#FeministsAreUgly is confusing a lot of people, misogynists included. The Twitter hashtag – which took off yesterday and is still going strong, if not quite so strong, today – was originally started not by misogynistic trolls but by two feminists, @LilyBolorian and @Cheuya, who intended the hashtag to be a way for feminist women to celebrate their own beauty, whether it conformed to conventional (and generally white-centric) standards or not. As Bolorian put it,
https://twitter.com/LilyBolourian/status/497453684440444928
https://twitter.com/LilyBolourian/status/497398674054725634
Women responded at once by doing just that, and the hashtag was quickly flooded by feminist selfies. This being the internet, it was also flooded with comments from misogynists and trolls. Given how many of the latter were posted, many feminists on Twitter initially assumed it was just another outburst of internet misogyny; it took a little while before the feminist origins of the hashtag became widely known.
So how did the devoted antifeminists of the manosphere and the Men’s Rights movement react to the hashtag? Some responded with unabashed glee. The regulars on Roosh V’s forum reposted the selfies of some in women posting in the #FeministsAreUgly hashtage, mocking them as fat, lazy “cunts.”
One commenter offered this helpful observation:
A lot of fat crazy feminists are also obviously on heavy psych meds. One of the tell tale signs is volatile temperment and grandiose delusions. The weight gain is often a side effect of some of the drugs. So next time you run into some fat cunt spouting feminist rhetoric just keep in mind she could literally be crazy (bipolar) too.
Another waxed conspiratorial:
Feminist women are trying to turn themselves Idols to be worshiped.
It all ties into the writings of Alice Bailey and Madame Helena Blavatsky.
But elsewhere in the misogynistic online subculture sometimes called the manosphere the responses were a tad more complicated and conflicted.
On the Red Pill subreddit, the hashtag seemed mainly to make the regulars angry. A fellow calling himself MajorStyles won himself some upvotes for a comment complaining that
these bitches have gained control of the media for the past 40 years. Enough is enough. They have desecrated the moral landscape of this country to a barely recognizable wasteland. Fat tattooed harpies who shit on men of value.
Time to call them on their shit.
Over in the Men’s Rights subreddit, the regulars were wary, many of them afraid that the hashtag was some sort of sneaky feminist trap to make them look bad … I guess by luring them into posting what they really thought?
![SleepingSheeple 18 points 20 hours ago Probably started by feminists trying to manufacture victimhood. permalink save report give gold reply [–]ArchangelOKC 4 points 11 hours ago A false flag attack, basically](https://i0.wp.com/www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/falseflag.png?resize=458%2C173&ssl=1)
Among the assorted antifeminists I follow or otherwise encounter on Twitter, there were two basic responses. Some flatly declared that yes, feminists are ugly:
https://twitter.com/aaron_clarey/status/497801834548199424
https://twitter.com/FemsHaveBallz/status/497601470527983616
Others, a bit more circumspect, suggested that the real problem is that feminists are ugly on the inside.
Pretty selfies will not cover up your rotten soul. #feministsareugly
— Redd Fields (@ReddFields) August 8, 2014
The truth is, if a feminist screams that they aren't physically ugly in #FeministsAreUgly, that is probably the ONLY part that is not ugly
— Nephanor (@Nephanor) August 8, 2014
I'm very disappointed in the #FeministsAreUgly hashtag, because it ignores the reality that even the attractive ones are unpleasant.
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) August 8, 2014
A Voice for Men “Honey Badger” Hanna Wallen tried to have it both ways, posting a Dworkin joke aimed at a feminist who, like Dworkin, has dark curly hair, followed by a series of earnest and often incomprehensible tweets trying to prove that feminists (including me, specifically) have ugly souls.
Hey, #FeministsAreUgly, how are those selfies Dworkin for ya? http://t.co/d4RRgGXmT7 #WomenAgainstFeminism #feminismisawful
— Hannah Wallen | Professional Smartass (@Oneiorosgrip) August 8, 2014
The way their rhetoric inflicts stupidity on women is one reason why #FeministsAreUgly https://t.co/Ruz8kh8IPK
— Hannah Wallen | Professional Smartass (@Oneiorosgrip) August 8, 2014
I can only imagine how tough it’s been for MRAs to read through this hashtag. MRAs constantly attack feminists as fat and ugly; feminist women who aren’t fat are accused of having “manjaws” or other allegedly unflattering features. But many MRAs are also vaguely aware that constantly attacking their opponents as a bunch of uggos doesn’t exactly seem very statesmanlike. And so, many MRAs bite their tongues.
It’s tough being a men’s human rights activist. Sometimes they have to pretend that their opponents are actually human too.
I totally was late to the show and thought it was a tag set up by trolls, so I responded by sharing my stunning beauty
https://twitter.com/damselindetech/status/497536721060634625
On one hand, I can definitely agree that embracing one’s looks can be liberating and radical, particularly in the case of those who suffer oppression along multiple axes, but on the other hand, I really, really hate it when people start posting pictures of “attractive” feminists in an attempt to disprove the idea that feminists are, by definition, ugly. I feel that, at least in this instance, arguing (specifically, arguing that there are pretty feminists) lends credence to the idea that beauty is a valid measurement of worth (especially for women), and that the attractiveness of feminists has any bearing on the necessity of the movement at large.
