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The Curious Case of the Disappearing A Voice for Men Facebook Page

Wanted for questioning
Wanted for questioning

Something weird is going on.

Yesterday, A Voice for Men’s Facebook page was temporarily suspended. I’m not sure how long it was down, but by the time I discovered Paul Elam’s announcement of the suspension late last night, it had been restored.

Elam — who apparently decided to come out of retirement for the occasion — declared that the suspension

appears to be the work of censorious feminist ideologues working in a modern Facebook environment that favors their agenda.

Mike Buchanan — the head of the UK’s ludicrously unsuccessful Justice for Men & Boys party and a longtime AVFM pal — declared in a comment on AVFM and in a post on his site that the censorious feminist ideologue responsible for this dastardly deed was a woman named Rose S Garston, a self-described “thorn in the side of MRAs” who had taken credit for the suspension in a post on her own Facebook page.

As proof, she posted a screenshot of the note she got from Facebook informing her that her complaint had led to AVFM’s suspension. Garston also took credit for getting the Exposing Feminism Facebook page taken down.

So, case closed then, right? Well, not exactly.

Because “Rose S Garston” does not seem to exist.

True, a Google search of the name shows there was a woman of that name born in 1903 in New Haven, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this almost certainly dead person is not the one posting on Facebook.

The rest of the Google results link to “Garston’s” Facebook page, to several comments “she” made elsewhere using “her” Facebook account, and to and assortment of MRA and Alt-Right sites that picked up Buchanan’s post.

“Garston” scrubbed “her” Facebook page of most of its contents sometime last night, but an archived version of the page — linked to in Buchanan’s post — raises even more red flags.

The page portrays “Garston” as a “fat acceptance” activist as well as a feminist. But to my eyes it doesn’t look like the page of a real feminist or fat acceptance activist. It looks like the work of a troll.

For one thing, there’s the matter of the picture purportedly of Garston that sits atop the page — showing a young woman holding a sign explaining why she supports fat acceptance. I don’t doubt that the person in the photo is a real fat acceptance activist; a Google image search shows that the photo was originally posted two years ago on a Tumblr blog devoted to fat acceptance.

But it’s also appeared on a zillion other pages since then, including a number mocking fat acceptance. It’s on Know Your Meme. It was used in a Youtube video called “The Fat Acceptance Movement is Bullshit.” Internet-famous fat-shamer (and fat person) Matt Forney used it in a post on “Fat Acceptance, Cultural Marxism and Identity Politics.”

It’s literally the first image that shows up if you do a Google image search for “fat acceptance” — making it the obvious pick for a lazy troll looking for a picture of a fat activist to pretend to be.

Then there’s the Facebook post from “Garston” in which “she” sets forth “her” views on the subject.

Stop the fat shaming. Fat is beautiful. Fat is healthy. It is the patriarchy that has dictated women must all be skinny as rakes for the viewing pleasure of men. Fuck that. You want that donut? That chicken burger and fries? That 15inch pizza? Then, go for it. Get it down you. Enjoy 🙂

Word of advice though. Being fat wont stop men catcalling you. At my heaviest I was 717lb and men would still catcall me when I was in my mobility scooter buying groceries.

Really? Really? If this was written by anyone other than a troll, I will eat my cats.

Assuming “Garston” is not the honest-to-goodness feminist fat acceptance activist “she” purports to be, then who is behind the account?

Could it be Elam himself or some other AVFMer trying to gin up some attention and sympathy?

I doubt it. Not that Elam wouldn’t stoop this low. He would. But I don’t think that Elam has the imagination to come up with something like this. And I doubt he would risk getting his Facebook page permanently banned in order to stir up a fake controversy.

No, I suspect it’s the work of someone who doesn’t much like feminism, or fat acceptance, or AVFM.

Could it be the work of some longtime fat-shamer like Forney or Roosh? In addition to using the same picture that Forney used for his post dissing fat acceptance, “Garston” also posted a screenshot from a Dr. Oz show about a 700-pound woman. As you may recall, Roosh made a bit of a spectacle of himself during an appearance on Dr. Oz to discuss his own fat-shaming campaign.

So … maybe? Probably not, though.

Regardless of who did it, if the point of this apparent trollery was to cause a headache for AVFM and to stir up animus towards feminists, well, it’s succeeded at both.

Over on the Men’s Rights subreddt, the regulars worked themselves into a self-righteous frenzy over what proved to be a very short-lived suspension.

Someone called NixonForBreadsident got 97 net upvotes for a comment decrying what he saw as

a co-ordinated effort to render anything against feminism on Google, Facebook and other social media. As in they’ve literally had meetings to push this agenda.

This is a major fuckup on their side though, the world has been steadily getting pissed off by feminism and the one thing that unites people is when you censor content.

