Youtube user jorrillabear left this comment on a video of my daughter.
“What an ugly baby”
That was right after jorrillabear identified as being supportive of NC pastor Sean Harris – who told congregants to punch their gay children. First, jorrillabear’s religious beliefs led to the endorsement of child abuse. Then jorrillabear’s very next activity was to insult the physical appearance of a baby. What the fuck, over?
First off – is it just me, or is Zoe actually not ugly?
Admittedly, I’m biased. Either way though - it doesn’t matter. There simply is no reason to talk like this.
The elevator-gate meta-argument has recently reached a very similar point. The antagonists have referred to Jen McCreight as ‘ugly’ – further insinuating that because she’s supposedly ugly she wouldn’t have to worry about rape and sexual harassment.
When one of the antagonists showed up to defend herself, Jen McCreight responded:
Now, if you want to explain why calling me ugly is totally acceptable, feel free to debate that point. I’m dying to hear what you have to say.
Ophelia Benson weighed in:
And tell us if you do that in the rest of your life, and how it works out for you. Do you call your relatives ugly? If you have grandparents or parents living, do you tell them how ugly they’re getting? If you think a friend’s child is ugly, do you tell the friend the child is ugly? Do you tell the child? Do you tell your friends they’re ugly? Do you tell colleagues they’re ugly? Do you call people ugly whenever you lose your temper?
If so, does it go well? Do they all like you the better for it? Do they admire and respect you? Do they think you’re a wise, honest, thoughtful, generally decent person? Is that what you think of yourself – you’re a kind of Lenny Bruce for the modern era?
That pretty much sums it up.
*UPDATE – ‘Scumbag Christian’ meme attempt:*
What I’m getting at is that this guy endorsed child abuse for religious reasons, then in the very next click – insulted a baby’s appearance for fun. It’s an example of a scumbag christian. This was an example of moral bankruptcy from a person claiming moral high ground.
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Eric126
May 26, 2012 at 4:29 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
You’re right… she actually isn’t ugly.
nigelTheBold, who sings like a needle to the ear
May 26, 2012 at 4:30 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
She is, as my grandmother used to say, cute as a button.
jorrillabear is just trolling. Also, stupid.
alejandromujica
May 26, 2012 at 4:37 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wow, your daughter has the most beautiful blue-green eyes. They’re like the color of clear Caribbean water. You know the jagoff that wrote those comments is too chicken to throw his voice around like that in person, where it really counts.
Kate
May 26, 2012 at 4:40 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
She’s cute enough to eat! :D
ednaz
May 26, 2012 at 4:46 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ooohhhh. What a Beautiful Brilliant Baby.
(No worries, Justin. It’s not just you.) :)
Also,my husband and I want to thank you for all the hard work you do. What you’re doing is making the world a better place.
Mac
May 26, 2012 at 4:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
No, of course she’s not ugly. She’s clearly beautiful. That remark was intended to elicit a response.
Worked didn’t it? ;-)
Jasmyn
May 26, 2012 at 5:00 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I guess the guy didn’t just want to say, “I don’t agree with you, but I don’t have a well thought out and valid argument.” Instead he decided to attack Zoe.
We all know she’s beautiful. You know I don’t even particularly care for kids, but I think she’s precious.
Rod Chlebek
May 26, 2012 at 5:03 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Either trolling or insecurities. I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
Steve
May 26, 2012 at 5:04 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I don’t think there is a much of a difference between babies. To me they all look more or less the same. So even if she were ugly, they’d all be equally ugly.
YankeeCynic
May 26, 2012 at 5:05 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
What are the odds this guy thinks America is a Christian Nation and is at war with Islam? And what are the odds that this guy has no problem letting guys like Justin deploy for months at a time while he sits on his ass on the couch calling people’s kids ugly?
What. A. Fuckwit.
Alex P.
May 26, 2012 at 5:20 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’ve seen ugly babies… Your little one is most definitely NOT ugly.
