By David Futrelle
Found this meme on Twitter, posted by Lauren Southern, the horrendous alt-right islamophobe antifeminist who may not technically be an MRA (I don’t know if she’s ever called herself one) but is certainly MRA adjacent. I’ve seen numerous MRAs, including some who complain endlessly that there are more women than men in college, making essentially the same argument.
* went to college in 1973 when it was cheap
* didn’t get any loans
* make enough to live pretty comfortably
* believe college should be free for all
ETA; believe MRAs are ignorant, self-righteous and hateful
Not shown: Mark whining endlessly on the internet about women after he gets off work.
I was lucky to be one of the last to go to university free in the UK. I studied music, music tech and opera, which I suppose is pretty stupid liberal arts stuff. I now teach music for a living. I still have some student debt which I’m not really worried about (thank you Tony Blair)
However, the music industry is still male dominated and objectifying of women, and most music execs are stuck in the 1950’s. I went to Victorious Festival in Portsmouth on Sunday, and of the five main stage acts I saw, only Pete Docherty had women in his band (keys and violin) and Elbow (two violins). It would be refreshing to see a mix, it’s not lack of talent, it’s the industry’s decision to do this.
Speaking of learning stuff, I know there’s some folk here who like knitting. If you can find a way of watching this you might enjoy it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03bgrvf
I thought I wasn’t even vaguely into knitting, but it’s a fascinating documentary.
Knitting is bad ass. It has a long history of activism and subversion.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/art/stitch-stitch-history-knitting-activism
How about the meme where Megan goes to technical school, only to quit her job after a couple of years because Mark harasses her, and her bosses do nothing about it?
@ miss edgy nation
Wow, so it is. That documentary had some fascinating stuff about cultural impact and art, but nothing like that.
We should have a knitting thread (geddit!)
@Virgin Mary, you know where the women certainly aren’t (although it’s very slowly changing?) In the tech part of the music industry!
It’s not that we can’t do the work…
@PeeVee:
Also not shown: Mark whining endlessly on the internet about women, DURING work. Because, unlike women, he’s unlikely to get fired for frivolous shit on company time.
…and then Megan landed a great job in her field, paid off her loans, outearned Mark over her lifetime, dyed her hair purple, and misandered happily ever after.
Wait what. ‘Thinks Mark is stupid for not going’???? I’ve never met anyone who thought people choosing not to go were stupid. In fact, for most, it’s smart. College is ridiculously expensive here. It’s been a popular topic choice whether you should go or not.
Lauren S likes to claim she’s of an independent party but she definitely dips her toes into the alt-right as another Tomi L. Pretty, skinny, blonde and anti-feminist. Just what these guys love (until she gets too old or says something they don’t like. ie Tomi and her pro-choice stance)
Bina,
Yes, that’s true, but it looks as though Mark is in the HVAC industry, so not a whole lot of sitting around a desk because he’s a manly blue collar worker.
(And I’m not even denigrating blue collar work; my manly hubs of over 2 decades is solidly blue collar. Love that man.)
Hint to MRAs: If a feeemale you fancy shows contempt for you, it might be more to do with you MRAing at her than your lack of a degree.
This also works for income level, height, wrist circumference and other common MRA insecurities. Grow up, you’ll do fine.
Long time lurker, first time commenter. Not as hard headed as my name suggests, I promise! Just really find moai fascinating, haha
Anywho. The thing I got from this meme (besides the obvious misogyny) was the defensiveness inherent in the message. Being a giant stone head with a college degree (Biology, and business, Cum Laude), I’ve come across a lot of people who did tech school or worked their way up in a job who get defensive about their education when they hear I have a big, fancy, and largely useless degree. It tends to be more men who do this (I am also one of the menfolk.) Hell, even my boss, who has multiple graduate degrees, likes to poke fun at said fancy paper as a degree in “tadpole science.” It’s kind of weird if you think about it.
There is something to be said about the issue of vocational school vs college. That’s an entirely separate discussion of course.
It’s not an MRA meme until Megan uses her oppressive butt power to manipulate Mark into marrying her, gets fat after having kids that may or not even be his, divorces him and gets custody of the kids plus so much child support and alimony that Mark has to live in an efficiency apartment and eat ramen every night.
Looks like Lauren has a little ways to go before she’s a true feMRA.
Reminds me of the time I got in an argument* with a Tumblr MRA about women not being drafted. First he whined about women not being drafted and men dying in war is proof of misandry but after i pointed out that it’s mostly because the army doesn’t really welcome women he then said that allowing women would be a liability and lead to lowering our standards (“because women are weaker than men” I paraphrase). It really just make me think, these folks are really obsessed with physical strength as proof of how men are better suited for everything.
*Argument is too strong a word for what amounted to some dude with a chip on his shoulder whining about women a.k.a 50% of MRA.
It wasn’t a gendered thing, but the junior/senior high I graduated from definitely put an emphasis on going to university over going into the trades. I graduated many years ago now… (omg) but it was definitely a thing.
BUT not gendered, and it is also hopefully changing. I mean, if you would rather go into the trades, by all means do that. If it fits, it is possible to make great money there. Also, we need more younger people going into the trades, because AFAIK there is a lack.
I think there was more of a class aspect to it, in all honesty. The school was a small one, I graduated with 50 some people and that was a huge class. It was also overwhelmingly white, from a white area.
I think this meme is also missing the fact that Megan has a very good chance in being actively discouraged from going into trades.
Also that degrees other than STEM degrees can, in fact, get you jobs. *does not have a STEM degree, has a job, and has paid off her loans*
OH HAI MARK!
http://i.imgur.com/uPvdqAF.gif
Wild guess: Megan swiped left for Mark on Tinder, he somehow found out and made this meme in a fit of rage.
One revealing fact about the meme maker: they think college debt is a proper punishment for people who choose to get an education. The core driving force of all conservative politics, not “how can we make things better” but “how can I make things worse for people who aren’t me, so that I can feel better about my own life”.
If Megan and Mark lived in Denmark BOTH of them would be able to get a education free of charge – actually they would recieve scolarships while they studied. That’s because we have a welfare state here. We INVEST in people. Conservatives in the USA hate that concept…
Hello.
Is the pseudo Lauren Southern not a constructed pseudo which say nothing about the real person behind ? It could be some kind of fake account. I mean, Lauren Southern (except i suppose it is more the Dixie side which is aimed ?) is some kind of cliché, it it not ?
Have a nice day.
@Anne
I’m gonna guess conservatives in Denmark hate it as well.
My husband likes knitting…
I wanted to go to trade school. Everyone laughed at me, and I did a degree in a liberal art, because I was ‘smart’, but not like math or sciences smart, and middle-class white girls could always get an English degree and then be a secretary or go into publishing. Then publishing died. And occasionally I just want to go back and tell everyone to fuck off, and tell my seventeen year old self to screw everyone and go into plumbing.
I still have feelings about this, can you tell?
OTOH, I know a woman who trained as a car mechanic, and was harassed so much on the job that she quit, and went to cosmetology school. Now she’s a hairdresser. And very successful. And married to a black guy with a college degree. So basically, the MRA’s worst nightmare. Also, she’s fucking hot.