How violence against men is portrayed in popular music and popular culture

This is an ongoing list of songs that showcase scenes of often graphic violence directed towards men and boys. Feel free to suggest additions to this list, in the comments section below.

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band: P!nk

title: Please Don’t Leave Me

plot: Girl and guy’s relationship is ending. He’s walking out of what is presumably her home, which they were presumably living in together up until this point. He falls down the stairs. She stares at him lying helpless on the floor, and she tilts her head as an idea forms in her head. She approaches him, as he fades into unconsciousness. When he awakens she is dressed as a nurse and is stitching wounds, that may have been caused by his fall. He looks over to the dresser by his side, and motions to pick up the telephone. She pulls out a golf club and threatens him to not call for help. He removes his hands from the phone and she takes a swing anyway, breaking his leg. It then skips to her cutting up vegetables for dinner, when she notices him now conscience again and limping towards the door of the house. She tells him not to open the door. He does, and a guard/attack dog begins to maul him. He slips into unconsciousness again, and when he awakens he finds himself tied to a wheelchair with her applying make up on him. He tries to break free; but, she just pushes the chair forward, causing him to tumble along with it over a precipice. It then skips to some time after that where she is naked, after having presumably raped his unconscious body, and notices that he’s escaping again. She pursues him, now clothed and with an ax, as he limps for all he’s worth towards an exit. The story climaxes with her trapping him in a locked room with her hacking away at the door, to break the barricade. He grabs the only weapon he can find, a aerosol can, and he uses it as make shift mace when she finishes making a hole large enough to stick her head through in the door. She is blinded, and she falls over the balcony. When she awakes he has apparently already called 911, and dispatch has already arrived, with him being hauled away on paramedic stretchers and a cop writing up a ticket for her. She takes a look at the audience with the 4th wall now eliminated and blows us a kiss for her ‘performance’.

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eocCPDxKq1o

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band: Oomph!

title: Beim Ersten Mal Tut’s Immer Weh (“The First Time Always Hurts”)

plot: A guy and a girl are talking in an internet chat room. He asks how old she is. She says 15. He says it works for him. They decide to meet up, and it cuts to them taking a drive together, with interspersed scenes of Oomph! in the backseat of the car making motions that something bad is about to happen to him, such as the lead singer Dero dragging his finger along the guys throat indicating execution. Along with that there are flashes to parts of their online conversation that weren’t shown before, with them talking about whether she has shaved, and if he is horny. After the car drive it cuts to a scene where he in a chair and she standing over him. Foreplay starts, but she is being more aggressive, quickly tearing away his jacket from his hands then proceeding to push his head back, while grasping his hair. He looks at her and she clubs him across his face, knocking him unconscious. She now has a knife in her hand, and she has duck-taped his mouth shut. She cuts him up a little. He eventually awakens, and she has a devilish smile. She place the knife at his neck and he is frightened. He tries to move, but he is tied to the chair. She then uses the knife to cut off his shirt. She licks the knife and he recoils as much as he possibly can as she brings it to his body using it to intimidate him. She brings out a stuffed rabbit and she starts showing him what she intends to do to him, by doing it the rabbit. She cuts off a ear with scissors and then stabs the plush toy at its belly before beginning to cut apart its chest. He’s trembling in terror, and she brings out a metal tray filled with surgical equipment. She puts on rubber gloves, and a sequence of scenes begins where she dissects him alive mostly off-screen, switching from one tool to another. He is hauling in agony, and she gives him a quick smirk and a glance as she begins to start moving the dissection down to where his genitals are. She uses a pair of pliers and removes a testicle, and proceeds to flaunt it in his face by rubbing it along his cheek and then his duck-taped lips. He is near or at comatose state due to the tremendous pain he is in. The scene cuts to her throwing two testicles into some clear solution. It ends with her having another online chat with some new guy asking if they want to meet up, and her replying that of course they should and that she knows a ‘fun game’…

link for original German: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yM8I5ItlM

link for English version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkniopHgd38

