In today’s slightly delayed Memeday post, we’re going to be looking at the “selfish feminist” meme, a variation of the good old “hypocritical feminist” meme that’s based on the notion that selfish, spoiled women adopt feminism in order to score equal pay without equal work — and in the greatest crime against humanity ever known — without ever having to pay for dinner.
Once in a long while, the mememaker will throw in a literary reference, like this one namechecking the heroine from Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.
But mostly the dudes making these memes seem to be peeved that (allegedly) feminist women are (allegedly) making them pay for dinner without “putting out” afterwards.
For some reason, the makers of these “selfish feminist” memes often put their words into the mouths of real and recognizable women who would never actually say such a thing.
Sometimes they use pictures of favorite feminist targets like Anita Sarkeesian …
… and Rebecca Watson:
Other times they use feminist celebrities, like comedian Janeane Garofolo
And actress/activist Ashley Judd:
Actually, they seem just a teensy bit obsessed with Ashley Judd and her alleged refusal to ever pay for dinner:
Apparently, the deviously feminist Ashley Judd also manages to avoid paying for her fancy purses as well.
Yeah, Ashley Judd has a net worth of $22 million, at least according to Celebrity Net Worth. I’m pretty sure she pays for her own handbags.
Not only that, but the allegedly selfish Judd — and yes, at least some of the angry mememakers know that the woman in the meme is Ashley Judd and not just some random angry lady feminist — now devotes much of her life not to acquiring handbags but to humanitarian work. Here’s how Wikipedia sums it up:
Ashley Judd’s humanitarian work has revolved around AIDS. Judd has travelled with YouthAIDSto places affected by illness and poverty such as Cambodia, Kenya, Rwanda, and many others.
Inspired by her travels, which allowed her to witness the life of the poor and uneducated, she has since become an advocate for preventing poverty and promoting awareness internationally. She has met with political and religious leaders, heads of states, diplomats, and leaders on behalf of the deprived to convey the message to those who have the power to bring about political and social change. Judd has also narrated three documentaries for YouthAIDS which aired internationally on the Discovery Channel, in National Geographic, and on VH1.
In 2011, she joined the Leadership Council of the International Center for Research on Women(ICRW).
Other organizations Judd has been involved with include Women for Women International and Equality Now, along with other non-governmental organizations that direct attention to social, educational, health, economic, cultural and financial funding of the unfortunate.
So, yeah, she’s actually paid for a lot of people’s dinners.
Tomorrow: The worst “selfish feminist” meme of them all!
Kay: This description for the photo is completely bogus, I’m afraid.
http://www.snopes.com/wolf-pack-photo/
That isn’t to say that the MRA-style ‘alpha’ crap isn’t just as bogus (there’s some reference to that, too, in the Snopes article, and that might be what you’re remembering David talking about), but making up stories about the ‘nobility’ (by human standards) of nature is not exactly a good way to counter it.
@Ouraboros13
I am going to believe that since these ideas are normally shunned in today’s society even in right wing groups typically because they don’t wish to associate themselves with fascists. I feel that because they are aware their views are univerally rejected irl they choose the internet where they can craft carefully designed echochambers to bolster the idea that they are right/silent majority/only sane ones.
Seriously it’s all the same thing over and over and over… It’s like nothing changes other than the mouthpiece and the wording.
@ Jen
So it seems the scale is:
1. Giving birth
2. Kidney stone
3. Getting shot
Yey, being a bloke is 33% safer for you! 🙂
Speaking of pain continuums; who was the chap who worked out a scale for the painfullness of venomous animal injuries by getting everything to bite/sting him? Anyone remember?
@ Kat
Here the method is – if I can’t open it (or if my OH can’t open it) then it takes both of us, one to hold the base and the other to twist the top.
Currently running an exception to that, because a sizeable chunk of planed pine just fell on my hand while we were carpenting* (that is so a word) and my right thumb is temporarily out of commission.
* We just finished building an extension onto Spawn#1’s old raised bed-shelf, wot we built many years ago, so they can fit onto it with their partner when the two of them come to visit next weekend. Only thing is, now we need a new mattress to go with it. :-\
Neither of us are joiners by any stretch of the imagination, so refinement, grace and elegance are not really on the table (or indeed built into the table), but we carpent so (small) elephants can dance on the result. Over-engineering R us.
@Alan Robertshaw
And I am completely misandrying by not giving birth, perhaps avoiding kidney stones (I understand that men are more likely to get them), and (so far, knock wood) avoiding getting shot!
My life is not without its annoyances. For example, MRAs are a thing. On the other hand, it’s so much fun to mock them! More misandry!
As for the bloke who got everything to bite or sting him, he certainly took one for the Team of Humanity! And I have some cats I could introduce to him.
