Earlier today Jack Barnes, one of A Voice for Men’s most energetic attack dogs, popped into my Twitter mentions with a link to an AVFM post accusing me of … threatening Cassie Jaye, director of the upcoming documentary The Red Pill, in the open letter I wrote to her the other day.
The post, written by Jack Barnes with assistance from AVFM head boy Paul Elam, was filled with the incisive writing and clear thinking we have come to expect from that site. A sampling:
David Futrelle, publisher of the online supermarket tabloid We Hunted the Mammoth, appears to be suffering from enough stress to wilt a buttercup. ,,,
The Red Pill, filmmaker Cassie Jaye’s documentary on the MHRM and gender politics, appears to challenge his worldview, thus the crying and stained diapers.
Yes, it apparently took two people to come up with those oh-so-cutting insults.
Later in the post, Barnes and Elam described the flood of money that MRAs and Milo Yiannopoulos fans sent to Jaye with a rather peculiar metaphor:
Jaye’s fundraiser burst through the finish line like David Futrelle through the doors of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
When he was done with that last box of chicken tenders, he started typing – allegedly after wiping the grease from his fingers and chin with a napkin.
There’s more, lots more, but the real point of Barnes and Elam’s post was to smear me by declaring that I had threatened Jaye.
Oh, at first they danced around the accusation by phrasing it in the form of a question: “Did David Futrelle threaten Cassie Jaye?” They then declared it ” a threatoid … not an actual threat.”
But they followed this up by declaring flat-out that what I had written
is as clearly a threat as it is in the stereotypical mafia movie where the mobsters says, “Nice family. Be a shame if something happened to them.”
So what is this terrible threat they claim I made? The two quoted me as saying this:
I suspect you are doing far more damage to your reputation than you even know….I suspect, sadly, that you will ultimately learn this lesson yourself, the hard way.
You may notice that Barnes and Elam snipped out a bit in the middle there, as indicated by the ellipsis.
That’s because what I really wrote, in its full context, was this:
Against my better judgement, I continued to hold on to some kind of hope that you would live up to your reputation in the end.
And now, frankly, I feel like I’ve been played.
Unfortunately, it looks like you have been played too, much more spectacularly than I have. I suspect you are doing far more damage to your reputation than you even know.
One thing I have learned in five years of watching, and writing about, and dealing with, the Men’s Rights movement, is that if Paul Elam is happy about something, that thing is almost certainly terrible.
I suspect, sadly, that you will ultimately learn this lesson yourself, the hard way.
That’s right. My “threat” was that … she would eventually realize that when Paul Elam gets excited about something, that’s generally a very bad sign. Because Paul Elam is terrible.
I will stand by that assertion. Which is not, by any stretch of the imagination, actually a threat or even a “threatoid.”
Neither Jack Barnes nor Paul Elam are famous for their honesty, but this is pretty flagrant on their part. And they made a point of not linking to my post (or even an archive of it) in their post, presumably so no one would notice what they cut out of my quote.
There is an added irony here, as alluded to in my headline: My (false) accuser, Jack Barnes, himself threatens feminists all the time. Indeed, he has admitted plainly that he harasses and abuses them. Those are his words, not mine, and for once he is being honest here.
The Men's Rights Movement is about harassing women, hating women, hurting women and only harms mens real issues. pic.twitter.com/L3agciVA3j
— TakedownMRAs (@TakedownMRAs) January 28, 2015
And if that’s not direct enough for you, try this Tweet (archived here in case he deletes it).
https://twitter.com/Jackbarnesmra/status/623269403799482369
In this recent Tweet, he alludes to the vicious harassment inflicted upon feminist Youtuber Laughing Witch, and wonders if similar harassment could be brought down on two Twitter feminists he often tangles with:
MRAs stop at nothing to silence people exposing their little hate group. pic.twitter.com/fQCKfpCW3Y
— TakedownMRAs (@TakedownMRAs) October 27, 2015
Oh, but there’s more:
Any of my U.S. or Indian friends care to correct this ridiculous MRA? pic.twitter.com/JgactHLBRh
— TakedownMRAs (@TakedownMRAs) October 20, 2015
MRAs actually think like this. Like, for real. pic.twitter.com/xYyI4Gj1mP
— TakedownMRAs (@TakedownMRAs) October 30, 2015
But this Tweet, posted in response to a murderous shooting rampage carried out by an angry misogynist at a Louisiana theater, is perhaps the most chilling.
https://twitter.com/Jackbarnesmra/status/626838268173283328
Barnes actually took a lot of flak from other MRAs about that last tweet; he stood by it.
