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 ideas are that again?
That rape isn’t a big deal, and anyone on trial for it should go free because women sometimes lie? (Paul Elam)
That women are hypergamous sluts who are constantly looking to trade up, and the only way to keep them in check is to inspire rightful dread so they don’t have time to worry about finding someone else because they’re too afraid of the consequences? (Heartiste / Roissy )
That women are unclean, shitty, behemoths of death and doom and despair? (Christopher from Oregon)
That the brains of women simply aren’t good for anything much beyond child rearing, on account of evolutionary pressure and being simply being better? (Wrongheaded evolutionary psychology)
That because women sometimes get drunk, and sometimes have sex while drunk, rape isn’t a big deal, because maybe she was just a drunk skank in slutty clothing? (Reddit, A Voice For Men, This Very Comment Section Tedioously Often)
That women only say they want equality because equality to them means being superior, and women already make most of the decisions in the household, and anyway, equality would mean they would have to die as often as men for it to be fair? (A Voice For Men)
That the so called “Male Priviledge” is actually not a badge of honor, but a mark of their disposability, and women are weak, stupid fools who couldn’t handle one true day of the labour real men go through, and they should be fucking thankful that men are willing to handle all the hard jobs for those sad bitches? (A Voice For Men)
That the way to a woman’s heart involves inspiring fear, jealousy, rage, pain and suffering, because women rely on external societal cues and you can manipulate them into loving you by battering them with an emotional rollercoaster? (Red Pill Wisdom)
That women are naturally submissive, and therefore will naturally submit to any true, dominant and powerful man, AND BECAUSE OF THIS, they should never operate as CEO of a company, as they would just make it merge with the most powerful dominant man and submit to his harem? (Red Pill WIsdom, also echoed in a voice for men)
That bondage and bdsm is for broken people, and broken people are mostly women, so because some women sometimes like leather, that means they should never be in the army? (A Voice For MeN)
What legimate, true points that feminism must consider are we operating under, exactly?
More bitterness, anyone?
http://cuteoverload.com/2013/09/22/welcome-aboard-sir-stuffington/
Swoons at the cuteness of Sir Stuffington.
FTFY
Just one last point.
I haven’t always been anti-feminist. In my lifetime feminism has moved from a movement that most normal people would support, or at least wouldn’t strenuously object to, to a rabid and deranged cult obsessed with rape and some mythical patriarchy thing.
I’m not a supporter of Paul Elam. I don’t know him. He might be a complete loon for all I know. However his website puts a better case better.
I would be happy to be convinced by this website if it was convincing but it isn’t.
If this is what feminism has become it is a sad day for our society.
I wish you well.
One last point.
We don’t care.
And the troll automatically loses 2 points for a failure to stick to the flounce.
Points also deducted for ableism (rabid and deranged, loon) and a willful inability to comprehend the purpose of this website despite the bloody big text in which it is written. At the top. Of the website. *rolls eyes*
Can we get Andi’s posts read out by Saruman, please? They have just the right level of pretentious mock-sorrow.
Andi thinks a mockery website with cats represents the whole of feminism? That’s weird, you’d think his logical, ideology-free, “normal” mind would recognize the problem in that.
But good riddance to Andi, who first expressed his belief that feminists call men rapists to shut them up (where’s your logical, unemotional evidence for that?) and then said that we are “obsessed” with rape.
”
One last point.
We don’t care.
”
Obviously you do judging by the number of posts stirred up by my comments.
Loses another point for being so thick as to associate bitterness with a site that hosts cat videos.
OMG poor little Sir Stuffington, that poor baby!
Oh no, he’s stuck in the revolving door! Quick, Andi, logic your way out!
Loses another couple of points for second flounce-fail.
Hey, Andy Pandy, I asked you before: what part of M O C K E R Y don’t you understand?
“Loses another point for being so thick as to associate bitterness with a site that hosts cat videos.”
I’m not really interested in scoring points. I just wanted to see for myself if the things the avfm people said about this site were valid.
I do have one further question though.
Is you’re hostile group response mainly due to the fact you think I’m a troll?
So you say. And yet you just can’t leave without having the last word, can you?
I sure cant speak for everyone, Andi, but I can tell you the basis of my personal hostile response. You came in here pretending that you were somehow unbiased, as if you’re not of the world but live beyond it, as if your society’s construction of gender somehow does not affect you, as if you are not subject to the same cognitive biases that the rest of us humans are. As if accusing feminists, a group of mostly women looking out for the interests of mostly women, of being too “emotional,” is an accusation pulled straight from the facts and not grounded in sexist perceptions of women’s emotions and our ability to think.
You then demanded that we behave exactly as you wanted us to, otherwise we would “lose” some contest that exists only in your head. You were entitled enough to feel comfortable asking strangers to go out of their way to please you, and arrogant enough to think we would give a fuck about your good opinion.
What really pissed me off was when you said feminists call men rapists in order to silence dissent, which is based on absolutely nothing beyond your own feelings, and which is an attempt to discredit people who call out their rapists, and that’s fucking low.
Last but not least, you’ve decided to stand with people who envision a utopia where I became the sexual toy of whatever man grabbed me first at 15, don’t speak, don’t argue; and was content to be tossed out, penniless, at 22 when they traded in for some other child.
Oh wait and also the ableist shit.
Let’s see. Evidence for Andi being a troll:
Evidence against Andi being a troll:
*crickets*
Didn’t speak, didnt argue*
Standing ovation for Viscaria.
So a plain “Yes”. You think I’m a troll?
I don’t agree with much of the stance of feminism and I don’t think we’d ever agree on most of this stuff. I didn’t come here to be agreed with. What I was interested in finding out is if this site is a setup to silence dialogue on men’s issues and if people who are active feminists regard anyone interested in men’s rights as the enemy (I don’t think they should).
Definitely a case of finalworditus. I recommend you step back from the keyboard, re-read your comments quoted above, consider whether your last comment is remotely believable in light of what you have already said and then just fuck off.
“A plain yes?” O_o titianblue’s yes was not even remotely plain (thanks for the compliment by the way titianblue). It came with a bunch of examples from your own words. I didn’t even call you a troll at all, I just laid out why I don’t like you. You would strip these two detailed comments of all of their evidence and specific arguments, and pretend that the only response you received was a plain assertion? You, who care so much about intellectual debate? How utterly predictable of you.
P.S. The trick is, once you see the outside in front of you, stop following the door. Just walk straight. You’ll make it out.
Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no.
‘Your’, not ‘you’re’. The apostrophe denotes a contraction, Andi.
Here’s a handy mnemonic device to help with that! When reading, every time you see the contraction split it apart into two words. If that messes up the sentence, then you don’t want the contraction!
Look, your time here has been educational! Isn’t that fun!
Andi: stick that flounce, baby.
And one last thing: can you not understand the header of this site? It’s not debate club, nitwit.
You pretty much got the response you deserved.
Mocking is not silencing, please grow a brain.
Let’s see–MRAs don’t think I’m fully human because I’m a woman, so yes, they’re the enemy. Fuck off.
Yes, I do.
Because invariably ‘men’s rights’ is code for ‘hate movement dedicated to tearing down women’s rights,’ not anything to do with actually helping men who need it.
Every. Single. Fucking. Time.
You don’t think so?
I think you’re so wrong that it hurts my teeth. Re-examine your life; you’re defending a hate movement.