By David Futrelle
Ok, so let’s say you’re a totally normal dude who just happens to be, you know, an incel. And like most normal dudes you keep a folder full of pics of super handsome shirtless dudes on your computer, not because you like to look at them or anything but because you need them as evidence you can pull out at a moment’s notice the next time you get into an argument with someone online who doesn’t believe the totally true fact that super handsome dudes who are capable of removing their shirts are literally the only dudes in the world who can get dates with women unless, I dunno, the woman is super icky or a sex robot or just wants money from you or something.
And then your dad finds your folder of super handsome shirtless dudes and all hell breaks loose.
Dude. Dude. Dude!
I’m sorry about your dad, who honestly sounds like a bit of a jerk, but there’s nothing inherently weird about having a folder full of pics of shirtless hunky dudes on your computer.
It wouldn’t be weird if you had a folder full of pics of shirtless hunky dudes because you think they’re hot, regardless of whether you think of yourself as gay or bi or straight or asexual or whatever. It wouldn’t be weird if you had a folder full of pics of shirtless hunky dudes NOT because you think they’re hot but because, I dunno, you were trying to learn how to draw superheroes and wanted some pics of buff male torsos to use as a reference. Or because you like making funny photoshops with them. Or because you’re trying to get buff yourself and want inspiration. Or just because for some unknown reason you find looking at them very relaxing.
I mean, there are hundreds of non-weird reasons you might have a shirtless hunk folder on your hard drive.
The only weird reason I can think of for having a shirtless hunk folder on your hard drive is because you need them as evidence you can pull out at a moment’s notice the next time you get into an argument with someone online who doesn’t believe the totally true not true fact that super handsome dudes who are capable of removing their shirts are literally the only dudes in the world who can get dates with women.
It would also be weird if you had a folder full of pics of Chad Kroeger, but that’s a whole other can of worms my friend.
* Handy for opening cans of cat food.
Hi WWTH, I want to ask you something OT cuz of something you mentioned. I got sucked in to the early version of thinspo. I was straight up anorexic and bulimic for a while in high school(for me it was all to fit in, and feel attractive to boys, I don’t think I had the technical psychological disorder.)
But in my HS social group, if you were 5’5 or shorter, anything above a size 6 was considered a bit large. 4 was average and 0 to 2 was considered ideal.( I didn’t like weighing 3 digit numbers)Yes I do realize now that’s utterly absurd but at the time (and remember this is when Kate Moss is one of the absolute most popular models, and heroin chic was a huge trend)it seemed rational.
My point and question is is or was thinspo ever actually a big thing? I always thought it was a teeny tiny fringe group that almost no one has heard of. You’re the first person I’ve heard mention it IRL in over a decade. Did it ever catch on or go viral or get popular amongst more then a few thousand people? Because looking back it’s remarkably unhealthy. Way more so then just wanting to be skinny because it’s socially acceptable. The total philosophy is truly disturbing.
The mindset of me and my friends at the time was definitely unhealthy but except for a few three girls two of which ended up going to the hospital for it all of us were aware if we got too skinny we could die and weren’t mistaken about how we look we just thought a size 0 was the most attractive look at the moment once we were there we didn’t want to keep losing weight. Again still ridiculous. But those girls it’s a lifestyle almost akin to a religion. That’s what turned me off it.
They think you really can’t be too thin and should keep losing weight indefinitely and a lot of disturbing beliefs on how to do it and how to live life while you’re doing it to trick people so they won’t know you’re not eating. And more. Okay I’m babbling again, I just wanted to know if it’s actually a big popular thing. Or even a reasonably popular thing. Cuz that’s a bit frightening. Sorry for the wall of text. Everyone have a lovely day! Katie
PS: Scildfreja, you weren’t in the thread the other day when I asked about drug legalization and asked for some advice on how my life is going. I respect your opinion and I’m impressed by your intelligence more than almost anyone else I’ve interacted with online in comments. I’d appreciate it if you skim what I said and give me an answer in this thread or that one. I know you’re busy and have a life too so if you don’t have time that’s perfectly cool.
I really have nothing on topic to say about this. Like many comedians writers and other intelligent people have said, since Trump’s election we’ve just moved beyond parody and satire and all of those things. Like this should be some sort of Onion article, but no it’s real life and I cannot express how much it disturbs me. Not this article specifically but the concept I just expressed.
Me too. Stay strong. With any luck, he’ll be impeached soon. Or indicted. Or surrounded by Democrats. Possibly all three.
And if none of those happens, stay strong anyway.
@Alan
It is. But I know you’ll be fantastic with the cats! Thanks!
eep.
(but I have cat-sitting experience! And one of the cats still ambushes and harasses me to demand tribute whenever I go past)
@opposablethumbs
Eep! Nothing personal. It’s just something that our cats brood about.
OT: Isao Takahata, co-founder with Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli, has died. I’m steeling myself to rewatch his Grave of the Fireflies tonight (a masterpiece, but not an easy watch).
@Alan – May I add you to my canthal tilt folder?
Kat, it’s what we must do. And make sure you(general you) take the self care you need to stay strong. I feel that cannot be repeated enough. As humans we just can’t stay constantly outraged, frustrated, despairing, etc. We’re not built for it, it burns us out.(especially progressives, at least noticeably more so than conservatives, or right wing adherents according to some studies)
That’s partially what happened to me plus just utter despair at what had happened and the connotations and ramifications of it and not as important but still often in my thoughts, was the fact that I had literally predicted this and everyone told me I was crazy.( after the fact I learned apparently I was not the only black woman who had done so and had also been called crazy)
I don’t mean to spout platitudes and resist may sound cliche but it’s what we must do if we give into despair they just win by default.
