Friday Ephemera
More than close enough. || The machine uprising, day 3. || A test of manliness. || Meanwhile, in Canada. || Neutralising tremors. || That’s a lot of drag-for-kiddies. || That’s a lot of transgender paedophilia. (h/t, Burnsie) || He does this better than you do. || Songs like X. For finding new music like the music you know. (h/t, Elephants Gerald) || One woman’s war on “promiscuous kissing.” || How to make peanut butter glow. || Decent bouncing, better save. || Consolations. || Cross-cultural interaction. || Cross-cultural interaction 2. || Surprisingly casual. || Her gender is “inherently related to teeth.” || Musical interlude. || And finally, following this item, “Attention, children, your role-model adult has arrived.”
A thread featuring Laurie Penny restauraunt grade bollocks wherein just she makes stuff up she imagines to be true, BIRM.
she makes stuff up she imagines to be true
Well, TBF she’s not 100% wrong. Though she gets the more important 1/3 wrong.
Sounds like “cool kids” in middle school, knifing a designated victim for ego gratification. I could clearly see the glee in the accusers actions.
There are days when I feel like the anti-WTP: having shouted into the wilderness for years that everyone involved in con culture is an emotionally damaged deviant and that taking women seriously leads to society becoming every cafeteria scene from Mean Girls, it’s gratifying to see others finally seeing the light.
One of my perennial complaints: “It reeks of excess and over-the-top spectacle.”
While the Drinker has an entertaining schtick, I’m always bemused by the fact that so many people think he’s saying anything original or insightful. The joke that in MichaelBayVerse everything is made of unstable nitroglycerin was around before the Drinker was born. Modern nerd films are just the current equivalent of 1980’s action films, usually starring Arnold Schwarzenegger or a similar set of pecs. Of course they reek of excess and over-the-top spectacle. That’s the point.
wherein just she makes stuff up she imagines to be true
I do not believe her allegations to be true of men in general.
I do believe with bedrock certainty that they are 100% true of every man Laurie Penny knows.
I do not believe her allegations to be true of men in general.
I do believe with bedrock certainty that they are 100% true of every man Laurie Penny knows.
Based on her own statements over the years, I get the impression that Laurie’s inner social circle and intimate partners are subject to quite a lot of pre-emptive political vetting. Despite her travels, the people she encounters, and likes, seem very much of a type. The odds of her ending up in the sack with someone who isn’t another leftist, another self-imagined radical, seem slim.
[ Added: ]
Somewhat related.
Re the athletic blokes in frocks if it was simply a case of “being true to myself” there would be far more cross-overs into low-profile sports in less sport-centric countries, unlike GB, USA, NZ and Oz, which rather supports the view that it’s really all about the misogyny (whether towering over defeated females on podiums* or strutting butt naked around their changing rooms). This behaviour is not too far removed from the recently enabled phenomenon of self-identifying “females” in woman’s prisons.
* re the cycling picture has anyone ever seen two female athletes giving each other the full smackeroo on the podium? It’s as if they’re doing everything possible to ram home the message that “we’re different from you, you know it, we know it and there’s nothing you can do about it”.
For those unfamiliar with Ms Penny’s written output, and the unhinged worldview it implies.
Speaking of drag-for-kiddies.
Again, aspirational role-model.
re the cycling picture has anyone ever seen two female athletes giving each other the full smackeroo on the podium?
For those who missed it – never let it be said I am not a giver.
“Help, help, I am being oppressed” – by Harry Potter and Chick-fil-A.
An apparently deleted but caught tweet…
Now we see the violence inherent in the system, you non-allies.
Again, aspirational role-model.
More of the same here.
It does leave one wondering how on Earth they could ever have possibly come to the conclusion that this would advance the ostensible cause of creating a more open and inclusive society.
So I have been left to assume that this is not why they are doing what they are doing. As far as I can tell, one or more of the following seems more plausible as a motivation:
Unadulterated narcissism – to achieve notoriety without caring for the particulars of how it is achieved. So long as it provokes all the “right” people, it’s a publicity victory.
