Leader Roosh V could no longer guarantee followers’ safety
Founder of the neomasculinist website “Return of Kings,” Roosh V, whose real name is Daryush Valizadeh, has had to cancel international meet-ups due to increased public outrage.
As a “neomasculinist,” Valizadeh urges cisgendered, heterosexual men to rise up and reclaim their rightful places as masters of the universe. Too long, Valizadeh claims, have men been enslaved by foul feminist social justice warriors. The meetups were alleged to have been gatherings where like minded men could discuss pressing injustices.
On Feb. 6, 2016, Valizadeh and his followers had planned to meet up in public places in over 100 cities across the globe, wherein they could “meet and talk in private about anything—work, politics, girls—anything,” said Valizadeh to journalists.
Several days before the planned meet-ups were to occur, Valizadeh posted on his Return of Kings website: “I can no longer guarantee the safety or privacy of the men who want to attend on February 6, especially since most of the meetups can not be made private in time.”
Prior to the cancelling of the events, which would have included ten Canadian cities, several Canadian mayors tweeted or issued statements condemning the meet-ups. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson all spoke out against the misogynistic events.
Although information about the meetings was publicly disseminated, the Return of Kings website provided instructions on how members were to greet and identify one another. Men covertly milling about in public places were to ask one another where the nearest pet shop was. If answered with anything but a confused look and directions, they had found one of their fellows and were to await the rest of the group before moving to a private location.
Valizadeh first rose to widespread internet infamy following an article he wrote entitled “How to stop rape.” Essentially, Valizadeh wrote that rape should be legalized “when done off public grounds.” If rape were legal on private property, Valizadeh hypothesized, then women would be less inclined to go to the homes of men they didn’t fully trust. Valizadeh recently shunned the label “pro-rapist” by clarifying that “That article was making a point about personal responsibility — that a woman’s safety is not only in the hands of men, but in their own hands too.”
Valizadeh has also garnered rage following the publications of many of his sexual exploits, wherein he admits to having sex with multiple women who did not, or could not consent. As a “pick-up artist,” the lessons Valizadeh tries to impart to his followers are that harassment is romantic, that women’s boundaries are permeable, and that “no” means “try harder.”
While Valizadeh’s views have been picked apart across the internet, many note they aren’t necessarily terrifying to the average person. What lurks behind him, omnipresent and infinitely more dangerous, are those individuals who don’t totally understand what all the rage is about. Individuals who are inclined to believe that women should be subservient to men, those who don’t seek active enthusiastic consent, those who routinely dismiss the sex-based injustices faced by men and women alike. Valizadeh is one hopelessly backwards man, but those other individuals, they could be anywhere.