So Anita Sarkeesian, who apparently didn’t run off with all her Kickstarter money to found a Misandist Gynarchy in the wilds of Canada, has released the first video in her Tropes vs Women in Video Games project. (I’ve embedded it below.)
Naturally, this is causing great consternation in certain corners of the Internet (*cough* Reddit *cough cough* everywhere else that misogynistic nerds congregate *cough*). In the Man Boobz forum, Katz has started a contest to see who can find “the whiniest, brattiest, most entitled response” to Sarkeesian’s video on the Internet. So far Katz and Myoo have found a couple classic comments from irate Sarkeeianaphobes:
[H]ow does one go about stating that genders and gender roles are social constructs? I mean is evolution nothing to her? Does the patriarchy make male peacocks dress provocatively?
Yes. Yes it does.
And:
I’m gradually losing respect for the opposite sex. I’ve unfollowed people on tumblr who talk about how great she is, because it actually causes bile to rise in to my throat.
Yeah, that’s a totally reasonable response to a woman making a video about video games.
So anyway, I’m thinking we should bring the contest over here.
See what you can find! Consider it a sort of scavenger hunt.
Here’s my contribution, from the Men’s Rights subreddit, complaining that Damsels in Distress are the truly privileged ones:
Amazingly, this acutally got called out on r/mr as being pretty damn stupid.
Also, I have another question, to add to the stack of other questions I’ve been asking lately: Just why do you think so many guys get so angry when girls and women invade what they consider a male sphere, like gaming? (Also, why do they consider gaming to belong to boys and men?)
Oh, and here’s the video that’s causing all this hubbub:
I worked on Bonnie Cashin’s papers — do you guys know her? American designer. Anyway, she had these designs for outfits made out of turkey feathers, and now I am picturing them with those boots. I know, feathers =/= fur…
She had some really great purse designs too. You can still find them on ebay.
Sometimes I look at shoes and wonder if the embellishment was just an afterthought….
http://www.amazon.com/DSQUARED2-Womens-Lalique-Special-Cocco/dp/B007OVC3B2/ref=sr_1_3?s=shoes&ie=UTF8&qid=1363030879&sr=1-3
Not the blue boots, but the furry boots. Turkey feather outfit with the furry boots. 😀
With a ponyhair bag to round out the outfit. Ponyhair stuff really freaks me out.
About Crocs … the medical team that delivered our babies got to talking about one of the doctor’s choice of Shoes Kept At The Office. I can’t remember any of the options they suggested (I was a bit distracted) but they were trying to find something for her that was comfortable and she wouldn’t have to wear booties over them like she was doing.
I figured as long as they were talking about shoes nothing was going wrong. It got to be kind of comforting.
Lady let those tribbles free!
😀
@Falconer
I also find doctor chit-chat comforting. Getting trigger point injections is no where near as big a deal as babies, but it just projects a nice sense of normality and calm and everything-is-going-according-to-plan over whatever is going on. I can totally understand it being even more comforting the less familiar the medical situation and the bigger the fears of things going wrong. 🙂
How are your awesome wee ones doing?
Funny: “Men’s Rights Activists Turn Samus into a Man after Dad Replaces Mario with Pauline for Daughter.”
Marie –
I’ll see your Have I Mentioned I’m Homosexual and raise you one Have I Driven Everyone Up The Wall Mentioning Mr K Yet. 😉
@Some Gal
Your random thoughts made perfect sense.
Thanks
Cloudiah: SIGH. And “mentroid?” Really?
Mentroid sounds likes a mento-flavored steroids or protein powder. *giggles*
That’s the cutest version of the kitty! 🙂
Shoes! Socks!
I’m also in the can’t wear heels group; I’ve never been able to wear serious heels, they just throw all the weight onto the ball of my foot and that hurts like hell. Given my legs are 1/2 inch different in length, it’s just as well I never had much of a yen to wear them.
