While Reddit’s reluctant, long-overdue banning of subreddits devoted to sexualized pictures of children drew applause from many Redditors, there has, of course, been a considerable backlash from pedophiles, ephibophiles, and other assorted apologists. ShitRedditSays has already started covering this, and I’ll be doing some posts of my own.
So far the most appalling thing I’ve run across (thanks to ScrappyB for pointing it out in the comments here) comes from the BeatingWomen subreddit — which is, unfortunately, a real thing. Some people, you see, are suggesting that maybe Reddit shouldn’t be hosting a forum devoted to sharing images and videos of women being brutalized, so that Redditors can cackle over their victimization, make rape jokes, and whatever else they do there.
The idea that r/beatingwomen “might be next “ roused one racist, misogynist jailbait enthusiast to post this little manifesto.
He’s not trolling. If you look at his comment history you’ll see he’s completely sincere. (Actually, don’t look at his comment history. It’s horrifying. I’m not going to link to it.)
In case any one is wondering, r/beatingwomen is the subreddit that r/mensrights mod AnnArchist (a guy, despite the name) posted to on several occasions, because he considers r/beatingwomen-style “humor” to be hilarious.
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Elevating women’s status would plunk some men even lower on the totum pole than they already are. No man is interested in true equality. Think about it. The highest man on the totem pole is never going to be disloged. All those below it are in danger of being pegged down a space when we speak about equality and equal opportunity. And down it goes until the middle class man on the pole is terrified of being downstaged by any woman given opportunity. There we have misogyny.
Hey there! Man here, not at all terrified of equality. But I’ll be honest, your rhetoric confuses me. It seems to me that you don’t believe equality is even possible, that you think patriarchal power is unassailable. That no matter how much things change, The Man at the Top will always be The Man at the Top, even when the system that supports him has been dismantled.
Am I wrong here? ‘Cause if not, that doesn’t really come off as believing in equality. Quite the opposite, actually.
My roommate is sleeping. I think I’m going to go tie him up, wake him up by shining a flashlight in his eyes, and play “I Whip My Hair Back and Forth” at full volume, until he confesses that he’s not interested in equality.
That can wait until after my cat finishes my breakfast, though. Tomcats gotta learn their place. My pussy is my bitch.
Technically, I think parts of that aren’t mentioned in the Geneva convention. Well done!
But yeah, creepy as the guy in the main post is, I don’t think he speaks for most (or even many) men. It’s like someone describing a particular kink or specific dream or bizarre personal delusion and trying to generalize it to everyone: “Hey guys, is it me or do you all totally want to build a giant penis-shaped tower of Fruit Loops and then dance around it naked every time you see a girl in a short skirt? LOL that is definitely a super common normal fantasy amiright!”
I’m interested in equality, and I’m reading some bell hooks (recently finished “We Real Cool”.
Wait, I’m a male.
OH SHIT WHAT DO I DO?!
And Begalsan’s comment makes me want to rewatch The Wicker Man, for some reason (original, not the “HOW DID IT BURN?!” version).
Well yeah, I’ve yet to be convinced that these assholes speak for the majority. However, the everyday, casual misogyny that pervades our culture acts as a tacit endorsement of this kind of extreme, hateful attitude.
I mean, not many people casually joke about dancing naked around Fruit Loops penis idols without bothering to think the idea through to its logical conclusion. I can’t say the same about rape.
Which why I think exposing this kind of violent rhetoric to the light of day is important.
I’m a good-looking woman (and modest too!) and I get appreciative, lingering glances all day long. Yet, I’m guessing those guys that bother to fantasize about me would prefer to daydream about me reciprocating their interest, not about throwing me to the ground and forcing their cock in me.
I mean, my husband is bigger and stronger than me, but he doesn’t generally rely on overpowering me to obtain sex. Rape isn’t a turn-on for him.
Dracula: I demand that you bring us studies on the penis idols! One cannot just assert facts as if it was Truth and expect us to believe him, can he?
Come on, where are the polls, the evidence of any kind? It a serious blog here, sir.
…
Nothing? Hell, I need to do it myself: raise your hand if you’ve ever wanter to build a tower, be it penis-shaped and/or made of fruit loop. (Bagelsan, your participation is mandatory) Rigth. Then raise your hand if you hadn’t before but are now that you heard about it.
Okay, I admit the bit about the idols was pure speculation.
I don’t think humor should come at the expense of disadvantaged groups. It’s like kicking someone when they’re already down. I also hate being put in the awkward spot of being with a group of guys when they make sexist jokes. I then have to decide if I will laugh along with it even though I’m offended, call them out on it and get called oversensitive, or try to ignore it. I don’t want to make jokes that put other people in that same uncomfortable spot.
As far as dark humor goes, I do think it has a place. I agree with the posters that said it is a coping mechanism during a tragedy. This might sound fucked up but I actually made jokes
the night of the tornado. I looked around at the rubble and debris of my neighborhood and joked, “Well at least I didn’t stain the deck last weekend”. I made a joke about the situation, but I’ve never made fun of the problems other people have had because of it. That would be cruel.
