Admin note: Recent events here at AVfM, and in my personal life, has made for some very hectic times of late. I am running behind on some articles to be posted and at this point my email is a bloody mess that may be beyond catching up. My apologies to those I have not answered and those who are waiting for an article of yours to post, but for obvious reasons we are going to remain on current events for a few more days. Thank you for your patience.
Surprise events often have an interesting story behind them. The recent mention of A Voice for Men in the New York Times is no exception.
I have heard a lot of speculation about why The Times would not only print my name, but also provide a link to this website in the online version of their article on male studies. Like the rest of the MSM they have an illustrious history of refusing to acknowledge that we, or issues that affect men and boys, even exist. Ostensibly it would seem that the intent was to send people here to see some of the anger that comes out on these pages (preparing them in advance to see it as misogyny), in order to have them attribute negative qualities to the Male Studies Foundation and to the subject of male studies in general.
On the other hand, it has been speculated that the move was friendlier than that. Some have asserted, quite reasonably, that it is possible that McGrath reads AVfM, sympathizes with the message, and provided the link in order to direct traffic here in the only way he could at The Times; attached to insults and invective.
But there is a more plausible story here, in my opinion, especially given that is seems more reasonable that until McGrath wrote that article he had never heard of AVfM, or myself.
The answer lies in the subjects of his article. Two of the “men’s studies” icons referenced in the article were Michael Kimmel and Robert Heasley. Both are men who make their bread and butter by acting like academicians when in reality they are simple political ideologues. They have as much interest in the truth as, well, political ideologues.
And not so coincidentally, methinks, they happen to be two of the political ideologues that I have been outing in my articles on the men’s studies freak show since my days at Men’s News Daily. See here, here and especially here.
I have been fortunate enough to have ears to the walls in their midst for quite some time now. And I can tell you from reliable sources that they don’t handle my handling of them very well. There was talk of suing me, but that withered when they stopped fantasizing about revenge and talked to a real lawyer, the theory being that I have to actually do something wrong in order to win a law suit against me. I also know in some of their circles they have even been going after each other for not being feminist enough. Yes, AMSA, NOMAS, and SPSMM, I know all about it and will address it all in due time.
Anyway, it seems most likely to me that during the course of McGrath writing this article, my name and website came up when talking to one of the men’s studies crew, whom I will identify as a Men’s Studies Blowhard (MSB). I imagine the conversation went something like this.
MSB: Remember, male studies bad, men’s studies good.
McGrath: O.K. Got it.
MSB: And there is something else. Paul Elam.
McGrath: Who?
MSB: Paul Elam. He’s this super toxic, linear thinking, phallocentric, hegemonically masculine male with a website called A Voice for Men. He doesn’t…
McGrath: What’s that you say, a voice? For men?
MSB: Exactly! And as I was saying, he doesn’t like men’s studies – remember, that’s bad – and he has been saying bad things about us.
McGrath: Like what?
MSB: Well, he doesn’t understand that our subjective internal experience is just as valid as hard evidence!
McGrath: Say what!?
MSB: No, seriously. He actually challenges our subjective internal findings by citing sss…sss…science. Sweet Jesus, I can’t believe I had to say it.
McGrath: Dear God. I wish I was there to hug you.
MSB: (sniff) Thanks. It’s all true, though. And what’s worse, when we try to get our point of view about how evil men are out to the world, he dis…dis…disagrees with us. Publicly! He’s been making us all miserable for a really long time now.
McGrath: Bastard.
MSB: It is not so bad in most places. We usually only talk where dissent isn’t allowed. But like I said, we have been trying to get our message out, you know, to the commoners, and some of the places we go they let people give dif…dif…differing opinions.
McGrath: Despicable! Not here, I tell you! Not at the New York Times!
MSB: I knew you would understand.
And so the seed was planted. And it grew.
Into a windfall for the MRM.
Let’s face it, these people are not the sharpest pencils in the box. They had no way of knowing (but I did) that what they just did was shoot their own foot. Since The Times article ran, traffic here, especially from the Eastern Seaboard, has spiked significantly. And they are reading past one article and digging into the site.
My request for donations and help with building a web based MRM radio station has been met thus far with resounding support. And I see some real fire going on in the Manosphere; even stronger than before. There is a certainty brewing in the air that the long silent voice of men is preparing to resound in a thunderous chorus.
And so allow me to conclude this matter, for now, with some words to the men in academe that have exploited cultural misandry for fun and profit.
You’re fucked.
All of you. The days of your maligning men and boys with impunity are over. The days when you can speak only to cowed audiences wherever you go are done as well. You are now focusing so much of your energy now admonishing men to hold each other to account regarding behaviors that are destructive to society. We are heeding your call, and coming for you. The truth is coming for you. And this means all of you men. It means the men of SPSMM, NOMAS, AMSA and similar hate groups. It means Kimmel, Kilmartin, Smiler and even Connell. No, Raewyn Connell, you are not exempt because you cut your balls off. It didn’t change a single set of chromosomes in your body.
Every lie that you people spread will be exposed and exposed again. All of your websites and articles are full of such lies, and we are only going to get louder and more strident until you fucking fix it.
And please know that we are aware that you are attempting to speak your poison in more public forums online.
As Andrew Smiler found out recently, we are not going to allow anything you say to go without refuting it. Every lie you tell will be debunked; every distortion revealed. Wherever you go, whether it is to attack the male studies initiative, or simply to attack your fellow man with stereotypes and bigotry, you better hope you can call in favors again, like you did at The Times, to make sure no one but you is talking. Because in any public forum that lets you speak, we will be there more and more often.
We are not going away. In fact, we have barely even started.
