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:
Oh and totally off topic but never off topic: I’m trawling old threads and cloudiah posted this in January, and squeeeeee!
http://youtu.be/9Iq5yCoHp4o
“the fact that rape threats are a thing says a lot about how rape isn’t a lapse of self-control, but often a tool to punish and control others. ”
I thought this was a good quote to post……
An excellent one indeed, melody.
PS you feeling any better than yesterday?
Kitteh said:
“Seranvali – flatterer! Argenti’s right, I’ll be fifty in a few months, and it’s only in the last year-odd that these problems have really caught up with me. Thanks for the tip about the elastic, and for the variablility of the pain. I should mention that to my poor osteopath, she’s getting a bit baffled by it all and I’m getting a double session (two osteos) tomorrow so she can have a second opinion.”
My podiatrist told me about the effects on the rest of my body. I’d not thought of it that way but she described exactly how it felt. I discovered about the elastic from a video a friend gave me about pilates. I wasn’t sure about the rest but that tip turned out to be really helpful.
“I find one thing that helps often is a back brace – just a shaped elastic belt with various adjustable straps and stiffening strips. Adds support, and it’s nice in cold weather because it concentrates heat, but it’s a pain having to wear it in 36C weather!”
Yes, I can see that it would help. It would physically straighten you up and absorb some of the stress from your hips and shoulders. I can see that it would be a monster in hot weather!
“Argenti, you’ve mentioned you have scoliosis, haven’t you? OT really but did you see the news about the recovery of Richard III’s skeleton? Turns out he had severe scoliosis that took inches off his heigh (he’d have been about 5′ 8″ otherwise) and probably developed in his teens.”
Poor man. I read Josephine Tey’s novel about him as a teenager and felt that Shakespeare had maligned him. I’m glad they finally found his body. Are they going to rebury him at the Abbey or leave him where he is?
“Barometers … we have one at work called the Mood Barometer, with things like Happy orCranky or whatever written on it. We were saying today that it’d be great to have an online Mood Barometer for customers to check before they ring us. If it reads “Overnight server meltdown” it goes red and you don’t ring us before midday.”
Hahaha! We need one of those at my place!
Nice bit of serendipity: I’m reading the Nice Guys of OKCupid thread from January, and we started talking about misogyny in geekdom here.
@The kitteh
I am feeling much better. I still have a headache, but I can live with that. And I had an over 24hour break from work.
I have scoliosis too and really hate the idea of a brace…..
“Poor man. I read Josephine Tey’s novel about him as a teenager and felt that Shakespeare had maligned him. I’m glad they finally found his body. Are they going to rebury him at the Abbey or leave him where he is?”
I read Daughter of Time too! Only book I’ve finished and started reading again immediately – I mean, instantly, straight back to the front page. There are so many questions unanswered, but yeah, I’m basically a Ricardian. Even if he did kill his nephews … horrible, but every other king deposed in medieval England was killed by his successor. It was simply too dangerous to leave them alive. Look at what happened to Henry VI: Edward IV took the crown, ten years later there was a counter-rising that reinstated Henry for a few months, then Edward took it again and after that, and with Henry’s son already dead in battle, there was no reason to keep him alive.
There hasn’t been a decision about where Richard will be reburied, yet. I don’t know if the Abbey is on the cards at all. Leicester Cathedral is pushing for him to be buried there, and York Minster is making its claim (it’s quite possible he would have wanted to be buried there after his long time spent in the North). St George’s Chapel, Windsor, would be a good choice, being the other main royal sepulchre. I hope he is buried in York Minster. One MP is pushing for a form of state funeral to be held, which I’d really love to happen.
Did you see the facial reconstruction done from his skull?
Glad you’re feeling better, melody!
Oh poop, broken link.
Richard III
Scoliosis = yep. Once had a chest x-ray after a positive skin TB test (a story for another time) and the tech…well no signs of TB, but, um, did you know…that my spine looks like a slinky? Yes.
Melody — unless you’re still growing idk why anyone would suggest a brace, afaik they’re only to prevent it from getting worse. To just make you stand up straighter and stop stressing your poor twisted muscles, the standard fare supports can work *plugs corsets, again* or kitteh’s aforementioned back brace.
Things I advise against — leaning your elbow on your hip on your “concave” side. If you have any painkiller advise for “holy shit does it hurt when ribs hit each other” I’m all ears!
Seranvali — too bad about your heels (and, of course, the broken leg that sparked giving them away), at least you know they found a good home.
Kitteh — yeah I get a bit irked about mocking Mr. Al’s “morning height” as I legit have a morning height (granted it’s no more than a half inch, but it’s a thing…and I rounded up on my ID!)
Melody — glad your feeling better, and as soon as I hit post it occurred to me that my question about bracing could come off as disagreeing with your doctor(s) — I am neither an expert, nor up to date on info, so what I said doesn’t apply if your doctor(s) suggested it. If not though, I wouldn’t worry about it.
My doctor pushed for it a about a year ago, but has given up on convincing me. There are other suggestions, but my doctor isn’t going to push for them unless my spine gets worse. Apparently, it hasn’t warped more (according to my last xrays anyway). Of course I am now in the process of finding a new doctor closer to where I live so perhaps a new one will push for action.
And I have very high pain tolerance (probably as a result of my Scoliosis).
I have so many stories of me not noticing things and them getting worse: walking on a dislocating knee, breaking my ribs and going out to horseback ride ect.
I rounded down on my ID…….I wish I was shorter.
@Some Gal: They’re doing great. They have really big appetites and … offloads to match.
Everybody who sees them falls in love with them.
