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What about a GC voting guide?
In the USA, all sorts of groups from gun control to tax policy put out voting guides that rank the candidate's positions on the issues that matter to the group. So in the US, you see things like, "Senator So-and-So" got a 94 percent rating from the NRA!" They look at the politician's votes (if they've been in office) and their platforms. In many cases, they get the person's staff on the line and ask blunt questions about the stance.
So couldn't GC feminists do something similar? Could we pick issues like men in prisons, sports, etc. and start ranking politicians and candidates? Would that be a way for the political parties to see there is an electoral cost to these issues? And could it be helpful to voters who don't know where their politicians even stand on the issue?
Just a thought. What are your thoughts?
It's truly one of the most insulting things about genderism, honestly. And it's so insidious, you see it in nearly every aspect of society. I first started noticing this in gaming and technology (big surprise, right?), where you'd hear about women finally competing or making a name for themselves, get excited and look them up only to realize it's just a TIM... That rollercoaster of emotion with, "Yay, women making it in male-dominated fields!" to the deflation of, "Oh, well, not really a woman... nothing to get too excited about." It's very similar to when I remember first reading about the "pregnant man" and I thought they had made some kind of miracle scientific breakthrough, until finding out it was a woman who considers herself a "man"... not such an exciting breakthrough anymore, huh?
Women's shortlists and women's awards exist for the sole reason that if those categories didn't exist, women would never win awards. That's why there are divisions like "best actor" and "best actress" categories - there used to be only "best actor" and while it was technically open to men and women, only men were ever nominated because they were nominated by men. The sex wage gap has ensured that very few women will ever become even close to as rich as the wealthiest men, and the "boy's club" within corporations has kept women from becoming CEOs - this is one of the many reasons why putting males on lists for women is incredibly disingenuous. It skews statistics, and makes it look like women are wealthier and more powerful than they actually are. This makes it easier for misogynists to say, "See, there's plenty of rich and powerful 'women,' so what are you feminists complaining about?"
I first started noticing this in gaming and technology (big surprise, right?), where you'd hear about women finally competing or making a name for themselves, get excited and look them up only to realize it's just a TIM
I distinctly remember the first time I ever had this feeling was with Brianna Wu, and that was back when I was still pro-trans -- this was before TWAW became the party line, and everyone knew TIMs were, like, honorary women, but not exactly the same. I didn't even think to look him up until I was following his Twitter and caught a mild whiff of bullshit when he was asking for critiques of some oversexualized female figures he was using in a game he was developing. Once I checked some sources that weren't authored by him, I learned that he wasn't a Chinese-American woman, but a white American man. I have felt that feeling of deepest disappointment more times since then, but I remember that one as the earliest.
Oh, Brianna Wu is one of the worst of them all, if only for the fact that he's one of the few that actually pretends to be a "cis" woman and tries so hard to hide any hint of being trans! Who does he think he's fooling?
I have never heard of Brianna Wu. Off to the Google ...
Brianna Wu - AKA John Walker Flynt - was a big name during the Gamergate fiasco a few years ago. He claimed to receive the same kind of misogynistic harassment that other women in the gaming industry were claiming (and apparently also addressed transphobia within Gamergate at some point according to this old reddit comment). Most of those who followed the story only read some articles and opinions on the matters, and never really looked deeper into who the people involved were. Many just assumed Brianna was a woman, like many of the other women involved, who grew up among the gamer or tech world and experiencing it from a female perspective. There were a lot of other issues with Brianna's Gamergate claims, but the disingenuous nature of claiming female exclusion when he's not even female was so egregious that it was the turning point that permanently jaded me towards viral online controversies.
Check out his Wikipedia page and you'll see what I mean about scrubbing his trans status. If you didn't know any better, you'd think that article was about a woman. His Kiwi Farms thread goes into more detail, if you are comfortable visiting that site.
More cultural appropriation!
An ugly white dude taking on the name âWuâ. đ
I would not be surprised if Brianna Wu is one of the reasons so many conservative dudebro types think that 'feminism' is responsible for the gender cult.
Very well said. That last bit, especially. It also enrages me. And all the while, it's not like TIFs are really breaking the glass ceiling either.
I am in entertainment and I remember telling a friend earlier this summer : "the problem we have is that almost every director and screenwriter, etc, that ever got celebrated is a man. We're trying to make way for females. If a bunch of men begin identifying as women and getting celebrated, good for them. But the problem is we get stuck with the same problem : females are just not represented. Except it's worse because now not only are we not represented, but there are males who are claiming to represent us". Or something like that.
I remember being horrified while saying it.
Wow, I can only imagine how tough it is out there for the women creatives, and how things like seeing TIMs like the Wachowskis placed (usually near the top, ugh) on already very slim women director lists is pretty damn insulting. Who knows how many up and coming women are being brushed away in favor of the woke points that a TIM would bring these days?
Even the women who make it are still torn down in one way or another, and credit for their success often given to men. "Oh, Kathryn Bigelow only has a career because she was married to James Cameron," or "Sofia Coppola is only successful because of her father." (Yes, nepotism played a part, but I think her movies are beautiful and I love that they are focused on women! Plus, how many celebrated men also have careers thanks to nepotism? Why are women the only ones who really get shit for this?)