N. Nescio
May 26, 2012 at 5:23 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I have seen several ugly babies in my life, but I keep such judgments entirely to myself. You’ve got to be a *real* asshole to say that openly, and an even bigger one to say it openly as a way of taking a cheap dig at someone.
I second “cute as a button”.
kerfluffle
May 26, 2012 at 5:30 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Baybeh!!! Cutie-patootie baybehface!!
Too much cute to form real words.
kennypo65
May 26, 2012 at 5:33 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
That is a beautiful baby, and I hate kids. That guy is a douchebag; forget about him.
Justin Griffith
May 26, 2012 at 5:38 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“Scumbag Christian” meme -- Am I doing it right?
Paul Hunter
May 26, 2012 at 6:26 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
She’s adorable and fortunately still to little to know that there are really ugly personalities out there.
Give her plenty of Love so that when she finally learns how much some people hate she’ll be able to become a healthy loving adult
articulett
May 26, 2012 at 7:01 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
You have the cutest baby in the world!
(Clearly faith has addled the brain of jorillabear. I suspect he’s projecting his own ugligness onto others.)
Ophelia Benson
May 26, 2012 at 7:05 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Totally not ugly! And Zoe is such a great name.
That guy is disgusting. And I disagree with all this “don’t let it get to you” “he just did it to get a reaction, and it worked” crap. The hell with that. It’s worth getting angry when people do disgusting things.
furtivezoog
May 26, 2012 at 7:13 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Perhaps what is happening is that “jorrillabear” is operating on the OT, conditional morality where people are mostly (if even that) expected to be good to people of their own kind or tribe but may justify any horrible thing at all done to outsiders and enemies.
Your child is adorable. I don’t think it should matter, and we really shouldn’t judge people--especially children--on such shallow criteria… but your child really is O-M-PZ completely adorable.
In context, I suppose it IS somewhat relevant since the commenter is so obviously wrong, thus probably lying (false witness?) instead of *just* being an insensitive, callous jerk.
Pierce R. Butler
May 26, 2012 at 7:17 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
You’ve got a specimen of an immature primate with excessive cranialization and insufficient pelt development there.
A medical inspection might be advisable sometime, but I’m fairly sure the condition is hereditary, inoperable, and incurable (except perhaps for the immaturity).
Buffy
May 26, 2012 at 7:39 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Your daughter is adorable. Obviously you can’t trust someone who thinks it’s OK to beat a gay person in an attempt to “turn them straight”.
Crip Dyke, MQ, Right Reverend Feminist FuckToy of Death & Her Handmaiden
May 26, 2012 at 7:41 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Reacted to this & decided to play with a meme generator for the first time.
Couldn’t easily find what I was looking for, but I’d love to use the KC template you’ve got.
Anyway, I think that this captures the basics: push back on the objective morality trope that is so insidious.
george.w
May 26, 2012 at 7:52 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Is Kirk Cameron Jorillabear? The answer will be the same to both questions.
sqlrob
May 26, 2012 at 7:53 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Zoe? You’re in for a world of hurt
NanceConfer
May 26, 2012 at 8:49 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
The baby is beautiful. The guy is sleaze. I hope the baby never has to see these posts.
MosesZD
May 26, 2012 at 8:50 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
She looks like a baby. Round head. Chubby cheeks. Big eyes. Bi-laterally symetrical. Well formed cranium. Normal nose. Good eyebrows. Nice ears. Well proportioned. Good skin. No defects. Seems to be alert.
I’ve seen babies with probems. Your child isn’t one of them.
She’s great looking. Be happy. Don’t be insecure.
Alethea H. Claw
May 26, 2012 at 8:52 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Those aren’t quite the same things, Ophelia. “Don’t let it get to you” is good advice, but that doesn’t rule out getting angry. Don’t accept it, don’t take it personally, don’t believe the bullshit -- but call it out, too.
