The misogynist group, Return of Kings, has received international media attention for its recent staging, and subsequent cancellation, of 165 meetings in 43 countries. The meet-ups were scheduled for February 6th, but called off after Roosh V, the group’s founder, released a statement saying he could no longer ensure participants’ safety due to threatening backlash and widespread protests incited by the media.
The group was created in 2012 by Daryush Valizadeh (Roosh V), a graduate of the University of Maryland who dropped his career in microbiology to begin a neomasculine blog. Since then, he has published over a dozen books on how to pick-up women, two of which are entitled Bang and Day Bang, because apparently picking-up women at night and in the day time warrants two separate manuals.
Roosh V’s personal blog lays out the “principle tenants” of Neomasculinity in which his beliefs are rooted. Included in these is the idea that “A woman’s value significantly depends on her fertility and beauty. A man’s value significantly depends on his resources, intellect, and character.” A pre-established question in the FAQ portion of his blog reads:
“I’m a girl. I want to ask you a question.”
I probably won’t answer your email unless you include a link to your picture (both face and body must be visible).
Roosh V, the founder of Return of Kings
Like Roosh V’s own beliefs, Return of Kings is founded on the principles of male superiority and feminist oppression of males. The website contains over 2,000 articles infused with misogynist ideals, anti-liberalist views, and criticisms regarding the current refugee crisis. It features titles such as, “Why Vladimir Putin May Be The Last Guardian of Traditional Values,” “21 Quotes Of The Vikings’ Havamal To Guide A Masculine Lifestyle,” and “8 Things That Make A Girl Stupid and Useless.” An article written by Valizadeh himself, titled “Germany Proves That ‘Rape Culture’ Is Merely A Political Weapon Against Western Men,” focuses on the New Year’s Eve proceedings in Cologne, Germany, where 90 women were sexually assaulted by 1,000 Syrian refugees, and the supposed “double-standard” manner in which the government handled the event.
Saturday’s meetings sparked the attention of the masses when the media dubbed Roosh V as a “pro-rape campaigner,” referring to a wildly successful article (in his circle of followers) that he wrote last year, titled “How to Stop Rape” . In the article, he proposes a thought experiment introducing the legalization of rape on private property, stating that,
“If rape becomes legal under my proposal, a girl will protect her body in the same manner that she protects her purse and smartphone. If rape becomes legal, a girl will not enter an impaired state of mind where she can’t resist being dragged off to a bedroom with a man who she is unsure of—she’ll scream, yell, or kick at his attempt while bystanders are still around. If rape becomes legal, she will never be unchaperoned with a man she doesn’t want to sleep with…Consent is now achieved when she passes underneath the room’s door frame, because she knows that that man can legally do anything he wants to her when it comes to sex.”
Valizadeh claims that the article is satire and should not be taken literally. The writer of a recent piece titled “Why the Media Manufactured Outrage Against Our Meetup: We Were Used,” argues that the media exaggerated and took the article out of context in order to incite public backlash. He even goes as far as comparing Valizadeh to Jesus, stating
“Roosh’s ideas are not compatible with the established order, and he has many followers. This is a very real threat to the Machine [government], which must control the narrative. Throughout history, people who have their way of thinking threatened lash out. Their way of thinking was implanted by the System [government]. Socrates, Jesus, Galileo, Malcolm X, Salman Rushdie, and the staff of Charlie Hebdo are a few notable targets of people who had their way of thinking challenged.”
Originally captioned: One of these men is Roosh, the other is a migrant rapist.
Satire or not, Roosh V and Return of Kings have managed to gain public attention. The writer of the latter article may argue that the spotlight has had a positive influence in increasing readership and followership. However, it has also created a heightened awareness of the group’s perpetuation of negative and archaic societal ideals, and reinforced the necessity for individuals of being well-informed and prepared to combat these views.
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Works Cited:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-35491495
http://www.returnofkings.com/52295/top-35-most-important-articles-on-rok