Return of Kings Schedules Worldwide “Pro-Rape” Meet-Ups, Then Cancels

By Prasanna Tati, staff writer

Daryush Valizadeh, also known by his blogger name Roosh V, is an American writer who has recently been in hot water for his organization of an international “pro-rape” meet-up day in 43 different countries including the United States, Australia, and Canada.

Valizadeh is owner of the “Return of Kings” website, which is based on what he calls neomasculinity. Neomasculinity, by Valizadeh’s definition, is the combination of traditional masculine gender roles with today’s truths, which includes Valizadeh belief that heterosexual men are being actively marginalized in today’s world. He has been the subject of severe ridicule for publishing articles like 5 Reasons to Date a Girl with an Eating Disorder and Street Harassment is a Myth Invented by Socially Retarded White Women.

By profession, Valizadeh is a pickup artist. He writes books titled Don’t Bang Denmark: How to Sleep with Danish Women in Denmark (If You Must), Bang Colombia: Textbook On How to Sleep with Colombian Women, Bang: The Pickup Bible That Helps You Get More Lays, and various others advising “heterosexual men with standards” on seduction and antifeminism.

His claim to fame was an article on how to stop rape culture in which he suggested that if rape were legalized on private property, “rape would be virtually eliminated on the first day it [the law] is applied.” He explains that in today’s society where women do not have to take responsibility for their actions, men have become more androgynous. He claims he is trying to help the “honest men who unfortunately now live in fear over imprisonment in the case the girl they had sex with may imply consent was not fully achieved.” At the conclusion of the article, Valizadeh writes, “Let’s make rape legal… Until then, this devastating rape culture will continue, and women who we treat as children will continue to act like children.”

That was over a year ago. Recently, Valizadeh decided to organize “tribal meetings” for Return of Kings members, exclusive to anyone who does not identify as women, transgender, or homosexual. He claims the meetings were merely supposed to be a few men drinking beers and complaining about women. People connected these meet-ups with his article about how to stop rape, and word quickly spread that exclusive pro-rape meetings were set up all throughout the world.

Feminist groups and anti-rape activists, including change.org and a women’s boxing group in Canada, threatened to come to the meet up areas and disrupt the meetings. Valizadeh threatened back saying he would take pictures of all the women and personally criticize them. Unfortunately for Valizadeh, images of tough women in boxing gloves would not go very well with his tactic of exposing female weaknesses. Many believe this is the reason why Valizadeh decided to cancel the meetings. He sent out a statement that he could “no longer guarantee the safety or privacy of the men who want to attend.”

To further complicate the matter, Valizadeh is well known for his “trolling.” It is difficult to tell when or if he is ever being serious. In response to the public outcry at the “pro-rape meet-ups,” Valizadeh wrote an article citing that he does not condone rape. He insisted his how to stop rape article was merely a satirical piece and thought experiment that was not meant to be serious. He explicitly stated he has a sister whom he would never want to be raped, and repeatedly denied any connections with the pro-rape movement.

The meeting closest to NJIT campus was in NYC. Such a global issue was actually very close to home, however most students were entirely unaware. Though this may have not actually been a pro-rape movement, the plausibility of such a meeting in today’s world unveils the possibilities and products of appeasement. Valizadeh recently gave a press interview, and stated he is a Trump supporter. Similar to Trump’s announcement of his candidacy for president when people thought he would not get very far, many chose to ignore the fact that a large group of allegedly pro-rape men were meeting all over the world to discuss tactics of neomasculinity.