Life

Warning: Everything On This Site Is Terrible

by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

I'm going to give you some good advice about the website Return of Kings: Don't take anything on it seriously. And for godsake, don't try to reason earnestly with or enlighten any of the writers there. The place is a haven for men's rights activists, misogynists, pickup artists, bros, scumbags, and nonsense. The recent controversial post "5 Reasons to Date a Girl with an Eating Disorder" is really pretty typical for the site.

I've seen a few women tweeting and writing in outrage about the post, and their responses are understandable. There's no redeeming value to the post, no twist or insight, and I don't recommend clicking on it. The reasons given for dating the eating disordered are things like "she costs less" on dates and she's probably better in bed (why?). On HuffPost Women, writer and activist Christina Grasso posted an earnest "Open letter to the man who wrote about girls with eating disorders." Eating disorders aren't sexy, Grasso writes, and she details all the devastating realities of diseases like anorexia. "We hope you learn from this how much anguish you have caused your readers," she concludes.

But it's unlikely that these guys will learn anything. I don't want to suggest what anyone else should or shouldn't take offense to, but there is no point in seriously engaging with Return of Kings. The site was founded by longtime "game" blogger Roosh V and, in between earnest cataloging of crimes against masculinity, its' bread and butter is posting hyperbolically awful opinions about women. Here are a few other recent titles from the author of the eating disorder post, a columnist called Truthmosis:

  • "10 Tell-Tale Signs She's A Secret Internet Fatty"
  • "24 Signs She's a Slut"
  • "All Girls Are Cheapskates."

That's what we're dealing with, people. Consider this your warning that the eating disorder post is not at all an exception to usual content on the site. Any given article is likely to make you punch or throw something. It's great for hate-reading, if you're into that sort of thing. If you're sensitive, stay away entirely. And know that these guys thrive on attention, especially of the earnest handwringing variety. This is a prima facie case of "don't feed the trolls." If you really want to protest their brand of idiocy, it's probably best just not to pay them any mind.

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