Comments

  1. Rob Grigjanis says

    The Julie Andrews GIF was the best laugh I’ve had in a while. The Sound of Music was good for something after all.

  2. anteprepro says

    The questions sound exactly like the ones an ignoring, shit-stirring Christian would use regarding atheism.

    “Who is the leader of atheism?”
    “Where is your atheist agenda posted?”
    “Isn’t atheism the same thing as hating Jesus?”
    “What do you do in the name of No God?”
    “But what if atheism doesn’t help me deal with the death of my grandpappy?”
    “If you are such a good atheist, why aren’t you telling the bad atheists to stop being mean to Christians, huh huh huh?”

  3. Brony says

    What is the difference between a feminist and an egalitarian?

    This is one that I saw problems with a long time ago. The people going on about “equalism” of “egalitarianism” always (in my experience anyway) just have the pretense of wanting equality, but want to utterly ignore the structural differences in what is producing the inequality. There is never a sign that they have any awareness of why the inequality happens. My best explanation so far is that they simply won’t or can’t look at differences in sex and gender as categories that have real-world functional relationships.

    It’s why I sometimes make the argument that there could be a male version of feminism if they functionally tried to solve problems that disproportionally affect men instead of lashing out at feminism all the time (I admit that this still has the problem that things like “straight pride” or “white pride” groups have in most situations because all the problems I have encountered still end up being patriarchy-related). If you spend all your time attacking women instead of helping men I’m simply not going to see you as an ally. Feminists on the other hand seem to be largely targeting things that hurt men and women so I make my choice accordingly.

  4. Ichthyic says

    There is never a sign that they have any awareness of why the inequality happens.

    It’s the same problem with the “colorblind” approach to race that we were taught when I was in primary school.

    It ignores the entire history and infrastructure that has been built up around the racism to begin with.

  5. yazikus says

    John Horstman, did you see the comments over there about the “wrath of Amanda”? Pure comedy gold.

  6. says

    PZ:

    This automatically puts me into the dudebro club, right?

    Yup :)
    I can just imagine the flood of emails you’re going to get from that article, on top of all the emails you already get. Makes me wonder what your email box looks like.
    PZ to Siri: “Siri, what does my mailbox look like this wonderfully chilly Morris morning?”
    Siri: “Why good morning Mr. PZ-newly-inducted-into-the-dudebro club-Myers. Please hold for one moment while I retrieve your emails…”
    “You have 1.024 unread emails from MRAs.”
    “You have 593 unread emails from creationists.”
    “You have 998 unread emails from angry dictionary atheists.”
    “You have 1,262 unread emails from racist assholes.”
    “These are just in the last two days.”
    “Have a swell day.”

  7. essjay says

    I have been reading Pandragon for some time and have the utmost admiration for Amanda Marcotte’s marvelous brand of uppityness. However, what is there about Amanda’s Disney gif that inspires comments like: “That is literally the single greatest gif in the history of the medium. It is the Citizen Kane of gifs. Gifmakers for the next 70 years will be working in its shadow”? Will someone have pity on me and tell me what I’m missing?

    (By the way, Improbable Joe, I adore the recent addition to your name. Every time I read it, I start to giggle. So much concentrated snark!)

  8. David Marjanović says

    Comment there:

    “The Disney gif brought that to a whole other level. Thank you.”

    Reply:

    “That is literally the single greatest gif in the history of the medium. It is the Citizen Kane of gifs. Gifmakers for the next 70 years will be working in its shadow.”

    I concur.

    I have been reading Pandragon for some time

    Then read again. :-) Emphasis mine.

    However, what is there about Amanda’s Disney gif that inspires comments like: [quoted above]? Will someone have pity on me and tell me what I’m missing?

    For one thing, this would actually have been an improvement over The Sound of Music as it really exists.

  9. says

    David:

    For one thing, this would actually have been an improvement over The Sound of Music as it really exists.

    There’s no denying that, however, I wasn’t impressed with any of the gifs. Julie Andrews with machine guns, yeah, that’s telling them…something.

  10. Rob Grigjanis says

    David @14: The Disney gif is the earlier one which has “Go fuck yourself with a cactus”. Very fitting and chuckleworthy, but hardly the greatest ever, so on that I’m with essjay. The Julie Andrews gif on the other hand, was genius. But Disney had nothing to do with The Sound of Music.

  11. says

    Rob:

    “Go fuck yourself with a cactus”.

    Speaking of, the “go fuck yourself with a decayed porcupine” was dropped by consensus here, due the whining and howls of idiots, who insisted we could not speak about rape if we said things like that. I’m kinda wondering why there’s so much admiration for that one, given the history here.

  12. says

    Also, it would be nice if someone actually answered Essjay. You can say “genius! brilliant!” all day long, but it’s not saying why you think Julie Andrews with guns is genius! brilliant!.

  13. Rob Grigjanis says

    Inaji @ 17: I must have missed that one. Good job it’s not in my repertoire!

    @18: I think essjay, like me, was wondering why the Disney gif was being praised. Don’t know what essjay thought of the Julie Andrews gif, but to me it was funny because of the absurd contrast; squeaky clean “raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens” Maria brandishing Uzis. I actually don’t approve of postulants wandering the Alps packing heat.

  14. 2kittehs says

    essjay @ 13

    I kinda missed what was so fantastic about the Disney gif, too. Clever, unexpected – or would be if this sort of thing wasn’t done all the time – and the total contrast between Disney’s cutesy clean-clean-clean image and a ruuuuuude message. But greatest thing out? No, didn’t strike me that way, either. That could be because I didn’t grow up in a Disney-saturated world, but then I’ve no idea if the people who really like it did, either.

    I did laugh at the Julie Andrews one, in a very slightly uncomfortable way – not uncomfortable at the guns, I thought that was very well done, but I wasn’t wild about the message, ironic or not.

    I’m with you on the awesomeness of Improbable Joe’s new moniker! :)

  15. knowknot says

    @17 Inaji
    – Yeah… the nature of “fuck you” and “fuck yourself” has always been curious to me. The addition of “…with…” makes it more so. I should admit that I laughed at the Disney thing anyway, though it was followed with a “!?”
    – To my small and over-concerned-with-every-silly-thing mind, it’s at least potentially curious how Americans have such a visceral response to the British use of certain gentalia-related terms, only one class of which we completely disavow (some of us, anyway), when even the very common fuck you’s would be something of a shock to a mythical person who had no experience with such a curse and were to interpret it as “go engage in intercourse (of an undetermined variety and in undetermined circumstances) with whatever equipment you happen to carry around.”
    – Of course, we don’t – or at least we think we don’t – process it in anything like such a literal or graphic manner. It seems usually to equate to something like “damn you a lot, though without the actual burny sensations, because that’s just over the top.” Not even going to ponder the reaction to the addition of a specific “… with a …”
    – Strange though, how the word morphs between social and intimate settings. As famously pointed out by Lenny Bruce.

  16. essjay says

    OK, thanks everyone. I see that most of you agree with me. I do get the Julie Andrews one, although I’m not fond of guns. As Inaji says above, the cactus part made me think of that old, horrible rotten porcupine insult.