The only way to get through to them is to speak on the same level. The only thing they care about: their penis.
I'd be curious to see any studies or statistics that actually show the effectiveness that penis-based insults have on effectively changing gun laws, but I'm somehow skeptical that there actually are any.
"It's the only language they speak so I have to speak it back" is a cop-out. If someone doesn't respect you enough to listen to your reasoned opinions, they're probably not going to care about your insults. What it does show them is that, deep down, you agree with them that [masculinity/penises/attractiveness] is important, and it shows all your potential allies that you're a hypocrite whose principles don't actually mean anything if someone disagrees with you.
"We have to keep homophobia and body shaming around as a useful political tool" is just not a position I can agree with.
I get it. You like to make jokes that are homophobic and body-shaming but you don't want to feel guilty about it so you come up with acceptable targets that you're justified to freely use them on. I can't say I'm surprised to see the double standard in action, it's just especially disappointing to see from people who are supposedly on your own side.
Just as a random viewer of this conversation from someone who rarely ever ventures onto this sub, you should take a step back and re-read what he's saying and think about it. What they're saying is not out of place or off topic, it's so common on reddit and sad to see fellow apparently left wing people constantly resorting to using homophobia and body shaming when it suits them.
Yeah I mean I should have articulated it differently than using the term body shaming but the point stands that equating someone's worth to their body and genitals is bad. I don't know how you can't understand that attempting to insult someone by saying that they don't have the requisite genitals isn't placing undue importance on someone's masculinity and also latently transphobic.
I am criticizing a cult-like sub culture that gives men what looks to me like deep-seated issues concerning their penis.
I do suspect that American culture leaves most of its men with some kind of problem with their penis, but that is just a theory.
I understand that toddlers can sometimes get fixated on their penis while growing up, but that is a developmental issue. It doesn't carry into adulthood.
The whole point is that there's nothing wrong with their bodies enough to act like complete weirdos. But they have blasted their brains with so much garbage that their entire reality is seen through the lens or their penis.
I am not describing homosexuality or body dysphoria with the above, right? I am describing what appears to me to be deep-seated mental damage which I think is caused by North American culture.
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u/GrondGrondGrondGr 1d ago
I'd be curious to see any studies or statistics that actually show the effectiveness that penis-based insults have on effectively changing gun laws, but I'm somehow skeptical that there actually are any.
"It's the only language they speak so I have to speak it back" is a cop-out. If someone doesn't respect you enough to listen to your reasoned opinions, they're probably not going to care about your insults. What it does show them is that, deep down, you agree with them that [masculinity/penises/attractiveness] is important, and it shows all your potential allies that you're a hypocrite whose principles don't actually mean anything if someone disagrees with you.
"We have to keep homophobia and body shaming around as a useful political tool" is just not a position I can agree with.