SPLC: Leader’s Suicide Brings Attention to Men’s Rights Movement

Submitted by anthony on Tue, 2012-04-17 19:10

Article here. Excerpt:

'After 10 years of custody battles, court-ordered counseling and imminent imprisonment for non-payment of child support, Thomas James Ball, a leader of the Worcester branch of the Massachusetts-based Fatherhood Coalition, had reached his limit. On June 15, 2011, he doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire just outside the Cheshire County, N.H., Courthouse. He was dead within minutes.
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For people who associate the men’s and fathers’ rights movements with New Age drum circles in the woods, the ferocity of Ball’s rhetoric, the horror of his act, and, in particular, the widespread and blatantly misogynistic reaction to it may come as something of a revelation. When the feminist Amanda Marcotte, a bête noire of the men’s rights movement, remarked that “setting yourself on fire is an extremely effective tool if your goal is to make your ex-wife’s life a living hell,” a poster at the blog Misandry.com went ballistic. “Talk about the pot calling the kettle black,” he raged. “She is evil and such a vile evil that she is a disease that needs to be cut out of the human [consciousness] just like the rest of the femanazi ass harpies.”
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Ball’s suicide brought attention to an underworld of misogynists, woman-haters whose fury goes well beyond criticism of the family court system, domestic violence laws, and false rape accusations. There are literally hundreds of websites, blogs and forums devoted to attacking virtually all women (or, at least, Westernized ones) — the so-called “manosphere,” which now also includes a tribute page for Tom Ball (“He Died For Our Children”). While some of them voice legitimate and sometimes disturbing complaints about the treatment of men, what is most remarkable is the misogynistic tone that pervades so many. Women are routinely maligned as sluts, gold-diggers, temptresses and worse; overly sympathetic men are dubbed “manginas”; and police and other officials are called their armed enablers. Even Ball — who did not directly blame his ex-wife for his troubles, but instead depicted her and their three children as co-victims of the authorities — vilified “man-hating feminists” as evil destroyers of all that is good.'

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Comments

... every movement does, and when they become violent, it's bad for everyone. No one should condone or participate in the kind of violence discussed in the article.

Just one question for the SPLC: Where is the outrage against the violent rhetoric of feminists and the domestic violence, sometimes mortal or severe, of females such as Lorena Bobbitt? Not a peep from the SPLC. Not one peep.

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Submitted by Matt on Tue, 2012-04-17 21:45

This is the first time I've ever heard of a suicide labeled as a hate crime.

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Submitted by dungone on Wed, 2012-04-18 01:26

That's feminism for you. A man's life is reduced to worthlessness, so he takes his own life to prove a point. In feminists' eyes, "his poor wifey is the victim". Just like in war "women are the primary victims... they lose their husbands, fathers, and brothers", and how on the titanic, "the men got a quick death and instant glory, while their wives and children were left impoverished." Do these people ever listen to themselves speak?

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Submitted by xtrnl on Wed, 2012-04-18 18:08

Did you note how this author skillfully purveys men in the men's movement as pedophiles and perverts? This is a favorite power tool of feminists - if you disagree with feminist ideology, you are obviously a sexually defunct, "troubled" pervert or pedophile.

The started the war against us before we were even born boys.

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Submitted by cwondermagic1 on Mon, 2012-04-23 19:37