NOTE: This page is in desperate need of revision and expansion. In the meantime, I suggest you use Rationalwiki’s Manosphere Glossary.
For newcomers to this blog, here’s a handy guide to some of the strange acronyms and lingo you’ll encounter here and in the “manosphere” in general. (For a definition of that term, see below.) I will update this entry periodically as needed.
First, the acronyms you’ll see most often here:
MRA: Men’s Rights Activist
MRM: Men’s Rights Movement
MGTOW: Men Going Their Own Way MGHOW: Man Going His Own Way.
Ok, so what do those terms mean?
MRM: The Men’s Rights Movement: A loosely defined, but largely retrograde, collection of activists and internet talkers who fight for what they see as “men’s rights.” Unlike the original Men’s Movement, which was inspired by and heavily influenced by feminism, the self-described Men’s Rights Movement is largely a reactionary movement; with few exceptions, Men’s Rights Activists (or MRAs) are pretty rabidly antifeminist, and many are frankly and sometimes proudly misogynistic. Those who oppose the MRM are generally not against men’s rights per se; they are opposed to those who’ve turned those two words into a synonym for some pretty backwards notions.
MGTOW: Men Going Their Own Way: As the name suggests, MGTOW is a lot like lesbian separatism, but for straight dudes. MGTOW often talk vaguely about seeking “independence” from western and/or consumer culture, and a few MGTOW try to live that sort of zen existence. But most of those who embrace the term have a deep hostility towards and/or profound distrust of feminists and women in general. Many MGTOW refuse to date “western women” and some try to avoid women altogether. I think the Man Going His Own Way acronym MGHOW adds another layer of confusion to an already awkward acronym, so I use MGTOWer instead.
Some other terms and acronyms you’ll run across here:
Anglosphere: Countries in which English is the primary language, or, more narrowly, those countries that used to be British colonies. They are full of evil Western Women (see below).
Incel: Involuntarily Celibate. A term, and identity, adopted by some dateless guys (as well as some women, but it’s the men we’ll focus on here). While there is nothing shameful about being dateless, or a virgin, or having a really long dry spell sexually — most of us have been there at some point — the term “involuntarily celibate” seems to suggest that the world owes incels sex, and that women who turn down incel men for dates or sex are somehow oppressing them. For those (male, straight) incels who are genuinely socially awkward or phobic, this can be a self-defeating stance that can lead to bitterness towards women. And often does.
Mangina: Derogatory term used by MRAs, MGTOW, etc. to describe guys who disagree with them — e.g., me. You can figure out the various connotations of this term yourself.
The Manosphere: The loose collection of blogs, message boards, and other sites run by and/or read by MRAs, MGTOW, and assorted friendly Pick-up Artists. The primary source of material for this blog.
NAWALT: Not All Women Are Like That. Dudes in the manosphere make so many ridiculous and untrue generalizations about women that they’ve come up with their own little acronym to describe the most common reaction to their nonsense: “not all women are like that.” Remarkably, many seem to think that making a reference to NAWALT is actually some sort of clever rebuttal of their critics.
PUA: Pick-up Artist. PUAs are obsessed with mastering what they see as the ultimate set of techniques and attitudes — known as “Game” — that will enable them to quickly seduce almost any woman they want. There is a vast literature on “game” online, though PUA (insofar as it is not complete bullshit) is at its essence simply a male version of the age-old ploy of “playing hard to get.”
Western Women: Also known as WW. Evil harpies, at least according to many in the manosphere. Contrasted with “foreign women,” a term that (in the manosphere, at least) sometimes refers to all women outside the Anglosphere, but often refers to a subset of these women from poor and/or Eastern countries, mostly Asian, who are regarded as more pliable and thus more desirable to haters of “Ameriskanks” and other WW.
What is the men’s rights movement? I was looking for what MGTOW menat and was directed to this page. I had no idea such a movement existed, until I found this page and frankly would not join such a movement. Why would I needa “movement” to speak for me? I can speak for myself.
I think you need to take it easy. I responded to a comment by a poster named “Hindu” and I got all this. If you look at my comment it wasn’t inflamatory or upsetting.
Have a good day!
Peace.
Jason: Please don’t worry about my emotions, of all things. Telling someone to “take it easy” is merely a way to dismiss what they say without addressing the substance, and quite frankly, it’s rude.
