A Voice for Men,also known asAVfM,AVFM,orAV4M,is aUnited States–based for-profitlimited liability companyand online publication founded in 2009 by Paul Elam.[1]It is the largest and most influential site of themen's rights movement.[2][3][4][5]Its editorial position is stronglyantifeminist;it frequently accuses feminists of beingmisandrist.[6]
 | |
| Formation | 2009 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Paul Elam |
| Purpose | Men's issues,antifeminism |
| Headquarters | Houston,Texas,U.S. |
Region served | International |
Publisher | Paul Elam |
| Website | avoiceformen.com |
For years, the site operated a website devoted todoxxingwomen "deemed to be hateful toward men or [...] believed to have made false rape allegations".[6][7]In 2018, the Southern Poverty Law Center categorized AVFM as amale supremacisthate group.[8][9]
About
editA Voice for Men hosts radio shows, has a forum, and posts articles on its website. It occasionally features groups. AVFM's staff members and contributors are unpaid volunteers with the exception of the founder.[6]The site's online store, called "The Red Pill Shop" after thered pill meme,sells T-shirts, cell phone covers, and holiday decorations.[6][10]The site also accepts financial donations. Elam says "every dollar goes right in my pocket"; he also asserts that the money is used to advance the group's cause.[6]In 2014,Dun & Bradstreetestimated AVFM's annual revenue as $120,000 and said it had one employee.[6]
In March 2011, AVFM launched a broadcasting franchise onBlogTalkRadio.Elam hosted the first broadcast.[11]
Activities
editIn early 2011, AVFM created the website Register-Her, awikipage that initiallylistedthe names, addresses, and other personal information of women convicted of murdering or raping men. Later, the site's operators expanded the registry include women they judged guilty of "false rape accusations" or "anti-male bigotry".[6][5][12][13][14]They also began publishing personal information about women who participated in protests against the men's rights movement (MRM), who mocked the MRM on social media, or who publicly supported feminism.[5][12][14][15]Elam said that there would no longer be "any place to hide on the internet" for "lying bitches".[12]The site was closed for a time,[15]but restored at different web address (at least, until February 18, 2020).[7]
In 2014, AVFM launched a website called White Ribbon, adopting graphics and language from theWhite Ribbon Campaign,a violence-prevention program established in 1991.[16][17]AVFM's White Ribbon site argued thatwomen's shelterswere "hotbeds of gender hatred" and that "corrupt academics" had conspired to conceal violence against men.[12]The website was harshly criticized by White Ribbon executive director Todd Minerson, who said the AVFM White Ribbon website was a "misguided attempt to discredit others" and urged its supporters "not to be fooled by this copycat campaign".[18]
AVFM individuals helped set up the first International Conference on Men's Issues, held in June 2014 inDetroit,Michigan,[19]a city chosen, Elam said, because it represents "masculinity".[15]It was attended by a few hundred men and a few women.[2]Speakers includedMike Buchananfrom the UK'sJustice for Men and Boys(J4MB) party andWarren Farrell.Topics discussed included the effect ofunemploymenton men in the aftermath of theworld economic recession,the possibility of developing amale birth control pill,and attempts to increase care for men who had served in theU.S. military.[19]
The 2018 International Conference on Men's Issues (ICMI18) was organized with Justice for Men and Boys. It was to have taken place atSt Andrew's,the home ofBirmingham City Football Club,UK, between July 6 and 8, 2018.[20]However, in early November 2017 the club cancelled the intended use of their facilities, saying that they had been "misled at the time of booking". J4MB leader Buchanan had initially said he still intended for the conference to go ahead at St Andrew's as he felt he had "a perfectly good and legally binding contract".[21]The conference was instead held at theExCeL, Londonbetween July 20 and 22, 2018.[22]
Criticism
editAVFM was included in a list of 12 websites in the spring 2012 issue ( "The Year in Hate and Extremism" ) of theSouthern Poverty Law Center's (SPLC) Intelligence Report in a section called "Misogyny: The Sites".[23]The issue outlined the "manosphere", describing it as "hundreds of websites, blogs and forums dedicated to savaging feminists in particular and women...in general".[23]The report credited some sites as making an attempt at civility and trying "to back their arguments with facts" but condemned almost all of them for being "thick with misogynistic attacks that can be astounding for the guttural hatred they express" and ultimately described them as "women-hating".[23]
