We Hunted The Mammoth
Congratulations, assholes of Reddit! You’ve driven another woman away from your internet clubhouse.
This time the woman in question was the site’s now ex-CEO Ellen Pao, who resigned today after a week of “Reddit Revolt” that included racist and misogynistic abuse aimed at “Chairman Pao” as well as the occasional death threat.
Indeed, the abuse was so bad that Pao felt the need to address it in her resignation note:
So Facebook has been making some tweaks to some of its graphics. The company recently changed its already unexciting logo to one that is … even less exciting, but apparently easier to read on mobile devices.
But it’s what Facebook has done to its “friends” icon that has one lady MRA up in arms.
Is MRA thinking simply beyond satire?
Cartoonist Rebecca Cohen (@GynoStar on Twitter) recently decided to offer a satirical take on the false rape accusation paranoia that’s endemic in Men’s Rights circles, producing the list of tips below, designed to mirror some of the terrible advice that’s regularly given to women on how to avoid rape.
It’s amazing just how quickly a visit to 4chan’s /pol/ board can strip you of any lingering faith in humanity.
Consider the following 4chan “infographic” posted recently on Twitter:
Technology is weird. In their attempts to build neural network software that can process images and recognize objects in them, Google’s neural network researchers have created software that hallucinates, transforming mundane photographs of things like people and pets into bizarre fever dreams filled with strange mutant dog creatures and, for some reason, an excess of eyes.
Here’s one “before” pic of an ordinary kid:
Every once in a while, a hostile commenter wanders into the discussion here nattering about the evils of “Cultural Marxism.” One stopped by last night, prompting another commenter to ask what exactly this Cultural Marxism was, anyway.
I responded by saying the term essentially meant, at least to most of those using it, “the Evil Jews But We’ve Learned We Can’t Just Say That Publicly Outside of 4chan and Stormfront Without People Realizing We’re Basically Nazis.”
Well, you have to admire their ingenuity, I guess: The terrible people at the lady-hating megasite Return of Kings have figured out a way to blame feminism for … revenge porn.
No, really. Here’s the argument, such as it is, from regular RoK contributor Mark Webster:
Men’s Rights Activists love to “warn” women that they may soon face a day of reckoning if they don’t shape up and start acting the way MRAs think they should. Don’t make men angry, they say; you wouldn’t like us when we’re angry!
Still, most MRAs making these “predictions” at least make a token effort to pretend to be horrified at the notion of men rising up to wreak vengeance upon uppity women. This isn’t what we want, they assure women; it’s just what will happen if you continue to “provoke” men with your bad behavior.
Other MRAs find it impossible to contain their glee; like doomsday preppers with well-stocked bunkers and enough ammo to kill every living thing within a 500 mile radius, they can’t wait for the end of the world.
Peter Andrew Nolan is one of these other MRAs. And he’s started to celebrate a little bit early.
So Em Ford, a popular YouTuber known for her makeup tutorials, recently put up a video detailing some of the nasty and abusive comments she got when she dared to put up some pictures of herself without makeup, revealing red skin, pimples, and, you know, other human imperfections.
Someone posted about her video to the Men’s Rights subreddit, and the regulars there offered some nuanced and measured thoughts on our society’s beauty ideals.
Just kidding! They attacked women as fickle, hateful narcissists who use makeup to deceive men — and who should probably not be allowed to run companies.
Ah ha ha ha ha ha! The Sarkeesian Effect duo have split up again! It’s a Fourth of July Miracle!
So today, a furious Jordan Owen put out a video denouncing his now ex-partner Davis Aurini. Why? Because Aurini is demanding another $15,000 to edit the “film” and has set up a fundraiser without Owen in order to raise it.
