Last month the blog got a little
action when someone picked up on my review
of Netflix’s Jessica Jones and
brought it to the attention of series creator Melissa Rosenberg who linked to
it on her Facebook page. With exposure comes a greater audience. Not all of
them will be of the same high caliber we’ve come to expect here at Castle
Schadenfreude.
My review included this: “The most fun—for me, at least—is how this
show must make men’s rights advocates’ heads explode.” That prompted this
comment from bane666au: “Why exactly
would it make our heads explode? We aren't against female characters, writers, directors
etc. This is just a lame strawman argument by someone who has no idea what they
are talking about.”
I did a little looking into
bane666au and checked out his web site, so you, dear reader, wouldn’t have to.
A quick perusal and listening to a couple of his videos provided ample evidence
as to why I thought it might make men’s rights advocates’ (read: bane666au)
heads explode: they (read: he) are (is a) misogynistic douche bag(s). And a
dickless coward, to boot.
What leads me to believe he’s a
dickless coward? I use my name on my blog and web site. My real name. Dana
Fucking King. I don’t hide behind a pseudonym. (Note to bane666au: that means
“fake name.”) Even worse, his sounds like some teenaged kid’s idea of badass.
(“Bane’s hard-core man, and 666 is fucking evil, Dude. Rock on, Garth.”) True,
the “au” hints that he’s in Australia (though you’ll know that two words into a
video), but Australia’s big and it used to be a penal colony so for all I know
“Bane” is like Smith or Johnson down there. Why not let his name stand like a
beacon in these dark times?
Probably because his intentions
aren’t all that honorable. Note his carefully-worded reply. “We aren't against
female characters, writers, directors etc.” I never said their heads would
explode because there were female characters, writers, directors. I said it was
because there strong female
characters, etc. I’ve done quite a bit of research into the men’s rights
movement for an upcoming book. They’re all in favor of women. In their place.
In the eyes of the men’s rights activist, that place is either in the kitchen
or on her knees. (I exclude those “men” who have joined up with Men Going Their
Own Way and have decided they want no women in their lives, period, which I also
suspect is largely bullshit, though I suspect most women are grateful.)
I will admit my research into the
men’s rights movement (MRM) was not exhaustive. It was, however, exhausting. I
really couldn’t do more than half an hour or so at a time before disgust and
the desire to un-read some things overcame me. These are people who believe
domestic abuse is “sex symmetrical” and that the vast majority of rape
accusations are false. Many do not believe it is possible for a man to rape his
wife. There is a school of thought in the American MRM that Mexican wives are preferable
because they are docile. There is a group with the sole intention of diverting
donations from White Ribbon, a Canadian organization dedicated to “end violence
against women and girls, promote gender equity, healthy relationships and a new
vision of masculinity.” The counter group’s (whiteribbon.org, as opposed to
whiteribbon.ca) motto is “End Violence Against Everyone” and has a photo of a
“battered woman” with their pledge. (Looks more like a cheap make-up job to me,
but I’m no expect.) Scroll on down and the evenhandedness disappears. Women are
the culprits here, and feminism is the root or most evil. The site is hosted by
A Voice For Men, the “leading” web site for the MRM, and hardly a voice of
reason.
So, bane666au, that’s why men’s rights activists’ head
will explode. Strong women. Women of
the type that led to MRAs boycotting Mad
Max: Fury Road. You think you’re men? Men don’t blame others for their own
failures. Men don’t carry on about a vast female conspiracy that has neutered
the “manginas” in positions of power to bias laws in women’s favor. What men
do—in addition to taking responsibility for their own weaknesses and
failures—is have to deal with a world where a woman has little choice but to
view us as potential threats, both physically and economically. As usual, Louis
CK is dead on:
Here’s the deal, bane666au or
whatever the fuck your real name is: (In fairness, he may use a pseudonym
because his family has threatened to beat the shit out of him if he leaves any
way for people to connect them.) We’re on to you, and your cowardly, spineless,
pusillanimous, timorous, yellow, weak-kneed, gutless, frightened, cowhearted,
despicable buddies. Go your own
fucking way. Find an island somewhere and create a male utopia of
self-emasculating, self-loathing, self-defeating, and self-abusing onanists and
leave the rest of us to work things out. Without you, we have a chance of
getting it right.
