I can’t stomach reading another entire article about this, but I’m glad they’re being written. From what I read (less than half?) the following is the takeaway just like all the other times:
she says, “I was in love with the frisson of transgression.” The online right had begun to engage more explicitly with forbidden subjects: nativism, race science, and gender essentialism drawn from evolutionary psychology. “There was an element of gnosticism to it,” she says, “the sense that you know secret things that other people don’t know.”
Anna’s discomfort with the right’s sexism grew
It’s all fun and games and just being "contrarian"about race science until you realize that there are people on the other side being harmed by beliefs and actions you only support because it’s “fun”. And the only thing that’s going to make you realize that is being on the other side of it.
These are just people with low empathy and/or intellect, that do not care what they or their friends do or say until it affects them. They are STILL doing these things because it lines their pockets. I want to extend empathy, but I often cannot find it within myself. People who aren’t “true believers” but refuse to leave are just enablers. It’s the 9 nazis at a table. I want to make room for these people, but they refuse to do anything to deserve it. Ashley St Clair has done an ok job, and I hope more women are able to look to that example, but reading this article just upset me.
I agree, and I hope my posting this isn’t seen as a total endorsement and forgiveness of every single right wing woman simply because they’ve found themselves on the receiving end of the worst form of what they fundamentally believe. This part was very revealing:
For women especially, contempt for feminist pieties, if deftly channeled, could be one’s ticket to stardom. And what had feminism done for them recently, except tell them to work harder and feel bad for wanting to be skinny? Or worse: trick them into waiting too long to have babies?
“Feel bad for wanting to be skinny” is obviously a reference to the Body Positivity movement, and it’s so emblematic of one of the most baffling traits of conservatives- they experience any attempt at making the world a less shitty place for someone as a psychic assault. “Let’s be less awful to overweight women” somehow gets turned in their minds into an attack on them. And you can repeat that for every “progressive” (if that’s the right word) attempt to improve the world in any way.
I didn’t take it as endorsement and forgiveness at all. I appreciate you posting it.
I couldn’t agree with your point more. So much of the conservative mindset is the fault of black and white thinking. People can’t suggest it’s worthwhile to interrogate feelings about your body. That’s too complicated. They have to either be “pro” or “against” something. The nuances necessary to live the best, fullest lives we can are lost on them, so they take body positivity as anti skinny and pro fat instead of a recognition that people look different and sometimes differences are ok. It’s extremely sad when you think about it.
I can’t stomach reading another entire article about this, but I’m glad they’re being written. From what I read (less than half?) the following is the takeaway just like all the other times:
It’s all fun and games and just being "contrarian"about race science until you realize that there are people on the other side being harmed by beliefs and actions you only support because it’s “fun”. And the only thing that’s going to make you realize that is being on the other side of it.
These are just people with low empathy and/or intellect, that do not care what they or their friends do or say until it affects them. They are STILL doing these things because it lines their pockets. I want to extend empathy, but I often cannot find it within myself. People who aren’t “true believers” but refuse to leave are just enablers. It’s the 9 nazis at a table. I want to make room for these people, but they refuse to do anything to deserve it. Ashley St Clair has done an ok job, and I hope more women are able to look to that example, but reading this article just upset me.
I agree, and I hope my posting this isn’t seen as a total endorsement and forgiveness of every single right wing woman simply because they’ve found themselves on the receiving end of the worst form of what they fundamentally believe. This part was very revealing:
“Feel bad for wanting to be skinny” is obviously a reference to the Body Positivity movement, and it’s so emblematic of one of the most baffling traits of conservatives- they experience any attempt at making the world a less shitty place for someone as a psychic assault. “Let’s be less awful to overweight women” somehow gets turned in their minds into an attack on them. And you can repeat that for every “progressive” (if that’s the right word) attempt to improve the world in any way.
I didn’t take it as endorsement and forgiveness at all. I appreciate you posting it.
I couldn’t agree with your point more. So much of the conservative mindset is the fault of black and white thinking. People can’t suggest it’s worthwhile to interrogate feelings about your body. That’s too complicated. They have to either be “pro” or “against” something. The nuances necessary to live the best, fullest lives we can are lost on them, so they take body positivity as anti skinny and pro fat instead of a recognition that people look different and sometimes differences are ok. It’s extremely sad when you think about it.
Can the left please start using more thought terminating cliches?
This would be the perfect context to just say “so you hate waffles?”