When Harry Styles agreed to model a series of dresses and skirts for a Vogue cover shoot, he knew it would stir up controversy. He probably didn’t think he was going to be blamed for undermining civilization itself. But that’s what some right-wing opinion-havers would have you believe.
“Blexit” leader Candace Owens started the brouhaha with this melodramatic tweet:
She followed up with a swipe at feminism:
It wasn’t long until fast-talking dunderhead Ben Shapiro decided to chime in.
But Ben wasn’t content to simply share a couple of tweets on the issue, and so he took it to his podcast today, delivering a nearly half-hour rant on the subject, interrupted only by Shapiro reading out ads for luxury bedsheets and his publication the Daily Wire.
He began by not-so-subtly suggesting that men wearing dresses might deserve a punch in the mouth, and followed with a rambling, repetitive rant taking on what he, likes Owens, sees as a dire threat to western civilization: men in “floofy” frocks.
This excerpt will give you some of the flavor of the thing:
But Shapiro wasn’t just annoyed; he presented himself as a noble guardian of civilization fighting off the cross-dressing barbarians.
“This stuff matters,” he declared.
It matters. Because these are fundamental ideas for the preservation of civilization. Boys and girls are different. Boys and girls are different. And it’s important to inculcate in your children that boys and girls are different. And any parents who fail to inculcate in a boy that manliness is a good thing, and that responsible manliness helped build civilizations … any parent that does not teach their girls that femininity, meaning the protection of hearth and home in a different way than masculinity, is a good thing. Any parent that doesn’t teach their girls that is not doing their kid any favors. They’re undermining the civilizational compact that men and women [have], based on biology and in every human culture.
Dude, it’s just a man in a dress. Cis male musicians have been donning dresses for decades — from David Bowie to Kurt Cobain — and somehow civilization hasn’t come tumbling down.
But Shapiro thinks this is a Very Important Topic.
We shouldn’t be shy about discussing these issuesl the left certainly isn’t shy about discussing these issues. They’ll put these [ideas] in public schools, they’ll tell your kindergartener that real men wear dresses. And then you’ll be explaining to a five year old that real men don’t wear dresses. And I don’t feel that’s an acceptable ramification of our cultural discussion.
I really don’t think there’s much discussion of cross-dressing in kindergarten.
Shapiro throws in a weird racial aside:
Harry Styles is a free man, living in a western country, in a west by the way that is defended by white masculine men, as a general rule.
Shapiro insists he has nothing against Harry Styles. It’s just that when Styles puts on a dress he is TEARING APART THE VERY FABRIC OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION
I’m not saying don’t pick up his CDs; I’m not saying don’t listen to his music; I’m not saying don’t watch the movies he’s in. All I’m saying is that when you put out an argument that men ought to act like women and that this is a good thing you’re doing something that tears at the fabric of not only civilization but family and the fabric of childrearing and everybody with half a brain knows this.
Again, Ben, it’s just a man in a dress, a playful tweak of conventional notions of masculinity. How fragile is masculinity — how fragile is civilization itself — if it can be brought to its knees by a handful of pictures of a man in a dress?
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@naglfar
Yeah he’s mad at me because I call out his bullshit and might make him face consequences for his own action. What him stamp his little foot. He’s a man going his own way damnit!
@Eric
You say your not mad at naglfar but you’ve been nothing but a bully and cruel to her. You think she’s great but you have said some horrible things about her and people like her. You can’t have it both ways.
I hope Rincewind’s appearance is imminent, that’s our young genius’ only chance 😉
@Eric
Yeah, going to write out that letter to your mom now
@eric
No kid you just say stupid memes as a response. That’s not a response.
@Lainy
I find him amusing but I’m also kind of worried. The whole “thinking he’s a man” thing would be entertaining if not for the real danger.
TBH since Eric is a child I don’t really care what he thinks of me, so it’s not a big deal.
@Eric
?
Is this another meme?
@Eric
your parents aware of your behavior, them watching what you do online then. Them setting you straight from your hateful path, and you no longer to put your life endanger by putting personal information on the internet. You’re safety is what I’d get out of it. You’re a child, you need adults to protect you, even if it’s from yourself.
@Naglfar
I know, the kid probably isn’t even aware that your a trans woman. I just want him to know what he’s actually saying, what his actions actually are. He’s a kid. being a stupid ones yes, So I’m correct him gently since he seems to like you.
He’s no longer very interesting.
@Lainy
It’s kind of weird he likes me, given that I’ve been nothing but critical of him. For some reason a lot of trolls crush on me. I don’t like him back, though.
@Eric
Lol at thinking Lainy is a “liberal wine mom.” Also sexist.
@kiddo
You know your mommy puts picture of you on her Facebook right? not that hard to find her.
@eric
We’ll see kiddo
@Eric
When I said “For some reason a lot of trolls crush on me,” that is a general theme, not about you in particular. Stop assuming the world revolves around you.
@eric
Lol, I never said you weren’t gay kiddo. You know you can like people in ways that aren’t curshes why? you like your friends? that kind of like? I get your a baby and you aren’t understanding this. Also I’m straight kid, i don’t give a shit if your gay or not. I said you were a bully because you don’t know how to handle being gay and it makes you lash out. Which you really just prove that its true. Go kiss the boy you like in your class and get over yourself. Find something else. Cause this is really sad.
This is what happens when pandemics force school shut-downs, I guess.
@eric
Kiddo you don’t know how to critical think. But I’m so proud of you for learning the term you learned in English class this year!
@Eric
Then you’re not very good at it.
Let me tell all the people who are assaulted or murdered for being gay that homophobia isn’t real.
@Lainy
Wait, I thought you were bi. Did you mean “not straight”?
Ban hammer to aisle four, ban hammer to aisle four please. While I have a degree of sympathy for a pre (or barely) pubescent child trying to convince themselves they’re socially and/or societally “normal”, this is just bloody boring.
@Eric
Sent that message to your mommy.
@Nalgfar
That was suppose to say
“i’m not straight kid” my phone is just stupid
@Eric
Candace…Owens?
I found his address on another website. He is super, super bad at not doxing himself.
@PoM
His page is also cached by google and in the internet archive.
Pictures of his house are on Zillow.
GOOD. Don’t feel safe putting your address on the internet. It literally isn’t safe, so you shouldn’t feel safe doing it.