By all rights, the furor over rocket scientist Matt Taylor’s cheesecake shirt should have died down by now. After being chided earlier this week for marring the celebration over the landing of a space probe ON A GODDAMNED COMET by doing interviews in a tacky shirt covered with half-naked ladies, Taylor offered a brief but heartfelt apology. You would have thought we’d all be able to move on.
Not so fast. Because these days apparently no controversy can ever be over as long as it serves someone’s interest to keep it going. And so a loose but very familiar coalition of reactionaries and antifeminists and angry techies have started flogging an amorphous cause they call #Shirtgate or, more popularly, #Shirtstorm, purporting to be outraged that Taylor was “humiliated” into apologizing.
So many of the angriest voices in this, er, conversation are #GamerGaters it looks a lot like a sequel. Call it GamerGate Part Two: The Straw Graspening. And it’s not just me making the connection: #GamerGaters and #Shirtstormers, often one and the same, are making the connection:
So radical #shirtstorm SJW have attacked my games my #gamergate revolt and now they are attacking #science. Am i allowed to be mad ?
— Anti-ProcrusteanBed ☀️🏴 (@antiprocrustes) November 16, 2014
I am a man. I'm sick of hearing that because of my gender, my opinions don't count and sexism towards me isn't real. #GamerGate #shirtstorm
— Lord Inquisitor Ineptus Astartes (@AstartesIneptus) November 16, 2014
https://twitter.com/Scrumpmonkey/status/533409838207078400
Heck, our old friend Milo is making the connection:
Note to those infuriated by poor Dr Matt Taylor and #shirtstorm: this is what #GamerGate has been fighting against. Are you getting it yet?
— Milo Yiannopoulos (@Nero) November 15, 2014
Oh, it’s a veritable #GamerGate Old Home Week! GG mainstays Thunderf00t and Mundane Matt have rushed out videos about The Shirt.
People are making graphics covered with hard-to-read text:
There are giant complicated conspiracy theory graphics covered with red lines and angry red text. This one notes that Chris Plante, who wrote an article criticizing Taylor’s shirt, also wrote one of the now-notorious “Gamers are Dead” pieces.
https://twitter.com/Reyeko_/status/533482641774100480
Apparently there were a few dudes who were none too pleased with Plante’s story on The Shirt:
https://twitter.com/plante/status/533244307105648640
#Shirtstormers wrote angry “letters” in too-small-type. (Click here for larger, more readable version and here for one with angry graphics, too.)
https://twitter.com/Alpha_duck1/status/533698520100777984
While others tried to draw a parallel between Taylor’s alleged “humiliation” and … rape.
#shirtgate #SupportMattTaylor #GamerGate pic.twitter.com/L8s1GrOow7
— Mark 🐸 🗑 Samenfink (@MSamenfink) November 16, 2014
#ShirtStorm #shirtgate Matthew 7:1 pic.twitter.com/bRXr7bA1Si
— Be Just & Fear Not | Let None Survive (@SuperNerdMike) November 16, 2014
Neo-reactionaries and “Dark Enlightenment” types see opportunity in the #Shirtstorm hashtag.
https://twitter.com/voxday/status/533336186535030784
Don't judge me because of what I'm wearing – unless I'm a guy. Then you can define my personality and try to ruin my life. #shirtgate #NRx
— VDARE (@vdare) November 15, 2014
https://twitter.com/antidemblog/status/533341319184531456
https://twitter.com/BernardChapin/status/533628518077186049
As do MRAs:
https://twitter.com/deanesmay/status/533758421158227969
As does this familiar name:
Women do not face a hostile climate in science. And they can handle seeing a guy in an edgy shirt. #GamerGate https://t.co/8gvTyo0bg6
— Christina Hoff Sommers (@CHSommers) November 16, 2014
They’re all there, all hoping to turn a debate over a shirt into another endless internet Benghazi.
Sommers also said: “There are many brilliant women in the top ranks of every field of science and technology, and no one doubts their ability to compete on equal terms.” That’s because she’ll say whatever the neo-cons who pay her tell her to say, even if it contradicts what she said before.
Again, they used to say the same thing about women being doctors, which involves science, mathematics and technology — they aren’t as present because they aren’t naturally inclined, only the much fewer top women can do it, they have kids, etc. They can’t say that anymore because women are all over medicine as doctors, nurses, technicians, lab researchers, etc. (Not that there’s no sexism in medicine left.) They are also vets and vet techs.
