Men-Only Spaces: Patriarchy’s Next Gambit

“I just don’t want men in women’s spaces, and I don’t care how those men identify.”

Pushy Dude

Geez, Gary – I’m not gonna marry you just because you say so!

The clip is Kellie-Jay Keen (AKA Posie Parker) attempting to converse with someone called James Max, “It’s up to everybody however they want to live their life, but when it impinges on my life – ” 

“How does it impinge on your life?” Jim is cavalier in his home field advantage.

“If I want to go into a female-only space and there’s men in there who decide that they’re women, then it’s no longer a female-only space, is it?”

I snagged this one as it floated by, so jam-packed with goodies I knew I could pull something out of it. But, beyond that, this guy is so busy being arrogant he forgets to stop running his mouth!

He’s so convinced Kellie doesn’t understand the game he’s playing that he shows most of his cards: “But then, men were told that. They wanted to have men-only spaces and then they were told that was discrimination. They weren’t allowed to do it.”

Right, because everything used to be men-only! – Education, commerce, Law, the Clergy, everything. From at least the Middle Ages until within living memory, people felt sorry for a working woman because it meant her husband was failing to support her in focusing on the homestead. Working women were a manifestation of poverty, of cutthroat economic forces.

Outside of learning a trade to support her family, women were excluded entirely from huge chunks of society for centuries.

When we did venture out, Man’s World was a hostile place. The amount of hard and soft pushback has been completely out of proportion to the threat men face in recognizing women as equals. This scenario where equality means obliterating all boundaries also means scrubbing the record of how overwhelmingly one-sided the threat really is.

Georgian Card Player

Oh shit, did I get played??

Kellie recognized this, of course, “So, men are more unsafe now that they can’t have their golf clubs?”

“It’s not a question of safe. It’s cake-and-eat-it, isn’t it?” Jimmy’s smugness betrays a deep ignorance of a life where you’re romantically and sexually attracted to people who could easily kill you, should the mood strike them. He comes across as one of those guys who thinks a broken heart deserves a broken arm.

“It’s a question of safety for women.”

“So, all men are predators?” This is absurd. But all men are male, regardless of any medical intervention.

“No, not all men. Some are, and we don’t know which ones they are. That’s why we have segregated spaces.”

Everyone knows this. Even if Time started over in the year 2000 and Kellie, Jim, and I all forgot the first few decades of our lives, the story continues – Sarah Everard was killed by a man she didn’t know, distracting from the thousands of women every year murdered by someone they trusted.

But Jim blithely assumes a paradigm that finds equality a great loophole for shoving these skeletons back in the closet. He literally shakes his head as he says, “Right. I mean, isn’t it better that we train all people to be a bit more respectful to each other?”

Can’t we all just get along? I dunno, Jimmy, can women just have some privacy?

“Well, when we don’t have any men committing sexual assault, rape, and domestic violence, then I will totally agree with you. But, until that happens, I’m afraid…”

“So, women don’t commit those crimes as well?” Interrupting her to accuse women of violence without evidence. Is there some kind of Man-Splaining award he’s going for?

“Not at the rate of men, no.” Not by a million miles. Not even close. Not even in the same ballpark, in the same town, in the same fucking country, dude. This has been known since the beginning of time, it was the rationale for women being kept at home – To keep us safe! You know, from men.

Tea Party Chatter

No, really, that’s what he said – I need a man to defend against men!

“Right. OK. I am slightly staggered by your views.” He stammers theatrically for a moment, as if she’s just told him men should be exterminated from the face of the earth.

“That biological sex exists?”

“I may have to change my mind – Maybe it was right that, if you take those views, maybe you should be canceled.”

“Wow.” My thoughts exactly. Kellie doesn’t get defensive at this incendiary statement. She brings her tone down and takes a breath. “You’re on talk radio, right?”

“Yes.”

“OK, and you think people should be canceled for – “

“No,” He cuts her off several times through this exchange,  “I don’t think people should be canceled, and I would like people to have different views, but – It’s just – I find it staggering that you would want to have this kind of discrimination perpetrated against people who are born different from you.”

Those poor, beleaguered transwomen! Stuck in private spaces with pigs like Jimmy here, that’s gotta be a bitter pill to swallow. If such a creature existed, they would inspire great pity for such a predicament.

But Kellie isn’t distracted, her sights fixed on calling out this rhetorical imposter.

“No, I want men out of women’s spaces. That’s not ‘born different.’ That’s a biological fact, and that biological fact determines whether someone is a risk to women.

And, just like that, we watch him drop the pose of Concern for Transwomen as soon as she calls out their real name! His direct response to this is, “So, is it OK if men said that they wanted women out of their spaces?”

And what would you say qualifies as ‘Men’s Spaces,’ Jimmy?

Crystal Ball

No crystal ball required to see where this is going!

“Do you mean like private spaces, like toilets and places where men might undress?”

He gives a coy little shrug, “Might be.” Might not be. Might be Parliament. Jimmy can’t tell the future.

“Absolutely, of course women shouldn’t be in those spaces.”

“OK, and what about other places?”

“Like what?”