Cassie Jaye, if by chance you are reading this, take note: this is the real Men’s Rights Movement. Not what they tell you, all teary eyed, when your camera is rolling.
Come on guys. MRA ellipses contain either 2 or 4 dots. Barnes used 4 as you’ll notice if you scroll up.
If .. you …. want …. to .. imitate…. an .. MRA .. you …. can’t .. use .. th….r..ee …. dots ..
@Snowberry
OK, fair point. Someone who appears to be changing their position all the time may not in fact be changing their opinion, or they may not have an opinion at all, but they are merely telling other people what they want to hear.
OK..I just want to congratulate..David..for outranking AVFM hugely according to Alexa.. both
worldwide..nationally…….
@katz
I keep reading people mentioning this study, but I’ve never been able to find it. Do you have a link where it can be found?
Oh dear, you’re incriminating yourself even further!!!
You said: I will stand by that … threat or … “threatoid.”
SEE???
Well, obviously we feminists deserve harassment and abuse because [insert toddler logic here about how we’ve somehow done something first]!
And of course they’d bury their point in fat-shaming, let’s-point-and-mock, because they can’t seem to criticize anything David’s got to say without somehow mentioning he’s fat, as if David somehow doesn’t own a mirror, or that he’s “sensitive” because he points out that harassing and abusing people is actually pretty damn shitty.
Someone needs to explain to them the difference between a threat and a warning.
Do they think meteorologists should be jailed for “threatening” to flood peoples’ houses and blow their roofs off?
@Terra – I was going to swoop in and provide a link, but 10 minutes of searching’s brought up nothing – ad I KNOW I saw stories about it earlier this year.
The main problem wit searching through the search results seems to be that there’re an inordinate number of articles / posts from one side or the other accusing their foes of hypocrisy and / or inconsistency…there’s a lot of chaff.
The worst part is that the anti feminists and gamergaters that hate Laughingwitch will say that he isn’t a true gamergater while repeating his crap minus the honesty about how terrible he is.
“Do they think meteorologists should be jailed for “threatening” to flood peoples’ houses and blow their roofs off?”
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they did. But presumably it’s only the lady meteorologists.
An abuser I once had the misfortune to know did something similar.
I told him that if he kept up his abusive behavior (I can’t remember what it was), he would have to leave my house.
He kept up the abuse. I sent him home.
But before he went home, he stood in front of my house and said, repeatedly and loudly enough for the neighbors to hear, “Why are you threatening me! Why are you threatening me!”
This guy would never have identified as an MRA. Nonetheless, he shared their abusive tactics.
People of ill will can create many, many tactics to try to hurt us, but at root they are all the same. Concomitantly, people of ill will are very concerned about their own reputation (which is logical — they know that they are abusers) because they know that a bad reputation can harm them in many ways. They don’t want to always be looking over their shoulder for an enemy.
The MRA under discussion, Jack Barnes, flat out declares, “We harass and abuse feminists. Bigots (feminists) don’t deserve to be treated with respect.” So he is open about harming feminists — but casts us as the enemy of humanity. That way, he’s still the good guy.
Cassie Jaye, there’s still time. Return the money to the MRAs who have invested in your film. Save your reputation and your sanity.
The MRA version of the above:
I . . . shared their abusive tactics. People of ill will . . . harm . . . MRAs.
I seriously don’t see how David was “threatening” anyone. He was just observing what was happening.
And I also don’t see what’s horrible about Kentucky Fried Chicken either… Unless you over-do fast food, but that’s a completely different issue.
And once again! An article on here eloquently talks about the awfulness of the men’s rights philosophy and the lies that they tell. The MRA response: “Well, he’s pooey and fat!”
They are truly manchildren with no sense of perspective or responsibility.
On my way home tonight a guy almost ran me over as I was about to step off the curb to cross on the green light as he was barreling through the red light on a turn. He leaned out his window and called me a bitch before driving off. There’s nothing like a car to bring one’s abusive asshole side to the forefront. My theory is that it’s because a car is considered to be a primary territory like someone’s home or workplace, but unlike the latter two spaces, drivers are navigating their territory through public spaces. They forget to keep up the pretense of decency you normally would in shared spaces. Actually this could explain why it’s easy to be an asshole on the internet too.
