That’s gotta be rough. Those comments sound like they carry the same accidentally-condescending energy as telling a confused kid, “Oh, don’t worry. You’ll understand when you’re older.”

I mean, yes that’s probably true, but it sounds dismissive of one’s concerns and does nothing to allay the frustration they’re feeling now.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure what the right response would be. Or maybe there simply isn’t one?

I’m pretty sure this is it. It looks like mods straight-up razed the thread. There are comments remaining, but only after you scroll past the sea of deleted content.

I found one commenter that made a really interesting observation:

I think you and your sister have different definitions of what love means. You think love means you put up with bad behavior from your loved ones and she thinks love means you don’t behave badly towards your loved ones.

At some point they’ll start shutting down internet access to prevent recording of their actions

This is an interesting viewpoint. I think the internet is where the modern GOP has their strongest control over people. Yeah, there is traditional media, but the internet echo chambers are where a lot of their people go to express their beliefs. Shutting it all down would be severing a link that directly guides the populace’s minds. (Especially for the younger folks who don’t know a life without internet.)

Imagine no more Xitter propaganda, no more ignorant Facebook posts, no hate-inspiring memes propagating at the speed of light… Conspiracy theories and gossip would become localized again, and since the people inclined toward those things can’t independently determine reality, over time their viewpoints would inevitably diverge from each other.

I mean, a lot of things could happen, ranging from violent reactions, to increased empathy (from being forced to interact with diverse neighbors in-person.) But without a central command link, a brain to tell them what to believe, the tribal nature of their supporters would invariably cause fractures within their own base.

(At least, one can hope.)

I learned this word in a rather unusual way. One day as a bored teenager, I was sitting around thinking of funny sounds that could pass as real words. “Moot” came into my head and, out of curiosity, I decided to look for it in a dictionary.

Needless to say, it became a new favorite. Moot. Moot. All these years, and it still sounds funny to me.

Owl: ‘lo, Sun.

Sun: Hi, Owl!

Owl: Ugh, I forgot how cheery you always are.

Sun: Well, yeah! It’s important to look on the bright side!

Owl: Um. Sure. Anyway, I gotta go get breakfast.

Sun: Oh, have fun!

Owl: Goodnight, Sun.

Sun: … What’s “night”?

Yes. I also read the part of your previous post that said:

Do you want to try to explain to me how a protest that specifically targets progressive men is an effective way to get men to be more progressive?

“Just don’t be a bad guy and you won’t be the target!” This movement makes no distinction between conservative and progressive men, it is explicitly about absolute denial of sex, dating, marriage, and children.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m 100% in favor of women not dating conservative men if they don’t want to. A movement that draws attention to the fact that women have the option of breaking up with their boyfriends and divorcing their husbands would be fantastic. A movement that specifically tries to deny relationships to the people that you’re trying to deradicalize is not that.

I also read the original article, which includes:

The idea behind the movement is individual resistance against what it defines as a conservative political environment and the corrosion of reproductive rights.

You seem to have the misconception that this movement is primarily about women doing something to make an impact on men, despite there being nothing in the source stating that. “A conservative political environment and a corrosion of reproductive rights” casts a wide net, but “revenge on men” or “motivating men” are both invariably going to be a lower priority than, oh say, “not dying from a miscarriage.” Makes sense, right?

There’s more to being a feminist ally than simply believing in a woman’s right to choose. I’d be more inclined to believe that you truly support us if you showed any sign of having considered anything that I’d said about why women are drawn to this idea, or how you may have been initially mistaken by assuming it’s being done just to target men. But alas.

There are more goals than some grand, over-arching “change.” On an extremely basic, self-preserving level, there is a goal of “not getting pregnant while living in a country that actively endangers the lives of pregnant women.”

If it brings about change that would be awesome. But regardless of that, by swearing off relationships and sex, we’re still not getting pregnant. Ergo, we are able to keep our bodily autonomy. Which, I guess I have to remind you, we would lose if we got pregnant.

Unless (non-sterilize) progressive men have some special sperm that doesn’t attempt to fertilize an egg, creating an exception based on beliefs would still put our lives at risk.

For critically-panned movies that are arguably good, I recommend a scroll through this thread: [Meme] Which movie was this for you?

It’s interesting to see what everyone’s opinions are. I’ve already downloaded a few of the suggestions out of curiosity.

Although that may be effective to some, that format is too dry and science-y to tap into the people who need to be reached.