“I dunno – Bars, restaurants, or anything else. I mean, can we just go back to segregated society?” Then we can stop wasting time talking to women.

I think Kellie gets a bit flustered by this idiot so boldly talking out both sides of his mouth. She kind of fumbles the next part, failing to concisely convey how the world used to be a men-only space, and why that had to end.

“The reason feminists of old decided that they wanted to eradicate some of those men-only spaces is because, in those corridors of power, that’s where important conversations were taking place. And women, by not being allowed in those spaces, were out of the conversation.”

Government made decisions effecting women’s lives all the time, usually with no input from us at all. We were bound by rules we had no hand in making and, eventually, we had enough. This is why suffrage was the first organized push of Women’s Liberation – If we’re not in Government, we’ll never get anywhere else!

Jimmy doesn’t bring this up directly, but his angle is understood. Jangling this old chain rattles Kellie a bit, and she doesn’t call him on essentially admitting that transwomen are men with his if you can keep us out, we can keep you out maneuver. 

“That is a very different thing than wanting to keep men out of women’s spaces, like where women are undressing.” It sure is! How did we get here, anyway? He was arguing for men all along, and we’ve gone from poor transwomen using the Ladies Room to men-only clubs in a single step.

Refocusing, Kellie returns to the center of her fight: “Does my 15-year-old daughter have the right to go in a female-only space and expect there only to be females?”

And Jimmy, for his part, returns to Start as well – “If somebody is, or if they have transitioned, then they are a female.”

No. That’s the simple answer here. No, they aren’t. Kellie humors him with some stats before getting there: “Well, ninety percent of men who say they transition have no intention of taking hormones, or losing their genitals.”

Not the point. A man can have all kinds of surgeries to look like anything his heart desires, but those desires betray their source. A man madeover into a woman is only and forever that, nothing more. Full stop. How many of which surgeries he’s had is irrelevant.

Date With A Pigeon

I’m sorry, Reginald – I can only see you as a pigeon!

“And so, as far as I’m concerned… You don’t transition anyway, there’s no such thing. Nobody ever changes from one sex to another.”

This is where this ploy ends. And Jimmy was kind enough to tip his hand and show us what this Male Supremacy movement’s next move might be.

But Kellie is thrown off by the cocky gamesmanship, “What we’re talking about, predominantly with men, is men over the age of forty deciding that they want to dress as women. It’s what we used to call transvestites.”

She tries to bring it back together as the segment ends, “This whole ‘transgender’ [thing] just totally loses the fact of what’s really going on. Most people who call themselves ‘trans’ are not transsexual, they’re transgender. They’re transvestites, in old language.” But Jimmy’s only too happy to cut her off.

“Right. Ok. Well, then, let’s leave the old language.” You’d like that, wouldn’t you? It’s amazing how redefining everything manages to erase so much progress.

This short video speaks volumes, most of it not from our side. I don’t fault Kellie for anything she said, she was factual and goal-oriented. It didn’t matter anyway, Jimmy blocking her with the customary accusations of bigotry.

But the arrogance on display here is truly next-level. He didn’t just dismiss her outright – He toyed with her like a sneering, spoiled child, before tossing her away as she sputtered. I’m not sure what Kellie expected, but our pal Jimmy obviously never had any intention of engaging with anything she was going to say. 

His argument boiled down to, Women shouldn’t have private spaces away from men. And, if they do, men should get whatever spaces away from women strike our fancy. You want private bathrooms? We want private clubs.

And, again, the subtext is clear – Let us in, or you will pay dearly.

Snuffed Cigar

The male ego will be appeased!

And when Kellie discarded the ‘True Trans’ ploy, sweeping away the whole argument and clearing the board by insisting they’re all men anyway, Jim didn’t demure like he was supposed to. Instead of retreating to the fallback stance of Trans Advocate, he went in for the kill. That’s masculine aggression for you.

Writing afterwards in The Spectator, Kellie quotes Jim as saying, “I just get the impression she hates men.” She explains this away as sleight of hand, to cover his lack of rational arguments for the destruction of women’s rights.

I think it’s more devious than that – Some men yearn for the good old days. They hate our independence, blaming us for a lack of control in their own lives. By smearing that hatred onto us, they can destroy us and pretend they are justified. Burn the witch!

To claim a woman married to a man hates men carries an insurmountable burden of proof. Kellie just isn’t worried about protecting transwomen, the ultimate straw man. She wants those men out of what were once women’s private spaces!

Jimmy Max acts like his world is ending and Kellie has her finger on the button, just like any child throwing a tantrum and blaming his trigger. She made me do it! Cancel her!

The recent boldness of smug men like Jimmy is frightening. But if we listen to him where he refuses to listen to us, we won’t be surprised by the tricks up their sleeve.

 

 

 

Gender Dysphoria Is Normal

“Being a girl and hitting puberty is so traumatic.”

Flower Eater

Can I just de-blume the blossom?

An anonymous Tumblr post expressed a common shame in simple words. It rippled through Gender Critical social media in the form of screenshots after the original post was quickly deleted.

