The site is targeted at heterosexual, ‘masculine’ men. Vomit
Seeing as there are almost half as many websites in existence as there are people in the world it’s a given that, like people, some will be pretty awful. And some awful websites will be more awful than others and some will have evolved into a stomach-churning, super awful subspecies of yuck. I mean you, Return of Kings. For those not in the know ROK is a website targeting heterosexual, ‘masculine’ men, which reads like a vitriolic lifestyle blog on ‘How to be a dickhead’.
Leading articles from last year include “25 Signs She’s A Slut”, “10 Ways To Tell If She’s A Secret Internet Fatty” and the infamous “5 Reasons To Date A Girl With An Eating Disorder”. All three were written by an elusive writer who goes by the pen name Tuthmosis, and the combined backlash is steadily propelling him, and ROK, into a Hunter Moore style infamy.
I wanted to speak to Tuthmosis directly, and find out exactly what goes on in the head of a man who thinks you should “Treat Every Girl Like She’s A Slut” (which, FYI, is not well). Our interview was sadly disappointing. He was courteous in our exchanges (polite but not friendly, think Dexter Morgan before he goes in for the kill) but his answers were dismissive and he eventually stopped replying to my emails.
In his bio Tuthmosis credits himself as having: “Specialties in dating culture, social intelligence and the state of masculinity”. He tells me his insights are “a product of being in the trenches” – dating is war, people – and that he understands the “frustrations” of a modern man.
Ol’ Tuth explains to me that he got involved with ROK because he “wanted to do [his] part in filling a desperate need for a ‘safe space’ for men to discuss issues that matter to them, without the fear of being banned, being labeled ‘women-haters’, or having to radically self-censor their views.” He believes there to be a glaring inequality on the internet, and that “while women have virtual free rein to say inaccurate, offensive, and even violent things about men, men can’t so much as object — never mind share their own views — without fear of reprisal.”
Because men who believe that: “Women are sluts if they sleep around, but men are not” and, “A woman’s value is mainly determined by her fertility and beauty, a man’s value is mainly determined by his resources, intellect, and character” are totally chill, right? The hypocrisy is staggering – while accusing the general population of unfair treatment of males, the site’s writers have reverted to vicious bro culture, attacking women for existing in any form apart from the one they find most pleasing: “A girl who’s sweet, feminine, and not overly promiscuous.”
Tuthmosis disagrees on my questions concerning what I call the “anti-female” nature of the site and argues, “We’re definitely not anti-female. We’re merely critical of specific types of females. It’s become fashionable to interpret criticism of any woman as an attack on all women.” He claims that: “Misogyny is quickly becoming one of the most abused terms on the internet. Now we’re being told that jokes, when a woman is the punch line, are automatically not funny.” Again, Tuth writes men as victims of oppression because his views are being questioned. I think there’s loads of great jokes about women, I just don’t think “Stop crying about rape: it only lasts a few minutes” is one of them.
He leaves me with some handy advice about, “What men – including me – don’t want”. Thanks hun. In case you were worrying that’s a: “Sarcastic, mannish, overweight woman with a huge ego, over-inflated by the fact that her iPhone is constantly sizzling with texts and Facebook updates lavishing her with flattery on her 500 selfies. She fancies herself as unique and interesting, but is really little more than a vapid collage of stock phrases and stories culled from television and YouTube videos.”
Essentially any woman who posses unattractive traits is only good for ridicule. Tuthmosis believes that “this type of woman is becoming increasingly common in the West”, as if empowerment mutates women into unbearable narcissists.
It was not an easy task writing up questions for Tuthmosis. Would we all be better off ignoring ROK and similar sink-holes altogether? The site feeds off negative attention, obvious in the growing extremity of the articles being uploaded. Despite the backlash, their audience is smaller than many lifestyle blogs, and it seems tempting to suggest that we ignore inflammatory posts for fear of actually promoting the site.
However, there’s a big difference between promotion and condemnation. A quick Google search brings up more excellent, angry response pieces than it does direct links, a reassuring rally for all the non-awfuls out there. Not questioning their attitude only allows them to perpetuate a culture where rape is the fault of the victim and women have nothing more to offer than their 1-10 on someone’s fuckabilty scale.
Personally, I give it a few more months before general interest in ROK disappears completely, along the rest of Samantha Brick’s Twitter followers. But until then, let’s keep reminding them why they’re wrong.
Featured image: Alcoa, inset images: Kenwood Chef, Chase and Sanborn
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