The website declares itself "for women who just ain't gonna take it no more," the columns are called Observations of a Demented Housewife, Corporate Whoredom, and Bitch to Bitch, but BFP Media Productions and Malicious Bitch President Doyle Brooks-- one of the lone, brave males onboard a high dosage estrogen ship-- is in it up to his eyeballs. Or should I say eyelashes?
These several months past, Brooks (along with MBC co-founders Christine Fron and Angelia Paulin) has been glued to his keyboard, eyes no doubt molding to the very shape of an LCD screen. He's dealing with moody writers- female scribes getting testy, what a surprise- garnering advertisers, and embarking on promotional endeavors. All while creating unique column narratives of his own- those that explore all aspects of "surviving a malicious bitch you've most likely helped to create." This, the formative period of a uniquely wonderful vision spawned by Brooks, Fron, and Paulin during an Internet chat session one night long ago.
The concept arose out of a dispute involving one of Fron's personal ventures. Spurned by an employer on her request for payment, Fron deliciously retaliated by high-jacking the customer's website. Hence, the initial application of the term "malicious bitch."
Brooks said, "The more we talked [about purchasing the domain] the funnier it got. And the more serious we got about doing it just for the hell of it. MaliciousBitch.com was born partially as a joke, and partially out of all of our being insulted that people seriously use terms like that towards women who are innnocent, most of the time."
Fron continued, "To have him spawn the idea of MBC was hilarious- I was rolling in tears, at that moment never considering the full affect of where he was going. We continued to joke about it, took it to paper, and once the 'when life gives you lemons, make lemonade' factor kicked in, we realized it was a fully competent business plan we had in hand and ran with it from there."
And run they did. Since inception, MBC has exploded in popularity. The success in this venture is due in large part to Brooks' openmindedness. As one of the few males at work on the website, he is able to laugh at himself. He encourages women to do likewise, not dwelling on perceived repressions in the workplace or at home. After all, times change but people do not.
"Think about it," Brooks said. "If you were back in the cave man days and some butthead hit you over the head with his club, what would you do? Maybe a little dinosaur dung in his stew that night?"
Times change, but Brooks is not your typical cowboy. The native Texan said it took his parents 11 years to get him out of his boots and into a regular pair of shoes, at the start of his junior high school years. Furthermore, local legend has it that a nuclear bomb was detonated just down the road in New Mexico, on the day he came screaming into this world.
Quite a coronation for the man who would be Bitchmastah.
Cowboy, ruler of his domain, whatever- his parents raised him well. Brooks has wisely said, "Women are all beautiful, they all want and need to be respected, and they hate to be neglected."
He expanded on this with a philosophy imparted to him by his father. "'The only thing men know for sure about women is that we don't know a damned thing about them.' I try to keep a little humor in everything I write, but for the most part, I guess I'm trying to make men think about women and how they treat them. I can't claim the title 'expert,' but if just one guy out there can keep from making even one of the stupid mistakes I've made, maybe the world will be just a little brighter that day."
He added, "I guess I learned a long time ago that just because you fall off a horse doesn't mean you need to shoot the horse, you just climb back on and hope for a better ride."
When he is not musing the profound intricacies of womanhood, or suffering some female's wrath, mostly, this 54-year old spends his time doing charitable work for various organizations. He has many endeavors to which he lends himself freely; one could even include Fron, who called Brooks a "master web developer," and said he mentored her extensively in her professional career.
"I've been pretty lucky in my life," Doyle Brooks said. "Although I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my ass, I have managed to keep my head above water most of the time. Some people can't because they haven't been so lucky, or because they were born in the wrong time or place. It doesn't cost us much to give them a hand once in awhile."
Indeed, timing is everything. Prior to his work with BFP, Brooks owned and operated an office machine sales and service business. He also worked in numerous corporate ventures. Now, his partnership with Fron and Paulin has brought them together on several websites, domains, and a web hosting company.
See Rich Bowden's previous profile on web start-up, IndependentBias.com.
A frequent contributor to online and print publications, Moore is perhaps best known for her massive collection of Tom Snyder quotes. "You know the two things I like best about Larry King? His face!" Visit her blog, updated semi-weekly, where she rips on Visa, why the world is the way it is, and other earth shattering topics.
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