Furthermore, the fact that you responded to a comment by “Hindu” doesn’t change the meaning of your comment, nor the fact that in this public medium, anyone besides Hindu is free to talk about it.
Finally, the parts of your comment that I specifically addressed — again, let’s be clear, not your personal choices, but the parts of your comment I specifically talked about — isn’t any more inflammatory or upsetting than mud on a rainy day. It’s still shit, though, for reasons that I stated.
Putting aside regional differences that necessitate differences in approach, and speaking bluntly, because a number of the most prominent feminists are rich, straight, cis, white with neurotypical brains and able bodies that forget how much things suck for people who are missing one of those categories. But there are also philosophical differences about the nature of that equality, and what an equal society would ultimately look like. But the primary reason is that some rich, middle class, white, straight, cis, able-bodied, neurotypical women forgot about everyone else and decided feminism was over because they were mostly fine. Also because the precise approach taken by feminists in a given region will need to be different.
Jason: Chill dude… you came to talk about going your own way, and people responded. That’s what you wanted right?
Unless, of course, you figured this was a way to get some digs in at the feminists who ruined your life and drove you into going your own way, and the push back is somehow out of line.
But hey, if going your own way means no one can respond to you, that you are somehow immune to external criticism… then go.
David,
something bugs me about your definition of incel. You say that there are “a few female incels”, and that did not fit my experience. So I took a look at the first 60 posts in the Introduction part of an incel forum, and the first 50 of the closest German equivalent. 15 of the 60 (25%) were by women, and 21 of the 50 on the German board (although 3 were by women not personally affected, so it’s 18/47 = 38%). Surveys on forums seem to result in generally similar numbers. While incel is a condition primarily affecting men, there are many women as well; and they are not suffering less. Quite a few are survivors of rape or childhood abuse, or for other reasons have difficulty trusting men. Others are less conventionally attractive and have not found their niche, and there are many other types. One thing that I noticed while doing that research was how many women said something about feeling all alone with their problem (men did too, but it seemed to be less often). It’s hard having to live each day with the knowledge that you are deficient and will not have what is completely normal to everyone else, it’s even harsher to live with the thought that your deficiencies are unique.
I’m ok with you blaming the incels for their being incel. But please don’t say that female incels are only “a few”. At least relative to the population of incels they represent a good proportion, and their experiences and suffering is real. They are not the statistical aberration of a statistical aberration.
(I apologize for concern trolling, but I really am concerned.)
How about “Feminazi”. That’s always one of my favourites
“lawyercunt” is a favourite among the PUAs. I suspect this sums up everything they find abhorrent in a woman: Someone who is educated, ambitious, intelligent, assertive, and probably earns more money than they do. Of course, everyone (in the seventeenth century, at least) knows higher education shrivels the delicate female brain and induces hysteria and infertility.
From Will Cuppy – “‘Hysteria’ comes from the Greek for ‘womb’. They believed the womb was unattached, and moved around and tickled women, and made them hysterical. Men, not having wombs, could not be hysterical. When a man threw himself on the floor and kicked and screamed, he was showing character.”
I thought the “Manosphere” was the Domain of The Master and Torgo…?
ION says: “Right, comet, it’s a juvenile insult, not at all like the feminist-created comedic gems like ‘douchecanoe’, ‘flounce’ and ‘mansplaining’, which could have been penned by Shakespeare himself.”
Comet replied: “Douchecanoe? That’s a new one on me. You’re assuming that someone needs to identify as feminist/read feminist sites in order to find MRAs moronic.”
That’s one way to totally avoid answering the question Comet! I certainly don’t think ION is saying that someone needs to identify as feminist/read feminist sites in order to find MRAs moronic – does anyone think that? ION makes a very good point, I mean the extreme, mysogynist MRA’s – who are in the minority – are no different to the extreme, misandrist feminists. I wonder if this site is too scared to mock misandry.
Surprised I haven’t made your site yet!
no one here is afraid to mock misandry, though the MRAs have some very weird definitions of what is misandry.
However, that isn’t the purpose of the site. That’s like calling out a space-loving website for not doing geology commentary because things are just as interesting under the atmosphere as above it.
Futrelle has a shtick and he likes it. he’s good at it. And the people he attracts like a website that calls out the misogyny of the MRAs and PUAs.
