So Reddit’s Men’s Rightsers are in a tizzy over a bullshitty piece in the Daily Telegraph warning of an evil worldwide plot to force men to pee sitting down.
The evidence for the existence of such a plot is a bit on the skimpy side — the Telegraph writer leads off with a reference to a 2012 proposal from a County Council member in Sormland, Sweden that doesn’t seem to have gone anywhere legislatively but that’s been a favorite evil-feminist story on conservative websites ever since.
The very notion that some evil feminist might force them to sit while they spray has Men’s Rights Redditors in an unusually combative mood. Heck, it’s got some of the regulars thinking that it might well be time to start doing some good-old fashioned murdering. No, really.
Yep. In case you’ve been wondering, suggesting “a campaign to assassinate feminist figures” because some local council member in Sweden had a dumb idea will in fact win you upvotes on the Men’s Rights subreddit.
Strikerfm1, by contrast, seems almost moderate with his “tie feminists down and urinate on them” proposal.
The World’s Greatest 21st Century Human Rights Movement, folks!
Thanks to the AgainstMensRights subreddit for pointing me to this horrible crap.
EDIT: The “let’s murder feminists” comment has been taken down by the subreddit mods, though the user hasn’t been banned for it; the “I want to tie a feminist down and pee on her” comment remains up, and still boasts upvotes.
@LBT – I hope I’m so late to the “not a party, because you’re in pain” that you no longer need sore throat advice, but I have one that no one’s mentioned, so maybe you can file it away for telling other people when they’re sick (because I’m hoping you’ll never be sick ever again). Plus, it’s free and doesn’t require any preparation time.
Try making a “lion face”, where you stick your tongue out and down as far as it will go – like you’re trying to touch under your chin – really stretch it out and down HARD. Also squeeze your face tight with your facial muscles (squeezing your eyes shut tight) – basically tense up the muscles. Hold this for as long as you can (usually about 30 seconds or so, to give you an idea – don’t do anything that will hurt you), and then release. Your throat should feel better for a while – not long, granted, but there’s no maximum on the number of times you can do this, and it’s free, so do it as much as you want – particularly if you happen to be facing someone you don’t like. 🙂
Yes, that seems to be the impression I got, too. I only ever encountered it as a neutral and non-specific term for several Eurasian nomadic peoples, so I was taken aback that it’s now been deemed a slur. And I’ve never met one myself, so I honestly have no idea if they’d be insulted by my unwitting use of the word. I guess it really depends on where you are, and what tone is used, and in what context.
I guess I’d feel insulted too, if someone called me a “filthy fucking German, ptoo!” But it’s not the use of “German”, it’s the tone that makes the music, as my mom would say.
@sn0rkmaiden – your comment about the MRAs reminded me of a joke, set in Israel. One Jewish man sees a friend of his (also Jewish) sitting at a cafe, and goes over to chat with him. He notices that his friend is reading an Arabic newspaper, and asks him why he would read that, rather than a Jewish paper. His friend tells him “I used to read the Jewish newspapers, of course, but what do I read in them? Jews are being oppressed, Jews are hated, Jews are being killed, Jews are having their rights taken away from them, and so on. But with the Arabic papers, what do I read? Jews are wealthy, Jews run the world, everyone else has to revolve their lives around serving the wants of every Jew, etc. The news is just SO much better!!”
I’ve always preferred peeing while sitting. Not only is it less messy, but it gives me an excuse to hang out in a quiet place a bit longer during a busy day. Though I do loathe how other men don’t clean up after themselves in public restrooms. I wonder, are they like that at home, too?
Clean your mess is misandry!
I have one son that pees sitting down . He always has . I did not teach him that he prefers it .He grew up watching his dad and 2 older brothers standing up so its just a personal preference . I was even “worried’ like is that normal ? A little research and sure a certain % of guys prefer to sit . So peeing sitting down is not some sort of conspiracy by Nazi lesbian cunts to neuter masculinity .
Then again my son who is about to turn 18 is not insecure in his masculinity and he has a GF of over a year now that adores him .
I also found this interesting article . More men secure in their masculinity that do not need to cling to stereotypes and traditional “man roles” to feel good about themselves and accomplished.
http://www.dadcentric.com/2011/12/new-study-more-men-are-sitting-down-to-pee.html
Speaking as a member of the ethnicity in question for the slur that’s under discussion… yes, it’s actually fairly specific and references to the Romani peoples and their offshoots. There’s a genetic, linguistic, and cultural connection between all of these groups and the Romani have been targeted for some very ugly treatment and stereotypes which persists to this day in much of Europe.
