I’m not a big fan of clickbaity ol’ Buzzfeed, but my impression has gone up slightly at their response to this question.
I say only slightly because this ought to be the standard attitude, and it’s just really weird that there are people like the questioner out there.
Buzzfeed recently hired Virginia Hughes to setup and run a health and science desk. We may start reading them more often…
#Meninist?
Does he know?
As someone else said, and I apologize for not remembering the credit to give:
Meninist: portremonteau of Meningitis (crippling brain disease) and Stalinist (psychopathic dicatator)
Even if much of the content is shallow, I <3 Buzzfeed now.
They do often have feminist-ish slanted content, but they certainly don’t seem interested in maintaining a decent commentary policy. A lot of BuzzFeed comments are incredibly misogynistic, and I’ve never seen official pushback.
If they were just going for clickbait, I suspect Buzzfeed could hardly do better than announcing they are “100% feminist.”
Aww come on guys, he was just wanted to help. I can’t tell you how many times I tried to run a Meninist website and accidentally put up Feminist articles. That’s why I use Slippy, the the Slymepit-friendly office assistant.
See? It happened again. Thanks for catching that, Slippy!
For those who still have their doubts, Meninite superiority is clearly on display here.
Meninist ???
OK, I know illiteracy is no laughing matter.
Beut, seriously, who invents this kind of word?
I wonder if that’s even true. I don’t remember where I saw it, but there was an interesting analysis of gaming articles done, searching for a selection feminists buzzwords. They only appeared in about 0.5% of gaming articles, or about 1 in 200. Yet their is an entire movement kicking and screaming at how feminists are taking over gaming.
Meninist? Really, it should be Malinist.
Well, perhaps we really needed a word for the fanatics of classical Spanish art.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Meninas
That is the only proper response, well done. Whether or not they actually live up to their own claim is another topic, but it’s a good start.
@Caine: I prefer “masculinist”.
They’ve always been pro-feminist. Even in their light-hearted posts, there’s an awareness there that is refreshing.
And don’t forget, Buzzfeed is the site that published Mark Oppenheimer’s piece about Shermer.
Meninists. I’ve heard of them. They’re pacifists. They use horse-drawn carriages, and don’t like electricity.
*nods*
I see that the MRA label is so tainted that they are now finding more novel newspeak terms to hide their sexism under.
fakeemailaddress @ 14:
That’s equally silly. Feminism is not about femininity, and men’s rights aren’t about masculinity. The concepts of femininity / masculinity are constantly changing, and different across cultures, making those concepts problematic and useless. If someone wants a counterpart to feminism, it would be malinism. It would still be silly, because the manufactured persecution complex of MRAs has nothing on the centuries of oppression aimed at women.
I want to the look on that guy’s.
I mostly watch their videos with Husband. While some topics are still treated in a problematic manner, many are fantastic. My husband tends to think that “feminism” is an overreaction, and dislikes “attacky” discourse. (No he would not survive 5 minutes here.) Sarkeesian is one whose “attacky” style he dislikes. But turn her points around with the humour of the women of BuzzFeed and he starts to understand.
Their videos on “if women treated men like men treat women” are a good example at pointing out how disturbing street catcalls can be.
Basically, it’s great for 101 level stuff.
Caine @11
How about a genuine american use ? Dick
Well this is confusing: Meninist can either be
1. A hashtag that simply mocks women and feminism:
The original buzzfeed article is about that: http://www.buzzfeed.com/rossalynwarren/men-are-calling-themselves-meninists-to-take-a-stand-against
(Which makes the original comment to Buzzfeed completely disingenous: Meninism wasn’t activism being mocked, the meninism they presented was entirely just mockery of feminist activism and ideas. It’s also on a T-shirt that seemingly exists just for the trolling value.)
See this article for some asshole talking about how Important this hashtag is and how this will be The Year of Meninism: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11308455/Will-2015-be-the-year-of-meninism.html
However, #MeninistTwitter seems to be the original hashtag, and it made its rounds a year ago:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-clymer/man-behind-meninisttwitte_b_4463908.html
This is just a MRA-oriented sexist joke. That people think otherwise is facepalm-worthy, basically Gamergate all over again (except Gamergate isn’t even done yet).