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band: Charlotte Sometimes

title: How I could Just Kill a Man

plot: A guy kisses a a girl’s gloved hand before bidding her farewell and heading out of the house they are both in. Once he has left, she looks at one of his shirts and notices it has lipstick kisses on its sleeve, whereupon she moves to a window and see’s him embracing and then kissing another girl. With a large smile she then sets up a trap at the front door of the house, by creating a pulley system to drop cinder blocks on him when he returns to the house and opens the door. When he returns, the blocks fall, and he is dead with a large pool of blood under his head. It then cuts to a scene where she with what seems to be another guy in a different house. They hug, and while they embrace she picks his pocket, and discovers a love letter from some other girl. After a small cry, she gets that same grin from before and bakes him a pie, for when he returns. Upon his return he finds a note saying that she has retired early for the evening and that she has left the pie and some apples out for him. He bites into an apple, and he collapses onto the table. The apples, and possibly the pie too, were poisoned. A few shots of her crying and then smiling maniacally lead into a new scene, where she, in a car, watches what looks to be yet another man, walking into a motel with another girl. Both of them have hats on indicating that they are trying to conceal their identities, by making their faces harder to see. They walk into an elevator together, and it is revealed that the cables of the elevator were snapped by her, as some metal cutters fall to the ground next to a picture of the guy and the other girl being together. It cuts to the girl smirking in her car, and then it cuts to a series of scenes which show her walking away from the various scenes of her murders, as what appears to be fire form around the houses and the car. It ends with the singer taking a slightly longer look in the audiences direction, while repeating the song’s refrain one last time: “You can’t understand how I could just kill a man”. It fades to black.

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vyZeF_DLq4
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band: Maroon 5

title: Misery

plot: A guy falls and hits the concrete of a city road with a thump. A girl then mounts him and starts feeling him up. He looks away while she does this to him, trying to ignore what just happened to him. She begins to pick him up and his face turns to anxious fear as she then thrusts him against a wire fence. She’s still feeling him up, but is being rather aggressive. He tries to reciprocate by grabbing her butt, but she pushes his hand away, and then pulls him to a graffitied wall on the other side of the street, whereupon she continues to fondle him and she bites his lip while smiling. She pushes him away now, and then it cuts to a scene behind some building with her headbutting him. He falls to the ground and then crawls to her legs and grabs her waist but she slaps him and he desists. She starts to pull him up and when he is now erect she knees him in the groin, and he falls again, having to lean on her legs to keep from having his head hit the ground. He starts to try to show his affection for her again, but she just cuffs him. He blinks, not really understand what to do. He moves in one last time to show her his love for her, and when she tries to strike him, he finally blocks it. She then kicks him, sending him flying backwards into the street. At this point, he starts running away from her scared, but he runs into the path of a car, and he gets sent flying again. He picks himself up and keeps on running, but is blocked by her. She has caught him. It then cuts to a scene where they are seated together at some cafe or restaurant. She’s playing with a knife in her hands as he tries to show her that he loves her. He reaches out to her and she retracts. His eyebrows raise and she starts playing 5-finger fillet with the hand he stretched out to her. He starts to look worried and she lets out a scream and rams the knife down hard. He looks at her and then back at his hand. She then throws him onto a table and they embrace. It then cuts to a scene in a public restroom where she slams him into the wall of a stall, and starts to throw him at whatever is hard in the bathroom. She then starts to drown him as the sequence of his abuse continues with him being pushed throw a window by her. A new guy looks at his disheveled body, and then gets hit by a car. It then cuts to a scene where the guy is cornered on the stairs of an apartment high rise. He raises his arms to try to defuse the situation, but she still pushes him over, and he dangles above the ground holding onto a ledge. She stomps on his hands and he falls. A new sequence of scenes proceeds, showing her hurting him back at all of the places that they had shown before in the video. He spits out blood, and as his blurry vision gets better he sees her holding a bazooka, and he starts running. She misses and kills a male pedestrian that he ran past. The sequence continues, with her trying to kill him but continually failing to actually do so. He survives being thrown off a tall building and onto a car parked below, and being pushed off of his motorcycle while driving. She throws the knife from before, but hits another male pedestrian. and the pedestrian collapses. This continues with a molotov cocktail, and a, male pedestrian is shown running while on fire. He just keeps trying to escape, but he just can’t. It ends with him conscience on the paved road, and her walking past him.

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g6g2mvItp4

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European States Counseled to have Men Pay More Taxes than Women

In the International Monetary Fund’s latest analysis of the state of labor in the European Union’s Euro using countries, titled “Lifting Euro Area Growth: Priorities for Structural Reforms and Governance”, which can be found here, a list of suggestions and recommendations were given to many of the countries that make up the European Union for the purposes of reform. Among them, was a suggestion to the Republics of Austria, France, Slovakia, and Ireland to decrease the amount of income tax that women pay by 5%. Or put another way:

xy=xx-5;

where xy is the tax that men pay, and where xx is the tax that women pay.

