Fallen Idols of the Manosphere

I'm really picky anymore about which blogs stay in my reader, and which podcasts stay in my podcatcher. Time is valuable, and I don't want to waste any on blogs or podcasts I get no value from.

So of those blogs I still read, many have blown up over the last few weeks with opinions of somebody named Mark Minter. I'd never heard of him. I'm on Roosh's forum, but I'm not that active.

Minter apparently was very popular for his anti-marriage views. Then he committed the unforgivable sin of an idol: he married a single mom.

My reaction to most of this was to scan through the blog post and move on asking "Who cares?" (Apparently, quite a few people do).

I think Aurini has the best summary of this.

Personally, I’m happy for Mr & Mrs Minter, and I wish them the best of luck.

 As for all of his followers who are screaming that he’s a hypocrite who betrayed his values – stop worshipping idols.  If you need to have faith in a Perfect Man so badly, go read the New Testament; those of us who are mere flesh-and-blood will always disappoint, even the best of us.  We are all hypocrites, we are all idiots, trying to muddle our way through life, whilst dispensing the best advice that we can based upon our limited knowledge.

 You’re as bad as those who squealed over Britney Spears in the 90s, only to start circling like sharks in the 00′s.  This sort of cannibalistic primitivism¹ has no place in Western Civilization: go find yourselves a soul.

I wholeheartedly agree. I addressed something similar about 5 years ago in a post asking why people act surprised when other people fail.

Another point Aurini makes that I want to amplify is:

Minter’s ex-followers are furious with him for being a hypocrite, for violating his principles by getting married: Xsplat agrees that he was a hypocrite, and that he violated his principles, but that’s because his principles were missing a fundamental Truth: he neglected to account for the fact that, to be truly happy, Man requires the  intimacy of a good woman.

Exactly. I notice this kind of thing in the manosphere. In the western world, it is incredibly hard to find a marriageable woman. Then it's very hard to keep her, since divorce laws are in her favor. And some men are really frustrated or downright pissed off over this. Some hold it against all women.

I haven't been quiet that I'm going through a divorce. It sucks. I've gone through just about every emotion possible several times in relation to my ex-wife's divorce.

But I don't blame all women. I'm not very happy with the available "market" and the difficulty it presents, but I'm not going to avoid it. I'm not going to hold my ex-wife's sins against all women.

And I hope Mark Minter, whoever he is, has a great marriage. And I hope his disappointed followers figure out that no man should EVER be held up as an idol. Especially somebody you only know through a forum nickname.