I will admit to a bit of ZOMG TWINS!! fatigue. Have I mentioned my fraternal twin brother before? So I grew up with ZOMG TWINS!! and when someone today is all did you know you have twins? I worry that I don’t muster enough enthusiasm and come off as not a loving father.
What will save you from Daleks then? There are only so many sofas!
Good luck with your new doctor! And congrats on the not getting worse!
“And I have very high pain tolerance (probably as a result of my Scoliosis).
I have so many stories of me not noticing things and them getting worse: walking on a dislocating knee, breaking my ribs and going out to horseback ride ect.”
So is that it…I once decided it was easier to just shift my weight than get a broken toe set, cuz hey, if I put more weight on my heel it didn’t even hurt. Ditto when I accidentally ripped out a toe nail (holy shit did that hurt at first though! Thank the gods it was sandal weather!)
Big toes both times too. Fuck, I took Advil after my wisdom teeth came out, I had a knock you on your ass painkiller script but it didn’t hurt so much as *mummble mummble bloody mess*
“Pain, what’s pain, besides ‘back, oh gods no, you’re evil, stop spasming!'” Fist bump?
Falconer — you have newborns, 24/7, they get to gawk for mere minutes. Anyone who gives a shit that you can’t be arsed to muster enthusiasm should try dealing with an infant, even just for a few hours, forget overnight. You have a free pass on “fuck this I can’t bring myself to care”.
And daleks can LEVITATE now, so um…blast proof doors? Filling a bunker with concrete? The Bad Wolf? Hm, yep, Rose, repeatedly.
@cloudiah
Their rant is icky. Do I call things icky too often? I mean, with mras it’s usually true.
@some gal
Sorry about the stairs 🙁 Our apartments have some on the first floor (idk how they all work) but they’re also twenty dollars more per month, which is a pain in the ass and they aren’t always available (and not everyone can probably afford it :/). Luckily my mom was able to spend the extra money on the first floor, which is good because my sister has fibromalgia (sp?).
@melody
it was a good quote. Glad to hear you’re feeling better, too 🙂
@falconer
Twin buddies! I have a twin sister who is (probably) identical to me. We never tested for it but everyone mixes us up. Sorry you’re getting fatigued by it though 🙁 But babies sound really energy taking, so hopefully people aren’t being jerks about it.
re: braces. I really wish I could get a brace for my back. But it’s so hard to find ones for upper back, most are for lower back. :/
@Falconer
I can see how all the ZOMG TWINS would be exhausting in its own right. I’m sure your twins will get their fill of it without you joining in too much. 🙂
I am glad to hear they are doing well.
@Marie
Sorry to hear about your sister, but glad to hear that you could get the first floor. Other than for my fibromyalgia, I like being on higher floors, but I guess if they can charge extra for the first floor, there are a lot of fellow stair-haters out there. *Joins Argenti in Down with Stairs chant*
Our current apartment has an elevator which means I’ve only used the stairs once (stupid fire alarm). 🙂
@melody
Glad you are feeling better and I hope your headache goes away soon!
@some gal
Thanks 🙂 Glad to hear the place your in now has an elevator.
Oh man, when it comes to foot pain and shoes, I could write a book. I’m a huge “barefoot” proponent (though not one of those obnoxious ones who is like, “It works for everyone and fixes everything no matter what!!!”…ya gotta do what works for you) because it has allowed me to keep running. I have flat feet, pronate badly and developed plantar fasciitis to the point that I had to quit entirely for a few years, until my dad got me a pair of Vibrams 5Fingers for the holidays one year. Now I’m doing my first marathon in May if all goes well. 😀
I can hike or run in them all day without a problem. I do a lot of trail running (I like to be able to take my pack of dogs with me and let them off-leash when I train) and it used to drive me nuts feeling every pebble or rock on the trail (especially when you land on the narrow edge of one LOL), but you get used to it quick.
The crazy thing is that I don’t pronate anymore and have actual arches now, as the muscles in my feet have gained strength and literally pulled my feet up. I grew up in the desert so we pretty much never went barefoot, so they were incredibly atrophied. My feet look different and have actually gone down about a size.
I’m a wilderness search dog handler and we’re required to wear heavy traditional hiking boots when working and my feet always feel weird at the end of those days, but I still notice less ankle and foot pain than I used to have–probably because even with orthotics (which I used to use, but don’t anymore), rigid hiking boots aren’t exactly the best for foot pain.
I don’t wear heels or anything either…pretty much live in comfy flat sandals, “barefoot shoes” or hiking boots. For the most part, if I’m not able to wear one of the three, I don’t want to go. 😉 Plus I’m 5’9″ and my partner is 5’6″ so I’m already visibly taller than him, on the rare occasions I’ve worn heels next to him it just feels awkward to kiss or hold hands or anything like that.
Um, sorry for the long post…trying to go barefoot is something that a lot of people with foot pain never consider because it goes against most conventional wisdom about the causes of foot pain, but it has helped me immensely and helped a lot of other people I’ve met as well. My podiatrist even agreed it had totally turned my feet around, though he was against it when I first brought it up as a possibility. 😉 All of our bodies are different of course and there are a lot of factors going into it, but if your feet are hurting even with custom orthotics and all that good stuff, might be something to consider.
Amusing how those responses already start to backfire like the original harassment she had to endure.
btw, have you seen Anita’s research material? I’m a bit jealous. 😀
More reasons that stairs should step up their game.
This is the thread for stairs and bad puns, right? 🙂
@AK
yay! glad to hear your feet have gotten better. 😀
@some gal
I always love puns (well, love them or hate them, but with puns it’s almost the same thing XD). Sadly I can’t think of them very well.