NOTHING is too big to fall. Remember that.

Our old friend ThePigmanAgain declared that

this is very bad news. The hammer is starting to fall all over the place and one has to wonder how long it will be before the PC fascists who run FB start to ban ordinary members who also happen to be MRAs.

r4ks4k was a bit more succinct, saying only

Well then f**k facebook.

The original comment did not contain the asterisks, of course.

I have no idea how this whole thing is going to shake out.

Your move, troll. I guess?

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Imaginary Petal
Imaginary Petal
8 years ago

It’s actually quite amazing how bad MRAs and other Nazis are at knowing what actual feminists sound like, and especially at mimicking feminists. It puts their entire hatred of feminists into perspective. Normally I would read their whining about evil feminists as purposely exaggerated caricature. But when they actually want people to believe that they are a feminist, they use the exact same straw feminist buzz words, catch phrases, and arguments. It sort of confirms that they really don’t understand a single word that has been said by any feminist ever.

Luzbelitx
8 years ago

@Alan

Sometimes it wasn’t even ACME’s fault, the Road Runner had this ability to distort reality without even blinking:

comment image

(child me always cheered for Wile E. Coyote)

Seraph4377
Seraph4377
8 years ago

I think nixonforbreadsident has been immured in his little Reddit bubble for too long. It’s one thing to believe that the world’s current degree of “pissed off” is something that is new or special, but to actually say “the one thing that unites people is when you censor content”…!

He doesn’t know anybody outside his little internet clubhouse, does he?

Imaginary Petal
Imaginary Petal
8 years ago

@quantumscale

Rose S Garston = Tosser Sargon = Strange Soros

Fishy Goat
Fishy Goat
8 years ago

@Wwaxwork No kidding. :/

Freemage
Freemage
8 years ago

Kale
April 12, 2016 at 12:37 pm
Did Rapp actually do something actually wrong? Typically when GG targets someone I assume its all bullshit & ignore it.

You’re correct, here.

First, Rapp was told not to talk about rape culture on her Twitter account; she stopped doing so.

Then, because she commented about the need to stop sexualizing women in video games, GG targeted her.

One of the things they dug up and sent to company was the fact that she does burlesque as a side-gig.

The company claims that she was in violation of a policy that no one can find any evidence of, by moonlighting in a totally unrelated field. Neither she nor the GG folks are buying that particular spin–rather, it’s far more likely the execs decided this was an easy way to stop the stream of abuse (not having learned the lessons of history w/re: appeasement policy).

If she can show that men at the company have second jobs unrelated to their positions and are NOT routinely fired, she’s probably got a EEOC case, and I hope she and a team of lawyers get the opportunity to make the company bleed.

sevenofmine
8 years ago

@Kale

Did Rapp actually do something actually wrong? Typically when GG targets someone I assume its all bullshit & ignore it.

Nintendo’s official reason for firing her is that she was moonlighting at a job that’s inconsistent with their outlook. Rapp has admitted that she was moonlighting but she’s been coy about exactly what she’s been doing so GG has assumed it’s something to do with sex work.

They targeted her because she works in the localization division and they’re pissed about the localization of a couple of games. She worked in PR though, so had nothing to do with the actual localization process. And GG has now begun over the last day or so doxxing pretty much everyone with any connection to her at all despite the fact that she’s already been fired. So, ya know, if anyone was still unsure whether tormenting women was both the means and the end for GG…

Chris
8 years ago

Also, there’s accusations Rapp and her husband were escorts. Kiwifarms is actively digging up headless naked photos they claim are them but can’t substantiate their claims.

Kiwifarms, for their part, is incensed that, as an undergrad, Rapp wrote an admittedly controversial thesis arguing for the decriminalization of possession of child pornography and lowering of the age of consent. Naturally, the way to deal with an opinion you disagree with is to completely destroy their life.

Auntie Alias
Auntie Alias
8 years ago

Being fat wont stop men catcalling you.

That’s true. It’s a form of sexist bullying which is the whole point of catcalling. No doubt conventionally attractive women receive more of it but others aren’t immune.

Friendly Neighborhood Dragon Arthur
Friendly Neighborhood Dragon Arthur
8 years ago

With as thin-skinned as most MRAs are, it probably doesn’t take much for them to get worked up and upset over anything.

sevenofmine
8 years ago

Rapp’s thesis is about international pressure on Japan to change their child pornography laws and basically that people should back off. Until a couple years ago the law in Japan was that production and distribution of child porn were illegal but not possession. In 2014 they also made possession illegal. And Japan’s federal age of consent is 13 but individual prefectures have their own laws which set it ~18.

As I understand it Rapp’s thesis had nothing whatsoever to do with loosening child porn/age of consent laws anywhere; just arguing against international pressure on Japan to tighten it’s laws.