We need the power of a human being’s impassioned words, presented in the context of a natural conversation, converted into a meme-able format. The simplest way would be to copy/paste the original comment and start sharing it on other platforms. If there is a way to make the message more succinct, without losing that crucial human touch that inspires people to relate to the message, that would be ideal.

And remember the bystanders, the people listening but not participating. Especially the teenagers and young adults. Some of them may be coming from an environment where everyone around them spouts propaganda. You may be the first true voice of reason that they have ever heard.

You never know when you will help someone not only recognize that there’s a net wrapped around them, but also that it’s possible to escape between the knots.

But even then, he will only help if they voted for him.

If you truly want to understand the nature of this protest, it’s important to understand where women are coming from with this.

No matter one’s sex or gender, the dating process can be exhausting. Guys are exhausted from always making the first move and getting nowhere for the effort. Women are exhausted from sorting through all the men and messages, most of whom show zero interest in her as a person. Cis-men don’t see the regular dehumanization and sexualization that all women experience upon entry to the dating scene.

On dating apps, so, so many guys will ignore profiles and send low effort messages like, “Ur pretty. Wanna hook up?” Checking messages can elicit the same feeling you’d get from clearing out your spam folder one email at a time… except each spam message expects you to suck its dick. Some even threaten violence if rejected. When women leave dating sites and dating scenes, that’s the male behavior they’re opting to escape from.

Now we also have (or are bracing to have) our reproductive rights taken away. We see the stories of pregnant women being denied care, suffering, and dying. We don’t want to become a reproductive rights martyr just because a condom broke.

This protest may have a consequence that men don’t like, but expecting women to give in just so progressive men can get laid ignores the issues that sparked this protest in the first place.

It tells us everything. It says you don’t understand what we’re going through. It says you don’t care what we’re going through. It says you think your desire to have sex is worth more than our very lives.

In a way, you’re proving these women right. If your attitude is reflective of other so-called “progressive” men, then I can’t blame any woman who chooses to have nothing to do with any men at all.

Dating someone of equal height: you can easily kiss on the lips without anyone awkwardly bending to reach

Dating someone shorter: every hug gets a bonus motor-boating

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It definitely has some lows in quality at points and the plot could’ve been stronger. But its highs were very solid.

Would you say that overall, it managed to achieve … Equilibrium?

Never heard of this movie (or if I did, I was too young to be interested in it.) However, your comment and those in response to it got me curious to look it up.

I got as far as to read that it’s directed by Danny DeVito, and two of its stars are Robin Williams and Jon Stewart.

That’s all I needed, I’m sold. Queuing it up to watch this weekend.

That’s how I felt about Paranormal Activity. It was like I spent the entire movie waiting for something scary to happen. A thing just… stood there. Every “night” on screen felt the same: a being… just standing there. Not standing there sharpening a knife. Not standing there ominously stroking people’s cheeks. Nothing attacked or even made threats to do so. It just. fucking. stood. there.

Then when something finally started to happen, the movie ended.

I don’t know if my standards for “scary” are too high, but I found the entire film (save for those last few seconds) to be extremely boring. How it’s so popular (and even spawned a sequel?!) is beyond me.

It has to be kept simple, and packaged like a low-effort meme. Anything too wordy or think-y won’t go viral in the circles that need targeting.

Maybe we need some fake Facebook pages. Start by reposting crap you already know they’ll share. Once the audience is there, start slowly slipping actual facts into things. It’s gotta start slow, though. The “long con.”

Yes, the neglect of our nation’s mental health is screwing every facet of society. The in-fighting that’s exploded since the election results came out is heart-breaking to see. Victims blaming victims, while the rich and the politicians who’ve spent decades using their money and power to actively withhold health care, attack the educational system, and sow this distrust in the first place are, once again, getting away without blame.

Trump’s not going to fix any of that. I’m going to keep bringing the focus to him and his ilk, because as easy as it is to lash out at each other, the blame squarely falls on the powerful people who’ve created this environment.

Indeed, and it’ll get worse. Plenty of women (on popular dating sites, at least) have already been swearing off dating Republicans. Now, with a higher likelihood of a national abortion ban, don’t be surprised if straight women become even choosier. After all, every man we think of sleeping with must now also be viewed as a potential father.

Forget about casual flings or one-night-stands. Why would I risk a lifetime of supporting an entire human being just to have one night of fun?

And that’s only for straight women. Bisexual/pansexual women can choose to straight up stop dating men entirely.

In a lot of ways, lonely young men who voted for Trump just shot themselves in the dick.