Howdy y’all. Have a good weekend? I hope you did, and whether you did or didn’t, I hope this roundup of everything interesting that’s happened on AVfM the last week will give you a stimulating start to your week!
Ever the rationalist, Mark Trueblood has returned to our pages to note what being strong and independent means. We know a lot of ladies at places like Feministing and Jezebel who ought to read that. Think they’d ever bother? Well hope springs eternal and all that.
In the meantime, Paul Elam viciously and ruthlessly savages helpless comedian Bill Burr. OK, no, actually, he loves Bill Burr and agrees with everything Burr says in a recent classic rant, but points out one important thing he thinks Burr missed. But you know, when it comes to A Voice for Men, a lot of people can’t tell the difference between irrational ranting and making a good point to a respected colleague. So you know, condolences to Bill for his cyber-raping at the hands of Paul. Or something. (Nah, just read it, it’s pretty good, even Bill will like it I’ll bet.)
India is a country that’s growing not just in population, but is also a hotbed of a growing Men’s Human Rights Movement. As one example, check out Bob O’Hara and James Huff’s terrific interview with Anill Kumar. If you thought the problems of misandry and gynocentrism were just a problem in the so-called “West,” think again.
Andy Thomas of MRA London continues to kick ass and takes name, and makes note of a completely irresponsible misandrist ad campaign in the UK. Every time as an American when I look around at the deplorable state of human rights for men and boys in this country, I thank God I don’t live in the UK, Australia, or Canada. And note to my Canadian, British, and UK friends: I hope you realize that’s nothing personal, just a painful observation about reality. Oh, and saying the US seems a bit better off than you guys is a pretty fucking low bar. “Solidarity brothers” is all I can say.
Hey, have I ever mentioned that our very own 21st century Charles Coughlin, PZ Myers, likes to tell rape jokes? Well in case, I haven’t, he does. And if I did mention it, just assume I didn’t want you to forget. Oh, and also, Jason Gregory has noticed that so does feminist comedienne Lindy West. But I guess in her case it’s okay because: vagina.
We just got through Father’s Day. It was a pretty good day for me. I’m hoping for some of you it was excellent. I know for many of you it was a day of pain and heartbreak. But take heart, people realize it and the pushback is growing. So take it for what it’s worth: Clayton Cramer is calling bullshit on some crap being pulled by Hallmark. And if you think that misandrist crap is going to be contained to America’s black community, you’re crazy. Just be sure to check your blood pressure before you read Clayton’s article.
Jason Gregory had a fascinating article this week that is turning more fascinating over time. In a piece on Facebook’s moral stupidity, we wound up issuing a slight retraction about Google returns. Then a day or two later we found the evidence that we thought we had lost. Joshua was 100% correct–and David Futrelle is caught out as a dishonest weasel once again. Joshua was right about everything including the Google search results, although the fact that he looked wrong is actually good news. Look for an updated article on this in the near future penned by yours truly, with the appropriate screen shots.
Ty Henry returns to grace our pages with yet another tale of the double standards wherein girls and women are given a free pass for things that would land any boy or man in jail with almost no sympathy for anyone. Save Kaitlyn Hunt… but not our sons? Apparently, Ty, apparently. Now a few people made the case that we should want boys treated the same as Kaitlyn treated as bad as boys. You know what? I don’t care which side of that you’re on. Just pick one or the other. The double standards and hypocrisy need to end.
A survivor of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s Romania, Lucian Vâlsan has never thought much of socialism, collectivism, or statism. Whether you like his politics or not, his views on things like Political Correctness are things spoiled Westerners, who’ve never known the horrors of a full-on communist regime, are views you should not casually dismiss… especially when he starts saying in all seriousness that much of what we’re seeing today isn’t much better than what he saw in Communist Romania. Be sure to check out his episode of AVfM radio with Huffnágel Pista and James Huff, Political Correctness and the Men’s Rights Movement.