“Normalise” (so-called) marginal communities – to bring the marginal into the centre and establish it as an alternative but equal “norm”,seemingly on the grounds that if anything and everything can be considered to be a norm, then no one can be excluded or marginalised.
Perhaps needless to say, but if this is the case, it betrays a profoundly crude, simplistic and immature understanding, one might even say a fantastical understanding, of what a society is and how it functions.
Dismantling liberal society – to expose the (alleged) internal contradictions of liberal Western societies by trying to demonstrate that it is, in fact, far more intolerant and oppressive to minority communities and not, as it is claimed to be, tolerant and open.
Whichever of these it is – or even none – the real question is still why such obvious Bedlamites are given so much support in Media and government.
There are days when I feel like the anti-WTP: having shouted into the wilderness for years that everyone involved in con culture is an emotionally damaged deviant and that taking women seriously leads to society becoming every cafeteria scene from Mean Girls, it’s gratifying to see others finally seeing the light.
I wouldn’t say that everyone in con culture is an emotionally damaged deviant, but a lot are. That is, emotional damage/behavioral dysfunction, in varying degrees from mild to serious, is widespread. And although deviancy may be much less common (I’m not sure) a cult of tolerance for deviancy pervades that world. I am pretty confident that the origin of that cult lies in the pervasive maladjustment: The fans all wanted a place where their “quirks” wee tolerated, and that tolerance quickly became actual celebration (see the slogan “fans are slans” which quickly became popular in the 1940’s) and steadily broadened to include almost every deviancy you can imagine–because if you are not publicly tolerant and approving of any one deviancy then you are suspected of being intolerant in general.
Side comment: But I did hear a joke many years ago that “Mensa is for people who are not yet emotionally mature enough for fandom.” From some of the antics I have heard about, the same might apply to the Libertarian Party. And that could get me onto some thoughts about totalizing theories and the people who are attracted to them.
wherein just she makes stuff up she imagines to be true
I do not believe her allegations to be true of men in general.
I do believe with bedrock certainty that they are 100% true of every man Laurie Penny knows.
Seems very likely: I would expect that only broken and twisted men would be attracted to Laurie Penny, while sane ones would avoid her like the plague.
However, she might nonetheless be telling lies: Take the example of leftist sf/fantasy writer Harlan Ellison: He had been married six or seven times, and most the marriages (all but the last?) failed very quickly. If you took him at his word (in what he wrote about those wives and girlfriends in his essays and columns) you would think that he was an innocent victim of women who concealed their insanity or malevolence until after the two were married or cohabiting. (Side question: Why did he feel no compunction about publicly discussing the intimate lives of people around him? Avoid such callous writers like the plague.)
However, many people who knew Harlan reported that he almost impossible to get along with: He could be charming in the short term but sooner or later would be nasty and cruel. In the last couple decades of his life he actually admitted that he was almost impossible to live with.
Furthermore, Harlan was a highly successful, highly promiscuous pickup artist: He could walk into a room, pick out a woman that attracted him, and quickly seduce her into going home with him. That is a behavior likely to result in a lot of “conflict” when even the nicest men and women only later find out what sorts of people they are.
An example of Harlan’s volcanically toxic personality: He used to appear regularly on talk shows. On one occasion, a female guest ventured to express some conservative politcal opinion. Harlan was so enraged that he actually lunged across the set to assault her. (I’m not sure if he actually managed to touch her.) So much for his passionate public support for free speech and civilized behavior.
Caveat: I am confident that what I wrote about Harlan is generally true but am somewhat unsure about the fine details, due to the fact that I read all those essays and columns 35 to 45 years ago.
Help me out here…not seeing where that would make one an anti-WTP. Seems more a parallel one.
While the Drinker has an entertaining schtick, I’m always bemused by the fact that so many people think he’s saying anything original or insightful.
Maybe even the most obvious things need to be re-said now and then.
Modern nerd films are just the current equivalent of 1980’s action films… Of course they reek of excess and over-the-top spectacle. That’s the point.
But I know a lot of nerds who either cannot see how excessive they are, or refuse to admit it. My hypothesis is that their geek personalities cripple their ability to appreciate subtlety.