@ opposable thumbs
It’s ironic bearing in mind your name, but you don’t half notice when you lose the use of a thumb don’t you? Even if it’s just the one. It really brings home the evolutionary advantage of opposable thumbs. So much of what we do relies on that. I’ve had injuries that have had me crawling around so I can see that whilst walking upright is useful, it’s not essential (we’d just have evolved a society with lower work surfaces) but without the ability to grasp and manipulate we’re just prey animals again.
@opposablethumbs
Ouch!
Mind the opposable thumbs — around my house, we use them to open kitty food containers. Our cats are quite solicitous of our thumbs, as they have none.
I am both jealous of and inspired by your overengineering. “Carpent”? OneLook.com says you are a liar. But I like your word and am going to steal it.
It’s certainly bloody annoying – it’s ridiculous how almost every action requires the use of your thumbs! Holding a knife and fork, hitting the space-bar, you name it. Hopefully the local predators won’t notice in time (they probably can’t see me all the way from Head Office/Downing St.)
I think I originally picked the nym precisely with reference to our being animals (with distinguishing features, of course). I mean, in annoyed response to the overweening arrogance of a certain kind of pontificating – those with a penchant for insisting that humans are the pinnacle of “creation” (or indeed those who think evolution has a direction and that we are rightfully “in front”) and thus utterly unlike animals and entitled to just use up the natural world and spit it out.
🙂 Here thumbs are required for opening the dog-food. It’s only bruised, though. Luckily for me it’s not so bad I can’t type 🙂
@ kat
I’m not sure that being able to express pain in quantitive terms rather than just “Ow!”, Argh!!!!” and “GET ME MORPHINE!!!!!” actually adds to anything in terms of social utility; but I am a big fan of people just trying out daft experiments and seeing what happens just for the sake of it.
Wish I could remember his name though.
@ opposable thumbs
Unless and until we clock up the hundred plus million years of the dinosaurs ruling the roost I’m still of the opinion that the pinnacle of evolution is big teeth.
I seem to remember he had a whole line in describing the different types of pain a bit like a wine-tasting – “hints of champagne”, “dark purple”, “clouds and lightning” – that kind of thing. Weird but undeniably interesting endeavour.
… or the favourite of Pratchett’s god of evolution – a shiny carapace and exoskeleton ftw.
Maybe bacteria always win?
@ opposing thumbs
That’s interesting, I wonder if he had synesthesia?
What indignity! What horror! What oppression!
How dare some women allow you to pay for dinner?
What have women come to that they allow you to pay for dinner?
@Alan Robertshaw & opposablethumbs
Justin O. Schmidt of the Southwestern Biological Institute in Tucson, Arizona
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3052/did-the-creator-of-the-schmidt-sting-pain-index-volunteer-to-get-stung-by-everything-on-earth
A hero for our times
@ space garbage
Wow, now that’s a control group you don’t want to be in.
Inspired by his example though I think I’ll work on a scale for stubbing ones toe on various items of furniture.
We could totally make pussy a verb. I just don’t 100% know what it could be a verb for. Making pussy a verb for ‘paying for shit’ has connotations.
I clearly remember walking back from the supermarket a few years ago yelling at my boyfriend, going “dude, I got this, I can manage all four bags”. Eventually he looked me in the eye and went “Vampy, you got out of surgery less than a week ago. Give me the sodding bags.”
@Alan
My ex says that kidney stones hurt more than giving birth, but that may vary by individual.
Alan,
have you by chance been seeing Churchill’s doctor?
http://www.openculture.com/2016/05/winston-churchill-gets-a-doctors-note-to-drink-unlimited-alcohol-in-prohibition-america-1932.html
I can’t compare kidney stones to birth (since I haven’t given one), BUT, I can rank various bodily stones by order of pain. All rankings IMHO.
#1: Gallstones. These made me beg for death.
#2: Kidney stones. Guess what, they once double-teamed with gallstones, but gallstones definitely won that contest.
#3: Salivary stones. Annoying, and gross.
Gunshots might rank higher if you got shot in the vagina.
My closest brush with extreme pain was immediately after my bilateral hernia surgery. After I regained consciousness but before the anesthesia completely wore off, I was encouraged by a nurse to empty my bladder.
I broke out in a cold sweat; while ‘I’ was not consciously experiencing the pain, some parts of my nervous system were signalling like mad. It was positively eldritch.
@ Orion
Well they do say red wine is good for you. And my mum was recommended to drink Guinness when she was pregnant with me (I’ll let the rest of you be the judges of how well that worked out).
@ skiriki
Ouuuuchhhhh!!!! If they do develop a scale for that you deserve it being named for you!
@ dalillama
Funnily enough when I had mine I tried so called ‘tactical breathing’ (4 second cycles of in, hold, out, hold). That’s supposed to control pain but within a short time I was panting like I was in Lamars class.
@ Robert
That sounds similar to ‘port holing’ where you sort of zen out and try to detach yourself from your body. I find it works for certain ‘acute’ pain like injuries but certainly didn’t for the stone.
@katz: I’m now imagining being shot in the vagina. DO NOT WANT.