人兽性交

The last issue of the 人兽性交鈥檚 presented a scathing portrait of 鈥渁 hard-line fringe鈥� of the Men鈥檚 Rights Movement (MRM): 鈥渨omen haters whose fury goes well beyond criticism of the family court system, domestic violence laws, and false rape accusations,鈥� whose rage is 鈥渄irected at all women, not only perceived feminists.鈥�

The article, entitled provoked a tremendous response among men鈥檚 rights activists (MRAs) and their sympathizers.

鈥淧iggybacking on the two minutes鈥� hate against Limbaugh,鈥� the sarcastically declared, the 鈥渃lueless commissars at the Southern Policy Law Center鈥� have 鈥渇ound a new arena of hate groups, comparable to neo-Nazis and the skinheads: the 鈥榤anosphere鈥� of misogynist web sites.鈥� The website was defiantly proud: 鈥淏efore, our enemies ignored us. Now, they point their gnarled, disgusting fingers at us, sputtering syllables of disapproval.鈥�

A Voice for Men鈥檚 Paul Elam tried on a collegial tone at first. 鈥淭he goals of 人兽性交 and AVfM are quite similar,鈥� he averred in to the 人兽性交鈥檚 president, Richard Cohen. 鈥淲e both work to identify groups who seek to oppress others, and inform the public of the inequities they would perpetuate.鈥澛燘ut just days later, in a post headlined 鈥�,鈥� he changed his tune.

It should be mentioned that the 人兽性交 did not label MRAs as members of a hate movement; nor did our article claim that the grievances they air on their websites 鈥� false rape accusations, ruinous divorce settlements and the like 鈥� are all without merit. But we did call out specific examples of misogyny and the threat, overt or implicit, of violence.

Thomas James Ball, for example, who was hailed as a martyr on so many men鈥檚 rights forums, called for arson attacks on courthouses and police stations. The Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik wrote extensively about the evils of feminism. We included as much as we did about Register-Her.com because it is so intimidating to its targets, not all of whom are criminals. When Elam accused Vliet Tiptree, a pseudonymous contributor to RadFem Hub, of 鈥渃alling for extermination of half the human race; the male half, that is,鈥� he offered a for her real identity. The names and locations of several candidates were publically aired.

Elam and the authors of countless angry posts and letters have demanded to know why the 人兽性交 hasn鈥檛 also condemned feminist man-hating (or misandry, to use the MRM鈥檚 preferred term).

鈥淵ou do know that there is a forum out there called 鈥楻adFem Hub鈥� that actively advocates infanticide, gender-selective abortion and killing/mutilating men and boys, right?鈥� one letter asked us. 鈥淩ead the SCUM Manifesto,鈥� another said, 鈥渁nd research the reception it has received over the years, and the regard with which many feminists still hold Valerie Solanas.鈥�

Solanas was the undeniably disturbed woman who shot Andy Warhol in 1968. 鈥淟ife in this society being, at best, an utter bore and no aspect of society being at all relevant to women,鈥� her manifesto began, 鈥渢here remains to civic-minded, responsible, thrill-seeking females only to overthrow the government, eliminate the money system, institute complete automation and destroy the male sex.鈥�

SCUM stands for 鈥淪ociety for Cutting Up Men,鈥� and it is true that Solanas continues to be much-read and quoted in some feminist circles. (鈥淲e don鈥檛 really cut up men,鈥� the tagline of the blog cheekily declares. 鈥淲ell, unless they deserve it.鈥�)

The existence of hatred on one side of a color, political or gender line hardly justifies its presence on the other. And radical feminists do say hurtful things about men. 鈥淸T]reatments can be developed to mitigate the death-drive of men, their hierarchical psychology, their insensitivity to the pain of living creatures, their pleasure in violence and intimidation, their acquisitiveness, their rape and phallic obsessions,鈥� Tiptree wrote in a post on RadFem Hub called . 鈥淸M]y best bet is that what鈥檚 wrong with men is that their androgens need genetic modification. I鈥檓 serious about this. If we can do it with corn, men ought to be easy.鈥� Few possessors of Y chromosomes could read her words without feeling queasy. But to characterize her essay as a well-developed plan, as Elam and his colleagues do, is not only ridiculous, it is willfully obtuse.

Cathy Brennan owns the domain RadFem Hub. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 hate men,鈥� she told me. 鈥淚 have a father, I have a brother, I have a son. The war that Paul Elam is waging is in his head. I worry about women and children and the increasing violence in our society.鈥� When I asked her what she thought of Solanas鈥� 鈥淪cum Manifesto,鈥� she laughed. 鈥淚 view it as A Modest Proposal-type work of literature, a satire. It鈥檚 brilliant, but it鈥檚 not my personal bible.鈥�

While men鈥檚 rights activists fantasize about existential threats to the male sex, real is being committed against girls in China, India, East Asia, the Caucasus and other parts of the world.

Of course, some radical feminists do hate men, and when MRAs lurk in members-only chat rooms and cherry pick their angriest, most shockingly over-the-top posts to reprint on their own sites, as an MRA 鈥溾�� did at a forum called (which is not affiliated with RadFem Hub), they commit the same injustice they accuse the 人兽性交 of doing to themselves. No one makes a very favorable impression when they鈥檙e spewing bile.

This is a lesson that some MRAs are beginning to learn for themselves. 鈥淲ith all of the kooks inhabiting the manosphere, it was easy for the 人兽性交 to smear anti-feminism,鈥� one MRA site sadly after our article appeared. 鈥淭he problem is larger than just AVfM. Even rational anti-feminist blogs and organizations like the False Rape Society and SAVE [Stop Abusive and Violent Environments] are being tarnished with the same brush because the MRM 鈥榣eadership鈥� has failed to deal with the kooks.鈥�

鈥淲omen are not feminism. 鈥� To equate the two is beyond ignorant,鈥� a wrote. 鈥淸I]deologically speaking, I have some issues with feminist theory, but honestly, I think it's a distraction from working on the real issues that face men. 鈥� issues like: Homelessness - Men's Health - Education - Suicides - Homicides - Deaths on the Job - Family Court Inequalities - Child Custody - Criminal Justice System - Incarceration Rates - Prison Rape and Violence - Domestic Violence - Unemployment - Drug and Alcohol Abuse - Military Deaths and Service - Vilification in the Media - Legal Inequalities. This is what the MRM is all about; this is about social justice and equal protection under the law.鈥�

I dare say that if social justice and equal protection under the law were all that the MRM were about, then the 人兽性交 would have had no reason to write about it. If the article inspires more self-criticism in this vein, then perhaps it did the Men鈥檚 Rights Movement a service.