Help me out here…not seeing where that would make one an anti-WTP. Seems more a parallel one.
I took it to mean he is now seeing more public recognition of what he as complained about than you are.
Laurie: Her claim that men freak if a woman wants sex is simply wrong. There was a sort of survey done in the US, where men went up to women on the street and asked if they would like to have sex. They were handsome men. 0% said yes. When women asked men, something like 30-50% (can’t remember details) said yes. Does not sound like men are afraid of sexual women.
Her claim that violence is part of sex for men is wildly crazy. Yes, for a tiny %. For most men they are very very careful not to hurt the woman’s feelings because they don’t want to be cut off. Married women are the safest demographic relative to assault, rape, and murder. Their men protect them.
Meanwhile in Austria, memes come to life.
If this is real, it is totes not Munchausen’s by proxy.
I can’t believe it’s real.
If I’m wrong then lions are too good for that person.
I can’t believe it’s real.
If it is not, that someone would come up with this dreck pretending it is real for for likes or whatever is a problem in of itself.
The child had more sense than the parent. Munchausen’s is much worse when doctors go along with it like this (even if this case is fake, docs do this to kids).
Yeah. I keep forgetting how often people actually want to rub others’ faces in filth.
…
Ah! It probably would’ve been clearer if I’d specified that the “gigabyte of information” was mostly noise, with (maybe) one bit of signal.
Thanks for helping me workshop my material.
Yeah. I keep forgetting how often people actually want to rub others’ faces in filth.
And without visual and auditory clues, words we write can be easily misunderstood.
Most social media in a nutshell.
How to make peanut butter glow.
One more excuse for buying a violet laser pointer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EpKqmNxV-s&t=102s
Well done.
because if you are not publicly tolerant and approving of any one deviancy then you are suspected of being intolerant in general
Are you familiar with the Geek Social Fallacies?
My hypothesis is that their geek personalities cripple their ability to appreciate subtlety
I have a different hypothesis, one related to the GSFs. The GSFs are not fallacies, in the sense that they’re errors of reasoning. They’re symptoms of stunted emotional development and an underdeveloped amygdala. They’re the habits of someone phobic about rejection because they can’t handle the stress and implied criticism. Children, basically.
The reason geeks have a tendency to absorb themselves in fictional worlds is that fictional worlds are emotionally safer than the real world. They’re more predictable, less stressful, emotionally satisfying, they often pander to the geek’s particular dysfunctions. They’re a safety blanket.
As a result, any criticism of any kind threatens the geek’s sense of (false) emotional security and they react as if they are being personally, physically threatened.
I think you’re probably correct about geeks being unable to appreciate subtlety, but I contend that’s a side effect of an inability to handle ambiguity because it’s stressful, and the defining characteristic of geeks is their inability to manage amygdala stimulation.
This is why, although he’s a competent film critic, I don’t pay that much attention to the Drinker: he assumes pop culture trifles like Star Wars and the MCU are important enough to be angry about. “Why Modern Movies Suck” – no, “Why Modern Nerd Movies and Nostalgia Bait Movies Suck”. You’re never going to see him review 2021’s Sundown or Death on the Nile despite both being complex movies that could be argued to be either very good or very bad.
I place reliance on his opinion by trying to watch any films awarded the “drinker recommends” label and to date have enjoyed the vast majority of them.
Otherwise his pithy dissection of shows I was never likely to watch anyway are an entertaining 10 minutes worth.
because if you are not publicly tolerant and approving of any one deviancy then you are suspected of being intolerant in general.
I’ve certainly encountered people who assumed that, being gay, I would happily suspend all discernment regarding creepily oversharing teachers, drag-for-kiddies, etc. As if the things one would obviously applaud include six-year-olds being encouraged to stuff dollar bills into the panties of gyrating dysmorphic men who have OnlyFans accounts and work as prostitutes.
Which is faintly insulting.
Are you familiar with the Geek Social Fallacies?…
I may have seen that before, somewhere, but cannot recall with any confidence. I will bookmark that blog for repeated visits. (And friends wonder why I have so many bookmarks. [grin])
You’ve offered a lot to ponder, and a hasty five-minute skim leads me to think I will eventually say I agree. “stunted emotional development” and “fictional worlds are emotionally safer than the real world” sound right on target.