2. Older, and mentioned in the article by that asshole at the Torygraph: A term for male feminists.
http://www.feminist.com/resources/links/men.htm
Actual decent human beings accidentally beat them to the word they thought they were so clever to “invent” and use for mockery. Whoops.
Rawnaeris @ 20
I’ve seen this so many times and it just makes me wonder…what videos have people like your husband watched? Because what in the world is “attacky” about this?
If someone feels attacked by her peppy and friendly video persona, I fail to see how any feminist discourse could ever be less than terrifying to them.
The Mellow Monkey: I had the same exact reaction! I simply do not get why so many people view Sarkeesian as Bad, for whatever variety of reasons. All of them seem like piss poor excuses, every time. I know some people have thin-skins and have knee-jerk, defensive, dismissive responses to feminism, for whatever reason (they feel like it is a personal criticism of their own feelings or behavior?), but it still surprises and frustrates me to see it happen every time to someone who I think should know better. I have a rabidly anti-Gamergate friend on facebook, and have seen several Gamergate debates, and it seems like every time Sarkeesian is thrown under the bus for some unsubstantiated, nebulous, or nit-picky reason. It’s like clockwork.
Also, Rolan: One of the few limits we have insults and language around here is that we don’t use gendered insults. Yes, even ones that are male-gendered and associated with male genitalia. Just in case you were unaware.
(Also and more obvious: avoid racial and ableist slurs as well. And that’s about the limits of “politeness” at Pharyngula!)
Lady Mondegreen (aka Stacy) wrote:
I get your joke, but Mennonites are a pretty diverse group, and plenty have no problems with automobiles or electricity. I’ve worked with plenty of them in the past, and other than some oddities when it comes to alcohol, or playing cards (that were only usually problems when certain others from their community were present), they were usually indistinguishable from other mainline Christians.
anteprepro @ 25
Damnèd ! I am aware but I forgot the cultural divide, to one brought up in an an UK environment ‘dick’ is related to ‘richards’ and is a very mild offensive term and the american version is, inescapably, amusing, but, albeit, thee art correct, I forgot myself. Humour must never be used to attack vileness, blasphemy etc ! God forbid !
To quote one far greater than I (when one needs to appeal to authority, who better than Stephen Fry ?)
The sort of twee person who thinks swearing is in any way a sign of a lack of education or a lack of verbal interest is just a fucking lunatic.
The fit is not perfect but the message is true.
Incidentally, yesterday’s El Goonish Shive had a good suggestion on how to handle these entitled MRA-type anti-feminist comments: http://www.egscomics.com/egsnp.php?id=255
Rolan
No, we are fond of humour, blasphemy, and swearing. It’s just the gendered insults that are verboten here on pharyngula. You can call people fuckbrained assholes here and nary a pearl will be clutched over harsh language.
@Mellow Monkey & anteprepro; honestly, he hasn’t watched many if any other videos. Due to the Texan culture we were both raised in, he can mistake ernest or impassioned speech patterns, from men and women, as overly forceful and thus “attacky”.
And since he can take and understand the information provided, as long as its provided with humor, my hypothesis is two pronged, a) he learns better when humor is involved and b) Texan culture sucks.
themadtapper @7:
“…Let your feelings slip boy
But never your mask boy…”
———
Christopher Thill @9:
Maybe they all wear Teen Spirit.
themadtapper @7:
Thanks for nearly making me spit out my spaghetti in laughter!
Tethys @ 29
Er, wot ? Thank you, you are a fuckbrained arsehole, that is obvious ,and your wisdom is a like unto a beacon unto us ALL ! Grateful we are !
Troll.
Both anteprepro and Tethys’s posts were quite easy to understand.
I say troll too.
Perhaps a drunken troll?
That’s my usual excuse.
You should have paid more attention to the imperfections in the fit, since those imperfections invalidate your whole line of argument.