Or, we can just add 5 to both sides, because math is fun!

xy+5=xx

Either way you look at it, xx is not equal to xy in this proposal, or likely in the eyes of the creators of these proposals. To them it seems that xx>xy…

On page 17 of their analysis, stands the proposal to grant women lower taxes than what men have to pay. Their rational is as follows:

An extract of page 17 of the International Monetary Fund's proposal

To help the economies of these countries they should lower taxes to make work less punitive. But, why women only? What on earth is the rational for that? Is it their intention to make it harder for men to work than for women? It’s certainly the effect, when men have to work more hours just to get the same pay. And furthermore, how could increased child-care support possibly be managed in the cash-strapped countries while simultaneously cutting taxes for women-only? Wouldn’t then the answer be to raise taxes to allow for expansions of child-care systems? You can’t get something from nothing, and these governments would likely have to reduce child-care systems’ funding if they reduced taxes. Either that or other key systems in these countries, such as public transport or public health-care. This is beyond half-baked, and incredibly bigoted. Just imagine the International Monetary Fund proposing that, say, whites in the United States get a tax discount just for being white. I could almost see the Watts riots being eclipsed in a single day across the country if that were to happen.

As with most misandric outrages, however, it isn’t getting the attention it deserves as the vitriolic and sexist proposition that is is. An article at the Guardian, one of the United Kingdom’s leading online news sources, supports the measure, even dismissing the sexism of the proposal. The article is ‘Sexist’ tax cut would benefit Ireland as a whole, written by a Ms. Eleanor Fitzsimons. In it, she defends not only the proposal to make women’s taxes lower than men’s; but, she also brings up the Norwegian law, which set a strict gender quota on companies forcing them to deny men jobs if women made up less than 40% of the company’s payroll. She doesn’t care about men or equality. Her sole defense of this and other atrocities of justice is that it will help the economy. In other words, to her, money is far more important than fairness and what’s right. Therefore, why doesn’t she propose a return to slavery, for a 100% tax would surely help economies in the global recession…

The Journal, which is an Irish online news source, conducted a poll to find out how many supported the women-only tax reduction, which can be found here, and had rather sad results. Almost half of respondents supported the measure, putting the two sides at a impasse. The narrow majority against the proposal is the only thing that has brought me some hope over the event; but still, 44% in favor of a such sexism is still incredibly toxic and disgusting.

The Journal's poll of who supports the sexist IMF measure

There have also been a few minor reports that discuss the proposal; but, remain neutral, and place no emphasis on how evil this is. They can be seen here and here, and their silence is our loss. The Journal also had an article, which can be found here; but, it too refused to take a side.

So where is the outrage and the anger? Essentially, only to be found at NewsWhip, with Rory Fitzgerald’s article, Tax Experts: IMF’s “Women’s Tax Rate” discriminatory and illegal; and, the Spearhead, with W.F. Price’s article, IMF Proposes Tax Cut for Irish Women. So, I congratulate Mr. Fitzgerald and Mr. Price for coming forward and arguing against this insult to equality.

Really, it’s amazing what people will say and do for money. They’ll watch as discrimination and injustice runs rampant, just as long as they can make a few more bucks on the side. I have have no idea if Austria, France, Slovakia, and Ireland will follow this proposal or implement similar measures; but, I hope that none of them do, and seek to be fair to their men, instead of using them for economic gain. Men shouldn’t have to carry more of the tax burden than women.