Thank you very much. These are the sorts of thoughtful comments that keep me coming back–that, and the occasional silliness and the bootleg bar snacks that David hasn’t noticed.
Wonderful anecdote about the Queen.
Wonderful anecdote about the Queen.
Similarly, The Queen has tea with a guest.
I think that, whether she’ll admit it or not, to one degree or another every female American covets the power of the popular Mean Girl she remembers from high school. If she was a geek, she had no hope of becoming the Queen Bee in high school, but in the highly feminized world of Fandom, she has a shot at it as an adult. And with the help of the Internet, these days a Queen Bee actually has the power of life and death; she can, if she’s good enough at what she does, egg her court on to driving a victim to suicide. This has not happened, that I know of, in geekdom, so far it seems to be “only” destroyed careers, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Fandom suicide in the next five years.
I hope this is a pisstake.
Cognitive dissonance? George Orwell’s Doublethink can solve that dilemma.
Back in the 70’s when I was at university, it was common for campus leftists to say that the United States should have fully open borders so that anyone in the Third World could come here for employment or welfare. Refused to admit that it is impossible for the United States to feed and house the entire world. Also refused to admit that not all cultures are the same and some are very incompatible with Western civilization.
David: “Which is faintly insulting.” It is rather more than faintly insulting, but I recognize your brit understatement of things. It resembles the assumption that anyone black by default supports BLM, riots and all.
Farnsworth: the trans guy was getting cat called and guys making passes? WTF. That is obviously a guy. Dude be trippin, as they say.
Dude be trippin, as they say.
Trans people tend to be grotesquely delusional, as we have seen in many posts on this site. Twenty years ago I was shaking my head at the morbidly obese women wearing t-shirts proclaiming how beautiful they were. Now the trans guys make them seem almost sane by comparison.
If “she” had only looked behind “her” and seen the beautiful model walking the Afghan hound… ?
I can support Vagina Day. And I can support Vulva Day.
But Vagina AND Vulva Day is a bridge (or tube) too far.
I can support Vagina Day.
Remember when feminists tried to turn Valentine’s Day into V Day?
I parted ways with a few more feminists over that one.
But Vagina AND Vulva Day is a bridge (or tube) too far.
Look upon the vulva as the gate to hetero/lesbian vaginal heaven and your discord is diminished. And with no St Peter…
You’ve offered a lot to ponder
My ex-wife suffered from severe complex PTSD, and as a result I had to learn far more than I would have liked about traumatic psychology and the associated neuroscience. That led to about five years volunteering with a practice that worked with complex PTSD patients. Once you know what the symptoms and the etiology of a hypersensitive amygdala are, it’s easy to spot.
I maintain that you can learn more about psychology by watching Dr. Phil than any textbook, because he understands that human beings are actually pretty simple creatures driven by primitive responses to simple incentives. If someone’s doing something dumb or self-destructive, it’s because on some level they’re getting something out of it or they think it’s preventing something worse from happening.
to one degree or another every female American covets the power of the popular Mean Girl she remembers from high school
You can remove the word “American” from that sentence. I have texts from pre-Alexandrian Persia that describe behaviour amongst the houris of the regional satraps’ hareems that would make Lindsay Lohan look like a rank amateur. Women are herd animals, and social cutting is how they compete for position within the herd.
This has not happened, that I know of, in geekdom
It has, just not to anyone famous you’re likely to have heard of. I personally know of half a dozen people who committed suicide after being ostracized from their local fan groups over some trivial bollocks. Of course, it’s also true that these groups had a huge overlap with the poly/kink/LGBT community and the people-with-fashionable-mental-illness community, so pinning it solely on fandom Mean Girls behaviour is a bit dodgy.
I do recall seeing one fellow – a successful accountant in his forties with a house, wife and children – break down into tears in front of a dozen people in the middle of a gaming event upon finding out he hadn’t been invited to a casual friend’s birthday party.
Daniel Ream: Sorry to hear all that. But thanks for your observations.