Or how many of the successful women directors, writers, producers are often viewed as "difficult" and "high maintenance" for exhibiting the same, if not way less severe, behavior that male creatives do. I often think about how the world would react to a female version of David Lynch, mostly because I want one to exist so badly! (Think beautiful, surreal, film noir-esque, but through a female gaze and viewpoint instead. Imagine how much better the story of Laura Palmer would be if told by a woman!) But I don't think she would be allowed to get even close to the level of success that Lynch achieved for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is that she would be written off as loony and "too weird," whereas men are allowed to be experimental and eccentric.
Regarding nepotism, I was reading a French article a couple of months ago about how throughout history, illustrious women are usually defined by their relationship to a man, even if that man is an unknown who has never done anything. I'm sure it played a part in shaping our collective minds onto thinking that a woman who achieves something can not have achieved it on her own : it must be because a man has done X, Y or Z for her, etc.
I used to hate Sofia Coppola. Her movies felt off to me, it annoyed me how she didn't respect established codes (and to be fair I'm not a big fan of films d'auteur) but earlier this year I studied a couple of women filmmakers and realized that they all made movies that are "off". And then it dawned on me that what was "off" was that I was used to hearing stories told by men for men and that the norms of cinema were that of men. Women who make movies from a woman's point of view can hardly get critical acclaim in that world. It's dreadful.
And about that last part, you are very much correct. When I was younger and trying to get a band together in rock the boys/men around would constantly talk over me, dismiss me as an attention seeker when I behaved the exact same way every other frontman was behaving. I often got told that a woman behaving like this was to be dismissed as trying to be a man. Obnoxious behaviour that was seen as cool from men was lame for women. My band never listened to me, sometimes because their girlfriends were jealous and didn't want me to take place.
I always admired Kubrick. I'm a mighty control freak and I have ideas. But if I had gone to be a director... LOL Like hell anyone would have listened to me like they listened to him.
That's why I quit music, too.
Rock aswell ?
Yup..
Ha. Unsurprising. Deeply misogynistic culture. Women are trophies for the almighty men. Somewhat glad to know I'm not alone though.
I know. It's shitty. Why can't they be "transwomen" at least, the first trans person to do such and such, why do they have to claim being female when they are not?
Why do they hate being trans so much they throw that part away? :P
Validation, validation, validation, validation, va-li-day-shun (sung to the "Alleluia").
That's part of the end game. Displacing all women in high ranking positions with perverted misogynistic men in skirts.
This reminds me of a convo I had on Reddit: a TIM was telling me that he once had male privilege but because he now passes, he no longer receives male privilege. So I explained that even supposing that this is true, the lingering effects of having once been viewed as male are a privilege as well.
If, for example, he was hired at a company as a male and received a higher starting salary than the women who were already there, and then later transitioned, he is still experiencing male privilege because he is still making more money than the women. Even if he left that company and then went to a company where no one knew that he is male, he can ask for a higher starting salary because they would want to be competitive with his old job, so heâs still receiving privilege based on the lingering effects of the overt male privilege he once had.
I articulated it a bit better than this when I talked to him, but he was basically like âNo.â
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Thank you! I was disappointed but not surprised that he refused to acknowledge my point lol.
he's female just like this guy is female: https://rattusrattus3.tumblr.com/post/639041885424500736
Every time someone mentions the wachowski brothers in the context of being the most successful female directors in Hollywood I die a bit more inside
Wow. I had never heard of them. They looked like every common loser gross incel. Now they look like every AGP fetishist with pink hair. So freaking weird both of them suddenly thought they're ladies
The bright pink dreads is really something else.
Huh, did they missed the cultural appropriation memo? I guess that's okay if you're trans, too.
Yes, they take take take without understanding what they are taking!
I used to think that orgy scene in the Matrix movies was pretty weird and I thought it was strange everyone just sort of accepted that it was okay to fill a movie with that and fetish gear and stuff.
Now it makes so much horrifying sense.
I used to really like that aesthetic and I loved Matrix but.. đ©
Not so weird once you read the 'why' behind it. Surprise, a dominatrix was heavily involved! This was an article published by Rolling Stone in 2006 and (also surprise!) has since been removed.
What in the fuq did I just read?
They've done such few successful things in recent years that I was unaware they'd transitioned.
So late in life and without any clues so I'm going with AGP.
Oh itâs 100% agp... the first brother âdiscoveredâ his womanhood after developing an addiction to paying dominatrixes to humiliate and emasculate him. Then the other one followed suit. Just a couple of regular gals!
Specifically, a dominatrix who was married to Buck Angel when she and the Wachowski brother started his transition.
The Wachowski's work became progressively worse and worse as the AGP addiction took over their lives. This seems to be common in a lot of people who transition after their initial success - what they were originally known for becomes less important than their new trans identity and activism. On a smaller level, you see this with a lot of the internet-famous gamers, like Cosmo "Narcissa" Wright, who was a well-respected "speedrunner" until his transition completely took over his entire life and now he's a pitiful shut-in who looks like he's starving to death.
I agree, The Wachowski's never made a good movie since becoming full time AGP's.
Interesting point