A Voice for Men

A Voice for Men (AVfM)
Motto Humanist Counter-Theory in the Age of Misandry
Formation 2009
Purpose Men's issues, Anti-feminism
Headquarters Houston, Texas
Region served
 International
Publisher
 Paul Elam
Website avoiceformen.com

A Voice for Men (also known as AVfM, AVFM or AV4M) is a United States-based[1] for-profit limited liability company[2] and online publication that was founded in 2009 by Paul Elam. A part of the men's rights movement, it calls its activism "Men's Human Rights Activism", and is the largest and most influential men's rights site.[3][4][5][6] Its editorial slant is strongly antifeminist, charging feminists of being misandrist in their mindset.

To counter what it sees as systemic bias against men, A Voice for Men has created what it calls a safe place for men's satire and social commentary.[7]

About

AVFM hosts articles, radio shows, and a forum. It occasionally features groups. AVFM's staff members and contributors are unpaid volunteers with the exception of the founder.[2] The site has an online store, called The Red Pill Shop, which sells T-shirts, cell phone covers, and holiday decorations.[2][8] The site also accepts donations, all of which go to Elam, who says he uses the money to advance his cause.[2] According to Dun & Bradstreet's database, AVFM has an estimated $120,000 in yearly revenue and one employee.[2]

In March 2011 AVfM launched a broadcasting franchise on BlogTalkRadio.[9]

Activities

In early 2011, AVFM created the website Register-Her, a wiki page which listed the names, addresses and other personal information of women that AVFM considered guilty of crimes against men, false rape accusations and bigotry against men.[10][11][2][12][6] Under the motto "Why are these women not in jail?", the site also published personally identifying information of women who participated in protests against the men's rights movement (MRM), mocked the MRM on social media, or women who voiced feminist ideas.[10][6][12][13] AVFM founder Paul Elam stated that there would no longer be "any place to hide on the internet" for "lying bitches.[10]

In 2014, AVFM launched a website called White Ribbon, adopting graphics and language from the White Ribbon Campaign, a violence prevention program which was established in 1991.[14][15] AVFM's White Ribbon site was initially established as a response to the White Ribbon Campaign, arguing that women's shelters were "hotbeds of gender hatred" and that "corrupt" academics had conspired to conceal violence against men.[10] The website was harshly criticized by Todd Minerson, Executive Director of White Ribbon, who stated that the AVFM White Ribbon website is a "misguided attempt to discredit others" and urged its supporters to "not to be fooled by this copycat campaign".[16]

Potential status as a hate group

AVFM was included in a list of twelve websites in the spring 2012 issue ("The Year in Hate and Extremism") of the Southern Poverty Law Center's (SPLC) Intelligence Report in a section called "Misogyny: The Sites". The dozen sites were described in the report as "women-hating" and "thick with misogynistic attacks that can be astounding for the guttural hatred they express".[17]

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 "It 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."[18]

AVFM's rhetoric has been described as misogynist and hateful by commentators such as Leah McLaren,[19] Mark Potok,[20] Jaclyn Friedman,[21] and Jill Filipovic.[14] Kate Abbey-Lambertz of The Huffington Post wrote that "some have criticized MRA for packaging misogyny as promoting equal rights for men."[22] Time has reported on SPLC's "misogynist" description of the group, and that the movement disavowed the concept of misogyny, and cited Elam stating that being controversial was a way of drawing attention.[23]

References

  1. ↑ Gheciu, Alex Nino (3 November 2013). "Are Men the New Underclass?". Chill Magazine. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Serwer, 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. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  3. ↑ Rose, Joel (2 September 2014). "For Men's Rights Groups, Feminism Has Come At The Expense Of Men". NPR. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  4. ↑ Shire, Emily (25 October 2013). "A Short Guide to the Men's Rights Movement". The Week. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  5. ↑ Rekai, Mika (1 August 2013). "Men’s rights attracts angry young men". MacLean's. Rogers Digital Media. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Kelly, R. Tod (20 October 2013). "The Masculine Mystique". The Daily Beast. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  7. ↑ Pry, Alyssa; Valiente, Alexa (16 October 2013). "Women Battle Online Anti-Women Hate From the 'Manosphere'". ABC News. Retrieved 8 December 2014. warning: includes auto-loading video
  8. ↑ "A Voice For Men LLC". Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  9. ↑ "An Introduction to the Men's Movement". BlogTalkRadio. 2 March 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Blake, M. (January–February 2015). "Mad Men: Inside the Men's Rights Movement—and the Army of Misogynists and Trolls It Spawned". Mother Jones. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  11. ↑ Alex Nino Gheclu (August 15, 2013). "Controversial men's rights group fundraising for a Centre for Men and Families". Toronto Star. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Jessica Smith Cross (April 5, 2013). "Men's issues or misogyny? Controversial men's group to discuss women's studies". Metronews Canada. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  13. ↑ Mark Potok (Fall 2014). "'War on Women'". Southern Poverty Law Center, Intelligence Report. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Filipovic, Jill (24 October 2014). "Why Is an Anti-Feminist Website Impersonating a Domestic Violence Organization?". Cosmopolitan (magazine). Hearst Communications. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  15. ↑ Katie McDonough (October 23, 2014). "Men's rights group launches creepy website to co-opt respected anti-violence campaign". Salon.com. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  16. ↑ Jones, Clay (23 October 2014). "White Ribbon Copycat Statement". WhiteRibbon.ca.
  17. ↑ "Misogyny: The Sites". Intelligence Journal (Southern Poverty Law Center) (145). Spring 2012.
  18. ↑ Goldwag, Arthur (15 May 2012). "Intelligence Report Article Provokes Fury Among Men’s Rights Activists". Southern Poverty Law Center.
  19. ↑ Leah McLaren (March 12, 2015). "How men's rights groups are distorting the debate about equality". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved April 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.
  20. ↑ Serwer, 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. Retrieved April 26, 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.
  21. ↑ Jaclyn Friedman (October 24, 2013). "A Look Inside the 'Men's Rights' Movement That Helped Fuel California Alleged Killer Elliot Rodger". Prospect.org. Retrieved April 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.
  22. ↑ Abbey-Lambertz, Kate (29 May 2014). "Controversial Men's Rights Conference Sparks Backlash". Huffington Post. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  23. ↑ Roy, Jessica (July 2, 2014). "What I Learned as a Woman at a Men’s-Rights Conference". Time. Retrieved April 22, 2015.

External links