Dudes, seriously? If you’re this bad at spelling, run your damn memes by someone you know who can spell before posting them for all of the Internet to see.
Dudes: The word is spelled “therefore.” With an “e” at the end. Also, center your text properly! In addition, I would suggest that you 1) lay off the rape jokes and 2) try to make even a little bit of sense.
Dudes: it’s “than,” not “then.” They are different words, with different meanings, and you used the wrong one.
Also, that first sentence is a mess. Change “or have internalized misogyny” to “nor do they have internalized misogyny.”
Once again, a feminist has to do the work that MRAs should be doing themselves. At least this time they spelled “misogyny” correctly.
As for you, dear readers: Feel free to discuss the arguments (or the spelling) of any of these memes. But you can use this as an open thread, too.
The thing is, in a division of labor, the results of the labor are meant to be equitably distributed between the laborers for mutual benefit. But last I heard, MRAs were big fans of men getting 50% custody of the wife’s labor, but vehemently NOT fans of the wife also getting 50% of the husband’s labor.
It’s impossible to know for sure, but I have the impression that these bad spellers are arrogant, not lacking in privilege.
They see it as being like housework. Someone else can clean up their dirty dishes and their sloppy spelling. They’re above it all.
Plus, even though Mommy is an excellent speller, she might not want to proofread what he’s written.
@ Chiomara – really good to hear that, and congratulations on the forthcoming nibling (= nephew/niece). Being an aunt is great.
Sorry about the dreams though. Routines do help, work, food and exercise.
I’ve found my abuse nightmares pop up nowadays mainly when I’m actually making progress or doing something challenging that I really want to succeed in. It’s like that’s the moment it all reappears to try and trip me up.
It kind of lost some of its impact when I worked that out and started feeling it was more tedious and predictable than terrifying. I mean, come on subconscious, tell me something I don’t know! As soon as I realised that it lost a lot of its power.
A less cynical view might be that when you are in a better place the ptsd pops up and says, “Hey, would this be a good time to sort me out?”
I wonder, as things seem so much more positive with you, whether something of the kind is happening?
Hi everyone, can I ask for a favor?
My Significant Otter is working on her thesis (the big one) and she needs participants. She would be extremely grateful for your participation. The general field is communications.
Participation entails filling out a short questionnaire, which will enter you into a raffle for a $25 Amazon gift card, and then completing quick and simple tasks, which will enter you into a raffle for a $50 Amazon gift card. Participating is unlikely to be stressful or scary, and the whole thing should take less than 30 minutes – 5 minutes for the questionnaire and about 20 minutes at a separate time for the tasks.
All you need is a computer with an internet connection, and the ability to communicate in English – whether it’s your first or second language doesn’t matter. To take the questionnaire, click this link:
http://goo.gl/forms/VtX8xpt67v
Getting a decent number of participants would reduce my Otter’s anxiety level by approximately 100%, so please help an Otter today? Please? 🙂
That last one reminds me of something I’ve been meaning to ask you guys about for a while now.
Has anyone read Whipping Girl by Julia Serano?
I’ve been looking for useful stuff on femininity and femmephobia for a long time. So far I haven’t come across any sources that would have proved to be definitive for me. Many references to Whipping Girl have come up, but I haven’t been able to figure out whether it’s only tangentially relevant to my interests. Reading an entire book is a major effort for me, and I’d like to be fairly sure it’s going to be worth it first. If anyone can offer any input, I’d be deeply grateful.
cw: potential femmephobia. Dysphoria makes me a little femmephobic and I can’t always tell. This is about femininity, so I’ll be at risk of committing the besetting sin.
—————————————————————————————————————–
Anything that directly deals with the relationship between femininity and sexism or oppression is of interest to me. Many aspects of traditional femininity are difficult to separate from gendered oppression, and if there’s some sort of emerging consensus on what is plainly sexist and can be excluded from a new and improved non-sexist concept of femininity (neofemininity! ba-dum-tshh), that would be awesome.
I tend toward trans-friendly gender abolitionism, and at the moment see all positive or neutral character traits as ungendered rather than “feminine” or “masculine” and the dichotomy as inherently sexist, retrograde and limiting, but this view has its issues and most of all makes living as a closeted nonbinary in 2016 actively painful. I might have less dysphoria if I could see femininity as an arbitrary and possibly statistically descriptive, but not normative, defining or limiting collection of character traits. If there’s a baby in the bathwater of having femininity and masculinity as concepts that do not refer to history or purely physical traits at all, it would be immensely valuable to me to find it. I might even change my mind about being a woman and unlock maximum cis privilege.
—————————————————————————————————————–
All thoughts on this topic and recommendations for any potentially helpful material are very welcome.
@Mattie
they are not mentally disabled and if they use internet then they have enough resources to learn spelling so they are just stupid and lazy.
We don’t need to breed misogyny to live. Those tribbles have already multiplied, and we have plenty of the original stock to contain, as it is.
@Mattie: if they can operate a computer, rant about their hatred of women online on a regular basis, and create a meme with text, then they can operate any of a number of readily available spellcheckers, which would have easily found the correct wording for them. So I have no sympathy, here.
