Content note: misogynist harassment
On Twitter:
@SteveOortcloud @GretaChristina It's not much of a lost. She is a filthy looking beast! I would welcome the block from that cunt!
— Gomez In Escondido (@GomezInEsco) October 7, 2014
Asshole on Twitter, who didn’t like the fact that their Tweets wound up in Amy Roth’s art installation about online misogyny, and who I blocked:
Blocked by @GretaChristina So that’s how it works, you take my comments out of context (The Glue God) then turn your back like a coward? LOL
Second asshole on Twitter, replying to first asshole:
@SteveOortcloud @GretaChristina It’s not much of a lost. She is a filthy looking beast! I would welcome the block from that cunt!
#mencallmethings
I’m reminded once again of Lewis’s Law: “Comments on any article about feminism justify feminism.” In particular, it’s fascinating how “It wasn’t fair to include my Tweets in the art show about misogyny” got replied to with, “Don’t worry, she’s an ugly cunt.” Because that’s really going to convince me that online misogyny isn’t an issue. And it’s fascinating to see someone spell out, in words, that there’s no point following a woman on Twitter if she’s not pretty. m-/
Note: The #mencallmethings hashtag does not say #allmencallmethings, or #mostmencallmethings. If you want to learn more about the history of this hashtag and why people started using it, please read But How Do You Know It’s Sexist? The #MenCallMeThings Round-Up and Why Are You In Such A Bad Mood? #MenCallMeThings Responds! on Tiger Beatdown, where the hashtag originated. And please do not start a “but not all men are like that, so the #mencallmethings hashtag is reverse sexism!” argument. That has been addressed, at length, in the comments in the #mencallmethings: “FUCKIN HOE,” “FUCKIN FEMINAZI SLUT” post, as well as elsewhere. Please read Why “Yes, But” Is the Wrong Response to Misogyny if you’re wondering why I will not take kindly that that particular line of conversation.
I’m also going to issue the standard request that I always issue when the #thing that #menhavecalled me is some version of “ugly”: Please, unless you’re a personal friend or someone I’m having sex with, don’t try to make me feel better by saying that I’m not ugly. If I write about fashion or post the hot pic of myself in the Skepticon calendar, you can say nice things about how I look… but please don’t do it here. I’m not calling this out to garner reassurance about my appearance. I’m calling this out to show people the kind of shit women routinely deal with. I have a thick skin, and I don’t get my feelings hurt by sexist jackasses calling me names. That isn’t the point.
The point isn’t that I’m not ugly. The point is that it shouldn’t matter.
My favorite part in this is that they had to TELL US their user name was the one in the photo because they have a DIFFERENT account now. I assume their other account was deleted/suspended? So much work put into hate and then they have nothing to show for it. How do we even know it’s them? *sad trombone*
Greta
If you’re so thick skinned then why did you block him rather than just make an example of him with some more engagement?
Take him down and rip his arguments to shreds IMO
Oh and speaking of the term ‘ugly’ do you think that beauty is something that has no objective status, that is to say, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and can’t be measured to a mind-independent standard?
@ Cornell:
You ever consider that she might have better uses for her time? The whole point of the Room o’Hate is that there’s so much of this stuff. It’d be a full time job just responding on Twitter alone.
Cornell @2: I can’t speak for Greta, but I would imagine that it has something to do with the fact that he adds literally nothing to the conversation. In fact, he has demonstrated himself to be a sniveling, hate-spewing, misogynistic asswipe.
But while we are here: What exactly are the arguments she is supposed to rip to shreds? Specifically, why does she owe it to him (or you) to ever engage with him again?
Cornell @2
That question is relevant to this discussion–how, exactly? Is it your contention that “ugly” people (assuming there is an “objective” standard) deserve to be ignored, dehumanized, and/or belittled?
First up use a tactic that Bertrand Russell brought up and that is to point out the fact that one’s interlocutors is attacking the character of the person rather than the argument at hand.
Being ugly doesn’t make someone’s argument wrong, just like being good looking doesn’t automatically make an argument correct.
Second I know that we live in times where the Western world has gotten pretty soft, however bullies like the one’s in OP need to be confronted by the person who is being bullied at least to a degree, only because now they feel like they can get away with this sort of behavior again.
One can bring up the argument that says
Even of Greta got in their face and pointed out their nasty behavior that doesn’t mean they’d stop being bullies
True, but I think it’s more probable that they’d notice the fact that people aren’t going to run away from confrontation, and now they have to be prepared for an actual debate which requires more effort from them. So by dealing with them you actually turn the tides and put them on the defensive.
