If you’re familiar with men’s rights activism, then you’re probably familiar with feminist shaming tactics. It’s always the same, and it has remained the same for years:
- You just hate women!
- You are a rape apologist!
- You can’t get laid!
- You sound very bitter!
- No woman would want to date you!
- You are not a real man!
- You’re afraid of strong women!
- Stop whining!
Wherever MRAs, or even just random people who are questioning feminism and men’s issues, come into contact with feminists and white knights, there is almost a guarantee that the ones opposing the men’s rights movement will rely heavily on ad hominem arguments and other logical fallacies. It has already been established that there isn’t a legitimate argument supporting feminism’s case, because if there was, they would surely have used it be now, so their only method of defence is through use of such fallacies.
So, do these feminists and white knights really believe what they say? Do they really believe that the only reason anyone stands up for the human rights of men and boys is because they hate women, can’t get laid, can’t get a girlfriend, are bitter, or any other illogical reason they may provide? Or is this just a deliberate attempt to silence the movement.
Unless those feminists and white knights are deluded enough to believe what they say about anyone who dares stand up for the rights of men and boys, then chances are that, for most of them, it is just an attempt to silence the movement.
So why do they do this? Well, it’s not like feminism benefits everyone, right? It most certainly does not benefit men, and if you look deeply, it doesn’t do much good for women either, as it lowers them to the level of infantilized children. The feminists, and their white knight supporters, are more than happy with the current system, and will do anything to defend it, which includes fighting off anyone who opposes it, and most importantly, keeping facts well away from the public.
There are several different goals that the opponents of the men’s rights movement may wish to achieve through the use of shaming tactics.
The first goal is to shoo away any newcomers who may become active in the men’s rights movement, by guilting them into believing their perfectly rational opinions are wrong. Perhaps, in the process, they could also leave a blow on the potential MRA’s self esteem. The possible outcomes to this are: the target will ignore the shaming and continue, the target will leave the movement, or the target will get more dedicated to the movement. The third one of these outcomes is very often the case.
The second goal is to convince the target that what is being said in the shaming tactic really is true. The tactic will be used to the point that the target questions their own motives, and starts to believe that the activism really is, deep down inside, just the result of an angry hatred of women, or an angry outlet for other life problems. Because after all, we’re only standing up for the human rights of men and boys, right? We almost make it sound as if there could be other reasons why we want males to have human rights, other than a hatred of females or anger at unrelated life problems.
So why is it, even when they fail to get you to leave the movement, and fail to get you to believe false things about yourself, they still resort to shaming tactics? In fact, nothing will get feminists and their white knight supporters to stop using these empty and predictable accusations. Even if you specifically state that you have wised up to these shaming tactics, you will still be bombarded with them. Even the same opponents will use the same shaming tactics over and over, on the same targets.
Perhaps, for some of them, they are attempting through repetition, to foster doubt and self loathing in men who have the sheer effrontery to regard themselves as humans of value.
But for most of them, they know that there is no convincing you. Their goal is no longer to convince you that there is something wrong with your opinions, it is to deal as much social pain as possible. Studies have shown that social pain is felt like physical pain[1][2], and so the opponents attempt to deal as much social pain as possible.
You see, they already know you’ve wised up to their shaming tactics. They already know you’re well educated and aware of what feminism really is. They already know that you know your own motives. They already know that your activism is political and not a mere personal problem. They already know that you’re not just bitter or angry because you can’t get laid or can’t get a woman to like you.
They just don’t want to walk away empty-handed. Sure, they could just leave the argument and not say a word, but then nobody would be socially hurt. Opponents repeat the same shaming tactics over and over again to overwhelm you. To make you get fed up with their ignorance and lack of logic. Most importantly, they want to inflict social pain – and that is felt the same as physical violence.
This will persist because feminists and their white knight supporters know they can get away with it. They know that, as long as they have all their supporters, that the one discussion alone won’t end feminism. They use shaming tactics because it’s the easiest way that works. They can’t use logical arguments, because they don’t have any legitimate ones, and they fail to otherwise convince you to feel guilty, so they try to get out of the argument the easiest way possible and inflicting the most amount of social pain as possible – the social equivalent of physically hitting someone and then running off.
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