‘Sexist’ tax cut would benefit Ireland as a whole

Dan Abrams is Penning a Sexist Book Proclaiming Male Inferiority

You heard that right. The chief legal analyst for NBC News and former General Manager of MSNBC is writing a book degrading, insulting, and stereotyping an entire group of people. Despite the fact that such a major figure is behind this slap to the face of equality, the book is evoking almost no outcry what so ever. The name of the book is “Man Down: Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt That Women Are Better Cops, Drivers, Gamblers, Spies, World Leaders, Beer Tasters, Hedge Fund Managers, and Just About Everything Else”. The response to this utter bigotry is truly less than encouraging. Instead of being fired like Don Imus, for such a stunt, according to Publisher’s Weekly, the publishing deal for his book actually went through, when Jennifer Levesque of the Abrams Image publishing company bought the world English rights to his book; and in addition, his book is already on pre-order on some sites, a half year in advance of its May, 2011, releasal date. To rub salt in the wound, Mother’s Day was chosen as the book’s releasal date, implying that this bigoted filth should be given as a present to help boost the egos of its target audience- die Ubermädchen. As a fellow blogger and vlogger on men’s issues, ArgusEyes of the website True Equality, has already quipped, “Mother’s day eh? Isn’t that nice. Maybe I can pick up a copy for my mum to help illustrate to her, how her son is a worthless piece of shit.”

On September 13, 2010, the media tycoon’s own website announced an interview he had with Mediaite, which he is the publisher of, of course. The interview can be read here. It’s disturbing to a high degree to me. When asked why he chose to write a book about this particular topic, instead of a topic he is a professional in, such as law, he replied by saying that “It started when I read an article on various ways that women are better than men. I found it interesting and honestly didn’t believe some of the examples they cited, so out of curiosity I researched a little to determine how much of it was backed up by actual evidence. While some of the ones from the article were speculative, as I did a little digging, I was surprised at how many serious studies and research reached the same conclusion — that women, as a group, are more thoughtful, efficient, tougher and less likely to make mistakes.”

The only thing that lends a shred of decency to this whole affair, is that he says that his book is “not an effort to beat up on us guys but it may serve as a wake up call for some.” He is of course referring to the fact that men and boys are doing poorly academically and socially, right now. How he manages to conclude that we are inferior from that; however, is beyond me. If he thinks that berating someone when they are down, is ethical, I can only imagine him going to homeless shelters on the weekends to laugh at those less fortunate, whom, indecently, are 85% male, according to the The United States Conference of Mayors. If he thinks that his insults will help anyone, he is wrong. He is only further hurting male self esteem, in a culture that demeans us so much already. Bigots like Mr. Abrams need to be shown for vile bastards that they are. Imagine a similar book, called something like “Blacks, Forget It: Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt That Whites Are Better Rappers, Drivers, Employees, Athletes, World Leaders, Cooks, Hedge Fund Managers, and Just About Everything Else”. Doubtless, such a book would not be received as well as this one has, and men and boys deserve the same respect that we give to other groups in this country. I will reiterate. Don Imus got fired for much less than what Abrams has just done. Sack the bastard, I say.

If you want to help in telling NBC News what you think of their chief legal analyst spreading hate with their name and reputation attached for the ride, please contact them at:

• NBC News
  30 Rockefeller Plaza
  New York, N.Y. 10112
• Or, you can write an online message at their Contact Us page, located here.

Dealing with Bias

Voltaire once said “If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities.” He was right. Recently, I came across an article written by Paul Elam. He is someone that I personally have a lot of respect for, which is why this is anything but a pleasure to write; but, he needs to be called out on a terrible mistake that he is making, which has dire consequences. In his recent article, “Jury Duty at a Rape Trial? Acquit!”, he has sworn that should he ever be a juror in a rape case, he will always vote not guilty no matter what the evidence of the case indicates, or in his own words, “Should I be called to sit on a jury for a rape trial, I vow publicly to vote not guilty, even in the face of overwhelming evidence that the charges are true.” (Emphasis his, shockingly enough)

Mr. Elam says that “Voting not guilty on any charge of rape is the only way to remain faithful to the concept of presumed innocence.” Certainly, the assumption of innocence is invaluable in preserving objectivity and fairness in court cases; but, that’s not what we are dealing with here. What we have here is a conviction of innocence. Such bias runs contrary to reason and justice.

Compare his statement to that of the psychotic blithering of Marilyn French, who said “All men are rapists and that’s all they are.” These sentiments are two sides of the same coin. One would give unrelenting and unobjective favor to the accuser, and the other would give unrelenting and unobjective favor to the accused. Both extremes are anathema to a decent and just legal system, and both must be extinguished, for the course of justice to carry on unabridged. Lady Justice is supposed to be blind, so let us retrieve her blindfold and strike an objective balance. Rather than turn away from evidence, we should examine and reexamine it diligently, for the cost of a mistake in a rape case is the releasal of a rapist back into the streets or the damning of an innocent to the hell that is prison. Only through vigilance can we seek justice. Ignoring evidence creates new crimes.