Cornell @ #2: Seriously? You think I should “engage” with the “arguments” of someone who calls me a filthy looking beast and a cunt? What argument is being presented here, precisely, that you think merits engagement?
Ah. I see. When a misogynist tells me I’m a filthy looking beast and a cunt, I should consider the question of whether, by some possible objective standards, I really do look filthy.
Banned. Goodbye.
Like death, trolling comes to your door for free… (misquoting Philip Larkin).
‘Put the on the defensive?’ Huh? The most offensive assholes on earth start by claiming to be ‘on the defensive,’ e.g.:
Nazis—’oppressed’ by the Versailles Treaty, British Imperialism, and You Know Who.
The Klan—’oppressed’ by reconstruction, and uppity Negroes, and You Know Who.
Fred Phelps—’oppressed’ by everyone on earth except the congregation he bred to order.
Pick any dangerous, vicious puddle of scum you can think of and look for their ‘oppressed’ angle. They all have one.
Blocking Dudebro #1 was denying him his freeze peach. A fate worse than something else I can’t be bothered to come up with.
I started out with AMD chips (well, technically, IBM/Motorola chips back in my Apple days, but my first custom-built computer used an AMD Thunderbird), and I guess I’ll be going back to them. There’s been so little need recently for top-of-the-line CPUs for anything I do than I can totally be happy with AMD’s inferior top performance (but still good performance per dollar!).
Crap, wrong thread. That was meant for the Intel response thread. Sorry!
And, of course, I’m so very sorry you continually have to put up with this bullshit.
I’m assuming from your question that you’re an interdimensional traveller and have no understanding of how this particular universe is put together. So, let me start by welcoming you here.
To your question, “beauty” has no universal objective definition. If you ask an individual life form if something is “beautiful”, then their answer will depend partly on biology, partly on culture, and partly on individual preference. In the case of the “Gomez” person, my guess is that he’s using an individual metric: “People who disagree with me are the ugliest thing imaginable, especially if they’re women.” (That’s by no means a universal belief, it’s just that some people can’t disagree without being disagreeable.)
Now, I know exactly what you’re thinking, “This is a pretty subjective universe, then, innit?” You’re exactly right and I’d encourage you not to waste a lot of time here if that bothers you. If you go two universes up and one to the left, you’ll get to one where all aesthetic questions have obvious and unambiguous answers. Anyway, thanks for stopping by!
Cornell, it’s always easy for someone who doesn’t have to deal with this stuff to imagine they’re the super hero who has the secret formula the ladies haven’t figured out to make it go away. But believe me, you don’t. Here is evidence why:
http://wehuntedthemammoth.com/2014/10/07/this-mras-new-fighting-technique-is-unstoppable/
These are men who hate women to a degree that is obsessive. Subsequently, they are not amendable to argument, rationality, shame or any of the other things one could hope to achieve by arguing with them. On the contrary, they thrive on it, because their obsession needs feeding. The notion that one could actually argue with one and accomplish anything is kind of silly.
I mean, I’ve argued with them. But it’s probably not a good use of one’s time. It certainly should not be obligatory. It’s like arguing with a turd some dog left in your yard. You can argue until you’re blue in the face, but it’s still a turd.
[…] the creature. It’s the dudes who said the disgusting things to her that are tonight’s creature feature. I know–gross. But, you know what? The news isn’t all bad. She’s got a really […]
Damn it, you’re not helping me with my dudepeen sense of fauxppression by pointing out that not all men call you things.
Hi Greta,
I saw you yesterday in Sacramento at Freethought Day. I tried to talk to you once, but there were too many other people there. I was disgusted by what you have to go through by some atheists, and also impressed by your strength. I haven’t had death threats, by atheists anyway, so far, or rape threats. But I am constantly insulted about my looks and have gotten lots of death threats, and was attacked once by a woman in Woodland because of it. I know it is pure misogyny, because most men don’t get their looks insulted like that. Not that it would be okay to insult them on that basis either. I have also been insulted by several members of Atheists & Other Freethinkers, which is why I don’t go anymore. Yesterday was the first time in a long time I had gone to an atheist/freethought event in years. I was not even allowed to read a freethought poem at an Atheist & Other Freethinkers meeting once, even though there was plenty of time. What also made me made was that not long after you spoke, a male author who spoke said atheists weren’t racist or sexist like religious people. Even when we tell them, they don’t seem to get it, or want to get it. I am also a feminist and wrote a book of poetry called When You Come and Other Poems which has both feminist and freethought poems in it, as well as a secular sobriety book called SeedsOfSobriety. I hope to get one of your books some time, signed by you if possible, when I can afford it.