Chris
8 years ago

sevenofmine: Your interpretation is probably correct. I’ll admit most of what I’ve heard from the situation has come from GG and Kiwifarms. It’s disturbing though how, even if their interpretation is true, the valiant defenders of free speech are lining up to completely turn a woman’s life upside down for an opinion they disagree with.

sevenofmine
8 years ago

@ Chris

Also fascinating that they’re super duper worried about Nintendo’s child friendly image with regard to Rapp’s employment there while the entire reason they’re targeting her is because they’re mad about a date rape scene being cut from the latest Fire Emblem game.

PocketNerd
PocketNerd
8 years ago

Could it be Elam himself or some other AVFMer trying to gin up some attention and sympathy?

I doubt it. Not that Elam wouldn’t stoop this low. He would. But I don’t think that Elam has the imagination to come up with something like this. And I doubt he would risk getting his Facebook page permanently banned in order to stir up a fake controversy.

No, I suspect it’s the work of someone who doesn’t much like feminism, or fat acceptance, or AVFM.

My money would be on AVFM or somebody sympathetic to AVFM; the reactionary-o-sphere has shown plenty of willingness to troll itself in order to fire up the rank and file.

History Nerd
History Nerd
8 years ago

It’s ironic that people who claim to be against “Name and Shame” campaigns will dig through someone’s past, publish anything that some group of people (even if it’s “incels” on /r9k/) will find morally outrageous, and (hopefully) get them fired from their jobs.

When feminists “Name and Shame” someone, though, it’s usually (even if misguided) intended to prevent future workplace harassment or bullying or to let people know about someone so they can protect themselves. On 4chan and Encyclopedia Dramatica it’s almost always been about revenge and vindictive punishment and restricting someone’s freedom of speech because you disagree with their opinions. Given how revenge works, the main focus is on shaming people for their past actions and not protecting people from future actions.

Kale
8 years ago

thanks for the info. It couldnt be clearer that this is about hating women for having bodies & doing with them what they want to do, & for asking to be treated as equals.

The essay does sound dodgey. Japanese rape culture is a problem just like it is in UK, U.S., etc…. but hell, no one is going out and doxxing fucking Woody Allen, who literally raped a child and got away with it. I might not cry for Allen but I wouldnt send him a death threat & I doubt even his victim would want that. It doesnt sound like she was fired based on the essay but on the alleged sex work, which WHO THE FUCK CARES AUGH. I could see firing a PR person over an essay like that, or not beig her fan or talkig shit or whatever, but it doesnt justify the usual GG death & disgustingly ironic sexual violence threats, particularly as they are staunch defendants of child rape images being shared on 8chan and rape culture in vidya.

chiiillin
chiiillin
8 years ago

@quantumscale: “Gross treason” points to it being one of those Roosh-associated fuckwits, who are super-homophobic, and AVFM is admittedly not.

History Nerd
History Nerd
8 years ago

My understanding is that, at least several years ago, a few prefectures set the age of consent at 16-18, but only for penetrative acts, so non-penetrative acts between adults and 13+ year olds were legal. I don’t know enough about Japanese law but the situation looks complicated.

kupo
kupo
8 years ago

Does anyone know Alison’s Twitter handle?

Imaginary Petal
Imaginary Petal
8 years ago

@kupo

I think it’s just @alisonrapp

History Nerd
History Nerd
8 years ago

I sort of doubt a faculty sponsor or department would approve an undergraduate honors thesis that argued for decriminalizing child pornography or lowering the age of consent. At the very least, she’d be asked to revise the thesis to remove any controversial opinions about ethics.

ColeYote
ColeYote
8 years ago

if the point of this apparent trollery was to cause a headache for AVFM and to stir up animus towards feminists,

Going to assume you meant “animosity” there.

ColeYote
ColeYote
8 years ago

Heads up, you’ve neglected the ‘i’ in subreddit.

Alan Robertshaw
Alan Robertshaw
8 years ago

@ Lux

child me always cheered for Wile E. Coyote

I hope grown up you still does!

Watching Wyle E is a bit like Steve McQueen at the end of the Great Escape. You know whats going to happen but in your heart you’re still hoping that maybe this time he will get over the wire/catch the roadrunner.

dreemr
dreemr
8 years ago

I don’t think it was any of the usual suspects – Elam, Roosh, Forney – not because they don’t have the imagination but because the “leadership” in the MRA field is so dang LAZY.

No way would any of those fellows try to coordinate something like this, nor would they have the skill or patience to either do it themselves or to direct someone to do it.

My money is on GGers or some other 4chan/8chan blowhards. Might even have been some savvy MGTOWs, didn’t they have a big feud going with AVfM for a while?