A prominent example used of AVFM inciting violence against women was[original research?]the declaration of the month of October as "Bash A Violent Bitch Month", with Paul Elam stating, "A man hitting you back after you have assaulted him does not make you a victim of domestic violence. It makes you a recipient of justice. Deal with it."[24]
Later that year, the SPLC published a statement about the reactions to their report, saying it "provoked a tremendous response among men's rights activists (MRAs) and their sympathizers", and that "[i]t should be mentioned that the SPLC did not label MRAs as members of a hate movement; nor did our article claim that the grievances they air on their websites – false rape accusations, ruinous divorce settlements and the like – are all without merit. But we did call out specific examples of misogyny and the threat, overt or implicit, of violence".[25]
A 2014 statement by the SPLC criticized the International Conference on Men's Issues, particularly finding fault with the citations made that "40% to 50% of rape allegations are false" since the SPLC views that "the best scholarly studies show that between about 2% and 8% of such allegations are actually false— a rate that is comparable for false allegations of most other violent crimes." However, the organization's statement also argued that the AVFM-associated conference was "relatively subdued" given that most of those there worked to keep "vitriol to a minimum" in the discussions. A commentary on the nature ofgrieffor men received praise from the SPLC, but the organization cautioned that the nature of prior material stated by those in AVFM was still a severe problem.[15]
AVFM's rhetoric has been described as misogynistic and hateful by feminist commentators such asLeah McLaren,[26]Jaclyn Friedman,[27]Jill Filipovic,[16]Brad Casey,[28]Clementine Ford,[29]and Mark Potok of the SPLC.[6]Writing inThe New York Times,Charles McGrath stated that websites like AVFM contain "a certain amount of anti-feminist hostility, if not outright misogyny".[30]Timehas reported on SPLC's "misogynist" description of the group as well as on the movement's official disavowing the concept of misogyny, with Elam cited as stating that being controversial was a way of drawing attention. Journalist Jessica Roy remarked that she found the AVFM conference divided between many individuals making violent threats and laughing openly at jokes about rape, and many individuals seeking to promote socioeconomic and legal changes by polite discussion.[19]
In 2018, the SPLC categorized AVFM as amale supremacisthate group.[8][9]
References
edit- ^Gheciu, Alex Nino (November 3, 2013)."Are Men the New Underclass?".Chill Magazine.Archived fromthe originalon December 11, 2014.RetrievedDecember 8,2014.
- ^abRose, Joel (September 2, 2014)."For Men's Rights Groups, Feminism Has Come at the Expense Of Men".NPR.RetrievedApril 29,2015.
- ^Shire, Emily (October 25, 2013)."A Short Guide to the Men's Rights Movement".The Week.RetrievedDecember 6,2014.
- ^Rekai, Mika (August 1, 2013)."Men's rights attracts angry young men".Maclean's.Rogers Digital Media.RetrievedDecember 6,2014.
- ^abcKelly, R. Tod (October 20, 2013)."The Masculine Mystique".The Daily Beast.RetrievedApril 26,2015.
- ^abcdefghSerwer, A.; Baker, K.J.M. (February 6, 2015)."How Men's Rights Leader Paul Elam Turned Being A Deadbeat Dad into A Moneymaking Movement".BuzzFeed.RetrievedApril 6,2015.
The claim that Elam and his friends are merely trying to have a conversation about the rights of men in modern society is bogus. What it's really about is the defamation of women as a group; that's called misogyny.
- ^ab""Register Her" (dot net) [web site] ".Archived fromthe originalon February 18, 2020.There is also some more information available athttps://wehuntedthemammoth.com/2012/12/17/register-her-is-a-fake-offenders-registry-run-by-misogynists-designed-to-vilify-and-intimidate-women/... at least, "as of" Dec 17, 2012.
- ^ab"The Year in Hate: Trump buoyed white supremacists in 2017, sparking backlash among black nationalist groups".Southern Poverty Law Center.Archivedfrom the original on February 21, 2018.RetrievedFebruary 21,2018.
- ^ab"Male Supremacy Organizations are Now on SPLC's List of Hate Groups".Ms. Magazine.February 26, 2018.RetrievedJuly 2,2022.
- ^"A Voice For Men LLC".listings.findthecompany.com.FindTheCompany.com.RetrievedApril 6,2015.
