Co-working bros Matthew Mercer and Samuel Monaghan have retreated from the internet.
THEY tried to paint their mens-only office as a “social impact-minded start-up”.
But the radical world view behind Nomadic Thinkers has been exposed in a cache of deleted blog posts, which claim that men are “persecuted” and stunted by post-feminist culture and “toxic” women.
Brisbane’s Samuel Monaghan and Matthew Mercer, who came up with the bro-tastic co-working space as a way to nurture men’s self esteem, have gone to ground after a deluge of criticism on social media.
Mr Monaghan first provoked the ire of domestic violence survivors when he proclaimed that the issue was caused by depression, because “happy men don’t hit their wives”.
“We both had a mate who ended up in a violent situation with his wife. He pushed his wife over,” he told Junkee.
“Depression and suicide result from a lack of social support and community. Having a space where they [men] can be men is more of a preventive measure.”
Mr Monaghan said men had trouble being vulnerable when women were around, taking aim at the “stoic” Australian culture that told men to “suck it up” while depriving them of masculine rites of passage.
“In other cultures you go out and hunt in a forest for three days. We just hit 15 and start drinking,” he said.
“There’s a real loss of identity for men. We used to go to war together. Girls do it better naturally, they have tea parties and stuff.”
After being attacked on Twitter and Facebook, the pair shut down their Nomadic Thinker and personal accounts, along with its blog — which they said was due to copyright issues.
But the blog can still be read through Google’s webcache, which gives a startling insight into the philosophy behind the project.
‘PERSECUTED MEN’
In a post titled “Are you a pathetic man-child?” the Nomadic Thinkers claim that men are being “persecuted for expressing their masculinity” and that feminism has gone too far.
A lack of strong male role models was contributing to marriage breakdowns, male depression, suicide and domestic violence, the blog claimed.
“This is why we have 35-year-old man-child’s [sic] living with their mummies, suckling on a wrinkly mammary gland, with no intention of leaving.”
“I would say that we live in the most challenging time and culture to be a man,” the post says, harking back to the days of hunter and gatherer societies where men’s primary role was “to protect and provide for their families and communities”. But men were failing to embody their masculinity due to the excesses of feminism, they argued.
“We have become a culture that praises androgyny, glorifies gender role removal and tolerates all beliefs and choices except the traditional,” the post said.
“With the media pushing images of passive men, the clumsy dad, the goofy and dimwitted boyfriend, the incompetent boss, men are being seduced into a placated and listless expression of themselves.”
‘REJECT TOXIC WOMEN’
The blog also contains advice on how men can navigate the vexed world of heterosexual unions, including “taking a proactive role in leadership in your relationship” and finding a rare “quality” female partner in order to propagate the world with like-minded offspring.
While in contemporary society “the risk of finding a quality mate is high”, men can increase their “sexual marketplace value” by “increasing your traits as a provider and protector”.
In short, find a way to earn more and “hit the gym”, advises the post, titled “Reject toxic women and find a quality one”.
How this approach aims to cure men of their mental health woes remains unclear.
Jenna Price from anti-violence lobby group Destroy the Joint said the idea that men needed to be protected was “just so laughable”.
“I don’t think a male-only space, without serious support services such as counselling, is going to help anyone with feelings of rage and power, or who has that kind of impotence to control,” Ms Price told news.com.au, adding that there were plenty of male-only spaces in the boardrooms of Australia’s top companies.
In a statement on their website, Mr Monaghan and Mr Mercer said the project “was always going to be a source of contention, however we had hoped for constructive and meaningful conversations”.
“Unfortunately, it has come across that we trivialise the significance of domestic violence and depression,” the statement said.
“We would like to express our apologies as this is not the case. Our intention is and has always been to highlight the seriousness and social costs of these issues, and take an immersive and proactive approach towards action.”
If you need help in a crisis, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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