A misogynist men’s club cancelled its meeting over harassment fears, because irony is dead

Roosh V, a notorious pick-up artist, self-described adherent of “neomasculinity,” and author of a “satirical” argument for legalizing rape on private property  has cancelled a number of concurrent meet-ups he planned around the world over fears of harassment.

Just take a moment and let that sink in.

The cancellation was announced late on February 3 in a brief blog post on Return of Kings, a site Roosh founded. He wrote:

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. While I can’t stop men who want to continue meeting in private groups, there will be no official Return Of Kings meetups.

In particular, Roosh may have been referring to the Toronto Newsgirls boxing club planned to show up at the meeting location in their city “in full force, gloves and all,” according to Metro News. For their part, the Newsgirls did not make any threats of violence, they simply said they would show up. Newsgirls founder Savoy Howe told Metro “Pictures will show up online of women wearing boxing gloves,” and “photos of us will show women that being powerful is an option.”

Roosh, whose full name is Daryush Valizadeh, is the author of “bang guides” about picking up and sleeping with women, which have also been described as “rape guides.” He announced the meet-ups early last month, billing the day as “International Tribal Meetup Day” and claiming it was a way to meet other like-minded (read: deeply misogynistic) men and “develop the right friendships of men who have your back no matter what.”

There were going to be “165 meetings in 43 countries,” including one Roosh himself would attend in Washington, D.C. After attention was drawn to the meet-ups, there was uproar online and a British MP called for Roosh and the planned meetings to be banned.

The cancellation came after the meetings had already been made private after protests against them were planned.

Perhaps now we can return to doing what Jezebel suggested several years ago: ignoring Roosh and his site.

Ethan Chiel is a reporter for Fusion, writing mostly about the internet and technology. You can (and should) email him at [email protected]