Montreal Demo Against Roosh V Goes Ahead with Minor Disruptions
A group of approximately 75 people gathered to denounce rape culture and sexual harassment perpetuated by pick-up-artist and ‘Men’s rights activist’ blogger Roosh V in downtown Montreal Saturday afternoon.
Organized by Cuntamponary Art Collective, the demonstration assembled at Norman Bethune Square in support of individuals currently being harassed online for organizing petitions to prevent the American—whose full name is Daryush Valizadeh—from entering Canada.
Roosh V has attracted an international following for his video blogs and writings which are known to be objectifying, threatening and degrading toward women. He previously argued for the legality of rape on private property.
“Modern women are too broken, unreliable and narcissistic to be [sic] give men anything reliable besides fornication,” he wrote on a blog post in July called, “Women Have Reduced Themselves to Sexual Commodities.”
On his website, the self-described “pickup artist” has multiple posts targeting specific mobilizers, using discriminatory and misogynistic language and rhetoric toward them.
One post titled, “The Battle Against Feminists in Montreal,” listed a four-step process to secretly film the demonstration. Multiple men seen recording the event with their cellphones, were asked to leave, including one man who volunteered to speak during an open forum.
Montreal is one of six stops on Roosh V’s “World Tour,” where he is giving speeches and hosting Q&A’s. It was unknown where his Montreal appearance would be after an original venue canceled because they were “spooked by the media coverage,” Roosh V posted on his forum.
On a manifesto, which was read aloud in English and French at the gathering denouncing rape culture, organizers said they will “fiercely re-appropriate the stereotypes and names with which you have labeled us.”
“We will be bitches, prudes, spinsters, princesses, ditzes, divas, MILFS, sluts, tarts, hussies, cunts, and we will be proud and unashamed to be so,” they wrote.
Video by Matt D’Amours