Oh, and do you still think the ages of sports heroes is over? Well I have to say that as much as I don’t much follow professional sports, and as much as anyone may have other bad or good things to say about Jose Canseco, Jose Canseco will always be a hero to me for this. More men need to speak out, and fucking loudly. And they need to name names exactly as he did. Thanks for bringing that one to our attention too, Jason.
The lat few weeks you may have noticed some serious technical glitches on A Voice for Men. During that transition we’ve also been rearranging the editorial team to better handle the increased volume of traffic and submissions to A Voice for Men. More and more people, male and female alike, are coming out of the closet as Men’s Human Rights Advocates, and writing just terrific stuff, without apology. To keep up with this ever-increasing firehose of pressure, we’re modifying the rules for submission a bit. John Hembling has some information of interest to contributors, which may seem more complicated than what you’re used to but once you get the hang of it actually will make things a lot smoother and more easy for everybody to understand when they submit work to us.
There is a persistent myth that most Men’s Human Rights Advocates are right-of-center. Well there may be a slight right tilt here, a slight left tilt there, a streak of libertarianism runs through a lot of us, but in the end your politics don’t matter as much as the results. A few months ago we had an absolutely stinging rebuke of Congressional Republicans, and Republicans in general. Well this time President Obama is being taken to the woodshed for his utterly abysmal record to date on men’s and boys’ issues by Neil Westlake. Kick him a few more times for me, would ya Neil?
Have you heard that Clayton Cramer refuses to pay child support? Yeah, he does. And he “gets away with it” because it’s the right thing for his children, and his ex-. You’ll have to read it to find out more, but by the time you’re done reading you’ll be asking yourself why something like this isn’t the default arrangement everybody should be living under.
In another Father’s Day missive, Paul Elam peels back the curtain just a little about his own father. We don’t all have great relationships with our fathers, but they’re always important relationships that should never be denied us. Paul looks at the good and bad in his father and himself, and I think you can glimpse from that essay just how big an influence a father, even one you don’t always like, can be.
Also on the theme of Father’s Day: I remember well the first time I spotted an article by JudgyBitch. It was on her own blog. I didn’t like everything she said but I liked how she said it, and some of her insights were brilliant and I said, “we have got to get this bitch on AVfM.” And we did. And usually she’s a fun read, but this time she’s outdone herself. If you can read My father and me and not be misty-eyed and swallowing hard by the end of it, you’re made out of stone. I still have no words for it. Thank you, JB.
Speaking of talented honeybadgers who keep popping out of the woodwork, Diana Davison has turned into one of the most talented short essayists I’ve ever seen. Please note that I did not qualify that by saying “on A Voice for Men.” I suppose her subtle and devastating wit and keen intellect will get past some people (especially stupid people and feminists) but the Bible of the Bearded Clam is one of the funniest damned things I’ve ever read. Maybe you have to be up on Biblical scholarship a bit to get it, but boy if you get it, you’ll get it. Diana may be going to Hell for that one, but she’ll be laughing all the way down.
For some reason, the mythical “rift between Men Going Their Own Way and Men’s Rights Activists” keeps showing up even though it generally has no rational basis. MGTOWs have always been viewed as comrades-in-arms here at A Voice for Men, and we don’t see that changing any time soon. If you doubt it, check out why 11 billion dollars won’t save your marriage. On the flip side, there’s more than one MGTOW out there who doubts some of the biological determinism found among some thinkers, and Peter Wright is no exception: his historical look at the origins of our modern ideas about love and courtship is must-reading.
Although I guess I’m pretty much making this all up. OK, I am. Barbarossaa and his hordes of MGTOW minions must be made to submit or die! There, I said it. And you can quote me. So there!
And finally, guess what guess what? We’re gonna be in the movies! Yay! I can’t wait to see John the Other’s star on the Hollywood walk of fame.
As always, cool stuff keeps popping up in our video section. On the other hand, I didn’t get around to collecting many off-site links this week, so please feel free to leave any off-topic, off-site links you’d like in the comments to this article.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s roundup. I’ll see you in 7!
Monday Roundup
