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.
I miss LBT as well. I hope they doing well.
I too miss LBT. I was thinking of them this morning before reading all these comments.
Megadittoes on missing LBT.
i’m at a location where the ip address is shared among the area, so by blocking one address up to 10,000 users’ ip addresses will also be blocked. so, what if a hateful comment comes this way from this address?
I found this site doing a Google search. Ever since that video came up of that woman being “harassed” by people wishing her a good day, it made me very angry. Listening to MGTOWs take it apart was refreshing. I mean it was a fucking stupid goddamned video with a messed up message (“You’re a creep if you say hello to a stranger”).
So these MGTOWs were all right. They made sense. The video was fucked up. But then I realizd that these MGTOWs are just as fucked up themselves. Jesus fucking Christ. For a bunch of guys who are “going their own way” and wanting nothing to do with women, they sure fucking do a lot of fucking talking about women. God damn it. There are videos on YouTube where these guys talk for forty fucking five minutes about women being evil (especially American women). Shut the fuck up already. Go out and ride a Harley to a goat farm where you can murder an ox with your bare hands but just shut the fuck up already. Jesus!
Besides, there’s a lot of great “American” women. I think these clowns have that hard on for the “Eastern” woman who is stereotypically considered to be subservient and to be pretty much a slave to her man. They should go to Japan or Korea and find out the hard way that women are just as empowered there as anywhere else.
But is the goat farm DIRECTLY ON THE BEACH?
What is that, some kind of meme?
lololol! You could say that.
I actually don’t know what video Antonio is talking about. Is it supposed to be common knowledge around here?
My first Blockquote monster of 2015.
I think he’s referring to that catcalling video that went viral a couple of months ago. And claiming that women are too dumb or mean or w/e to know the difference between a friendly “hello” and a catcall. Because we’ve never heard that before, right?
Troll’s got a bloody nerve using the name of a magnificent composer.
Fuck off, troll. You can pretend you don’t know the difference between harassment and courtesy, but you’re not fooling anyone else.
Well, just the other day, I meant to say “hello” in a courteous, professional manner to my manager, but it came out “YO! Shake it, Mama!” And don’t even get me started on that time I walked by the new clinical fellows!
IDK, kitteh – at least zie’s showing some creativity in the interaction. This makes for a possibly more entertaining trolling than we’ve had in some time.
Why am I a troll? Holy shit. That’s really offensive. Where did I say that women are dumb? Where did I say that it’s okay to “cat call”? Fuck off. I’m a generally open and friendly person and I approach people now and then. I don’t call out to people randomly. There are people out there who give off vibes, you know, like they want you to engage.
Thiis whole fucking world sucks anyway. You got MGTOW dickheads talking shit but you guys are no better, apparently. I read some of the comments here and they seemed sensible. And then I get fucking reamed when I’m stating my opinion and accused of being a troll.
There are a number of videos of women being catcalled. There are even some of men dressed as women to find out what happens to us and lately there has been one of the mums being told what their sons were doing and the mums walking by and being catcalled by their sons and then confronting them. The MRAs have been claiming for generations that shouting at us and groping us is just d00dz being friendly. For generations we have been saying that we do not like it and their response to that has been to tell us that we are lying when we say we hate being shouted at and groped.
You’re accusing women of being mean or whatever your excuse is and not knowing when we’re being harassed.
You’re doing this on a site that mocks misogyny, and yet you expect you’re going to be treated soooo nicely by people who are on the receiving end of the cat-calling and harassment, when you’re telling us we don’t know what we’ve experienced.
As I said: Yes, you’re a troll, and a loser, and nobody values your mansplaining.
Fuck off.
The troll is offended that he is being called out on an effing blog thread but can’t figure out why women don’t like being trolled on the street. Criminy
Seriously? Another one, already?
I think they should have to pass a troll challenge to even post on this thread. Sporkle away!
The trolls took a vacation for the holidays and now their troll impulses are pent up so they’re out in force.
Yes troll, depending on body language and vocal tone a “hello” can be either friendly and harmless or creepy and harassing. If you thought you’d get a warm reception by denigrating those who oppose street harassment, you clearly don’t understand the concept of a misogyny mocking blog.
Vivaldi, I don’t know that I necessarily agree you’re a troll, but you did come in here saying some shit. I’m glad you see that MGTOW are morons, but that video, problematic as it is, is not problematic because feminists are whiners who see simple greeting as harassment. Coming here and spouting that tired line of misogynist, apologist bullshit was never going to get you anywhere. I actually hope you stay and learn more, but seriously – google Feminism 101 before you comment here like you have anything to contribute.
I stand corrected about the troll thing. I’m pretty new here, so that’s my excuse. Begone!
It’s not about saying “hello” to a stranger. If it was, men would be saying the kinds of things they say to women to other men as well. Men (MGTOWs and MRAs especially) are angry that women might not want to talk to some random guy on the street who’s being creepy.
We don’t exist to make your morning walk more pleasurable, we don’t exist for you period. We don’t have to respond to you, nor do we have to take everything you do with a smile and no reservations.
Schrodinger’s Rapist is still a thing. Women don’t know who’s going to attack us until it’s too late, so we just assume, for our own safety, that all men are capable of attacking us. Don’t like it? Help us fix it and stop being part of the problem by bitching about how women are scared of you and we don’t like what you’re doing.
For fuck’s sake. Why is it that every time women say “Hey, we don’t like this, can you please not?” men like you have to jump in and whine about how you only “meant well” and “women can’t take a compliment” like we’re supposed to be on our hands and knees thanking you for giving us the time of day?
We just want to exist in public without being followed around by men whose motives we can’t suss out. I would like to mention that one of the guys who said “Have a nice day” to that lady who was walking around followed her around for another five minutes as well, saying nothing and keeping pace with her. That’s really fucking scary for women. That’s one step away from becoming a headline in tomorrow’s paper and on national news and a hashtag on twitter. That’s one step away from assault, rape, or worse being MURDERED.
Getting told by a guy who’s old enough to be my grandfather that I have “nice toes” (I was wearing flipflops at the time, as I normally do in the warmer months) and being invited to come by his place anytime isn’t a compliment. It’s creepy and gross.
Women’s safety/right to exist in public spaces > Men’s feelings. Period. End of discussion.
You want this to stop hurting your feelings? Stop men harassing us when we’re walking down the street and maybe we’ll be more receptive to your hellos and compliments.
Oh wow, Vivaldi.
That was the most beautiful impression of a frothing misogynist in a rage I’ve ever seen. Kudos, sir! Have you considered a career writing satire?
The phrase “most of the pussy I’ve gotten” has been detected. Operatives of the Feminternational have been released to neutralize the threat.