Her spurt of stifled frustration struck a chord, breathlessly relating a firsthand account of female suppression: “You go from being a genderless little free thing to being hit with shaving and makeup and growing breasts and skincare and menstruation and suddenly being sexualized, 

“When like a few years ago you could take your shirt off to play in the stream and trade cards with the boys and come home covered in mud and not even think about it.”

But eventually you realize everyone around you is thinking about it. Compliments focus on appearance or social skills, while questions often get uncomfortably personal. The sudden societal burden can combine with newly dawning self-awareness to create a perception of generalized critical observation.

Others have expectations you can’t meet, and a young person might not consider that those expectations are unreasonable. Especially when most people they know seem to be doing fine. Suppressing stories like this one furthers the myth that most girls are just fine with ‘femininity.’

“And then you spend years hating being a girl and hating everything puberty did to you and wishing you could be a boy or be completely genderless again and it takes you many years to come to terms with yourself,

“Or you simply try to Lean In to everything and do makeup tutorials on YouTube and claim it’s for fun. How can this be treated as normal?” This hatred-denial continuum seems to mimic the classic whore/virgin dichotomy, doesn’t it?

Frustrated With Flowers

We’ve been over this a thousand times!

The bitter invocation of Cheryl Sandberg taps a deep well of bile from digesting many betrayals. Powerful women often become so by learning the boys’ game, which many of us are just not very good at. They join in the elite chorus of supposed meritocracy, clinging to their ego-driven narrative as tightly as any man.

Naturally, the framing of this as a Women’s Issue had to be squashed: “To be honest, this sounds like the kind of thing a transgender or non-binary person who is AFAB might feel once puberty hits. I mean, it doesn’t necessarily have to be that, but it’s just what comes to mind.”

This person admits to not knowing what they’re talking about, but feels free to weigh in on this young woman’s life. And irony and misogyny continue their slugfest for supremacy.

But there were some responses claiming more authority: “100% this. I am trans, and this is what dysphoria feels like.”

“This is gender dysphoria.”

Let’s assume, for a moment, that this is true. If gender is a social construct that’s imposed on us, it makes sense that a one-size-fits-all approach will cause some people issues.

“I suppose it could be. Is it also possible that cis kids could struggle with puberty?” A reasonable suggestion! Let’s see how they disregard it – 

“Sure it is, and plenty of cis girls complain about how society’s perception of them changes and the pressure put on them to act a certain way increases. They don’t, however, spend years hating their bodies and never fully recover,Thanks for the heads-up that you have absolutely no firsthand experience with this topic. Women’s body issues are their own cottage industry!

Mirrored Yellow Shawl

Ugh, I’m hideous!

“…looking back and wishing they had never gone through puberty and that they still looked genderless. OP is trans/nb, 99%.” Oh, right, I forgot gender is innate and springs forth from deep-seated personal essence. It’s so easy to get confused when they oscillate more than Brian Eno.

And, of course, someone stepped in to tell her what a weirdo she is: “Look, I agree puberty isn’t fun but this is not a normal reaction to it. The person who wrote this seems like they are probably trans or nonbinary. Most people (regardless of gender) struggle with some aspects of puberty but it doesn’t make the majority of us hate who we are/our gender.”

Struggling with sexual stereotypes is the basis for a lot of friction and static in women’s lives. Far from demonstrating a lack of womanhood, it may be the most common shared experience. It speaks to the shame surrounding it that this sensation was only recently named.

But someone else came right out and said what they were all thinking: Fresh meat! “Maybe you are just a boy/genderless? Plenty of cis women can probably relate to not liking gender stereotypes or oversexualization but cis women don’t hate being women lol”

Plenty of women hate sex stereotypes and still find joy in womanhood because we’ve learned not to take them personally. We understand that stereotypes are like Bigfoot – Lots of sightings but very little proof. We understand that our culture’s idea of what women are is generic and shallow, disconnected from the reality of our lives.

I hope the young woman who wrote this has found a more understanding audience, but I was glad to see it floating around. The more stories like this are shared, the more obvious it will become that ‘gender dysphoria’ is a normal part of growing up.

Grumpy In The Corner

Leave me alone – Today I identify as wallpaper!

Individuality is our strength, but conformity makes us disposable. This is exactly how Patriarchy wants to see us, and normal mental development plays right into its hands.

Part of it is the shock of sudden self-awareness that strikes with puberty. Younger children are less conscious of how they are seen by others, dwelling blissfully in the warm glow of their own ego. Around the age of 12 or so, neurological development reaches the conceptualization of those same passions in everyone else. Suddenly the world is looking back at you, and just when you’re least prepared!

In the cataclysmic shifts of body and mind, chunks of once-established reality come into question. Social pressure can be one of few beacons of certainty.

The gender industry relies on these stories remaining shameful secrets. This young woman’s experience may be more extreme than some, but these commenters used women’s isolation in suffering to tell her she was alone. Divide and conquer. Rinse, repeat.

It’s normal and rational to get jetlag on the trip from subject to object. It’s painful to squeeze an entire human being into a shallow stereotype. If this is gender dysphoria, we all have it.

Noble Sigh

Sometimes all these layers feel so stifling!

