Roosh V, Return of Kings, and neomasculinity

A brief overview of what all the fuss was about

By Rebecca Peterson, Staff Writer

Just over a week ago, the Internet experienced a minor explosion. This time, it was over the organization of supposed “pro-rape rallies” worldwide, a product of a large neomasculine online community called Return of Kings. Further investigation revealed that these were not rallies, but rather “meet-ups” of like-minded individuals (strictly heterosexual men), who referred to themselves as belonging to “tribes.”

According to Roosh V, founder of Return of Kings, neomasculinity can be defined thusly: “[A combination of] traditional beliefs, masculinity, and animal biology into one ideological system. It aims to aid men living in Westernized nations that lack qualities such as classical virtue, masculinity in males, femininity in females, and objectivity, especially concerning beauty ideals and human behaviour.” Under this statement on their official website is a long table of contents with subsections describing the “principal doctrines of neomasculinity,” some of which are “Traditional sex roles,” “Sexual marketplace value,” “Feminine beauty ideals,” and “Understanding the true nature of women.”

What is the “true nature of women?” Again, to quote the website, “Women are skilled at using the structure and rules of the local environment to fulfill their goals, which is to secure the highest possible value male, gain as much material resources as possible, pursue the female primal need for pleasure and vanity, and compete successfully against other females … A woman’s nature is therefore not static, and takes the shape of the container of her environment … Elimination of traditional sex roles and the promotion of unlimited mating choice in women unleashes their promiscuity and other negative behaviors that block family formation.”

The expectations that Return of Kings has of its male members are also quite rigid. The site states: “A man’s value significantly depends on his resources, intellect, and character.” Thus, there is a large focus in the Return of Kings community on self-improvement to build oneself into the ideal “masculine” man.

As well, there is a held belief in the community that “men will opt out of monogamy and reproduction if there are no incentives to engage in them.” To counter this, the community holds a dedication to the traditional family unit for the betterment of society.

So how did all of this translate online from “tribal meet-ups” to “pro-rape rallies”?

Well, among their base belief system, there is a political movement to dismantle domestic violence laws in an effort to stop sexual assault.

In an article titled “How to Stop Rape,” Roosh V explained his concerns about sexual assault, and his strategy to solve the frequency of such crimes (in the specific context of men assaulting women):

“By attempting to teach men not to rape,” he wrote, “what we have actually done is teach women not to care about being raped, not to protect themselves from easily preventable acts, and not to take responsibility for their actions … I thought about this problem and am sure I have the solution: make rape legal if done on private property.”

This may immediately strike one as a little backwards, but Roosh V elaborates further: “Without daddy government to protect her, a girl would absolutely not enter a private room with a man she doesn’t know or trust unless she is absolutely sure she is ready to sleep with him. Consent is now achieved when she passes underneath the room’s door frame, because she knows that that man can legally do anything he wants to her when it comes to sex…”

Many have found this sentiment to be alarming, and the idea of gatherings of people who think this way less than ideal. Because of the public backlash, official meetings of the Return of Kings groups were canceled by Roosh V, though it is worth mentioning that many went forward and took place regardless. Surely, with the emphasis on self-improvement, patriarchal importance, and self-sufficiency, the members of Return of Kings have to formulate themselves as independent, strong men that own their own homes and are capable of providing for their families as a traditional patriarchal figure—that is what founder Roosh V would expect of them, given his strong opinions on the matter.

According to The Province, Roosh V was last seen at his mother’s house in Maryland, as he currently lives in her basement.