Free Radicals
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My problem has actually taken me a lot of research to define. And it ended with me finding out that I don't really have a problem with feminism. What I have is a problem with a handful of obnoxious women on the internet who have done almost no research into the subject and have no idea what feminism is really about, how it works or what it's history is, but who are nonetheless are happy to use it as an excuse to be really nasty to other people and justify their personal power fantasy of being able to hurt anyone who says something that might possibly be construed to be an insult.
They do exist, but I've found that they're somewhat less prevalent than some media pundits would have you believe. They just happen to have the loudest voice on the internet. Idiots always seem to have the loudest voice on the internet.
They do exist, but I've found that they're somewhat less prevalent than some media pundits would have you believe. They just happen to have the loudest voice on the internet. Idiots always seem to have the loudest voice on the internet.
Radical
a : very different from the usual or traditional : extreme
b : favoring extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions, or institutions
c : associated with political views, practices, and policies of extreme change
d : advocating extreme measures to retain or restore a political state of affairs
Political radicalism
The term political radicalism denotes political principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways
Extremist
a person who holds extreme or fanatical political or religious views, esp. one who resorts to or advocates extreme action.
SO yeah, no. They're pretty much interchangeable unless you've decided to randomly change their meaning to be something completely different from what it is in standard English. Which I fully expect you have, just to be petty little assholes about this.
How do english? [http://www.hurr-durr.com/]
a : very different from the usual or traditional : extreme
b : favoring extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions, or institutions
c : associated with political views, practices, and policies of extreme change
d : advocating extreme measures to retain or restore a political state of affairs
Political radicalism
The term political radicalism denotes political principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways
Extremist
a person who holds extreme or fanatical political or religious views, esp. one who resorts to or advocates extreme action.
SO yeah, no. They're pretty much interchangeable unless you've decided to randomly change their meaning to be something completely different from what it is in standard English. Which I fully expect you have, just to be petty little assholes about this.
How do english? [http://www.hurr-durr.com/]
Like you said, Jim. Then there's Yahtzee with the whole pre-op transsexual thing, now changed into a censorship thing 'cos he changed the joke. Recently there was the best boobs gallery of the day, and I could've sworn Bob did a thing about the rape stuff in Kick-Ass 2 but I can't find it any more so maybe I imagined it. And then there's the Target advertising kerfuffle going on in Off-Topic.Zachary Amaranth said:
Ugh, another video game/feminist debate. I feel like, ever since the whole Anita Sarkeesian blow up, we've got to a point that we're looking at the issue of women and video games in any form under a microscope. Any little thing is going to be talked about, misquoted and argued back and forward until a load of people make blogs about it and videos about it and yeah, comics about it and so on. Every few weeks it's popping up in video game communities (and sci-fi I've noticed).
It's just about hitting breaking point at this stage. The only way I see it going is the topic will just be white noise to most people because it's so damn frequent that it'll be impossible to feel anything about it when we're being hammered with the topic.
All that'll be left would be the "extremists" (radicals, crazies, whatever) on both sides of the fence who wouldn't dare have a rational discussion and would rather just yell at each other than talk. It's nearly like arguing religion at times or even politics.
Look, change will gradually happen. There's more women now than ever playing video games. No, they're not the main market but over time, that number will grow and publishers will take notice. Money speaks after all, always has done. But right now, it's a market that makes games for younger male adults and teens because that's were the money is at.
On top of that, female developers is growing and again. over time, that'll grow and there'll be women in positions of power to make changes.
I'm not saying this shouldn't be brought up or talked about, but we can't try and force big changes any faster and at the current rate we're hammering this topic, it's just building up more venom for the more extreme sides to duke it out. And everyone else will just get fed up even seeing the issue pop up.
It's just about hitting breaking point at this stage. The only way I see it going is the topic will just be white noise to most people because it's so damn frequent that it'll be impossible to feel anything about it when we're being hammered with the topic.
All that'll be left would be the "extremists" (radicals, crazies, whatever) on both sides of the fence who wouldn't dare have a rational discussion and would rather just yell at each other than talk. It's nearly like arguing religion at times or even politics.
Look, change will gradually happen. There's more women now than ever playing video games. No, they're not the main market but over time, that number will grow and publishers will take notice. Money speaks after all, always has done. But right now, it's a market that makes games for younger male adults and teens because that's were the money is at.
On top of that, female developers is growing and again. over time, that'll grow and there'll be women in positions of power to make changes.
I'm not saying this shouldn't be brought up or talked about, but we can't try and force big changes any faster and at the current rate we're hammering this topic, it's just building up more venom for the more extreme sides to duke it out. And everyone else will just get fed up even seeing the issue pop up.
The funny thing is now it's coming to light that Anita is the giant hack so many people said she was. Her game play footage was stolen from lets players, her arguments are usually nothing but obvious reaching and stretching to force things to fit her preconceived notions, and her funding appears to have gone to herself and nothing else, since her videos haven't increased in quality a single bit.Static Jak said:
Okay, without going into the actual beliefs of any of the parties involved,
Radical Feminism (as used by the comic) is a term used essentially solely within feminism circles.