This kind of callous disregard for fact damages the men’s movement’s image and legitimacy.  It makes a laughing stock out of us, and leaves us vulnerable to mischaracterization. Examples of backlash, because of his article, include pieces by Alysha Bayes and Jesse Powell. As Matthew5sixteen said, “I must voice my disagreement publically so that it would not be said in the future that all men in the Men’s Rights Movement agree with Paul Elam’s statement.” If you’d like to voice your disagreement with me, simply post a comment for all to see on my article or any of the above, so that anyone and everyone can see that we as a movement care about truth. I know I do. I hereby make the following pledge, as a citizen with a conscience who fully believes in the rule of law, that should I ever be called to sit on a jury for a rape trial, I vow publicly to examine the evidence with much deliberation before coming to a verdict for the defendant.

Men’s News Daily is wrapping up operations

Many men’s rights activists already know the site Men’s News Daily. It was started in late 2001, inspired by the heroic sacrifice of many men, during and after the tragedy of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center’s in New York City. Many men gave it their all to fight fires and rescue people from under ruble. Many of them sadly perished also. Men’s News Daily’s creator Mike LaSalle wanted to pay homage to their memory in his own way. To give the country and the world a site to talk about men’s issues and to celebrate all the great contributions men make to our society. Nobility was its motivating factor, and it’s been a great ride. As of the 28th of August, Mr. LaSalle has announced his decision to retire the site.

I had first heard of the site from the then-current editor-in-chief Bernard Chapin, from his vlog “Chapin’s Inferno“. Mr. Chapin was where I first started hearing about men’s issues, and it’s fitting, I suppose, that I fist heard of Men’s News Daily from him too.

I wonder how the site will be remembered. It was not without it’s controversies. It was accused of infusing conservative politics into the men’s movement. This claim is not entirely unsubstantiated. In 2007, it was rated as one of the top 75 right of center websites by Right Wing News. On the other hand, it has had an extremely libertarian point of view for quite some time, in addition to some relatively new liberal talking points as well. Examples of this can be found in its anti-war articles and commentaries by Fred Reed such as “Thought on an Interview with General Stanley McChrystal“, “Feminist Marine Gets His Kicks Killing Male Chauvinists in Afghanistan“, and “When Glands Trump Minds: Battling Mohammedans with Yahoos and Rubes“. To quote Mr. Reed, “Perhaps the US should recognize that it has a second-rate military at phenomenal cost—an enormous, largely useless national codpiece. It is embarrassing.” Other examples of non-conservative thought include its anti-drugwar and pro-marijuana decriminalization articles and commentaries by Paul Elam, such as “Drugs, War, Money and Blood” and “When Your Kid Smokes Pot“. To quote Mr. Elam, “So the right has pretty much owned the war on drugs since. And for the efforts of these ‘keep the government off our back’ conservatives, they have given us the mammoth sized DEA, a thousand federal regulations, a rainbow coalition of busted heads, overflowing prisons, enough dead bodies to please Pol Pot, a meaningless Constitution and a bevy of government functionaries that are literally out of their minds with power.” To me, it seems that Men’s News Daily was politically diverse, more than anything else. I think that’s why it called itself a “Daily Dose of Counter-Theory”.

Despite the controversies, it played a part in many awareness campaigns about men suffering from domestic violence and about chances to confront misandry. It gave us opportunities to spread that awareness, by pointing out charities for abused men and boys. It reminded us about important days for us guys to remember, like the anniversary of the Titanic sinking and how the ships male passengers were massacred by sexist maritime policies. It celebrated the best inside each of us guys, by helping to sponsor International Men’s Day. For all it’s faults, I know I will remember the site well. In my book, it earned its self proclaimed title of the “Flagship of the Men’s movement”.

There is a Wikipedia article of the site to reference. It will be interesting to see if the article goes through changes, as the website falls out of common knowledge among men’s rights activists. It’s not yet clear to me if there are plans to keep archived versions of all the articles they wrote. I am aware, however, of one archive for the site, though it only has the articles from 2001-2004. It would seem wise to save any articles that you have enjoyed there, while you still can.

For making his amazing and long standing website, on behalf of the entire men’s movement, I thank you Mike LaSalle. May you be just as successful in all your future ventures. You’ve opened my eyes to so much.