@ arash
Spelling is still a strong class signifier, in a way that doesn’t reduce to correlatedness with mental disability. Simply having the resources to do something doesn’t mean you are also in the position to prioritize that thing, or that it makes sense to you to do so. There are class correlated subcultures that don’t value correct spelling highly. Having that kind of culture doesn’t mean anyone is stupid or lazy, it just means they don’t share your values.
“Stupid and lazy” is exactly the sort of think educated and rich people have always said about those who are neither because of their race or class background.
It’s not okay to shame people for having low intelligence.
You don’t know whether they are dyslexic or not.
@ Lady Mondegreen
The internet is a very democratic medium, and just because someone is here, I don’t think you can conclude they’re sophisticated in any way. Especially if it’s young people.
I don’t like the idea that people who can’t or won’t project an educated, middle class image shouldn’t participate in movements or speak publically. There are weird moral tones to language policing. We’ve all internalized the assumption that correct language = good and right, because this indoctrination is a necessary part of the education that lead to us using language and spelling correctly in the first place. But this is an assumption we should beware of making, because it was historically invented for the purpose of excluding the lower classes from public discourse. The reason our parents and teachers found it so important to inculcate us with the right values was that they wanted us to have the protection of the privilege that comes along with sounding smart and middle class.
This I agree with.
@Imaginary Petal – For the Otter! *takes quiz*
Seconding that (if a drink isn’t enough to do the trick) taking pills with food is a good way of fooling the reflexive closing-up of the throat. If I’m having trouble, I’ve found putting the pill inside a bit of bread helpful (no crusts!). Which is counter-intuitive I suppose because the resulting little ball of breadcrumb is considerably bigger than a pill on its own, of course, but so much easier to swallow down.
It also works on the dog (in her case we use cheese) 🙂
Hope the oral surgery situation resolves quickly and perfectly, WWTH!
And my best wishes to Chiomara; working out, showering and studying plus sun, work and leisure sound extremely positive to me.
@Bluecat
I unfortunately haven’t noticed a trend. It’s been more or less recurrent for about 6 months, I usually have hiatus if I am feeling really safe and confident (when I was with him in Germany for 2 months I had it about 3 times only, and it wasn’t as bad), but that’s all. The nightmare is almost more or less the same, and I wish it lost effect over me. Sometimes I even know I am dreaming, but it doesn’t help. It seems to be more about humiliation than fear and surprise, and knowing it’s a dream and can’t hurt me doesn’t make the things they say about me untrue. The imagery is also more disturbing than anything of any horror movie I have ever seen, and features all of my triggers. So it has been difficult to say “meh, I know you can’t hurt me”, but I really hope I get there. I know that having ptsd you know too that it’s not simply a nightmare, and not easy to get over it.
@dust bunny
let’s make it clear, there is a difference between the internet and other mediums: it’s superfast and supereasy to use.
also it needs a basic set of abilities, if somebody can make memes and post online contents that person can use the internet to spell check his/her posts and memes.
Laziness by definition is “a disinclination to activity or exertion despite having the ability to act or exert oneself”
so when it’s easy and that person has the ability to spell check something, not prioritizing that thing is what we call laziness.
this is not about some underprivileged and disabled people(regarding to spell checking and internet usage) because if they were, they couldn’t use the internet(means they are privileged enough to use it properly)
and by stupid we’re not talking about IQ or EQ, but rather lacking common sense and having intelligence capacity but not using it.
this matter is very medium-dependent, when there is no immediate way to know proper spelling it’s a disability but if you’re dyslexic and using the internet then you’re not disabled anymore because you can spell check anything quickly but you don’t.
anyway it is very similar to other excuses for misogyny or assholines, there is no definite indication that the stupidity and laziness of these people come from a mental disorder.
Also, too, @ Imaginary Petal: Otterwards and Quizwards! ::tookened the quiz::
So, I finished XCOM 2. Intense battle for the last mission. Kind of happy how heavy my team was on mind control though. Nothing keeps all your people alive like a convienent patsy.
Also, had a GREAT game of Town of Salem (for those who don’t know, it’s a Mafia/Werewolf type game) a little ago. I ended up as Veteran (that is, I can go alert three different knights and shoot whoever visits me), basically outed myself and warned that anyone who visited me would die. First night… shot the investigator. Whoops. Well hey, I DID warn you.
Godfather must have figured I’d be hinky about going on alert the second night after shooting such an important roll. What are the chances?
PRETTY GOOD I’D SAY. Mafioso shot, night 2. Didn’t think he’d go for it night 3… but then he apparently thought I wouldn’t, so got shot night 3. Ah well.
So, hang out in dead chat, watch everyone screw up, and two of the townies get into an argument. They both claim Medium. (Mediums can talk to the dead at night, and if dead, can choose someone during the day to talk to them at night one time). There’s one automatically on the list, but there’s also a random townie that could be a Medium. Talking to the medium in dead chat… I twig that there is, in fact, two mediums. So now they’re hooked up and know each other is trustworthy.