Radical Feminism,(as used by society as a whole) is used much more widely.
Both of these terms can coexist 90% of the time, but when someone from outside of your grouping uses a term in a different way than within your grouping, they are not wrong, they use a word differently. The correct response is
'Sorry mate, but what do you mean by that'...'okay, well in my grouping we use it in this way, but now that we have established what we both think it means, we can move on' the incorrect response is 'No! You're an idiot who doesn't follow the rules me and my friends made up and never told you! You can never understand what we are talking about!'
This is not a feminism thing, this is a... I suppose dialect would be the best word to use for it, or maybe jargon. The same thing happens when military and civilians speak to each other, communists and capitalists, Collingwood fans and people who actually know who their parents are...
When a group spends time in insular discussion, its usage of language alters to better fit the requirements of the group. That is how language works. It is not a bad thing, but must be acknowledged in order to allow that group to effectively interact with other groups.
Looking at this comic, Erin knew exactly what the other person was trying to say, wilfully misinterpreted it to make herself seem more intelligent and claimed victory. Essentially, were I to make a comic demonstrating the concept I just described above, Erin would be the one wearing the straw man t-shirt.
Again, what either party believes is irrelevant. Using language effectively is essential for a discussion to take place
Radical Feminism (as used by the comic) is a term used essentially solely within feminism circles.
Radical Feminism,(as used by society as a whole) is used much more widely.
Both of these terms can coexist 90% of the time, but when someone from outside of your grouping uses a term in a different way than within your grouping, they are not wrong, they use a word differently. The correct response is
'Sorry mate, but what do you mean by that'...'okay, well in my grouping we use it in this way, but now that we have established what we both think it means, we can move on' the incorrect response is 'No! You're an idiot who doesn't follow the rules me and my friends made up and never told you! You can never understand what we are talking about!'
This is not a feminism thing, this is a... I suppose dialect would be the best word to use for it, or maybe jargon. The same thing happens when military and civilians speak to each other, communists and capitalists, Collingwood fans and people who actually know who their parents are...
When a group spends time in insular discussion, its usage of language alters to better fit the requirements of the group. That is how language works. It is not a bad thing, but must be acknowledged in order to allow that group to effectively interact with other groups.
Looking at this comic, Erin knew exactly what the other person was trying to say, wilfully misinterpreted it to make herself seem more intelligent and claimed victory. Essentially, were I to make a comic demonstrating the concept I just described above, Erin would be the one wearing the straw man t-shirt.
Again, what either party believes is irrelevant. Using language effectively is essential for a discussion to take place
Radical feminists:
A minority of middle-to-upper-class privileged white ladies being hyper-sensitive and trying to find sexism where there is none while pretending to speak for all women. Such as the vocal minority that has judged the gaming industry and all gamers to be a den of only men made of sexism and hate towards women due to a vocal minority of trolls and true assholes... and pulling the fire alarm at a college to stop a speaker they didn't like.
Just one recent example (aside from those videos with no research put into them), one group claimed the protrayal of the female protagonist in the Last Of Us was sexist for not being "strong and independent" enough.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/126648-Naughty-Dog-Responds-to-The-Last-of-Us-Sexism-Claims
Besides, all those non-white feminists are getting pretty sick of their nonsense.
Can we please stop having these forced gender debates on a video game site? The finger waggling at an entire sub-culture is getting a little old?
A minority of middle-to-upper-class privileged white ladies being hyper-sensitive and trying to find sexism where there is none while pretending to speak for all women. Such as the vocal minority that has judged the gaming industry and all gamers to be a den of only men made of sexism and hate towards women due to a vocal minority of trolls and true assholes... and pulling the fire alarm at a college to stop a speaker they didn't like.
Just one recent example (aside from those videos with no research put into them), one group claimed the protrayal of the female protagonist in the Last Of Us was sexist for not being "strong and independent" enough.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/126648-Naughty-Dog-Responds-to-The-Last-of-Us-Sexism-Claims
Besides, all those non-white feminists are getting pretty sick of their nonsense.
Can we please stop having these forced gender debates on a video game site? The finger waggling at an entire sub-culture is getting a little old?
There's a term for the definition you gave that doesn't conflict with the Radical Feminism movement, which is what the comic was talking about. That term is Tumblr Feminist, and the internet (but especially Tumblr) is full of them. I'm kind of surprised nobody has mentioned Tumblr yet, because the place is to internet faux outrage what Reddit is to image macros. And also to image macros what reddit is to image macros, along with 4chan.Nurb said:
But Jim has always done this, Yahtzee has always done this, and Bob has done this for as long as I've followed him (although I do so sparsely), so...It comes down to the fact that they did one boob gallery like two weeks ago?hazabaza1 said:
Haw haw, "Strawman Inc."
