Hunting for anger

Rollo observes that the androsphere is keeping its collective cool:

If the “postponement” of the ABC 20/20 manosphere “exposé” has taught us anything it’s that the writers seeking to cast light on the manosphere are looking for crazy. They need crazy because it’s the only thing they know how, or have the patience, to confront in as minimal an effort as it takes to type a few paragraphs dismissing it as misogyny.

Writers (vichy male writers) like R. Tod Kelly are also lazy. They see an opportunity for outrage and that sells advertising. They wanted Stormfront and what they got was a global consortium of rational, well reasoned men with jobs, families and intelligence, men from all walks of life, all ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds expressing ideas that don’t fit into an acculturation of feminine primacy.

If you read Matt Forney’s 20/20 interview post you’ll see the desperation for crazy in their producer’s attempts to provoke him to become what they think he should be – a frothing, angry, hate-fueled misogynist. That would make it easy for them, they know how to sell crazy. The copy gets approved, the crazies get marginalized and we move on to the next Mabeline commercial.

He's absolutely correct. The media has neither the ability nor the time to engage in rational dialectic, so cheap appeals to rhetoric are all they can manage. And one of the easiest ways to disqualify an opponent in a rhetorical manner is to portray them as out-group.

This is why the writers and producers he mentions were trying to find some wild-eyed angry men they could hold up as examples of the androsphere's craziness, and if they couldn't find them, they were perfectly willing to try manufacturing them.

However, we're fortunate that from Roosh and Roissy down to the smallest blog, the androsphere consists of men who are much practiced in maintaining their frame. In fact, one could argue that there is not a worse group to attempt to rhetorically dismantle, because by definition, the Game bloggers are adept at dealing with the grand rhetorical arsenal wielded by women.

And it's not as if maintaining frame gets any harder when dealing with someone with whom you have absolutely no desire to have sex. All the same, be cautious whenever dealing with the media. They ALWAYS try to sound like your best friends during the phase they call "the get". And once you're on the hook and the recording devices are started, they switch into full prosecutorial mode.

It's not a problem so long as you are prepared for it. Just remember, no one, NO ONE, interesting in covering these subjects in the media is on your side. Be cool, be prepared, and above all, maintain frame.

This doesn't mean that a man's anger is not legitimate or justified. It only means that it is unwise and counterproductive to display it for the public, because it is a rhetorical weakness.

Posted in: Media