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A Voice for Men (AVfM)

Formation	2009
Purpose	Men's issues, Anti-feminism
Headquarters	Houston, Texas
Region served	International
Publisher	Paul Elam
Website	avoiceformen.com

A Voice for Men (often known as AVfM, AVFM or AV4M) is a United States-based for-profit limited liability company and online publication that was founded in 2009 by Paul Elam. A part of the men's rights movement, it calls its activism "Men's Human Rights Activism", and is the largest and most influential men's rights site. Its editorial slant is strongly antifeminist, charging feminists of being misandrist in their mindset.

To counter what it sees as systemic bias against men, A Voice for Men has created what it claims to be a safe place for men's satire and social commentary.

History

In 2014, AVFM launched a website called White Ribbon, adopting graphics and language from the White Ribbon Campaign, a violence prevention program which was established in 1991. AVFM's White Ribbon site was intially established as a response to the White Ribbon Campaign, arguing that women's shelters were "hotbeds of gender hatred" and that "corrupt" academics had conspired to conceal violence against men. The website was harshly criticized by Todd Minerson, Executive Director of White Ribbon, who stated that the AVFM White Ribbon website is a "misguided attempt to discredit others" and urged its supporters to "not to be fooled by this copycat campaign".

In March 2011 AVfM launched a broadcasting franchise on BlogTalkRadio.

Website

AVFM hosts articles, radio shows, and a forum. It occasionally features groups. AVFM's staff members and contributors are unpaid volunteers with the exception of the founder. The site has an online store, called The Red Pill Shop, which sells T-shirts, cell phone covers, and holiday decorations. The site also accepts donations, all of which go to Elam's personal finances. According to Dun & Bradstreet's database, AVFM has an estimated $120,000 in yearly revenue and one employee.

Potential status as a hate group

AVFM was included in a list of twelve websites in the spring 2012 issue ("The Year in Hate and Extremism") of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report in a section called "Misogyny: The Sites". The dozen sites were described in the report as "women-hating" and "thick with misogynistic attacks that can be astounding for the guttural hatred they express".

Later that year, the SPLC published a statement about the reactions to their report, saying it "provoked a tremendous response among men's rights activists (MRAs) and their sympathizers", and "It should be mentioned that the SPLC did not label MRAs as members of a hate movement; nor did our article claim that the grievances they air on their websites – false rape accusations, ruinous divorce settlements and the like – are all without merit. But we did call out specific examples of misogyny and the threat, overt or implicit, of violence."

AVFM's rhetoric has been described as anti-woman hate by journalist Jaclyn Friedman. Its content has been described as "deeply misogynistic" by a Cosmopolitan writer and "one of the most visible and active among many men's rights activism sites" by a Huffington Post writer.

Time has reported on SPLC's "misogynist" description of the group, and that the movement disavowed the concept, and cited Elam stating that being controversial was a way of drawing attention.

References

1. Gheciu, Alex Nino (3 November 2013). "Are Men the New Underclass?". Chill Magazine. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
2. ^ Serwer, A.; Baker, K.J.M. (February 6, 2015). "How Men's Rights Leader Paul Elam Turned Being A Deadbeat Dad Into A Moneymaking Movement". BuzzFeed. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
3. "For Men's Rights Groups, Feminism Has Come At The Expense Of Men". NPR. 2 September 2014.
4. Shire, Emily (25 October 2013). "A Short Guide to the Men's Rights Movement". The Week. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
5. Rekai, Mika (1 August 2013). "Men's rights attracts angry young men". MacLean's. Rogers Digital Media. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
6. Kelly, R. Tod (20 October 2013). "The Masculine Mystique". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
7. Pry, Alyssa; Valiente, Alexa (16 October 2013). "Women Battle Online Anti-Women Hate From the 'Manosphere'". ABC News. Retrieved 8 December 2014. warning: includes auto-loading video
8. ^ Filipovic, Jill (24 October 2014). "Why Is an Anti-Feminist Website Impersonating a Domestic Violence Organization?". Cosmopolitan (magazine). Hearst Communications. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
9. Blake, M. (January–February 2015). "Mad Men: Inside the Men's Rights Movement—and the Army of Misogynists and Trolls It Spawned". Mother Jones. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
10. Jones, Clay (23 October 2014). "White Ribbon Copycat Statement". WhiteRibbon.ca.
11. "An Introduction to the Men's Movement". BlogTalkRadio. 2 March 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
12. "A Voice For Men LLC". Retrieved April 6, 2015.
13. "Misogyny: The Sites". Intelligence Journal (145). Southern Poverty Law Center. Spring 2012.
14. Goldwag, Arthur (15 May 2012). "Intelligence Report Article Provokes Fury Among Men's Rights Activists". Southern Poverty Law Center.
15. Friedman, Jaclyn (October 24, 2013). "A Look Inside the 'Men's Rights' Movement That Helped Fuel California Alleged Killer Elliot Rodger". Prospect.org. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
    anti-woman hate is the defining feature of the MRAs
16. Abbey-Lambertz, Kate (29 May 2014). "Controversial Men's Rights Conference Sparks Backlash". Huffington Post. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
17. Roy, Jessica (July 2, 2014). "What I Learned as a Woman at a Men's-Rights Conference". Time. Retrieved April 22, 2015.

• Men's rights organizations
• Men's websites
• Criticism of feminism