Embracing this would defang it, robbing this discomfort of the power to overtake our psyches. Rejecting the stigma of failing to adhere to ‘feminine’ ideals is an important step on the road to liberation, and it would show young women that we all carry this burden.

Struggling as most women do doesn’t make you less of a woman, and we are stronger together.

 

The Friendly Face Of Propaganda

The new Daily Show is pretty bad.

Unhappy Reader

Hon, do you have the clicker?

Jon Stewart recently rejoined the conversation on his own non-network show, a little grayer but with his signature energy intact. He’s back to his consciousness-raising schtick, covering topics like gun violence and economic inequality with the deft balance we came to expect during his 16-year tenure in the Daily Show anchor chair.

Your Replacement Is Here

Trevor Noah has always seemed more scripted to me. His tone changes pretty drastically when he’s off-script, his natural rhythm peeking out to reveal a softer, even pensive style. Ironically, these are the moments he looks most natural as Stewart’s successor – Trevor is also kind, but firm. Jovial, but principled.

But this tonal shift doesn’t happen very often on the show. Jon would sometimes chuckle underneath his lines, a winking acknowledgement of some personal discomfort. He came across as struggling to recite things he didn’t believe.

Trevor is more professional. When he’s on, he’s on, delivering his lines with the same bouncy energy regardless of their content.

This week he came in hot, hopping quickly from one cherry-picked blurb to another. Punchlines fastened to the end of each factoid according to the familiar formula. Jon Stewart could be a bit predictable after absorbing his style for so long, but watching Trevor reminds me it was also because Jon let events write the jokes.

Step Into The Wayback

As a random example, let’s check out Stewart’s Daily Show’s coverage of that time Dick Cheney shot a guy in the face (Original airdate 13 Feb. 2006): A few quick news clips roll by, and when the camera cuts back to Jon his expression alone gets a laugh. He lingers there, eventually only muttering a tongue-in-cheek “Thank you, Jesus!” for the comedy goldmine.

Having let the initial moment land, Jon then launches into his summary, “Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a man during a quail hunt at a political supporter’s ranch – Making 78-year-old Harry Wittington the first person shot by a sitting VP since Alexander Hamilton!” This absurd fact functions as the punchline.

Adult Human Female

There’s a natural rhythm if you go with the flow!

After some laughter, Stewart continues, “Alexander Hamilton, of course, was shot in a duel with Aaron Burr over issues of honor, integrity and political maneuvering. Whittington was mistaken for a bird.” Punchline number two is more humorously-worded facts.

He mocks the eyewitness’ tone-deaf storytelling – ‘The Vice President took aim at the bird and shot and, unfortunately, Mr. Whittington was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty well.’  Again, Jon’s face tells the tale before he opens his mouth. “‘Peppered,'” he repeats through a smirk, “Yes, there you have it – Harry Wittington ‘seasoned’ to within an inch of his life.” This simple pun was practically handed to him, a simplicity Jon acknowledges by stealing cheeky glances heavenward.

Nothing To See Here

Compare this to Trevor Noah’s news monologue this past Thursday: “There’s a lot going on today – The new Adelle album drops at midnight, which means you’re about to be able to tell who’s going through a breakup through your walls.” Nothing inherently funny about Adelle putting out an album – But her music is so sad!

“The judge in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial took a bathroom break and let Kyle be the judge while he was gone, which I’ve never seen before but he swears is totally normal.” A made-up story meant to illustrate the judge’s bias. Invoking imaginary events just robs the segment of any power to criticize real ones.

“And two men who were framed for the killing of Malcolm X fifty years ago were finally exonerated.” Ok, this is kind of a big deal, right? “Which means the real killer could be anyone in this room,” says the 37-year-old. He pauses and looks around, acting spooked as a creepy sound cue plays.

Then he picks the patter right back up without missing a beat. “But, while American news is always breaking, it’s also good to remember that other countries have news, too.”

Interview

Shit, now you tell me!

Fair enough, but so far we’ve seen one non-news story, one made-up story, and the only interesting thing was presented last with no analysis whatsoever. Not even so much as a reminder of what happened all those decades ago.

And Now, For My Next Trick

A flashy globe graphic flies by, carrying us into the international round-up bit. Russia is sabre-rattling again. Migrants are crossing borders. Trevor gives some facts about the situation in Belarus, then compares a dictator weaponizing desperation to, “When your parents start cooking with peanuts to get you to move out of the house, because they know you’re allergic. It’s a dick move!” This joke borders on irresponsible, considering peanut allergies kill around 150 people in the US every year.

But the nonsense just keeps flowing – “We can’t let anything happen to Poland – That’s where all our water comes from!” Cue a random bottle of Poland Spring whooshing past. This pun is a non-sequitur, Americans’ continuing obsession with bottled water is not relevant to European politics.

The facts feel sharp, but the comedy reads like an afterthought. Connected to nothing, it illuminates nothing.

Moving right along, Ethiopia is collapsing and any Americans there are on their own. Trevor goes for Jon’s old rhythm here, mockingly paraphrasing the State Department – “In Afghanistan, the US government staged an all-out airlift. Meanwhile, in Ethiopia, they’re like, ‘might we suggest Priceline.com?’