I also agree with everyone who has argued that it is a public service for David to highlight the extreme misogyny in the MRM. Recently, all eight Republican senators in the Senate Judiciary committee voted against reauthorizing VAWA. The main reason they opposed it was due to their homophobia and not wanting the added protections for LGBT victims of domestic violence. Another factor in their opposition, though, is antifeminist backlash from the MRM. If people don’t speak out against the goals of the MRM and mock their misogyny, they could cause a great deal of harm to victims of dv and sexual assault.
Happy Valentine’s Day, guys. No, seriously. Contrived, cliche, potentially exclusionary, marketing-ploy-that-it-is, still, I’ll take a little pink and red foil and the attempted focus on love after reading those links from David. /shudder
Yes, people can be vile. Not just men; people. Do we see more of it from men? Yeah, because they are in a position to feel good about saying/thinking/feeling crap like that. Society not only encourages/demands it, it excuses the consequences.
That exact description for entitlement also applies to jokes against specific groups, like discussed so well above. Anytime there’s a play on power (hey, we’re normal!) versus inequity (wow, you’re not like us, weirdo!), someone is stuck getting negative press. It may seem benign, but it really isn’t. It’s only unexamined entitlement.
What’s so funny (or affectionate) about making fun of a person for anything?
To me, what’s being said when that type of humor is in play:
“I am going to assume a position of power and use you for my amusement.”
Yeah, I never even understood how racist jokes are supposed to be funny. It’s like “Hey everyone, Jews are greedy, pass it on!”…okay, where’s the part where this is funny?
A racist homophobe I know LOVES The Boondocks. He quotes it all the time, especially the parts with the N Word. Because then he gets to say the N Word, and nobody is allowed to give him shit, because he’s just quoting this show about Black people, by Black people.
One of the roles in society that comics play is to trot out the misbehaviour of people in power and mock it, to shame them into behaving appropriately. Yes, there’s a place in the world for angry seriousness, and there is also a place for mockery. We can do both.
This is a very privileged view of how oppressive systems work. It reeks of someone who is absolutely horrible at comprehending the ways in which they are privileged themselves. It harkens to the divide and conquer strategies used to perpetuate oppressive systems.
While I would hold that privileged people do stand to lose substantive benefits if they lose privilege, some people are willing to lose those benefits because they understand they are gained in unfair, unjust, and brutally harmful ways. It is harder to care about an unjust system when it benefits you, but it is not impossible.
red_locker: OH NO, NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEES!
I love Nicholas Cage! Maybe I should watch National Treasure today. Laughter can trigger contractions, right?
Since the Nicholas Cage version of Wicker Man was brought up, if you haven’t seen this, you need to:
Ah, the Wicker Man remake. It’s so wonderfully ridiculous.
“Who can tell me what a man represents in his purest form?”
“PHALLIC SYMBOL PHALLIC SYMBOL”
It looks as if Italics can still be broken.
broken italics partehhhh
wooOOOOOoooooOOOOOoo
NOT THE ITALICS!! NOT THE ITALICS!! RAHH!!! AAARGLEBARGLE!!!!!
I fixed them.
Anyway, I love that scene with the bees because he almost literally says “arglebargle.”
If you like Nicolas Cage in The Wicker Man, why not try him in Face-Off?
“Face-Off” is glorious.
And I have yet to see “The Wicker Man” remake, actually. Only have seen the original (which is wonderfully bizaree and yet chilling at the very end). I’ll see if the library has the remake.
DSC – Yeah, the “privileged people will consciously fight to maintain their privilege” worldview seems awfully ignorant of the fact that we’re pretty much all privileged in some sort of way.
While I don’t doubt that I contribute thoughtlessly to oppression sometimes (it’s kind of inevitable when you’re privileged), I am trying to learn to do that as little as possible. And I can trust that the same is true of feminist men.
@Unimaginative: Oh god. Yeah, nevermind the context of the show, just go, “Black People say it, why can’t I?! Stop oppressing the cluelessly oppressive!” Le sigh.
I bet he didn’t even watch the MLK episode. Clueless asshat.
Wow, you’re an idiot. Trolls are a thing that exist. People mock positions that they disagree with. You should know. It’s what this blog is for.
Those people hate misogyny, so they mock it. Their style of mockery is different from yours, but they should be your ally.
I hate misogyny, too, but humor shouldn’t be censored by oversensitive idiots on the internet. Laugh at whatever you want, just don’t actually believe it. Misogyny is bad, but making woman-hating jokes is harmless and even beneficial because it’s so obviously mocking the actual viewpoint.
What’s depressing is that you laugh at the things you say AND believe them. Alas, that’s a story for another day.
‘As long as you are a woman, you will be smaller than us, weaker than us, and used by us to fulfill our desires.’
The strong should never harm the weak. The purpose of strength , no matter who wields it, is to serve and protect those that are unable to protect themselves.
“there has, of course, been a considerable backlash from pedophiles, ephibophiles, and other assorted apologists. ”
Really? who the FUCK cares what these people think, They barely even fit into the category of human.