You know, I’ve long felt that sexual repression was a trait that many male anti-feminists share. From Rush Limbaugh’s demand for a sex tape from Sandra Fluke — you know, the law student who dared to ask for contraception coverage — to Paul Elam’s declaration to a feminist woman that “fucking your shit up gives me an erection” to the obsession with cuckolding shared by pickup artists like Heartiste and Roosh V, there’s always been something sexual at the heart of their woman-bashing.

Yes, I said woman-bashing, because these same people — even while they note that not all women describe themselves as feminists — often target female feminists more than male ones. Or, at the very least, reserve the worst of their venom for women.

Dean Esmay of A Voice for Men appears to be no exception, with yesterday’s attempt at trending the hashtag #SpankAFeminist. I’ll let Esmay himself explain:

Feminists say so much stupid, ignorant, or just plain evil shit it boggles the mind, and in response a new hashtag has begun that I hope to see spread on Twitter, Tumblr, and other social media platforms.

#SpankAFeminist speaks to our need to metaphorically spank feminists for their transgressions.

Why would you spank a feminist? Well in reality, we know a lot of them would complain but some might actually enjoy it. Who knows? Maybe they’re just shit-testing us all and waiting and feeling frustrated that we aren’t responding right. They make so many phony, transparently, scientifically debunked assertions, that answering them is like playing Whack-A-Mole.

So here’s an easy thing to do: from now on when they say something idiotic on social media, just respond with a spanking. It’s all they’re really worthy of anyway.

Creepy, right? It also has all the usual trappings of an MRA rant: anti-feminism, violence, and vague sexual fantasies about humiliating the (predominantly) female enemy. On A Voice for Men, it’s actually pretty mild — at least in comparison to some of its other articles excusing marital rape or promoting violence against women.

So what, exactly, are these feminist “transgressions” that have Esmay in such a tizzy? Among them are “being the kind of bitter, humorless, hateful harpies” who would view his hashtag as a call for violence against women (and who could make that mistake?), “swindling people with the notion that a career is the path to self-fulfillment”, for spreading the “hateful lie” that anti-abortion measures represent the “efforts of men to control women” (again, just where would people get such an idea?), spreading the “racist lie that 3rd world men routinely beat women & treat them like property”, and for “pretending to give a damn about men and boys” when it’s just so gosh darn obvious that they “hate them or view them as defective at least.”

One can almost imagine Esmay breathlessly typing out these supposed feminist crimes, when it’s stunningly obvious that he’s attacking an army of straw men. For example, it would be more than a little myopic to suggest that abortion restrictions are the sole result of men who want to exercise social control over women. And when discussing the patriarchy or male privilege, feminists are not talking about a conspiracy. That’s right, there isn’t some shadowy cabal of men who twirl their mustaches and talk about ways to actively disenfranchise women. Of course, no one is asserting that so Esmay’s complaint falls flat.

I also do not believe every male in Third World countries is some oppressive misogynist who abuses his wife or girlfriend, though it should be reiterated that women have legitimate human rights concerns in Third World nations.

In Iran women are executed for the crime of adultery, even if they were the victims of rape. In Saudi Arabia women are officially prohibited from driving. Pakistani women are often the victims of disfiguring acid attacks. The draconian anti-abortion laws of Latin America and the Caribbean have caused countless pregnancy related deaths and unsafe abortions. According to a 2011 report from UN Women, 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is not considered a criminal offense, and 2.6 billion women live in countries where spousal rape has not been criminalized.

Dean Esmay also said that feminists behave “as if they stand for gays and minorities when they clearly don’t.” I wonder what his reaction would be if he realized that black, Latina, Muslim, Asian, and LGBTQ feminists exist — not just in Western nations, but in Third World countries marred by the problems I just mentioned.

Esmay’s misconceptions about feminism notwithstanding, he nonetheless believes we should all be spanked:

This would be my starting list of reasons why any time you meet a feminist, you should spank him or her until they cry. And do it every time they open their mouths to spew forth their hateful lies about standing for tolerance, inclusion, and equality, when there is no movement in the modern world that does more to fight against tolerance, inclusion, freedom, and equality than feminism. Not even real life fascists or communists can top them at this point.

Feminism is an intolerant, hateful, racist, anti-gay, misandrist, misogynist, gynocentric religion and hate movement. What other good reasons can you think of to spank a feminist? I’d really like to hear your ideas as well. Not just here on A Voice for Men, but out in the world of Social Media.

How does he plan to “spank” us? By getting #SpankAFeminist to trend on Twitter. For some reason. I dunno, it doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense. The AVfM commenters were on board, though. Some posted vintage ads and comics of women being bent over a man’s lap and spanked.

A commenter calling himself “Karl Dawg” wrote, “I have a disturbed thought in my head I must share …. I have a naughty feminist laying across my lap while I spank her bare bottom while she screams: ‘I need discipline daddy I’ve been such a bad girl …. more daddy please.'” Another thought “spanking” wasn’t enough for “these reprehensible criminal hate mongers”, writing that, “Total annihilation is the only suitable response to their lies and destruction.”

At any rate, Dean Esmay — and the rest of the AVfM crowd — should stop pretending their puerile sexual fantasies constitute human rights activism. Next time, just keep it to yourselves please.