I think all of this man’s “work” is one long, extended tantrum, all because Susie Sorority wouldn’t give him the time of day.
What bvh said.
We’re supposed to scratch our heads and wonder, Is this dude serious? Can’t be. Oh, wait–he says he’s not making it up! Deep thinker? Or clown? I dunno. But he’s fascinating. I’d better send him money.
Like Glenn Beck, even Roosh isn’t sure whether he’s serious. But he definitely wants our money.
Really? Only a number of studies seem to indicate otherwise. That said, these studies did make use of a methodology that Roosh is unfamiliar with. Now what was it called again…? Oh, yes… science!
For example:
Mather M, Lighthall NR. Both Risk and Reward are Processed Differently in Decisions Made Under Stress. Current directions in psychological science. 2012;21(2):36-41. doi:10.1177/0963721411429452.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3312579/
I can believe that he thinks we’re all emotional, illogical morons. I mean, if we were REALLY smart, then we would OBVIOUSLY be falling over ourselves to have sex with Roosh and deferring to his every whim, because he is the smartest smart person ever, and also the sexiest. *gags*
As for if he actually thinks that the micromanaging bullshit is a good idea, I suspect this idea is much the same as the post-apolocalyptic visions that fuckheads like this fantasize about, where the world goes to hell and everyone is sorry they didn’t listen to the dudebro, who is totally thriving in a world where most people died already and totally has the pick of all the desperate, post-apolocalyptic (but somehow completely body hair free) ladies. They know it’s not super likely, but damn do they wish it would come to pass.
“If you take this to be true, which should be no harder to accept than the claim that lemons are bitter,”
“Lemons are sour, not bitter.”
For Roosh, lemons are bitter, because for Roosh, everything is bitter. The End.
Okay, time to parse a little RooshSpeak™ and unfuck my head after that whinefest…
…says a man who can’t even manage his own personal freedom very well. How can he understand what’s in my own best interests better than I do myself when he kvetches incessantly about having to wash, wipe, groom himself, etc.? If he expects to find a woman who’ll do it all FOR him, on command, he’s shit out of luck. Even in Iran they don’t do that.
…says a man who’s bitter (as a lemon!) about the fact that so many women are better educated, more intelligent, better travelled than he…and therefore, not likely to fancy him even when falling-down drunk. Sorry, Roosh, but cloistering us in old-style patriarchy isn’t going to tip the odds in your favor! You’re still motherfucking ugly!
…says a man who has made a career out of not being a meaningful part of ANY woman’s life, and who is entertaining only by accident. His failures are the most amusing aspect of him, and that’s why he’s lashing out at women being given a much better slate of choices to indulge in (even while fat!) than him, him, HIM.
Also, no one will fuck him even under the influence of heavy beer goggles, so.
…says a man whose levelheaded rationality is such that he can’t even wash his own hair without the help of a woman with a pitcher of beer in one hand and his gonads in the other. And who makes such sound decisions as trying to drag said woman into a bar in a town where every bouncer in the entertainment district has been alerted to his stinky presence.
…says a man whose mother (or sister, if his mother is no longer to hand) really ought to drag him to the bathtub by his ear, throw him in, and forcibly shampoo every square inch of his scrawny, scraggly, skanky anatomy.
Also, let’s not forget his wig, which got lost in the Battle of Montréal. RIP Roosh’s Wig!
…says a man who should never be trusted with the handling of his own penis, because if his “Bang” books are anything to go by, he’s a self-admitted rapist at worst, and a lousy, ugly lay at best. I propose a chastity belt for Roosh — he’s earned one!
Also: No more internet access for you, not-so-young-anymore man. Your drivel proves that you’re not capable of handling that privilege, any more than a black-out drunk is capable of handling a car.
…says a man whose own family hails from one of said “democratically-challenged nations”.
Roosh, do you even own a fucking mirror, bro?
(Oh, what am I saying? Of COURSE he doesn’t!)
And yeah, Roosh, we really believe you’re not angry. Or still bitter about the girl from Montréal who was so considerate as to give you a free beer shampoo. Ha, ha.
When I first read that post, I had a vision of Roosh going to Syria to join the Islamic State, where buying, raping, and forcing young girls into abusive marriages is legally/religiously sanctioned.
Then again, Roosh would be required to fight and possibly sacrifice his comforts and life for the cause. Given what a complete selfish dick he is I don’t see him running into gunfire shouting Islamic slogans.
I confess I’ve done that “call to ask permission for LITERALLY EVERYTHING” as a new nurse when faced with a condescending brand new MD who threatened my license every time I used initiative. We paged him at 5 minute intervals all night to ask permission for everything from “as needed tylenol” to “getting the patient up the the bathroom”…I’ve grown up and gotten better about just flat-out telling docs like that to go soak their heads, but…still occasionally tempting 😉
the problem is that, if done consistently it reaffirms the stereotype of nurses as brainless pests…and the same might go for women, tempting as it is. The solution is to simply say “oh HELL no, this behavior is unacceptable and WILL NOT STAND.”