@Moggie,
I saw that sad news today, too. I don’t think I could handle that particular film right now, but I’m grateful to him for making it, nonetheless.
Re the actual, current post: all I could see in my email header was “My dad saw my Chad”, and this made me happy for rhyme-y reasons.
My dad saw my Chad
and that made me feel bad
Since this dude is posting on braincels, he’s definitely a shitty little twerp, and needs to pull his head out of his ass.
All the same, if the account is true, I hope that he doesn’t have a dad who would abuse his child for (apparently) being gay.
Honestly, Chad doesn’t get enough love.
http://achewood.com/comic.php?date=10252004
Although a visit to BeLicious St. Coxx is on my bucket list. 😛
As for photos of shirtless dudes… I dunno, torso alone doesn’t really do it for me. Kinda need to see the whole package, regardless of who I’m lookin’ at for jollies. Certainly explains a lot about my artwork. 😉
*sigh* I just wish I could actually work on art… effin’ computer pulling a Kernel 41 instant shut down after two minutes of Photoshop every single time. I think it’s a dying Power Supply Unit and I’ve ordered a new one… but odds are I’m going to be artless this weekend.
Friggin’ computers….
@ buttercup
I would be honoured and flattered. I’m afraid I don’t know whether I have a positive or negative tilt. I only have a six foot spirit level, and that’s not exactly practical for measuring, my nose keeps getting in the way. I also don’t know which one is meant to be the good one.
I can sort of understand how these teenage guys can feel like they are never going to have any kind of romantic or sexual relationship. By the time I was 14 I was convinced that I was un-dateable. I felt like all the other girls my age had boyfriends (either currently or in the past, which would have been Middle school, LOL) and I was behind. I had a lot of insecurities about my appearance, and actually started trying to diet when I was 6. So, by high school I was convinced that I was hideously ugly and would die alone. I never blamed guys or society for this though, just myself.
@KatieKitten420 I think most people who spend a lot of time on the internet are aware of the pro-ana community and know what thinspo is, but I don’t think many (non eating disordered) people actually use thinspo.
So basically Kinnikuman/M.U.S.C.L.E.?
Do you want to cringe ? Here a super-utilitarian trying to find a partner via AI deep learning :
https://towardsdatascience.com/m2m-day-89-how-i-used-artificial-intelligence-to-automate-tinder-ced91b947e53
He might not be too creepy compared to the average manospherian, but still …
@Alan
Every time you tell another catsitting story I wonder anew why people keep asking you to sit for them.
@Katamount:
The problem’s not the PSU, it’s Windows 10. Get something that isn’t quite as hopelessly broken (and adware/spywarey), like Windows 7.
@iforgetwho:
This definitely supports the notion that, to these types at least, “women aren’t the opposing team; they’re the ball”. You gather detailed stats about all the players, but they don’t gather much information at all about the women …
@ Kupo
There’s that phenomenon in business, that customers who had a problem that was remedied are more satisfied than ones where everything went smoothly from the start. It appears cats share that attitude. And I do do good apologies; no-one’s ever bought me venison in cherry sauce after a fuck-up.
KatieKitten,
I have no idea how popular they really were. Probably not very. I did hang out at pro-ana sites for a brief time, but I don’t remember them having large amounts of users and people who weren’t already eating disordered that came in asking for tips on how to get one were always chased off. They also usually had links to recovery resources and no one who decided they wanted to recover was ever discouraged. So as unhealthy as the sites were for the eating disordered people who used them to reinforce their mindsets, the media perception that these sites were some sort of cult trying to recruit young girls into eating disorders was massively unfair. It was just a niche group of sick people who weren’t yet willing or able to recover trying to cope together. But I’m sure young people did lurk and get bad ideas too? So idk.
I considered that it was Windows 10 (as I had issues installing the Creative Update and these random shutdown issues cropped up only after I finally completed that update), but these shutdowns seem to hit either randomly or when I’m using a lot of graphical resources (StarCraft II will crash unless I’m using the lowest possible graphic settings). Usual culprits are either overheating or a dying PSU; the PSU is as old as the machine (6 years old and running it day and night for years) and is making weird chirping noises, so I figure it’s time for an upgrade anyway. HWMonitor indicates no temperatures above 45C, so it doesn’t seem like it’s a heat thing.
In the event that the new PSU doesn’t resolve it, I’ll take a closer look at the MOBO. But if I rule that out… then yeah, probably Windows 10 screwing me around.
@Katiekitten! I in fact did read your posts in the other thread, and kept a bit mum about it, cause it seemed like you already knew what you wanted to do. I guess I do have a thing or two I could suggest, though. Nothing unexpected.
– Do no harm. So, like, if you can avoid selling the dangerous stuff, try to?
– Have a way out figured out before things go bad. That goes for long-term too. Don’t start back into it until you’ve figured out how you’re gonna get out again. Always be working towards something beyond survival, if that’s in your means.
– If they’re a rich jerk, charge’m double.
I think you’ll do okay my duck <3 just make sure you have a goal, and make sure that goal’s a thing you actually want!
@WWTH
We did get some pro-ana people posting on the HAES (Health At Every Size) groups bombing us with pro-ana thinspo, but they seemed to be looking for a reaction not trying to recruit. They never gave out any way to find their groups and we never asked. We just deleted and banned. But it’s possible some people thought they were trying to recruit with the thinspo?