“What do they mean when they say the State Department will help you book a commercial flight out? That’s not helpful – people know how to book flights! That’s like going, ‘Hey, do you need a ride? Open Uber on your phone, then you hit Request A Ride. Best of luck, buddy!'”

But Trevor is from Africa, you know. Please understand, this is a complicated and sensitive story.” You might have started with that! The writing on this Daily Show is inverted, burying anything interesting under layers of saccharine fluff.

Pink Princess

It’s real, if you just believe hard enough!

The Callback

A female voiceover tells us India’s capital is choking with smog, “According to a report from the University of Chicago, this toxic air is ten times worse in Northern India than anywhere else in the world.”

Trevor compares it to the steam vents in New York City, “Which, by the way, what is that shit? I’ve lived here for many years, and I still don’t understand what that is.” You just called them steam vents, dude!

Sometimes, he just seems really clueless  – “One detail I like from this story is that the Indian government put together an environmental ministry panel on air pollution, who confirmed that the air was, indeed, polluted.” That clip clearly said University of Chicago! These people make too much money for this level of incompetence.

And the commercial tie-ins are crammed in so tight, this one took my breath away: “This is a great example of why we all need to move to cleaner energy. It is expensive, but it’s also hella expensive to shut down your economy whenever your city turns into a sandstorm from ‘Dune.'” This level of shilling is sort of impressive, in its own twisted way.

He pivots hard, dumping us unceremoniously into the segment’s last spot, “And, like most things in the world, this story was made in China.” Hmm, do I detect a hint of satire? It’s like being haunted by something forever at the edge of your vision.

Finally, The Real Story

At eleven minutes in, we learn that international Tennis star Peng Shuai is missing. After accusing a prominent politician of raping her, Shuai’s social media account was quickly locked down, then deleted. She herself hasn’t been seen in weeks. A CNN clip tells us, “censors have all but scrubbed this woman from the Chinese internet.”

The supposed email released by Chinese State media has strong Old Soviet vibes: “I’m not missing, and I hope Chinese tennis will become better and better.” You’d think Shuai’s continued participation would be the best guarantee of this, but I won’t be surprised if we never see her again.

Trevor appears appropriately appalled. “This is really disturbing – Someone speaks out about sexual assault, and then China’s government just makes them disappear?” This seems to be what happened, yes. Bare minimum achieved!

Pissed Off In Purple

Great, great… And they pay you how much for that??

But his little rant is interrupted mid-sentence, replaced by a graphic and Chinese voiceover informing us Trevor has gone on vacation. Hilarious.

The laughs have been few and far between, but the very end is where Comedy Central’s true colors bleed through – “It’s one thing for your government to come after you, it’s another thing for them to make you just never exist! 

“They scrubbed the Internet of anything about this Tennis player. Do you know how hard it is to get stuff off the Internet? Only China can do that!” Exactly how sure of this are we, anyway?

“If you have embarrassing pictures online, just move to China and talk shit about the Communist Party. They’ll clean up your reputation in no time! I mean, yeah, you’ll be locked in a basement somewhere but, hey, at least you didn’t get canceled.”

But isn’t that exactly what happened?? Peng Shuai said something the Establishment in her country didn’t like, and they silenced her! They were just extremely thorough about it.

“This also really puts into perspective when people in America complain about being ‘censored by Big Tech.’ Peng Shuai literally does not exist on the Internet anymore! Yeah, maybe Trump can’t tweet right now, but you can still Google him.” How lucky we are, to still have access to information!

I Like Big Brains

Trevor references a rap song from 1990, abruptly ending the segment in a last blast of irony.

Rap music pushed the censors, testing competing loyalties to money and propriety. Money won handily, record companies slapped stickers on the albums and raked in the cash. It was said we were sliding down a slippery slope of indecency – If you let black men express themselves, who knows where it will end? They might be hosting talk shows someday!

But Trevor does rappers and other comedians dirty with this argument – Censorship isn’t great, but at least it’s not kidnapping!

Where exactly is that line? In the UK, people are being summoned for questioning by the police over their social media posts. The dubious legality of this is almost overshadowed by the implied threat of detainment – Police have been known to shoot first and ask questions later, figuratively and literally. If you go in, there’s a chance you won’t come back out any time soon.

Sure, the implied threat of something isn’t the same as it actually happening. But is that single step enough insulation for a free society? The slippery slope has been declared a fallacy, but we might want to revisit that. The Chinese government doesn’t have any legal right to disappear people, but the widespread fear eliminates the need for such niceties.

Creeper

When you feel safe turning your back, that’s when they’re most dangerous!

Belittling the sense of injustice Westerners feel watching today’s creeping authoritarianism is akin to telling little girls to ‘just not look’ at the penis in the locker room. Your discomfort is your problem – It’s certainly not induced by any changes in the environment, and it’s definitely not justified. Whatever stirring you feel is probably some kind of phobia, and your fear is invalid.