I don’t believe a word of it. If women had no agency, there wouldn’t be any for him to pick up and fuck with no strings attached.
The manosphere is getting to be so inconsequential these days that they just thrive on any negative attention they can get.
@Alpine, RN
My bf is doing our dishes right now too! (dishes are not my thing)
But seriously. Roosh scares me. Knowing people out there think this.. and are incapable of self-doubt, and then having so many insecure men reading it. He truly is repulsing. Now that more women know who he is, he can’t “trick” them anymore.
At least he doesn’t try to pretend he is a good guy.
But seriously this is one of those things that makes me think “OMG what would his mother day” and then I realize he is sadly to old for a spanking and a time out 🙁
This kind of relates back to our discussion of housewives in the other thread. The gender norm of the man as breadwinner and woman keeping house does have the potential to be and often is very oppressive. But the fantasy Roosh has of the always submissive housewife is just that. A fantasy. My maternal grandmother was a fifties housewife. My grandfather was a cishet white guy who was the bread winner working a blue collar union job. He wasn’t just white. He was white white. Blue eyed, fair skinned, 100% Norwegian. And yet. She was the dominant one in the household. My grandfather was one of the nicest people I’ve ever known. And he respected women. He was glad he had two daughters and not disappointed to have no sons. I was also his favorite grandchild as the only girl. Not that he didn’t love my brother and cousins too. Although he was a WWII vet he wasn’t fond of the military and he never, ever voted for Republicans. Even when society is far more patriarchal than it currently is, there are going to be people that don’t conform to gender norms.
well yeah @ weirwoodtreehugger i was just thinking of my dad being in charge of my choices in every matter…my dad is an ardent feminist :p “want to study archeology and/or nursing? sounds like a brilliant option! make sure you learn to think for yourself!” “want to wear that out of the house? you look like a very happy hobbit in that corset, but…go right ahead, while I laugh at you!” “you want to date that nerdy biologist guy you met doing search and rescue?? HELL I WANT TO MEET HIM SO WE CAN HANG OUT!”…TL;DR, my dad would make Roosh sob uncontrollably, and he’s a feminist who is 60 and runs up mountains for fun…and then follows it up by lifting weights 😉 (he makes me tired)
I think the only thing I’ve done that my dad would prevent me doing if he was in charge of my adult life is get a tattoo. He hates them. Going to college, working, staying out late, drinking on the other hand. Fine by him. I
I think it took my dad like a bachelors degree, a masters degree, and pursuing a PhD to actually figure out what it was I was even studying in school. The idea of him making life decisions for me just seems ridiculous
my dad should TOTALLY be allowed to tell us what to do- he’s an ardent feminist who is actually a genius at figuring out what people REALLY want to do and helping them achieve it…this is NOT what Roosh has in mind. For one, one of my dad’s college GFs had an abortion. My dad was APPALLED, as he would have raised the kid…but he’s still adamantly pro-choice…since he wasnt the mother and didn’t know what was in her head…gotta say i’m grateful to Roe V Wade or I never would have been born, as Dad would have been raising other kids with Other Woman…something you NEVER see on those websites…
My dad had absolutely no problem letting me pick out my universities (both of which I graduated from), my majors, my wardrobe and my boyfriends. Even if he didn’t necessarily like the boyfriends. I think he knew I wasn’t going to marry any of them, so he was okay with it. And I never had sex with the scummy ones, so his trust in me was justified.
Roosh needs to take a hard seat. His fantasy of a perfectly-under-control woman is NEVER coming true.
So wait. If our appointed guardian has to work late or go on a work trip what would happen in regards to eating? Would this be a preapproved food list or would I have to go everywhere with him?
Okay, here’s my question. If some sort of super-smart (or just bigger and stronger) alien race landed on Earth and insisted that because of said self-proclaimed intelligence it should rule the world, would Roosh-bag just hush up and go along with it?
Seriously, why would 99% of dads want to keep treating their daughters like toddlers? When humans are two, they need to be told “no, don’t stick that fork in a light socket”. Most parents that I talk to are damn relieved when they no longer have to worry about their offspring 24 hours a day.
A) Citation needed
B) What is the difference of this supposed average? What is the overlap? Why would an “average” allow for complete domination? If this was about “decision making” wouldn’t you make a lower limit of decision making ability, that if anybody is below it, they must have their lives controlled by someone above the line?
C)
Wait wait WAIT! Now it’s inherent just based on your being male? Before it was on average… (Also, you’ve given no proof you make better decisions than your female relatives. Nor that you make decisions better than what you believe the average woman does.) You’re contradicting yourself.
D) *sigh* I lost interest in typing more. He is a horrible person, and should really look at his own history of decision making before he judges anybody else.
amandajane,
Good question, and I think one that could be posed to anyone with right wing leanings. To Serve Man is a cookbook, but that’s okay because they’re superior and we deserve to get eaten. It would be hypocritical not to bow to them.
“Men, on average, make better decisions than women.”
david cameron, the prime minister of the united kingdom, had sex with a dead pig
that is definitely a good decision wow women should def just hand all their rights over to men cos CLEARLY they make all the right decisions ever yup woe