I highly doubt this guy was an MRA but he sure had the same attitude as Barnes. His harassment and abuse is clearly wrong, if not criminal. But he’s a good guy and feminists are bitches so it’s okay. According to state law, I was in the right and this driver was breaking the law because pedestrians have the right of way, but it doesn’t matter because I’m a bitch and he’s super important.
It’s a sure sign of an asshole when someone bases their morality off their evaluation of someone else’s character rather than a consistent set of principals. Misogynists, racists, and other bigots always do the former.
Sorry if I’m rambling and not making sense. It’s been a long, tiring and painful week and I’m on hydrocodone.
http://twitter.com/TakedownMRAs/status/660010496926482432/photo/1
So, a “place of equality with men” would be…harassment and abuse of women? What drugs are you smoking, Jack?
Also,
Sounds to me like some wankers are jealous of a tasty, juicy, well-prepared chicken dinner, as opposed to McLovin’s Rubber Chicken (cooked to a bland, dry and inedible “perfection” while harassing feminists on the tweeter!)
Oh, let me answer my own question: Jack’s on crack. Crack is wack. So is Jack. The End!
@wwth
Ughhh. Well, fuck that guy. 🙁
I had a near death experience the other week in a similar situation. Was trying to cross the street at a crosswalk. Traffic law here says if there’s a crosswalk and no traffic lights, cars must stop for pedestrians. I waited for the cars to stop, then started walking. Just as I’m in the middle of the street, a taxi car ZOOMS past through the empty bus lane, literally 1 inch in front of me. Probably the closest I’ve come to serious injury or death in my life. A woman on the opposite sidewalk had a major shock reaction and I thought she was having a heart attack for a moment, but she was fine.
My natural reaction: open Viber app, message to wife – “I almost died but I’m totally fine. I’ll be home soon.”
I really really wonder what they believe this would look like.
Oh I can do this too:
“The…Men’s Human Rights Movement…is…dishonest…a…stereotypical mafia…and…have threatened to kill people in order to silence them…”
So the logic is this: it’s okay to harass people for being feminists, in the eyes of Barnes, but if you so much as speak to anyone central to their movement, you’re harassing them.
It recalls the phrase used to justify the channeling of power into the Crown in England: Dieu Et Mon Droit. We’re just beneath being allowed to address Barnes, Esmay, Elam, etc. but when they want to pass judgment on you, they’re free to whenever and how dare you not pay attention, subject.
Well, that and they’re all white, because MRAsshole theology is basically Klan theology. Why do you think you see so many of them defending “white nationalism”?
David was worried about Paul Elam’s ‘support’ and that’s a threatoid? The only way that would be a mafioid styloid threatoid is if David Futrelle were Paul Elam’s right hand.
Are… are you?
@WWTH
I’m really sorry you had to have an encounter with someone who clearly won his license in a lotto fraud. I read that the safe bubble of a car indeed affects a person’s aggressiveness towards others, much like anonymity online. The arsehole they muffle to avoid a beating is finally free to speech.
It’s an unnerving experience to have someone nearly run you over. One time I was crossing on green and a turning vehicle, instead of stopping actually hit the gas. I was half way across and had to turn back and run. I met the taunting gaze of the passenger and realised these were neo-nazi types. I’m nordic but people often mistake me as asian.
Hugs if you want them!
Why, when MGTOWs and MRAs work themselves into a ragelather over feminists, do they immediately start fantasizing about chicken? Is it like some kind of “asshole high” munchies?
OT, but had to share: Manspreader turns out to be wanted for murder. Stabbed his then-girlfriend 24 times. Claims self-defence. Film at 11!
(Actually, maybe this isn’t so OT; I can’t wait to hear the MRAs defend his “right” to spread, and claim that stabbing a woman 24 times is so self-defence, you gendered slurs, you!)
When I read the title I thought they regarded David’s decision to not be interviewed for the documentary as a threat. I wouldn’t put it past those numbskulls.
Oooo! Oooo! I bet I can guess which MRA came up with the stained diapers insult. Pauly would know all about that.
Projection… projection everywhere