The other day, I saw a post which had this screenshot in it
People pointed out that “June” not only called a trans person a slur (ok*ma), they also said “go and do what the person in Nashville did”. Then, “June” argued “where did I say anything about a shooter” and “you can’t speak for my intentions”. They also made the same argument to defend Elon Musk when he made a Nazi salute. “You cannot speak for other people’s intentions” they said.
What’s the best way to respond to people who use “you can’t speak for my intentions” to gaslight people, especially when they’re using it to try and get away with saying something terrible, such as transphobia and Nazi defending?
edit:
I found this YouTube channel exposing this “June” person, and “June” argues that it’s “all slander” or “it’s taken out of context”, “you cannot speak for my intentions”. But when you look into the video descriptions, the channel uploader includes lots of links too, not just screenshots, and some of those links go directly to comments the person the channel appears to be exposing making some questionable comments about and to someone they knew was only 14 years old.
When people don’t believe “June” that it’s “all slander”, “June” argues “you cannot speak for another person’s intentions” and “you’re misinterpreting everything”.
Apparently they’re also a mod on AskLemmy?
Their intentions simply do not matter. The only thing that matters is their effect on the outside world.
Words are just wind. Deeds not words
gaslight them back
for example
yes i can speak for your intentions because you literally flat out stated your intentions when you said [insert quote they didnt say]
and then if they deny it just claim they deleted it or even make a fake screenshot
all you need is your audience to believe you instead of them you just have to make them look bad
The best way is not to interact with them at all. You’re not going to gain anything from responding to them.
This is the first time I’ve seen someone use DeviantArt to flex
My gut reaction would be “actions still have consequences motherfucker”, but my gut would also be to immediately remove this person from ever interacting with me again.
Sometimes, the results of something you do don’t quite match your intentions. Mistakes happen, miscommunications happen. A genuine person would respond “oh fuck, that is NOT how I meant that”, and apologize. A gaslighter does the above.
This.
Imagine you’re in a relationship with someone who’s been through so much suffering in the past, that they now hurt/abuse you (doesn’t matter what type of trauma or abuse it is for this example), either as a defence mechanism, or as a control mechanism, or as a preemptive strike type deal.
You have no way of changing/helping them because they do not want to let you in.
Even in this scenario, where we may be able to empathise, the “why” doesn’t matter. What matters is that, at the end of the day, they’re abusing you.
If you ask me, Musk doing the Nazi salute is even more clear cut than this. We all know exactly who Nazis were, are, and will be, what’s behind that one gesture. Even if it were performed by a kid with no context of the world, it’s still a Nazi salute. The intent doesn’t matter, because the meaning has been defined waay before the performer’s intent even comes into play.
And even if he claims that “because he’s a Fascist” (which he is) wasn’t the intent behind it, that should only make him, the Tech Bro of Tech Bros, the man with enough resources to friggin’ buy half the schools, libraries and teachers in the world, look that much more stupid, ignorant, insensitive, immature, and stupid (yes, I said that twice).
Edit: another, personal example would be my reticence to make the peace symbol because it was so heavily co-opted by Nixon. I’m not saying he managed to fully corrupt it, but he did manage to leave an indelible fecal stain on it as I see it.
The best thing you can do is just ignore it. Like I’m doing with this thread after this comment. Have a great day!
DeviantArt
Some context on that, “June” has a grudge against DeviantArt and its members and has for years, because they were permabanned from DeviantArt years ago for things they said about someone they knew was only 14, and block evading. They always call it “slander” and argue “that wasn’t my intention” but I’ve seen the links.
Long story short, they are somewhat infamous online for stuff like this and many people have chronicled their numerous scandals all over the internet, but I’m not going to name drop in case it’s against the rules here.
