Anti-Feminism Backfires Gloriously

So, I have this friend who is, though left leaning, not always exactly feminist friendly. It’s not that he completely objects to the idea of equality among the sexes, but (despite lots and lots and lots of evidence given by me and some of our other friends) he has a hard time believing things are as bad as we insist that they are. He also tends to think that a lot of us take our selves too seriously – mostly because we refuse to laugh at anti-feminist/misogynistic jokes. So, you can imagine I a little less than delighted to receive “Feminists Say the Darnest Things” by Mike Adams. From the backcover endorsement from Concerned Women for America to the fact that he insists on calling himself “Politically Incorrect” the book reeks of misogyny, and in fact that’s what it is – a repulsively whiny slew of insult after insult and complaint after complaint about how vulgar and mean and ugly and stupid feminists are (oh, and how much they hate – but secretly wanna be nailed by – the mythological White Christian Conservative Male, which is of course exactly who the author is).
I guess my discontent at receiving this book as a gift was pretty apparent because my friend took a minute to laugh before he explained to me just why he bought it in the first place. He had indeed at first bought is a joke and an attempt to convince my feminists take ourselves to seriously and are really just silly women. Funny thing happened when he started reading it though – instead of laughing with the author, he started laughing *at* him. And sure enough, inside the book was this note:
“After reading this book (sorry for using your Xmas present before I gave it to you) I’ve come to the conclusion that you’re right about a lot more stuff than I give you credit for. If being a feminist means opposing this guy [the author] in every way, count me the fuck in. Consider this a peace offering.”
Huh. Mike Adams converted some one to feminism. I guess anti-feminists can do some (okay, one single act) of good. Pity my friend gave him money by buying his book. Maybe we should call him to let him know….