- ^"An Introduction to the Men's Movement".blogtalkradio.com/avoiceformen.A Voice for Men viaBlogTalkRadio.March 2, 2011.RetrievedDecember 6,2014.
- ^abcdBlake, Mariah (January–February 2015)."Mad Men: Inside the Men's Rights Movement—and the Army of Misogynists and Trolls It Spawned".Mother Jones.RetrievedApril 6,2015.
- ^Gheclu, Alex Nino (August 15, 2013)."Controversial men's rights group fundraising for a Centre for Men and Families".Toronto Star.RetrievedApril 26,2015.
- ^abSmith Cross, Jessica (April 5, 2013)."Men's issues or misogyny? Controversial men's group to discuss women's studies".Metronews Canada.Archived fromthe originalon November 29, 2014.RetrievedApril 26,2015.
- ^abcdPotok, Mark (August 20, 2014)."War on Women".Intelligence Report.Southern Poverty Law Center.RetrievedAugust 11,2015.
- ^abFilipovic, Jill (October 24, 2014)."Why Is an Anti-Feminist Website Impersonating a Domestic Violence Organization?".Cosmopolitan.Hearst Communications.RetrievedDecember 6,2014.
- ^McDonough, Katie (October 23, 2014)."Men's rights group launches creepy website to co-opt respected anti-violence campaign".Salon.RetrievedApril 26,2015.
- ^Jones, Clay (October 23, 2014)."White Ribbon Copycat Statement".whiteribbon.ca.White Ribbon Campaign.Archived fromthe originalon October 26, 2014.RetrievedOctober 28,2014.
- ^abcRoy, Jessica (July 2, 2014)."What I Learned as a Woman at a Men's-Rights Conference".Time.RetrievedApril 22,2015.
- ^Staff writer (November 1, 2017)."Questions for Birmingham over links to political party".Football365.RetrievedNovember 2,2017.
- ^Hussain, Danny (November 2, 2017)."Anti-feminist group BANNED from staging conference at St Andrew's stadium by Birmingham City FC".Birmingham Mail.RetrievedNovember 2,2017.
- ^Whyte, Lara (July 25, 2018).""Young men should be furious": inside the world's largest gathering of men's rights activists ".openDemocracy.50.50. Archived fromthe originalon July 26, 2018.RetrievedJuly 25,2018.
- ^abc"Misogyny: The Sites".Intelligence Report(145).Southern Poverty Law Center.Spring 2012.
- ^"Male Supremacy".Southern Poverty Law Center.Archivedfrom the original on June 7, 2018.RetrievedJune 8,2018.
- ^Goldwag, Arthur (May 15, 2012)."Intelligence Report Article Provokes Fury Among Men's Rights Activists".Southern Poverty Law Center.
- ^Leah McLaren(March 12, 2015)."How men's rights groups are distorting the debate about equality".The Globe and Mail.RetrievedApril 26,2015.
They are actively supported by the U.S. organization A Voice For Men, the very openly misogynist men's rights organization that coined the term "rape farmers" for feminists.
- ^Friedman, Jaclyn(October 24, 2013)."A Look Inside the 'Men's Rights' Movement That Helped Fuel California Alleged Killer Elliot Rodger".Prospect.org.RetrievedApril 26,2015.
A Voice For Men makes no excuses for their hatred of women, from posts ranting about women who are 'begging to be raped' to treatises about how fat women want to be sexually violated because it would mean we are desired.
- ^Casey, Brad (April 17, 2013)."We Went to a Men's Rights Lecture in Toronto".Vice.RetrievedMay 8,2015.
AVFM is run by a man named Paul Elam and provides a forum for vitriolic hatred against women and feminists.
- ^Ford, Clementine(June 19, 2014)."A lesson for men's rights activists on real oppression".ABC News.Archivedfrom the original on November 1, 2016.RetrievedMay 8,2015.
Unfortunately, as it's being hosted by A Voice for Men – a motley crew who espouse hatred and fear of women – it promises to be about as useful to the advancement of men's issues as a condom made out of sticky tape.
- ^McGrath, Charles (January 7, 2011)."The Study of Man (or Males)".The New York Times.RetrievedMay 8,2015.
Further reading
edit- Sharlet, Jeff(March 2015)."Are You Man Enough for the Men's Rights Movement?".GQ.