However – Futrelle and many of the repeat commenters here also comment at, “No, Seriously: What About The Menz?” NSWATM is a site that is almost all about misandry (though it covers more misogyny than this site covers misandry, in my experience, both have a focus and both go outside that focus a lot less than they stay inside of it. We’re just talking about whether it’s 1% or 5%.
Anyway, your “too scared” jibe is noted and dismissed. It has as much to do with fear as the aforementioned space website “fears” to cover geology.
Clever. You encourage hatred towards men while using their own language to shame them. Even the name of your site is an effort to shame men.
You’re just a hate-mongerer albeit an intelligent and creative one. Hitler would have just loved you.
Yeah, Casper, because Hitler was all about feminism! All about it.
Au contraire, Casper. Heaping ridicule on a select group of dumbasses is not encouraging hatred towards men.
MGTOW FORUMS!!
Otherwise play russian roulette with your life by being with “wimmin”.
MGTOW has come from the large proportion of beta males in their 20s who’ve experienced a strong pattern of rejection by the “grrrls” because they were nothing more than nice and in peak health. Like a lot of women who’ve been rejected by men, these beta males have decided to go their own way too (see what I did there with the equality thing), but there are a lot more of them around, hence the MGTOW Forums. MGTOW Forums is basically a place for men to share their stories of rejection and the lessons learned. Of course, with all forums there’s always some sexism, but generally logic and reason takes precedence over blame – something that can’t be said about manboobz’ typically feminist ‘dancing around the issue’ and disposable shaming language approach.
Besides, what’s it to you? A men’s forum is a MEN’S forum. You’d learn a thing or two about (actually being feminine) if you looked at it with less hatred.
RIGHT FlooberDoober, because this is 1950 and the only opinions women are allowed to express are about the fluffiness of kittens. What exactly do you define as feminine? Should we all go back to binding our feet for your satisfaction?
Just a question about the definition of Anglosphere – “those countries that used to be British colonies”?
One of the first countries that I think of with that definition is India, which I presume is not the category of country that you meant. Despite English being one of very many official languages there, it’s not exactly predominantly English-speaking (except for perhaps within certain classes in certain areas, I suppose, although I’m not certain that’s the case either). Obviously correct me if I’m wrong and you did mean to include the non-“western” colonies, but that part might perhaps need a rephrase. 🙂
(And if I am wrong, could I ask your reasons for including such countries?)
I realise I’m quibbling a bit (sorry!) but I’ve always had the impression that India is considered one of the most important of the former colonies from both a historical and symbolic perspective, and it seems a bit strange to me that it’s grouped with more predominantly anglophone/traditionally-considered countries :/
Mangina huh. Guess the originator of that term hasn’t watched Deuce Bigalow then. It was just a reference to the penis which kinda takes out the sting from an alleged insult. But then some people are just fuckwits
Obviously the context in which the word mangina is most often used doesn’t register with you. The word “enabler” doesn’t have enough sting, so we use “mangina” because frankly, we’re tired of PC doublespeak.
If you had any shred of decency or honesty, you’d first have to admit that not one MRA has posted anything even as remotely hateful as the SCUM Manifesto, which femmes write off as a a joke, so that they can then proceed to work on getting the best male layers to help convicted females who murder their own children out of jail asap. Get it straight, mangina, male shaped creatures like you, ENABLE female bad behavior when you demonize the men who call it what it is, evil. A mangina is also quite often a man who has no idea that a woman will kick him to the curb when she is done with him, because even the sweetest women hate weak men. Any male lawyer who defends a female criminal he suspects to be guilty is also a mangina.
Look up Briffault’s Law!
@vklaatu:
If you had any shred of honesty or integrity, you’d read the blog that is filled with examples of hateful MRA speak before asking us to admit they don’t exist.
You’re kidding, right? You guys do it all the time, it’s just not as long. I mean, that’s putting aside that the SCUM Manifesto was probably a parody, and was never published by its author; taking it entirely at face value, you idiots post shit that hateful on a regular basis. we see them in the common
Because only women hire lawyers. Men all, to a man, instantly confess before ever getting a lawyer.
Yeah, you’re really helping your case here.
You know nothing of the ethics involved in the law, do you?
*see them in the common trolls. FUck, we have at least 3 regular trolls who straight up want to enslave women, raping and beating all women who are not perfectly submissive.