I’ve always been really limited in what shoes I can wear. My feet blister really easily, so sandals, even ones with terry lining on the straps, are out. Whatever I wear has to have socks or stockings underneath. That, plus being nervous about getting my feet walked on by some huge clod, means closed shoes for me all year round. Now I’m in orthotics it’s pretty much either boots or sandshoe-types. Keen have some good laceups, and I bought my first pair of Merrel zip-ups the other day. I’m just having to get out of my “laceups look stupid with skirts” mindset, lol. The other hazard is the shoe pressing on my left little toe – owowowowowow. Don’t want corns, thank you, I know what Mum’s been through with those.
I bought these boots a couple of weeks ago and I think they’ll be good once they’ve stretched a bit more. They’re still a bit hmmm around the toe at present.
Those ultra-high platforms and heelless platforms – gods, they make me see red. Falconer, I agree, they’re just the shape of a crippled, bound foot. That really screams I hate women to me. I don’t give a damn what the designer may claim, you don’t expect people – sorry, women, we’d never ask men to walk around shackled – to wear things like that outside a BDSM context.
Do Re: you were being treated civilly here, I was having a conversation with you and suggesting ways you could maybe get help in changing your misogyny, but the minute any women here disagreed with you, you got hostile and defensive. The “fixation with child porn” crack wasn’t funny and wasn’t really appropriate, especially coming from a stranger, and one, moreover, who’s already said he has issues with women. Don’t lump it on us and retreat to saying “Oh the MRAs are right.” These guys want women denied voting rights, denied work, denied any personal freedom, denied bodily autonomy and often enough they want us dead. Claiming they have any sort of right on their side in their attitude toward women (and not even the straw feminists in their heads) is a massive backward step for someone wanting to change his attitudes. I would strongly suggest you work on your own problems with a professional, and stay out of feminist spaces until you’re a good bit further on the road to seeing women as full, individual human beings.
NB I am not saying this to snark at you: I mean it, and with good will.
@cloudiah
That story seemed suspicious because the quotes were a little on the nose and some searching indicates that Play4Real is a parody website, like the Onion, so that didn’t actually happen.
Forgot to add: I can’t fathom how rigid plastic Crocs (or Birkenstocks) would be comfortable, either, but that’s ‘cos among other things my feet are totally flat and pronated and the idea of hard built-in arch supports that don’t match my feet is OW territory.
Sir knitted himself a pair of socks t’other day, inspired by one of the guys at work, whose MiL knitted THE best pair of patterned socks, which he was showing off, lol.
You know, I personally don’t have the patience for it, but it warms the cockles* of my heart how kind and generous some people here are towards commenters who’ve really done nothing to deserve it and a lot of things that would justify not being kind or generous to them at all.
* I’ve always wondered why hearts are supposed to contain shellfish.
Myoo: Whew! But talk about Poe’s Law!
@The Kittehs’
My Crocs are really soft and bendy plastic almost like a silicone baking dish, but slightly more firm. I can’t speak for the arch thing as mine do pretty well in most shoes. (Thankfully, something about my feet is easy. 🙂 )
Also (and more importantly) bravo! Bravo! for your response to Do Re.
titianblue – I LOVE Josef Siebel boots! I have a pair almost identical to those, but in dark brown. Yeah, painfully expensive, though: they’re over $200 here.
Yeah, Myoo I thought it was obvious it was a parody — but on the other hand, commenters on the story don’t seem so sure…
I don’t really get how arch supports work? My arches are pretty high, but the only times I’ve tried on shoes that have a bit that sticks up there it’s bothered me so much that I couldn’t wear them. I guess I’m just used to there being a gap between my arch and the shoe. Is the support supposed to fit snugly against the arch?
@katz
There’s also the fact that I can’t see any MRA actually doing the work to actually accomplish that, but I could totally see them making an angry post about it.
@CassandraSays
Seconded.
Hmm, afraid I’ll be the odd one out with Jason Momoa. Never heard of him before and that picture just made me think “weird eyebrows”. 😛