Ten years ago, Jon Stewart’s viewers polled as more informed than those who watched the Actual News. Trevor Noah’s Daily Show is a transparent exercise in propaganda, trading on the reputation Stewart built. I can only assume that most of his viewers are too young to see what’s changed.

And this is just one obvious example. As much as I don’t want to see it, our whole environment looks curated, consciously directed toward some things and away from others. No one’s gonna convince me there isn’t at least as much comedy gold out there!

Bad nights like Trevor’s seem to offer a peak behind the curtain, implying none of it is an accident. But just relax and watch the show! Everything is ok as long as the funny man is cracking jokes, right?

 

 

Progressive Growth – A Race To The Fascist Line

“Of course people are gonna challenge these ideas. There’s nothing really holding these ideas together, is there?”

Lovely Picture

It’s a lovely picture… What is it??

King Critical argues in a recent video that straying from Liberal orthodoxy does not a Conservative make. He describes the arbitrary groupings with panache, walking us through how going to the source material first started him asking bigger questions.

“So, I looked into Islam and I came to an uncomfortable conclusion – I literally could not believe Islam is true. Because if I did, I would have to believe lots of horrible, horrible, evil things.” 

“And I wanna stress this – I don’t mean these things were the *apparent* meaning.” He tells us he read the Koran all the way through, along with official commentaries. As always, he wanted to double-check before making up his mind.

“I don’t mean that these things were the most obvious reading, or the most mainstream reading, or the most scholarly reading. I mean these things would be the *only* reading.

“Really looking towards proper Islamic scholarship, I arrived at a conclusion – Which is no! Context doesn’t help! Interpretation doesn’t help.

“There’s no way to interpret ‘fight the unbelievers until they feel themselves subjugated, because they want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths’ other than, ‘Don’t allow people to criticize Islam, use violence to make them so subordinate that you can just impose your will on them.’

“I don’t see any other way to read that.

Hitting a wall like this will sound familiar to anyone who’s had a ‘Peak Trans’ moment. When you reach the inescapable conclusion that you are mistaken, the reasonable person will take a step back and have a long think.

Michael says all this to illustrate how quickly party orthodoxy begins to unravel once you start asking questions. “It’s kind of weird that me having a different interpretation of the Koran came to be such a monumental political event for me. Why would that be the case?

“What on earth is the association between believing in man-made climate change and believing that Surah 9:29 through 32 is actually not commanding the subjugation of all non-Muslims?”

I don’t think he means to imply that man-made climate change is nonsense. It seems to be a random example, and maybe that’s the point: “There’s no association between those two things, and yet they’re connected. 

“It’s simply because ‘Progressivism’ – as some big, amorphous blob – just decided collectively to be wrong about Islam. The result of that is, when I looked into it, turns out Progressivism is wrong.

Ice Cream Oops

Has the cheese slipped off his cracker??

“Similarly, it seems like Progressivism has just *decided*, ‘Let’s believe that biological males can be women if they say so.’ It’s so self-evident that this is nonsense.

“How could anybody possibly be surprised that a critical thinker is not going to be one hundred percent progressive – Or, indeed, one hundred percent conservative?” But the ubiquity of this inclination highlights the dearth of critical thinking out there.

Michael keeps ploughing forward toward his larger point, but his bramble of a question snagged me – What connects the ideas of so-called Progressive parties? And the answer was obvious – Money.

Down The Moneyhole

Progressive politics is all about moral mandates, more concerned with doing the ‘right’ thing than making any sense.

Despite this, after September 11, 2001 and in the lead-up to the US invasion of Iraq, objections of a more intellectual bent were growing from the general atmosphere of anti-Muslim sentiment. Christopher Hitchens was a particularly loud, articulate voice, insisting the ‘religion of peace’ was really determined to convert the whole world.

He’s dead now, and his sentiment has long been drowned out by popular repetition of the Good Muslim trope. Conflicting interpretations are a common-sense explanation in a world shaped by Protestantism.

But, as Michael said, “Finding out Islam isn’t true, well, that’s no big deal.” It’s just awfully convenient how this narrative flows right along with the oil contracts we’re all pretty sure Iraq was actually about.

We have seen how the policies of each successive administration don’t actually differ all that much from their predecessor, whatever they may say. Once again, we have to break down the words they use – Neoliberalism by any other name is just as Randian, and actions tell the real story. 

Progressive generally refers to social progress, lifting up citizens’ standard of living through technological and bureaucratic innovation.

But progress also means growth, and this begins to bring things into focus.

Tied Up

Is this what he meant when he said he’d keep me tied up all weekend??

An Oily Business

Exxon knew they were screwing us all back in 1982. Their own scientists expressed concern about what their business practices were doing to the environment, and their models looked pretty bad. They tried to cover it up, but by the end of the decade it was widely accepted that greenhouse gas emissions were a problem.

By 2003, the board had been tilted such that George W Bush removed carbon dioxide from the list of regulated pollutants altogether. It’s probably the methane from all those damn inefficient cows, right?

Along a similar timeline, plastics went from modern miracle to environmental disaster. Recycling was everywhere – A system so official, I know plenty of people who saw the reports about Chinese landfills, but still manage several bins as they cling to that sense of control. 