The term has a number of halo terms which tend to be more hurtful, such as being jyped or gyped on something (which means to be cheated) and is about as unpleasant as someone describing a pricing being “jewed down”.
Does this help?
Addendum:
The Porajmos, the Romani side of the Nazi genocide is an incredibly touchy subject. Possibly moreso than the Shoah is/has been.
re sitting/standing. It’s a lot easier to read when you can use both hands.
@Hyena Girl – thank you so much for your insights! I do have another question, though, if you don’t mind. “Gyped” is obviously a horrid word to use, and once I realized the connection (at around age 12) I stopped using it and try pointing it out to others. However “Gypsy” as another name for Romani and the connected peoples/language/culture/etc. – is that considered insulting or not? BTW, I have always loved your culture (and the connection that your ancestors made between Indian and medieval European culture)!!
My parents taught me Islamic hygiene. One of the major rules of Islamic hygiene is that you’re supposed to sit down to relieve yourself unless you are unable to find a clean place to relieve yourself. And so since I was “raised as a boy” (in quotes because phrases like that are problematic – I’ll elaborate if asked), I was taught to always sit.
Occasionally it was embarrassing since none of my non-Muslim friends understood why a “boy” would want to sit. And various folks started calling me “girly” because of that. I was never really bothered by their remarks, though – even after I left Islam. In fact, when I realized I was trans, I began seeing my habit in a kind of validating way; it’s basically a sign that I’m not nearly as “manly” as I think I am. I know it’s silly to associate genders with particular bathroom habits, but in a society that heavily polices gender expression especially towards us trans girls, conforming to rigid norms can lessen the feelings of being erased and othered.
@Hyena Girl, it was my understanding that the word has also been (mis?)applied to unrelated ethnic groups, such as Irish Travellers, which is what I was trying to capture. I apologize if that’s a misunderstanding on my part.
Sadly, I, too, now have reason to be grateful for the sore throat remedies. That “lion face” thing totally works, and I’m summoning the energy to make garlic tea.
@Hyena Girl,
Touchy among the affected communities, or in Europe generally?
@Rahu
Isn’t this a pretty othering thing to say?
I hadn’t realized it myself until I was in my 20’s. Growing up with home-renovating parents, I always assumed it had something to do with Gyproc (gypsum plaster drywall).
@emilygoddess – first I’m happy that the lion face is helping, but seriously wishing you were well and not needing it! I hope you feel better very, very quickly.
Second, I sure as all get out didn’t mean to “other” anyone, or to hurt anyone at all!!!!! I am VERY AND EXTREMELY SORRY if my comment was offensive!!!!!! All I meant (and please let me know if this is something that I shouldn’t ever admit) is that I really like Romani art (along with Indian art, and medieval European art – and I was taught that they are all connected). As an example, I’m mostly Estonian (“rahu” means “peace” in Estonian) and if someone told me that they loved “my”, meaning “Estonian” culture, I’d take it as a huge compliment, which was how I was hoping that Hyena Girl would take it, and which is how I meant it. However, if it was taken as an insult and/or saying that you love the culture connected to a heritage to which someone belongs, is something you should not say, than I profusely apologize!!!!!!!!
I can’t talk about other countries but in Hungary it’s ignored totally. (Not denied. But made nonexistent by silence.)
Also the standing of the Romani here is best paralleled to the blacks in the US (except the slavery thing). They also give most of the lower classes of the country with all the classic (bad pun totally intended) stereotypes and prejudices associated with that.
To all:
You know, this is a really great group here. It’s more the halo terms that bother myself and my relatives as well as “gypsy” being applied to groups that aren’t us. We didn’t choose the term for the Romani in Europe but it’s stuck fairly hard and I don’t generally take it as negative unless it’s said with a sneer (but then you can make anything sound offensive). What is objected to is the words derived from it and the term being applied as a general term meaning “nomadic group of criminals/confidence men/thieves”.
@emilygoddess:
Among the effected group, the Porajmos is essentially ignored or referred to in passing in reference to the mass killings of WWII. As for my family… the entire European presence disappears during the 1940. Just gone.