They used to say that women aren’t as naturally inclined at math as men, because of school test scores, where girls were discriminated against in school mathematics. They still say that, but the test scores changed on them as discrimination was at least partly tackled, so they’re left grasping at pseudo-science. Social scientists are actual scientists who study and collect data, crunch statistics, test hypotheses, run research and experiments. They used to say that women were no good at the social sciences either, now women are all over those fields and it’s become harder to say that. They are clinging desperately to STEM, because the discriminatory barriers are still high there (because that’s where a lot of money is,) but they are staring out over the abyss.
They used to say that women weren’t as naturally inclined to be writers, artists, actors, chefs, artisans, metalworkers, literature professors, philosophy professors (like Sommers was,) teachers, lawyers, historians, landscape designers, real estate agents, journalists, public relations people and marketers, etc. Now, apparently, women are naturally inclined more than men to be those things because women are there and have been successful. They still try to say that women can’t be firefighters, soldiers, construction workers, pilots, film directors, CEO’s and managers, etc. as well and as often as men because of “natural inclination.” Natural inclination is code for artificial discriminatory barriers and socialized bigotry, which first have to be dismantled and then suddenly go out the window as a scientific hypothesis once they are gone, and the gaps disappear. Of course, then those professions often experience a wage drop — because financial interests know the society will let them pay women less for the work.
So that’s where the panic comes from that a male scientist would be criticized for not being professional and up to date — because it means that the social order is just a social order and not a biological mandate.
This is becoming a distressingly common tactic. See it in forums a lot.
Event happens. Event could be a sentence said, a female character modeled, or what have you. Feminists/SJWs/Whatever ask people behind event to not do that. People behind event agree event could have been handled better. Both parties nod respectfully and hope better events happens in the future.
And then throw in a horde of dudebros who WON’T LET IT GO. And THEN they blame FEMINISTS for making the conversation about nothing but the Event!
IS there a word for this? A term?
@kirbywarp
MEGAMIND SPOILERS IN BLOCKQUOTE
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MEGAMIND SPOILERS END
Dude, as a feminist, I just thought the shirt was tacky and not appropriate for work. You’re telling people you LANDED ON A COMET, at least wear a nice shirt! You’re announcing a scientific breakthrough, so you should at least dress for *work*, dude! I had this same issue with the people who discovered the Higgs Boson particle using COMIC SANS of all things on their PowerPoint. It’s all about the *presentation*. Sheesh.
I have no problem with sexy babes on shirts. As a pansexual lady, I love sexy ladies! Even if they’re on shirts! This does not bother me at all, and I’m a little irked that because I’m a feminist, people think I suddenly have a massive, irrational problem with it (Though I will say my issue with Comic Sans stems from me being a Graphic Designer).
That being said, I can understand why a coworker would verbally roll her eyes at it, especially in a STEM field. There is obviously a huge gap when it comes to gender in the STEM fields, and there are women being shoved aside or away from studying such fields because of the “boy’s club” mentality that surrounds it. This is an issue.
And for men to froth at the mouth because someone dared have a problem with it (and then proceed to make rape analogies because HOW DARE WE WIMMENS) only proves to me why I’m a feminist yet again.
Because divines *forbid* we ever tell a man his shirt isn’t appropriate for whatever reason, because that’s like raping a woman for her skirt, but women don’t belong in STEM fields because “biology” says they’re smarter than me and thus are more worthy of it.
And Richard Dawkins has weighed in.
http://twitchy.com/2014/11/16/richard-dawkins-uses-logical-fallacy-to-man-splain-feminism-video/
I’d like to point out that the only “pompous whining” I’ve seen is from teh menz.
The conversation here went in a totally different direction than the conversation on a previous thread:
https://www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/2014/11/13/woman-slams-sexist-shirt-twitter-douchebags-tell-her-to-kill-herself-worst-offender-a-contributor-to-a-voice-for-men/comment-page-3/#comment-642309
Apparently in the previous comments if you think that apologizing and that this was a teachable moment – instead of a point at which he should be hung from the yard-arm – you were just as bad as the gamergaters.
Ugh.
I dunno…the shirt is tacky, yes, but it is made so that men can literally wear women as ornaments. And the thing is that men are using the “women are allowed to objectify themselves short skirts are misandry” bullshit without logically thinking it through. How was dude objectifying himself with that shirt? Because *that* would be your equivalency. They are crying about a double standard that doesn’t exist. And *that* is the problem I have with the shirt in and of itself. As for context, there is no way anyone should think that shirt is appropriate for work. Especially if you’re going to be in the public eye. One newscaster did an experiment where he wore the same suit to work every day for a year to see if people would say anything, and they did not, but his female co workers get messages all the time about their clothes. Fuck sake, how dare anyone say anything about a man anywhere ever?
