Hello and welcome to this sort of a campfire edition of the Civic Flame. For those of you new here, the Civic Flame is a podcast where we take a deep dive into the US Constitution and how our government is and is not working in line with it today. Campfires are shorter episodes about major issues that come up. And this is only a semi-campfire, because weÕre launching another series of this podcast that IÕm calling the Mother of Democracy series. This will be a combination of my work with Birthzillas: The Podcast and The Civic Flame where we center women, gender based violence, and misogyny as a massive threat to democratic regimes. Major Content Warning Content warning for some of you: this episode is going to talk about sexual assault, cults, and similar types of violence. A lot of our episodes are. And while this is important stuff to talk about, for those of you who might have PTSD or other harmful reactions to this content, please exercise self care. ItÕs like I tell my students: education brings out areas of conflict that can make us uncomfortable but they should not be areas that cause us harm. So, take good care, even if that means turning off this podcast and listening to something else. For those of you who are sticking around, grab your stress blankie, and letÕs go! (transition) Like many people, I have started to hear news about the Rape Academy online. This happened as I was watching the new Netflix Documentary Trust Me: The False Prophet and listening to the podcast Digging Up The Duggars. And I realize a couple of things a) men really hate women, b) a lot of men donÕt know they hate women, c) a lot of women donÕt know they hate women (including themselves), and d) this hatred is corrosive not only to individuals and society, but it is incompatible with democracy. So, weÕre going to unpack some of this. The Epstein Class First and foremost, weÕre still living the era of the Epstein Class. There areÑwe literally donÕt know how manyÑfinancial, political, educational, business, and other leaders around the world who have been part of a group that tortures, rapes, and allegedly cannibalizes and murders children. So far, few countries have moved to prosecute any of these individuals and the US government continues to hinder the release of the entire files which do implicate the President of the United States (in what the FBI calls credible allegations). So, I feel like we have a few options here. Option 1, God can give me super powers and I can clean up this mess in a few weeks. Option 2, governments around the world can grant mothers criminal immunity and we can clean up this mess in a few days. Option 3, global revolution in ideas and values that respect children, change systems, and end misogyny. Just give me super powers or criminal immunity ItÕs crazy that Options 1 and 2 seem the most likely because today, weÕre at Option 4: do nothing and throw our hands up in the air because weÕre out of ideas. Then there are stories like Gisele Pelicot who was raped by at least 51 men. Her case brought international attention to the problems in French law with consent. But they also revealed the number of ordinary men who would rape an unconscious woman and the number of men who would not tell anyone it was happening. Gisele Pelicot and Rapist husbands If you remember her story, it sounds exactly like the Rape Academy story that is breaking. PelicotÕs husbandÑwho shall not be named because he doesnÕt deserve itÑdrugged her, raped her, advertised her, and both allowed and filmed other men to rape her. Over decades. These were men who looked like ordinary men. Normal guys who probably didnÕt have hooves and tails. And they were rapists. If course men who have guts donÕt rape women, so these gutless men did what gutless men do. They said, Ònu uh, not me.Ó And pretended they didnÕt know she was drugged or they thought she consented. The literally embodied the phrase Òno honor among thieves.Ó If only this were a one-off case that we never heard about again. But in Epstein World, of course we did. Among EpsteinÕs clients, itÕs the most powerful people in the world who prey on the most vulnerable (mostly because we wonÕt give mothers criminal immunity or super powers, and I know some dads IÕd let in on the Clean Up Crew). But right after the Pelicot case, a social media chanel was discovered where men were teaching each other how to do what PelicotÕs husband did. How to drug and rape their wives and girlfriends, sell those girlfriends, or sell and share images of them being raped. Hundreds of men. Keep Being Horrified, Stop being surprised If you were horrified by this, congrats, youÕre human. If you want to help me set lots of things on fire, I feel you. If you are shocked by this, you need to get with the program because this was only too obvious. And thatÕs how we end up with the story breaking this week about the Rape Academy. The Rape Academy Reporters with CNN went under cover posing as members of this club. Through this, they found thousands of men who are part of this Rape Academy. They teach each other how to dose their wives over time so the wives donÕt get notice it is happening or die. Men asked questions Òhow much do I drug her?Ó and Òalways wanted to do this to the Mrs.Ó One man admitted to slipping the drugs into his wifeÕs milkshake. Abuse videos were shared for bragging rights and for profit. One man asked Òhow much are you willing to pay to fuck my wife while she sleeps?Ó On just one porn site there are over 20,000 videos of men raping their sleeping wives, according to CNN. These users hide themselves through cryptocurrency and online identities, but what they do is very real. And what we need are malicious female hacker teams to expose them (possibly to the hungry jaws of nine million fire ants). Femicide and Violent Misogyny: ItÕs not extremism, itÕs super common But hereÕs the thing. This is the world. I was disgusted and horrified by this story. But earlier in the week, I heard about the Brazilian group that was training men how to beat up, stab, and shoot women who said no. The news learned about this because one woman was shot and murdered. The same week I heard about a young woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered on a cruise ship by her step brother. She had told her parents she didnÕt like the step brother and he was obsessed with her in a creepy way. The parents decided to force her to share a cruise ship cabin with him anyway. Where he allegedly raped and murdered her. I also watched the documentary False Prophet on Netflix about a member of the FLDS who convinced men that he was the prophet. And these men gave him their wives to rape, their adult daughters to rape, and eventually, their underage children to rape. Because theyÕve been taught obedience. WhatÕs the point of all this? Unless youÕre actively fighting this, youÕre not a good man There are so many men who think theyÕre good men because they donÕt rape. But they donÕt hold rapists accountable. They listen to the Òlocker roomÓ talk and think theyÕre good because they donÕt laugh. But they donÕt have the guts to call them out. Why? Because all men benefit from shitty men. As long as shitty men are raping and beating and murdering women, mid men just have to not do that and they look good. If it werenÕt for low standards, they have none at all. And if youÕre a man listening and nodding along, thatÕs because youÕre a real one. You get it and you are not the problem. If youÕre a man and youÕre listening to this and thinking IÕm overreacting and youÕre one of the good ones, youÕre not. Fix your shit. (transition music) Femicide So that was a lot of the first episode. Why? Because this femicidieÑthe murder of women because they are womenÑstems from a genuine problem with our democracy. One half of the population violently hates the other half. Men hate women for existing. Women hate men for killing us. When women hate men, we stay away from them. We hate them because they hit us and rape us and kill us or they hit and rape and kill out children. Women hate men because of what they do to us. Men hate women for existing. And when me hate us, they donÕt stay away. They engage in as much harm as they possibly can. Misogyny and Democracy are not compatible Until we address this misogyny and call it what it isÑhatred of womenÑwithou thte Òwell ackshuallyÓ or the Òwhat about menÓ then we will continue to have these issues. Misogyny is a public health threat. It is an environmental health issue. It is a democracy issue. Until it becomes at least as disgusting for people to hate women as it would be for them to hate dogs, we will continue to get nowhere. Next week: Korea and the 4 B movement Next time, weÕll look at the Korean 4B movement and talk about some mass resistance to menÕs misogyny. That is, unless you want to give me super powers. (outro) The mother of democracy is a Dr Fun Sponge creation with writer Amber Vayo and sound producer and real one Matt Munyon. Thanks for listning.