Rolan le Gargéac isn’t a troll, they have been commenting here for quite some time. Anyroad, yeah, dick wouldn’t work because of the slur aspect. That’s kind of a shame, because Dickinist sounds nifty, like Dickensian.* Oh well.
*I know what the word means, just commenting on sound.
Caine (I like the return to your ‘real’ nym)
re:Rolan le Gargéac trollness
true enough
But there is trollness in all of us.
sometimes I …
Rolan le Gargéac
Speaking as a Brit: Bullshit. Oh, it’s technically true, but kinda seeks to avoid mentioning the fact that the secondary meaning, as slang for penis, is also common British usage, and is obviously what the slur—in full, ‘dickhead’—refers to.
So you used a common expression and got told, politely, that it’s frowned upon in these parts. Hardly the worst crime in the world. All you had to do was acknowledge it with a ‘sorry.’ Instead you come out with a blatant pork pie that any Brit was going to spot instantly. Why?
Shouldn’t that be #Masculist?
In fact, I live in an area of Ontario heavily settled by Mennonites, particularly the Old Order type (specific types of post-19c. technology only, strict gender roles, et c.). Back in 1994, when I was doing some local activist work to support an omnibus same-sex partners’ rights bill, the local religious divided mostly predictably: Muslims, Orthodox Jews, Evangelicals, Catholics/Orthodox all opposed, often disgustingly, while the MCC, UU, Quakers, Reform Jews, all came out in support of us. Plus one surprising group: the Old Order Mennonites.
They sent me a letter saying that while they thought homosexuality a grave sin, their conception of what’s sinful had no place in public life. So, they had decided, since Ontario was good to them in reasonably accommodating their beliefs and practices (our city hall and major malls tend to have stables attached, e.g.), it seemed to them that they had no non-hypocritical way of saying we queer folk shouldn’t have the same respectful accommodations made available. And they told me I could mention it publicly.
So don’t knock my buggy-driving neighbours, and they won’t bug you. :)
The anonymous buzzfeed commenter is obviously a nervous nelly when it comes to feminism, as evidenced by his inabiility to reference it without scare quotes and the preceding “so-called”. This is typically an indication of a limited perspective, a la Ann Coulter.
Have the last 10-12 months been the worst ever for the MRA’s and their dumbass ilk, PR wise?
tvoyumat@ 45
Does give one a lovely feeling of schadenfreude doesn’t it? Also your nym, I know maybe four words in Russian, does that mean what I think it means?
@ bargearse – schadenfreude, aye
Russkia, da xD
To head off the possibly lengthy derail: tvoyu mat’, or твою мать, is ‘your mother’ as a grammatical direct object. She is thus implied to be the receiver of some action, in this case the action is ‘fuck’ (yob or ёб).
It is a common expression, and highly obscene (‘fighting words’ style).
/OT
In the meantime, Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid, the Sun, squelched rumors that it would no longer be publishing photos of topless women on its infamous Page Three.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-30928544
After a couple of weekday issues were published without the naked women, the Sun resumed the sexist practice, accompanied by various somewhat offensive announcements:
“We’ve had a mammary lapse.”
“Further to recent reports in all other media outlets, we would like to clarify that this is Page 3 and this is a picture of Nicole, 22, from Bournemouth.”
the Times puts the record straight, saying its sister paper had “made a clean breast of it and admitted there’s still some nudes to report”.
This is not a case of fighting for free expression, nor of freeing nipples from censorship. For more than 40 years, the Sun has been depicting naked young women who have no connection to the “news” content, tabloid or traditional.
Buzzfeed (and related media properties) have always been at least feminist-leaning – and often outright pro-feminist – to my eye (though, like everything in problematic social contexts, not devoid of representational problems). Most of their content isn’t really of interest to me, but that response is consistent with my impression of Buzzfeed’s editorial voice. PZ is of course quite right that opposition to social systems that privilege broad classes of people over others on the basis of utterly-irrelevent aspects of embodiment and identity should just be the default, but until it really is, we should absolutely note and promote those people/organizations who/which are supportive of feminism/feminist goals (and other social justice projects).