Justin Griffith
May 26, 2012 at 8:52 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@23 ‘Scumbag Christian’ is always Kirk Cameron… jorillabear is not.
I didn’t start this meme, but you can find out more here: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/scumbag-christian
Hellbound Alleee
May 26, 2012 at 8:54 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Try not to forget you’re a human dad, and not a papa bear, K? YOU know she’s not ugly, and you know what youtube commenters are capable of. Try not to let it ruin any more of your days, ok?
dianne
May 26, 2012 at 9:29 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
She’s extraordinarily cute and I see already has the facepalm technique down. She’ll do fine.
Justin Griffith
May 26, 2012 at 9:29 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@ 29 But I am so good at going “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWRRRR!”
furtivezoog
May 26, 2012 at 9:45 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
PS--Tested it on the wife, without set-up beyond “Look at this baby”: “AW, Zoe! She’s very cute!”
george.w
May 26, 2012 at 9:53 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ah. Wasn’t familiar with the meme.
I don’t much care for babies and even I think that baby is cute. But it doesn’t matter; who insults a baby?
Joolz
May 26, 2012 at 9:59 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I think all babies look weird (not ugly, just weird). I was apparently born without a single maternal instinct for human children (kittens however are a different matter). Zoe appears cute as human children go -- and the facepalm is definitely cute, even for a non-kitten.
Don’t get bothered by trolls who are trying to rile you by disparaging your baby. My best friend gave birth to a baby who was, honestly, the strangest looking human creature you could imagine. He is now a very handsome 20something man -- but as a baby he was freaky to look at -- and she (the mother) knew it. You know Zoe isn’t ugly and that’s all that matters.
I’ve just realised whilst typing this comment that ugly isn’t a word I would ever use for anything or anyone. Freaky, strange, unusual, odd, different; they are all words I might use -- but ugly seems strangely, oddly, unusually old-fashioned.
Happiestsadist
May 26, 2012 at 10:30 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I very, very seldom find human babies cute, but Zoe is adorable. Something about having eyes that aren’t supposed to exist outside of anime.
But yeah. Weak-sauce trolling by someone who doesn’t have a damn thing to say.
KingUber
May 26, 2012 at 10:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Personally I find all babies to be ugly, sorry
'Tis Himself
May 26, 2012 at 11:15 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Cute kid, Justin. You’re obviously a proud father and she’s a baby to be proud about.
Drivebyposter
May 26, 2012 at 11:46 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Her eyes are piercing. She’s going to walk all over your ass when she gets older. Haha
Priscilla Parker
May 27, 2012 at 12:17 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Zoe is adorable. I remember however someone admitting they once told a lady to her face she had an ugly baby. Pot, meet kettle. And erase.
Beauzeaux
May 27, 2012 at 12:47 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
An ugly baby is so rare, it’s a crime against nature.
Of course, some babies are cuter than others and this one (the exquisite Zoe) is clearly the cutest baby on the planet — probably the galaxy.
michaelpowers
May 27, 2012 at 3:48 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
To me, most babies look a lot like Winston Churchill right after they’re born. But that fades after a day or two. I think it’s just the result of being cooped up for 9 months.
Anyway, Zoe is, as my Granpa would say, “Cuter than a bug’s ear”.
anubisprime
May 27, 2012 at 5:49 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Just those all loving… all moral… all jealous xian clones making their ‘faith’ be paraded for all to see!
Goes without saying that xianity is welcomed to such disgusting slime…humanity can get along quite easily without such ignorant examples of their gods lurve’
They really have no idea how to behave in society.
It is the same problem they all exhibit like the Jessica Ahlquist correspondents and their flaky dysfunctional sexually explicit death threats including the state representative and his circle jerk comment….there is only one evil here…and we all know what that is…Religion…it poisons everything!
They must be so proud to be so brain dead…they actually boast about it and display it at every opportunity!
Maybe one day they will grow up…holding of breath is not recommended!
Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort
May 27, 2012 at 6:20 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Argh, such a cute baby! Can’t even make the “atheists eat babies” joke that’s how cute she is!
Bruce Gorton
May 27, 2012 at 8:19 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Substitute Christian for Halfling, and just be glad she is on the hate list.
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0335.html
Daniel Fincke
May 27, 2012 at 11:32 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m not comfortable with using the image of a known personality like Kirk Cameron to stand for all bad Christians. It looks an awful like a slanderous accusation that Cameron beats gay kids and that’s totally out of line without evidence. And that’s really unfair.
carolw
May 27, 2012 at 11:46 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’ve seen weird-looking babies, and ugly babies, and cute babies. Zoe is a super-cutie-patootie. And I’m not really a “baby person” either. :)
resident_alien
May 27, 2012 at 12:35 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
This commenter is smitten with teh adoreableness (sic)!
That youtube-pooper is low,even for a Christian…
J. J. Ramsey
May 27, 2012 at 1:14 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Maybe jorrillabear is from a parallel universe where the Twilight Zone episode, “The Eye of the Beholder” takes place. :P Even then, that wouldn’t excuse him, though. “Your baby is ugly” is one of those insults that always makes the insulter look like a jackass.
ed
May 27, 2012 at 2:15 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
not that I find any baby “pretty”, your daughter looks like…well, a baby. The “ugly” is the commenters world view.
georgewiman
May 27, 2012 at 2:41 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’ve been thinking about @45 Daniel Fincke and I agree. There’s plenty to mock in Kirk Cameron but he isn’t a stand-in for every offensive thing that any Christian might ever do.
Besides, Cameron does something much worse than insult babies. As soon as they learn to talk he helps indoctrinate them to Christianity.
MG Myers
May 27, 2012 at 4:36 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Zoe is an absolutely adorable baby!!! She looks like a baby that people would love to hold at parties.
Justin Griffith
May 27, 2012 at 5:36 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@45 and @50 -- I didn’t pick Kirk Cameron. It’s a standard internet meme called “scumbag Christian”. There are thousands of variations of words.
The ‘scumbag’ reference is an internet joke based on a kid making a scuzzy face while wearing scuzzy clothes. You just know he’s up to something. That original guy’s hat is crudely photoshopped onto Kirk Cameron’s head to make the point that it’s NOT ‘regular Christian’… rather, it’s the ‘scumbag version of a christian’.
Daniel Fincke
May 27, 2012 at 7:13 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
You may not have created it, but you don’t have to use it. Especially since it risks confusing people.
Justin Griffith
May 27, 2012 at 8:08 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Fair enough. I erroneously thought that people were savvy with memes -- and your initial kirk cameron defense mode was reiterated often enough to confirm your point.
I swear though, it was all about that scumbag hat.
In the future I’ll try to avoid such confusion (through avoidance and/or explanation.) Although I’d like to point out the difficulty one would have in defining “MRA” and “Slimepit” and “FfTB” and the like if you had to explain the meaning every time. Sometimes our social circles overlap enough to have common jargon and slang, sometimes not. It’s kind of on the end-user’s responsibility to google some in-jokes. On the other hand, bloggers should be able to make inside jokes easily recognized as such (where I failed this time).
georgewiman
May 27, 2012 at 9:47 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I should have Googled the meme before asking the first question; it isn’t memes and inside jokes that are the problem but only this specific meme of using a well-known individual as the exemplar. It would be somewhat like showing a picture of Islamist preacher Zakir Naik with the caption; “Throws acid on girls for walking to school”. No doubt people who do this have drawn inspiration from Naik but there is no evidence he has done such a thing.
At some point Kirk Cameron is going to use it as a fund raiser by saying those darned atheists are telling lies about him. Not that he isn’t a Christian, and a scumbag; he’s both. I just hate to give him ammunition.
Karen Klein
May 31, 2012 at 8:57 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
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