I haven’t seen Megamind, but that just sounds like it fiddles with who does the “getting” and what metric decides that, not like it fundamentally addresses the problem of “getting the girl” as a concept.
@ ParadoxicalIntention
It is possible to be a woman who’s attracted to women and still think that shirt is offensive (and ugly). Maybe try not speaking for queer woman as whole, or calling the ones who disagree with you irrational.
This has been today’s edition of “FFS, really?”
Okay, so did a little digging via Topsy (www.topsy.com; it analyzes hashtag trends on Twitter).
And here’s a quote from @gamergateftw —
“THANK YOU #Gamergate for trending #solution6 🙂 youtube.com/watch?v=7JrKCQ… Let’s show these SJW dogs how much better than them we are :)”
As if weaponizing other forms of charity wasn’t enough, they’ve now picked one about *feeding the hungry poor* as the thing to champion not because it does good but because “Let’s show these SJW dogs how much better than them we are :)”
These fools are unbelievable and more ethically bankrupt at every turn.
Do fuck off, Crissa. You’re down to troll level now, constantly whining about your hurt feels and how the whole board’s out to get you.
@Crissa – nice gamergater concern troll you are =) Your language makes you kinda obvious, though, so try harder next time.
For one, next time, wait until people actually call for him to get fired. Nobody here did, so talking as if people had is kinda silly.
Next time, you want to make a second sockpuppet, named like ANGRYMANHATER or something, and then call for his firing under that sockpuppet, so you can charge in right after and point at this evil sockpuppet.
Make sure you wait a few minutes between posts though, since as said, your trolling is a bit too obvious as of now.
Actually, did a little more digging, and apparently, even the people using the #solution6 hashtag can’t agree on what it is. It seems to be a tinfoil-hat-esque conspiracy counterop or something?
Check out this vid —
I can’t even right now.
Now why would anyone involve a cute little seal in this nonsense?
#savethesealsfromtangrysexistassholes
No kidding.
Even more perplexing is that people are leaving GamerGate over the use of #solution6, as it might be a joke? One that some of the leavers weren’t getting, and they didn’t appreciate getting left out.
I think that GamerGate has entered double-triple-meta-parody at this point.
Dear Dave Futrelle: You will never be as awesome as Matt Taylor. He helped to land a probe on a comet; he also owns an awesome shirt, a shirt so awesome that you cannot even comprehend its awesomeness. You will never be awesome, Dave — you will always be a cipher.
Though I’ve heard from others that vet techs have seen some of the same effects as teachers and nurses did generations ago: once a certain field gets a large number of women in it, it becomes ‘women’s work’, devalued, and men start being socially pressured not to go into it.
#notyourseal?
So, in a thread about rape threats, death threats, minimisation of rape, the #GamerGate hate train and old-school “Women can’t science” misogyny, Crissa only cares about their hurt fee-fees. That’s some quality empathy and super-subtle sockpuppetry right there.
Seriously, come up with a more interesting troll persona. “Whiny” is boring as hell.
There once was a poster quite canny
Who preferred ways to snark quite many
Of references to things already done
Insinuating everyone’s quite mean and no fun
Don’t know that of thoughts she had any
It’s just that the allegations made, simply
aren’t quite intimidating – they hang limply
Your stances are odd
If you repeat like a bot
your notions that we’re fools (they’re flimsy)
Your opinion is yours, mutter away
You can have your words and thoughts any old day
Only maybe not work so hard
At making obnoxious snarking an art?
It’s starting to fill me with dismay.
I love the whiny neckbeards that have never landed anything on a comet and only post furiously in their mom’s basement about how women are totally evil.
So please, stop with the whiny disrespect towards scientists neckbeards. Matt Taylor is, sadly, #notyourshield. It’s sad that you neckbeards have such low respect for him that you think he can’t take mild criticism for a shirt, and that you disrespect his apology this much..
Why are all these guys white knighting Matt Tayor? Do they not think he’s capable of defending himself? I mean, he’s a scientist, presumably he’s not stupid. Surely he can come up with a defense of his own if he’s so inclined (which he doesn’t seem to be, thus proving that he is indeed smarter than the people defending his poor sartorial choices).
@ququasar and katz:
MEGAMIND SPOILERS!!!
Yike that was a rant… Didn’t quite realize I had so many opinions on that movie. Ah well.
GerardO,
http://www.pics4world.com/vb/imgcache/2/19755showing.jpg