But seriously, Erin identifies as a Feminist, now, too? God...so politically correct...so...uptight...the more I read these comics the more I start to feel she's that person who overhears an inappropriate, slightly offensive or dirty joke and bores people by droning on in a matter-of-fact voice as to why that's not actually true. Even though IT'S A JOKE.
Kind of like my dad...
Even so, I've studied Radical Feminism and, yeah, it's not what most people think it is. Liberals are like "Huh, things could be better, but, it's okay." and Radicals are like "Let's get shit DONE!", they're far off from the crazy biotches that want to send men to the moon or build a wall between us.
But seriously, Erin identifies as a Feminist, now, too? God...so politically correct...so...uptight...the more I read these comics the more I start to feel she's that person who overhears an inappropriate, slightly offensive or dirty joke and bores people by droning on in a matter-of-fact voice as to why that's not actually true. Even though IT'S A JOKE.
Kind of like my dad...
Even so, I've studied Radical Feminism and, yeah, it's not what most people think it is. Liberals are like "Huh, things could be better, but, it's okay." and Radicals are like "Let's get shit DONE!", they're far off from the crazy biotches that want to send men to the moon or build a wall between us.
More or less, yeah. I couldn't say how many of them are, but more than most branches of feminism, it seems.tangoprime said:
I've really got to stop reading this fucking comic, there's not even humour in it any more.
Implying ideas like consensual sex being hard to distinguish from rape due to "male dominance" is somehow not extreme and fucking retarded.
"Intercourse is the pure, sterile, formal expression of contempt for women?s bodies." - Andrea Dworkin
"To call a man an animal is to flatter him; he's a machine, a walking dildo." - Valerie Solanas
The only radical feminist worth a shit is bell hooks.
Implying ideas like consensual sex being hard to distinguish from rape due to "male dominance" is somehow not extreme and fucking retarded.
"Intercourse is the pure, sterile, formal expression of contempt for women?s bodies." - Andrea Dworkin
"To call a man an animal is to flatter him; he's a machine, a walking dildo." - Valerie Solanas
The only radical feminist worth a shit is bell hooks.
I'm not personally seeing it, myself. And maybe I'm just used to it or something.hazabaza1 said:
I'm not sure hat's true. There's a "purity" movement within a lot of branches of feminism. Hell, my girlfriend's subscribed to a Facebook page that routinely calls out this shit. It's not just the "radical" branch.thaluikhain said:
Of course, you look at who are being called "radical" feminists, and it is not being applied that narrowly. Which was the point of the strip. Maybe if people looked before they leap to judgment....ThreeName said:
Actually I think his point is that using the term "radical feminist" with the general definition of "radical" instead of the specific, feminist jargon version of "radical femnist" really makes no difference, because the latter version uses the word "radical" for basically the same reason as the former. The point is that the specific, narrow definition that Erin was pointing to in the comic really isn't all that different from the broader definition the guy was using.Zachary Amaranth said:
Edit: that last usage of "guy" refers to the guy in the comic. The guy you quoted was using the same definition as Erin.
Edit: Also, not the actual definition the guy in the comic was thinking of in the punchline. The definition people actually use when they say what he said -- you know, "radical," synonym for "extremist."
*swoops in*Daystar Clarion said:
Ha HAR. Your penis is now to be sacrificed to the blood queen! FOR THE MATRIARCHY!
But yes, good comic. Me gusta.
I'll just ignore all the bitching back and forth this topic is likely to have procured 4 pages from now when I add this post and can't be arsed to read the whole thing when there's cheese and crackers and a spare hour of Awesomenauts for me to play. Toodlyoo.
Not to throw water on the hot fire that is your premise but while I have never used the term I would imagine the people who do are referring to the likes of Andrea Dworkin and those feminists who say things like "all sex is rape" and ?The proportion of men must be reduced to and maintained at approximately 10% of the human race.? and ?To call a man an animal is to flatter him; he?s a machine, a walking dildo.? and more.
The goal of equality between the sexes is great, pay equality, better portrayals in media, etc., but to pretend there isn't an extreme wing of feminism that promotes views that most people, men and women, would find abhorent, is to willfully turn a blind eye to the an entire subset of the feminist movement.
These views are, I believe, the minority among feminists, but you are implying that either an extreme wing of feminism does not exist or that somehow people who comment on it have the wrong idea about it? That just does not compute for me.
If you had said that some people use that as cover to hide their anti-feminist views then fine, I am with you, but really your message does not come across well in this comic.
The goal of equality between the sexes is great, pay equality, better portrayals in media, etc., but to pretend there isn't an extreme wing of feminism that promotes views that most people, men and women, would find abhorent, is to willfully turn a blind eye to the an entire subset of the feminist movement.
These views are, I believe, the minority among feminists, but you are implying that either an extreme wing of feminism does not exist or that somehow people who comment on it have the wrong idea about it? That just does not compute for me.
If you had said that some people use that as cover to hide their anti-feminist views then fine, I am with you, but really your message does not come across well in this comic.