Rantings Reloaded

A new interview with Thomas Ellis, author of 'Rantings of a Single Male: Losing Patience with Feminism, Political Correctness... and Basically Everything '

Darren: It’s been over a year now since your book was released, and our initial interview. I remember at that time, there weren’t any women you knew of who had actually read your book. That must have changed by now.

Tom: I’ve had a surprising amount of positive feedback from women, but they tend to be of a certain demographic – that is, they seem to be single mothers with sons who have finally been awakened to the anti-male biases in education and society as a whole. It’s a complete change of mindset for them.

Darren: So, now they find themselves in the protector role.

Tom: Right, and it’s the first time in their lives that they’ve had to consider anything resembling the male point of view, and that it might have some validity. They’re also very aware of the importance of fathers in children’s lives. You can tell the light has gone on, and they understand fathers are more than providers of sperm and money.

Darren: That’s quite ironic, that they have this appreciation for fathers, but are raising their sons alone.

Tom: Very ironic, and very tragic really. That’s apparently what it takes to get women to reconsider their attitudes toward men in general. Of course, the vast majority of women with sons are still trying to re-engineer them to be less aggressive and non-competitive. More feminine in general. I read recently that 10% of boys in the US are now on Ritalin.

Darren: What other comments did female readers have about The Rantings?

Tom: I always hear that it’s painful for women to read, because they see so much of themselves in it. Some have mentioned my description of women throwing themselves into eccentric religions. Others look back on their younger years and realize they fit my description of women as relationship fascists.

Darren: Could you expand on the term “relationship fascism” for me?

Tom: Sure. Girls grow up honing their manipulation skills and obsessing over relationship power dynamics. They become the princesses laying down demands and turn men into their servants. They enforce their will with an arsenal of female tactics that men have spent little time preparing for. The power they wield can become so extreme that it’s really an interpersonal dictatorship, which I call “relationship fascism.” Most women today expect this kind of absolute power in their relationships, even though it’s very destructive. Boys grow up learning never to hit or hurt the girls, and although girls rarely use physical violence as a threat against the boys, they still engage in passive-aggressive behavior to cause harm. No one has taught them to see this within themselves.

Darren: How about negative feedback? You must have gotten a lot of that from female readers as well.

Tom: When I first released the book, I expected obscene phone calls, angry emails, vandalism to my house, that kind of thing. I mentally prepared myself by thinking of the men in Iraq who face real danger. So what if I’m inconvenienced a little?

Darren: So, have you experienced any of that yourself?

Tom: Not yet. Apparently, women only engage in such behavior when I date them, or break up with them. Sure, I’ve gotten negative comments from women – that is, women who did not read more than a page or two- along the lines of, “How dare you write a book that does not worship women and validate all our views?” They immediately assign a set of values to me that have no bearing on reality.

Darren: Let me guess - the old “barefoot and pregnant” line.

Tom: Exactly, and I’m against “women’s rights,” or I’m anti-female. Just a few days ago a girl in her late twenties heard about my book, and told me that since “feminism” meant “equality for women,” I must be against that. I had to explain my view that “feminism” is really a crusade for female privilege that masquerades as equality. “Oh. Okay,” she said. Then it was right back to a discussion about movie star romances. And that’s typical. In general, women are not ready for this type of information.

Darren: I would imagine men are not only ready, they must thrive on it.

Tom: I’ve heard from lots of men who have discovered the book. University professors, soldiers in Iraq, recently divorced man. The book is not for everyone, but the response from male readers has been overwhelmingly positive. It’s mainly the stories that men relate to, and many of them say a lot of the same exact things have happened to them in their lives.

Darren: How did you pick out the cover, is there some meaning behind it?

Tom: Although The Rantings has lots of humor throughout, what I’ve laid out is the description of a huge tragedy – which is the continued decline of male/female relationships within the context of feminism. The humor contained in the book is really dark comedy, so I wanted a dark cover. Specifically, it is a reference to the story in Rant X – so it’s an illustration of the dark void I continue to live in.

Darren: How have sales been going?

Tom: Well, we’re not exactly talking Harry Potter numbers here, but for a self-published book it’s doing quite well. The total is over 1100 books now, which isn’t bad considering that the average self-published title sells around 50 copies.

Darren: Has that covered your expenses at least?

Tom: It’s funny, but a lot of people think I must be making lots of money by selling this book. The reality is, I just broke even a couple months ago - but I just ordered another print run, so that will put me in the hole again until next year. That’s not considering the time spent to write the book, just out-of-pocket expenses.

Darren: It sounds like quite an effort to write and produce a book. What do you hope will become of all this?

Tom: I really hope to expand the genre of men’s rights literature. I would like to see it become a wider literary movement. The genre does not have to limit itself to a bland statistical debate between competing PhDs. These issues affect all men regardless of their political or religious views. The damage feminism has caused is profound and personal. My book is the collective experience of one man. There are a thousand other stories to be told, and I hope other writers will step forward and offer their perspectives. Even if we can’t break into mainstream publishing, we can continue underground with self-publishing.

The Rantings of a Single Male is available direct from the publisher: www.rannenbergpubs.com
and from Amazon.com