Important clarification/FAQ
I am not calling to coddle or excuse the behavior of bigoted men in any way!
I am calling to be kind and understanding to young men (often ages 10-20) who are very manipulable and succeptible to the massive anti feminist propaganda machine. Hope this clarifies that very important distinction. :)
Very good comments that express key points:
- Detailed summary of the situation if you're wondering what's going on
- The rhetorical value of the bear hypothetical and what this means for you
- One example of why the long-term rhetorical value of the hypothetical is poor, in the context of intersectionality
- What does disenfranchisement mean in this context?
- The importance of not asking women to tone down their expressions of fear and frustration
- "But why can't they just say it nicely?"
- The importance of participation in kindness toward young men, specifically outside the context of people speaking their experiences
Edit: This post has now been removed and restored twice. I want to encourage you all:
Be decent to one another
I think this post is a valuable thing given the current state of the Fediverse, please don't fuck it up for us by being toxic in the comments.
What? Men are going to adopt shitty beliefs and exercise their privilege no matter what and nothing can be done about it. /s
The gamification of social media means any attempt to draw a bright line of social conduct will just end in people deploying that rule in the most cynical context.
"Believe all women" means we're going to slap generic women's faces in our Avis and lie out our asses.
"Let people enjoy things" means reframing the most deplorable and nakedly hostile conduct as some kind of secret fetish you have to support.
"Protect Kids" means posting baby pictures under every comment and saying "This is who you're talking to".
"Act like an adult" means getting CP in your DMs.
When its all a fucking game and you score points by causing other people mental anguish, the only thing any sane healthy person can do is log off, touch grass, and get as far away from the hellscape that is social media as possible.
That's an interesting perspective. They would say the same thing about "touching grass" when tv became popular. The scenarios you describe are more extreme versions of beaver and butthole are corrupting your kids.
They'd be right. TV absolutely rots your perception of the outside world. I can't count the number of elderly people who have become shut-ins, thanks to the continuous bombardment of Sinclair Media crime-blotter local news coverage. People ingest too much of this crap and suddenly they're too terrified to leave their homes.
The Christ-o-fascists who lost their shit over MTV didn't want kids to stop watching TV entirely. They just wanted the kids to watch religious broadcasts instead.
Growing up with them I can certifiably say you're wrong. As a result I was out in the world doing things I look back on and think were fucking insane.
Ever wonder how you survived? I certainly do
I know for the most part I was always trying to be conservative with my friends and though we were taking risks I would try to draw the line somewhere. I think that helped but a lot of the time I was encouraging it too. Otherwise just dumb luck.
I mean the phenomenon of televangelists and televangelical megachurch pastors that spread their messages and propaganda through the same avenues as conventional media is a pretty like, well documented thing, I'd say. Tune into AM radio or cable TV and you can probably still peep some of them doing their thing. I don't think their point is necessarily invalid, but I also think there's more of like a happy medium between, watching TV all day and going outside and bumming around town as a latchkey kid and frying your brain on spice in the back of a much older guy's car, or like. Robbing a low rent low security corner store on the edge of town.
I'm not saying christian media didn't exist I'm just saying at no point were we given the option to do that instead. TV was satanic and we should go outside and stay out of the way.