Visiting South America in 2003, filmmaker and author Naomi Klein found herself with the vista to see a bigger machine in motion: “If we look at the history of this really quite radical economic model – of privatizing key state assets, deep cuts to these social assets that people tend to protect like healthcare and education – When politicians try to do this under normal circumstances, people tend to organize and resist.”

Pesky populace, wanting their fair share of resources!

“So, the use of crisis for political ends has been a part of the advancement of this ideology.” Naomi laid out her ideas in a book she called Shock Doctrine, “The shocks are getting bigger, a debt crisis isn’t enough to disorient a whole society and convince them to accept their bitter medicine. Crisis is required to rationalize policies that would be rejected under normal circumstances.

“The legacy of this economic system is tremendous inequality.” Traditionally, inequality begets instability.

Leviathan Sheds Its Skin

Naomi’s distant perch and well-developed political vocabulary presented her with an opportunity to connect the dots, “There were all these things going on in Latin America that were all connected in rejection of this economic model. They saw a real connection between their rejection of these policies, and the fact that the same economic program was being imposed in Iraq through tremendous violence. 

“You really saw and felt those connections – Bechtel, just thrown out of Bolivia, suddenly shows up in Iraq with the exclusive to rebuild their water system.” How convenient! “It felt like this model that had been imposed peacefully – through the International Monetary Fund, through the World Bank, through the World Trade Organization – that wasn’t working anymore.

“The legacy of inequality was so dramatic that the sales pitch of, ‘just wait for the trickle down’ wasn’t working anymore.” Not only is the trickle not coming, the top layer is designed to absorb it. People decided they were sick of this shit in the 19th century! But the demand for infinite growth means infinite consumption  – And eternal colonization.

Space Couple

Jesus, Gary – What the hell did you get us into this time??

“Now there was this new phase – And it wasn’t even asking, and it wasn’t even negotiating, it was just imposed through raw violence. We’ve entered this phase of disaster Capitalism, using a shock to impose what economists call ‘economic shock therapy.’ Austerity measures we know are hard on the poor, but sacrifices must be made for the bottom line. And anyway, if they were productive workers, they wouldn’t be poor! 

“Water privatization, electricity privatization, displacing poor people on the coast with hotel developers – A social re-engineering of society in the interest of corporations, which is what we’ve been doing under the banner of Free Trade.” Rolling in elements of social control has allowed the same colonialist consumption mechanism to keep running in the background, an escalator to nowhere.

“But now, it’s under the banner of post-disaster reconstruction.” This always seemed like a weird flex after decades of fearmongering about over-spending, but it’s all about emphasis – In an atmosphere of anxiety, logic gives way to instinct and we become easily lead. 

Atmosfear

We have to cut the school lunch program – Do you want your kids to be owned by China? We had to invade Saudi Arabia Iraq because our guy  Saddam wasn’t doing what we wanted playing by the rules! Clearly, a bad apple…

This angle makes the old-fashioned theocratic aspirations of the right wing look almost quaint. Trump’s tendency to tell on himself by accusing his opponents of his own tactics might suggest so-called ‘Progressive’ politics should be scrutinized for their obsession with moral mandates. Single-sex spaces were only ever really a moral mandate, unenforceable as our Trans friends have made a point of demonstrating. And when the narrative began to shift, we took too much for granted.

Because there can be no dissent if you don’t ask for consent. Innovation – the very Future itself – is at stake! Climb aboard, and take the endless ride to nowhere.

And I think that’s the twist – A lot of us missed it because the fascist’s mythical shared past has been replaced with a mythical future. The strip mines were necessary, you know – We needed the minerals to power our space-ready gadgets.

Innova-shunned

Most pro-Capitalist arguments are made by those who believe wealth drives innovation. They must have some of their own hearts propped up with this idea, because innovation is part of the human psyche. Innovations in trade and commercial enterprise is what got us here. 

True innovation is a group-level effort. Materialists appreciate that real, lasting social progress requires a collective push. ‘Progressives’ may twist language in knots and say anything to feed the bottom line, but they understand the importance of materials.

Bolt Of Fabric

If we make them pretty colors, they won’t notice they’re all the same!

Opposition is strangled in the cradle as the ultimate narcissist in our midst rationalizes away all the bad thoughts. The right wing wags its finger at you, but their God is waved away as easily as they invoke him.

‘Progressives’ are delivering us to their very real corporate overlords with a smile. Borrowing from power grabs past to dampen dissent, they reassure us while Capital continues to evolve and spread. 

What can we do? For now, I think it’s important more people recognize we’re being played by both sides. Yes, Republicans want to take away women’s healthcare. But Democrats are doing their part to make even discussing such things impossible. 

Will we be forced to bend the knee for Abraham’s God or Uncle $am? It’s a race to the Fascist line! 

The Cure For Victimhood

There are, of course, those who do not want us to speak. Why? Because, while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. 

My DVD copy of V For Vendetta froze about halfway through, not so much as a smudge on it. Not currently available on any streaming service, the eloquence of the fictional freedom fighter was out of my reach.

Binoculars

I almost saw it!

