Every single thread ending in what about the straight white male?

Back in my day we were sad people, admittedly.

We copied cassette tapes, wore ex-army parkas, and went to the pub for sessions.

But we were never as sad as what is going on now. There was no concern for who was or wasn't straight or white or male for that matter.

So glad my youth wasn't eclipsed by internet nonsense imported from college campuses over the pond and worrying about what people did or didn't type about me online.

I don't envy ye folks.

Deleted User wrote: »

What's all this? I think it may be unique to the very interesting microcosm that is boards.ie because its certainly not something I've noticed in the real world.

It's the internet in general. Identity politics has utterly pervaded discussion forums and social media because various news outlets have realise that it constitutes amazing ad-revenue generating clickbait potential. Hence, the media spends hours upon hours generating inflammatory headlines which are deliberately designed to piss men off (essentially, displaying the kind of bigotry which they know wouldn't be tolerated by the Twitterati if it was aimed at women) and using that to play people off eachother - all the while, people involved in the arguments end up reading the articles which spawned them.

That's not the only reason for this, but it's definitely one of them. I think part of it is also the rise of Anita Sarkeesian and the "cultural authoritarians" circa 2011 / 2012, which is when the whole idea that the internet shouldn't be a lawless wild west and that there should be actual rules around what people can and cannot publish in either fictional art or real-life commentary was introduced and a firm battle erupted between old-skool "internet is not serious business" types and younger "the internet is tied to real life and as such should be regulated and policed" types. That's fundamentally what Gamergate was actually about - it wasn't about feminism, it wasn't about journalism, it wasn't about any of the stuff people claimed it was about. It was about on one hand, cultural authoritarians like Sarkeesian saying "hey, people should observe some standards of decency when creating art" and cultural libertarians like Redditors and 4channers saying "f*ck off, there should be no rules or limitations on speech whatsoever". Terms such as "cultural appropriation", "privilege", "trigger warning" etc ultimately stemmed from this - the battle between "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen" and "the kitchen should be a more welcoming environment for people who can't stand the heat".

Essentially, the cultural upheavals of the 2000s related to technology created the perfect powder keg for an all out culture war. It was inevitable, and if it hadn't started because of Sarkeesian and Gamergate, it would have started because of something else sooner rather than later.

Basically our lives are too easy.

No job? Free money.

Homeless? Free hotel room.

Junkie? Free methadone.

My life could go to utter **** tomorrow and the state would pretty much pick up the tab until the day I die. It's nice to have a safety net but it takes away our need to survive by our own wits.

We turn this energy into aggression against the systems and society which are the very things which allow us to enjoy enormous personal freedoms in huge comfort.

pilly wrote: »

Anyone else sick to death of every single thread ending in what about the straight white male.

The most random of subjects end up being about how victimised straight white males are.

I for one am bored to death of hearing it.

That reminds me "What have the Romans ever done for us:rolleyes:"

lorcand1990 wrote: »

Won't somebody please think of the straight white male!

Don't forget the caucasians

blanch152 wrote: »

It's a secret signal to the mods to close the thread. Didn't you read that in Feedback?

Mod: Thread closed

Sonics2k wrote: »

Did you just assume my gender?

Ah here, everyone knows that Sonic the Hedgehog identifies as an Apache Attack Helicopter.

pilly wrote: »

Anyone else sick to death of every single thread ending in what about the straight white male.

The most random of subjects end up being about how victimised straight white males are.

I for one am bored to death of hearing it.

As a woman, you've become so accustomed to privilege that the white male fight for equality feels like oppression

There is a niggling subtle difference between white men moaning, whinging, little fragile masculinist tyrants ... and simply pointing the massive hypocrisies in this era of puritanical moral righteousness.

We live in the age of the digital witch-hunt and white cis hetero men are dead last in the victim Olympics (and winter victim Olympics). You can pretty much get away with saying anything you like about our group online. You will probably be applauded with absolutely no sense of irony.

pilly wrote: »

Well it's about time someone said it out, we just don't FCUKING CARE.

Who are 'we'?

pilly wrote: »

Myself and every sane person I know.

Ah Ok that answers my question above. Forgot everyone cares what you think