Aaaand then the town hangs the Jester. OOPS. (The Jester wins if they get hung, and if they get hung the next night they can choose ONE person who voted to hang). BUUUUT, the dead have been suspecting one person of being the last mafia. And guess what, they voted to hang the jester! Ask the jester to kill suspicious person…
Town wins. I felt so good about that. Sorry, I just had to brag.
Obviously, it was their secretaries fault
The dog ate their homework
There too kool 4 yaw konvinshonul dikshonary
Spelling is a SJW plot
You’re nit picking
@dust bunny
it may have been used for this purpose, but invented?! you’re making a bold claim and you should back it up with evidence and reasoning.
i hope you don’t consider my demand a privileged one!
@Petal
Your otter is awesome what with the BB8 earrings. Of course I’ll help. ^o^
I see no reason why these vicious sexists can’t get someone else to check their spelling.
If they don’t know any good spellers, they can use spell check. (They should anyway.)
And if they don’t know any good spellers and they’re creating graphics using a program that doesn’t have spell check as an option, they can check every word of the graphics (usually there aren’t many in a graphic) in Webster’s online.
And if they say that they’re geniuses who happen not to value good spelling, they can still post their graphics online.
But I will definitely be making fun of both their message and their spelling.
I don’t usually believe in belittling a person for bad spelling, but I’ll make an exception for these people.
http://i0.wp.com/www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/mraschoolshark.png?resize=600%2C893
Maybe a shark wrote that in order to sure up the numbers of shark attacks.
If a position you hold places interacting with men, and interacting with sharks, whilst being a woman, in the same ball park, chances are you have not really considered what you are saying.
Mattie – George Dubya mangled the English language every day and he was extremely wealthy, privileged, and had no disability (as far as I am aware).
Also Mattie I rather take umbrage at your implication that poor/ working class people cannot, or are less likely to, spell correctly.
Watch Educating Rita sometime – there are no spelling tests in it but it is a bloody good film about a working class woman getting an education.
I also tookened the otter’s quiz.
WWTH
Be careful with cutting pills – of course if they’re marked then it’s obviously OK. And I agree with everyone about a drink or some icecream-yogurt-soft stuff to ensure you swallow the damn thing. Remember that if it feels as though a tablet is stuck in your throat, it very likely is stuck in your throat. So have another drink, another mouthful of icecream or whatever to dislodge it pronto. You really don’t want it dissolving in your throat.
I had a very nasty episode a few months ago with my amitryptiline tablet. Swallowed it with a very small amount of water – just what was left in my glass. By the time I’d realised it really was stuck in my throat and husband & I were elbowing each other out of the way to get to the kitchen for more water, my throat was burning something awful. There’s a very good reason why these tablets are coated.
I looked it up and came across a fool who had been prescribed it after a sports injury (it’s an old-fashioned anti-depressant but it’s still used a lot because it works really well for crook joints and muscles, it’s a really good relaxant). I have no idea why he decided to do this, but he crushed his tablet. If I did that, it would be to mix it with yogurt or jam to make it easy to swallow. Not this witless bozo, he snorted it. My brief brush with it makes his description of the feeling that his nose was on fire entirely believable.
@ Jamesworkshop
Yeah, comparing interacting with men to interacting with sharks has unfortunate implications. One of which is that sharks are safer to be around than men. At least sharks are vital to the earth’s water ecosystems. Plus they don’t usually attack humans and it’s not out of malicious hate for one’s gender when they do. A rapist chooses to rape.
(To be fair, not all rapists are men and rape statistics include rapes by people who aren’t men. But, as documented on this site, MRAs talk of being a rapist as the natural state of cis men often enough that saying the implication is “safer than men” rather than “safer than rapists” makes sense in this context.)
I don’t “get” large medicinal pills either, and I’m a rather large-bodied adult person.
When I had hernia surgery years ago, I was told to not eat or drink in the preceding night and morning. If I understood correctly, it’s a safety hazard to have something in your stomach that you might throw up during operation. I took a few sips of water in the morning, anyway.
Shortly before operation, the nurse told me to take a few pills of varying sizes. After a little whining, I got a cup of water and the larger pills were cut in half. Then I was just able to swallow them.
More recently, I had someone buy pain med pills for my back, and they turned out to be all too big and tough to either swallow whole or cut in half. Luckily my back got better soon. It’s nice to be reasonably young and healthy.
I might have to eventually get one of my wisdom teeth removed, since there was a small cavity my dentist had trouble filling, because of extreme location. I also have trouble brushing my back teeth because of highly sensitive gag reflex.
Mattie has a good point. But the issue here is laziness combined with a constant claim of superiority, not their class or ability.
I’m somewhat dyslexic. I’ll misspell the same words the same way over and over again. But I know that and I check myself. Sometimes I skip the vigilance and it shows. But were I to publish a meme that I believed was activism, I’d be careful. What their lack of care demonstrates is that they are not at all the superior people they claim to be. It isn’t a disability. It’s just sloppiness and it matches the sloppiness of their logix.
My daughter is severely dyslexic. She also writes short fiction. It takes her longer than it takes other writers, but she manages. If she can do it, so can they. They just can’t be arsed.