It’s not that I don’t think people should be allowed to be beautiful, or to appreciate their beauty, or whatever – it’s that pushing the idea that “everyone is beautiful” seems to solidify the idea of beauty as a required trait to be considered human, and that is hella problematic.
Sorry if that was too tangential, I just wanted to throw it out there.
…. I am still very much confused by this.
Wow, you look badass, damselindistech!
RE: dustydeste
I think I know what you mean. Beauty’s a complicated thing. For me, sure, there are things I’m attracted to, but that’s not the same as beauty. And I like drawing different kinds of people, trying to get their features right.
I’m especially confused about what theosophy could possibly have to do with a twitter hashtag. I don’t think Blavatsky is more than marginally relevant to modern feminism.
Yeah, I feel like a person’s attractiveness or lack thereof doesn’t bear on whether or not they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. I wouldn’t have gone down this particular road.
But it is worthwhile to study the manosphere’s reactions to it, as well as how quickly misogynists swarmed the hashtag.
BLAVATSKY?
Well, at least it’s not Valerie Solanas. (Was gonna say Dworkin but too late.)
Yes, it’s true. I am trying to turn myself into an idol to be worshipped.
If you want to divert my righteous feminist wrath, you can appease me through offerings of bon-bons and male tears.
Donuts and coffee acceptable substitutions.
But seriously, these people. What is wrong with these people?
QFT.
Who gives a shit if anti-feminists think feminists are ugly.
@dustedeste- You hit the nail on the head. It’s sometimes difficult to break the habit of reassuring other women that they don’t look “ugly” and that everyone is beautiful, but I agree that physical appearance does not determine value or worth and shouldn’t be treated as such. Everyone has value.
@damselindetech- Your piercing is awesome!
And I’m also hella confused about the Blavatsky comparison. Just…what…the hell?
If my teeth are showing, that means I’m smiling, right?
https://twitter.com/damselindetech/status/497535388270206977
I want the freedom to be ugly tbh.
Why do we need a feminist hashtag that is beauty driven?
@damselindetech
I love your pics. I wish more selfies in the hashtag were goofy/fun like yours.
Well Blavatsky was a witch. She probably did bewitch a few men in her life and steal their sperm for Satan or something.
Reminds me that I used to read a theosophist forum – it was dramedy 24/7 and everybody trying to crawl up the moderator’s asshole for the rest of the time. The social dynamic of it resembled one of those tiny message boards run by small groups of teenagers, only that I had to assume that everybody was well of age in this case.
@Kakanian I was once interviewed for a job at the Theosophical Society U.S. HQ, and while the people I met there certainly weren’t teenagers you wouldn’t know it from the level of discourse.
I also have complicated feelings w/r/t the relative importance of widening cultural perceptions of beauty vs. demolishing the idea that beauty=value.
On a lighter note, I have to ask…
[blockquote]Pout, stammer your feet, throw tantrums and protest all u want, fat will never be beautiful. #feministsareugly[/blockquote]
…how exactly DOES one ‘stammer [one’s] feet’?
(cuuuurse you, blockquote monster. I knew I should have looked up the coding to make sure I had the right brackets….)
Why do some of those tweets remind me of the phrase “ugly on the inside–deep down where it counts”?
@maistrechat – yeah, my reaction to seeing Blavatsky mentioned was “Wat?”
I’ve wandered into the Theosophical Bookshop in Melbourne a couple of times, but they never stocked the books I was after anyway, and if they’re still all into reincarnation ideas as Theosophy used to be, it wouldn’t be the place for me at all.
@dustedeste – I feel the same “hmm” about the whole beauty thing. It’s so reminiscent of the suffragists (not suffragettes, specifically, but the wider movement) choosing attractive women as their speakers, trying to deflect the same “you’re ugly and barely human” shit misogynists threw at them then.
@Amatyultare – stammering with your feet sounds like what dogs do with their back feet when you tickle their ears.
sparky: Yes, it’s true. I am trying to turn myself into an idol to be worshipped.
You want us to hollow you out, bronze you, and build a fire in your belly?
dustedeste,
You are so on point. Well stated.
Good question. I’m not sure.
…And he said this without even a ~hint~ of self-awareness…the irony’s enough to give you hyperemia.
Besides that, if the meds are working, presumably you are not being volatile and grandiose. The meds are supposed to make you not lose your shit, that’s the point of taking them.
Hey guys. I’ve recently looked at the arguments that conservatives make again t gays and gay marriage to get better insight of them. I just came across this conservative forum discussing the issue here: http://mpcdot.com/forums/topic/5549-homosexuality-and-gay-marriage/
How would the arguments they make be countered? I am not totally in touch with the issue and thought maybe some here might be able to help. Thanks! 😀