The term gypsy and the more racist term pikey have been both used to describe both the Romani and Irish Traveler communities. In fact both terms are now being used as a slur against the homeless population in general.
“I have to pee standing up because my dingle is hard ALL THE TIME and even when it’s not it’s SO BIG it doesn’t fit in the toilet!” I totally believe you, buddy. You stand proud.
Question for the guys: What if you’re taking a poo and some pee comes out while you’re still sitting? Do you turn into a gay Nazi Japanese metrosexual lesbian on the spot? Can you avoid this danger by learning to poo standing up?
And what’s with the MRAs who think women are constantly taking pregnancy tests? This is not the first time this belief has come up on Manboobz. I need to develop a thesis.
@Rahu, this may be one of those things that’s different in the US. Over here, “I love your culture” is usually said to Native Americans and Asian Americans by people who don’t actually know anything about said cultures, except that they think warbonnets and kimonos are pretty. If you get involved in discussions of cultural appropriation in the US, you’ll see “but I love the culture” brought up a LOT in defense of appropriative behavior, so it’s a pretty loaded term here.
There’s also the fact that the US has a huge problem of treating non-white people as not fully or truly American (try googling “where are you really from?”), and telling them that Lakota or Japanese or Chinese culture is “their culture” kind of implies that US culture is not, which is why I said it sounds othering.
I feel like I should point out that this is all based on stuff I’ve read or been told, as I’m not a person of color. If I’m speaking over anyone, I apologize.
They need to see if the spermjacking worked. If it didn’t, they need to go find another guy to jack.
I can actually see someone in a missed-period panic buying a test at the drugstore and using it in the nearest bathroom. But I worked in a restaurant with a public restroom – in a college town, no less, and we all know college girls are slutty sluts – for years, and never saw a single pregnancy test. This guy has probably seen a handful over many years and is conflating them, or was traumatized by them and the bloody pads and things because that’s ~icky women stuff~, or is embellishing a bit.
I think the best way to fight this misandry is obvious: all men should now not only pee, but POOP standing up! How fucking manly is that… shit… !?
P.S. Thanks everyone for enlightening me on why “gyped” is promlematic, I had never thought about that before and now it seems so obvious. It’s so depressing realizing how many words have roots in bigotry.
P.S.S. Ginger tea made with real ginger is amazing, it’s my favourite. Put some honey and maybe some some lemon in there, mmmm!
@emilygoddess I’ve seen a pregancy test in a bathroom before (not thrown on the floor or anything, in the garbage). I can see a woman/girl who is young and lives at home wanting to use one there to avoid the risk of having it found by her parents or something. So I certaintly don’t think it’s weird, but I doubt it’s super common. At least I hope not because being scared of being found out or being in a huge panic would really fucking suck.
And what’s with the MRAs who think women are constantly taking pregnancy tests? This is not the first time this belief has come up on Manboobz. I need to develop a thesis.
I’m shocked that the Feminazi Hive Mind hasn’t already briefed you on this important issue! Daily use of pregnancy tests is de rigueur for the serious spermjacker. How else is a woman supposed to know whether if she’s hit it lucky and is now entitled to a lifetime supply of bon-bons and a bajillionty dollars a year in child support, or if she needs to start harvesting bodily fluids from a more fertile beta?
@emilygoddess – ahhh, okay, I can see where you’re coming from now. Fwiw, I didn’t mean it in any of those ways. I meant it as a compliment, not as appropriation, or othering, or anything like that. Basically, in the same way as if you told me that a certain museum was having an exhibit of 12th Century French sculpture, you’d hear a “HOT DOG!!!” and then see a Rahu-sized blur heading in the direction of the museum in question (or in another direction if I were lost). And I live in the USA, as well, although I was brought up in a very isolated way and with a completely different culture, language, set of rules, etc., and so don’t know most of the things that it appears all other Americans know, so I apologize again.
(Seriously, and this is a note to everyone, I am constantly making mistakes in the outside world, so please know that I always mean well, and do appreciate being taught that something’s not correct, but, like most people, I don’t do well with attacks, of course, and a lot of the time it’s purely misunderstanding, as it appears to be here.)
And I understand what you mean about the “American” stuff – the phrase that someone “looks American” drives me up the walls, because, pretty much by definition, EVERYONE looks “American”. It’s the whole point of this country. (And if it’s not, it ought to be.)
@Rahu:
No offense taken.