Irony can be a truly beautiful thing.
Especially when it involves a misogynistic internet troll, who inadvertently became the catalyst for a spike in donations and increased public profile for a Sydney women’s refuge.
On Tuesday night’s episode of The Project, Waleed Aly slammed the revolting and provocative messages of “pick-up artist” Daryush ‘Roosh V’ Valizadeh. Aly urged viewers to channel the energy and attention we give to being outraged at people like Roosh to other causes.
And that’s exactly what happened. Over the last few days, Roosh has been shouting to an empty arena. By taking Waleed’s advice to #clicksomethingelse, we’ve diverted attention away from the problem, and towards the solution.
For those who aren’t aware, Waleed’s suggestion for a worthy #somethingelse was a link to Lou’s Place, a women’s refuge in Sydney.
hereMamamia spoke to Deborah Banks from Lou’s Place about the profound impact of those clicks.
“Words cannot express how grateful we are to Waleed Aly… It was way beyond our expectations to connect with so many people in such a short period of time and we greatly appreciate the significant spike in donations. We went from having 877 likes on our Facebook page to almost 7000.”
Lou’s Place is still counting the donations that have come in since Tuesday night, but the figure stands at over $30,000.
Deborah says, “The donations will help us to maintain the very high standard of care and support offered by Lou’s Place. We’re a small privately operated service which has always focussed our funding on the direct needs of the women who come to us. It’s only with the support of individual donors, philanthropic foundations and small one off grants that we’re able to keep opening our doors everyday.”
Deborah says of her work, “It is an honour to support the healing process of women who have experienced significant trauma in their lives. I am in awe of their strength – they are survivors, not victims.”
The practical impact of directing our attention towards Lou’s Place cannot be overstated. The terrace house in Kings Cross gives women a place to rest, eat, shower, wash clothes and enjoy some company, and provides services such as crisis intervention, case management, counselling and legal advice. All without on-going government funding.
On a symbolic level, what’s meaningful is that we’ve redirected our clicks to a place that makes women feel safe, rather than diatribes that make them feel as though they’re not.
In the face of outlandish misogyny, we’ve been reminded that we really do have the power to make a difference.
And it can all start with a click in the right place.
“Lou’s Place is the only daytime refuge for women in the Greater Sydney area. We’re a community-based refuge for women in crisis, homeless, feeling isolated or in need of support. Lou’s Place is a private charity with no on-going government funding. We rely on the generous support of our friends, partners and volunteers to continue our services.” – Deborah Banks.
You can share this link (http://lousplace.com.au) and donate by transferring money to ‘The Marmalade Foundation Ltd’. BSB: 062 124. Account number: 1088 3779.
Top Comments
Roosh V is not a troll. I think he genuinely believes the crap he is spouting.
Also can't see how this is irony?
Hmm, this is one of the definitions of 'irony' that I just found:
'A state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result.'
I think that kind of fits the situation. Roosh expects that a whole lot of sexist douchebags are going to turn up to events that marginalise (at best) women, and the end result is that he had to cancel heaps of these and women who have been marginalised have received significant funding.
You know what IS irony? According to the Daily Mail, this poor man called the Police, because he was getting so many threats, he no longer feels safe. And it appears one of the police officers was female.
Also, he apparently lives in his mother's basement.
Maybe at a high level.
Except that the women would not have overlapped much.
He is after young, hot single women, the shelter accommodates women who are being abused (who of course may be young and hot).
The opposite of a one night stand is not a battered women in a relationship.
No, that's actually not irony.
He has not been making threats (as far as I am aware, happy to be corrected), he is not out to make women feel unsafe.
Not sure where he lives is relevant.
Yes! I'm so glad something so good came out of this awful crap - the world does seem like a darker place when we hear of people who believe the horrid hate that 'roosh' was spouting. Thank you to Waleed and all who donated for making it a little brighter!
It's an inspired response, isn't it? It'd be worth a similar plan of action for other issues as well. Eg. When tabloids do a "stop the boats" campaign, direct more support/donations to House Of Welcome or other refugee support organisation, George Pell- I can't extradite him myself but I can support the victims via Broken Rites or Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.
It does something worthwhile and the bonus is, it feels good to fight back.