Strangely fitting for this Guy Fawkes Day, when even words have fallen under suspicion. Transwomen are women, and women are birthing people. 

Words offer the means to meaning and, for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there?

As ravenous Capital tightens its grip, controlling the narrative becomes more imperative. Censorship methodically blocks off neglected corners of culture, authoritarian crackdowns increasingly enabled by the nasty – but very quiet – contagion of learned helplessness.

Freedom of speech is the bedrock of a free society, but saving it won’t accomplish much if we are unable to speak.

Existential Agency

New research brings new words that may be the right reinforcement for our crumbling collective consciousness. In a recent interview, podcaster Chris Williamson spoke with an expert in the emerging field of existential psychology.

Dr. Clay Routledge’s work, examines how the human need for meaning in life influences and is influenced by different cognitive processes.” He tells Chris how fascinated he is with “existential agency” –  The belief in our own ability to determine our life’s meaning. “You need to feel like you have the ability to take action,” rather than just accepting an externally-imposed purpose.

Sad Seamstress

One of these days, I am so out of here!

“This is very, very early work, but it seems like people who have a strong sense of existential agency are the most motivated, they’re the most driven, they’re the most resilient. They feel like, when life feels meaningless, they can change it.”

But he’s not talking about some bootstrap bullshit wrapped in statistics – “This isn’t to take away from real structural challenges that people face. But if we’re only talking about those things that we think of as outside of people’s control, we’re neglecting the fact that humans have all this cognitive horsepower.”

Chris Williamson latches onto the inspirational implications of this and runs with it: “I think that people intuitively are aware of it. Think about why anyone finds it emotionally fulfilling to see those transformation photos – They’ve done that through their own agency.” 

External Control

The last few years have seen the inspirational narrative of transformation being subsumed more and more by the concept of transition. The story of finding the True Self through long-term medical assistance has been framed as the path to Salvation.

And where once, you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission.

Your True Self isn’t within you, it’s in a surgeon’s office.

Dr. Routledge addresses this more broadly, “Part of the reason I wanted to really start to figure that out is because I feel like we are increasingly living in a society where people are acting like you’re not in control of anything.”

Pouty

You don’t understand – She made me hit her!

“There are privileges and advantages but, regardless of that, there’s something going on within humans that gives us a great deal of cognitive freedom – If we choose to act on it.”

Getting excited, Chris fills in the rest – “The victim mentality outsources existential agency. And if Man can make a Heaven of Hell and Hell of Heaven, then your ability to interpret the world is more than fifty percent of the battle.

“You have people in terrible situations who are able to be relatively fulfilled, and people that seemingly have everything that kill themselves. Your material situation is an influence but it’s not a determinant.”

“It predisposes but it doesn’t predetermine.

“I think framing things that way – ‘Take advantage, take control of the direction your life is going’ – I think that’s a smart area of research.”

Science For Better Living

Dr. Routledge is gracious, bringing the discussion back down to earth. “You summed it up perfectly. Your example’s a dramatic one, but even little things – There’s lots of little things that people do every day.” He uses the example of simply deciding to walk more, or take the stairs instead of the elevator. 

But he also pulls in some heavier stuff: “The victimhood narrative – which you see a lot – is, ‘alcohol abuse isn’t really a choice because it’s a genetic disposition, and it’s a disease.’ But, thanks to our scientific understanding of genetic vulnerabilities, you just armed somebody with information.

“Learning about genetics gives me information about my personality, my vulnerabilities. That doesn’t mean you’re just being pushed around by these external causes, they’re information that can help you make choices to live a better life.” Except that self-reliance is out of fashion. Independent thinkers tend to be subversive, and not very kind!

Gloves Off

I have opinions, and I’m not afraid to use them!

“But my feeling is, that’s a minority position in modern day Western scholarship. The more we learn scientifically about that, the more people intuitively seem to think that you have no control over it. People seem to think, ‘here’s another reason why it’s not your fault.'”

Thing is, if it’s your fault, you might be able to fix it. 

How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well, certainly there are those who are more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable. But, again, truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.

I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease – There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense.

Fear got the best of you.

Fear Of The Unknown

The pioneers on the frontiers of human understanding are just beginning to conceptualize existential agency, and not a moment too soon. As communication has become easier than ever, the deluge of information was infused with contaminants. Bedrock has been eroded and our course has become murky. 

Preserving a popular sense of our ability to write our own stories may be the most effective tool against external control. 

Our authoritarianism is gentler, with no High Chancellor to rally against. But those who would control us for their own ends benefit from every unasked question, every unpondered thought. Controlled speech is controlled speech, whether the mechanism is shame or black bags.

Symbols are given power by people. Alone, a symbol is meaningless, but with enough people…

…We can change the world.

Handing over our agency in exchange for safety never works. Putting everything in the hands of authority just spreads the insecurity of relying on others for meaning. We have all lost something of ourselves to the growing climate of fear on all sides. Many of us have even lost our words.

…For now. Material reality is still out there, and a rose by any other name will still prick you. New terms like existential agency can help us find our way through choppy seas to make our stand on solid ground. 

“Repent, Motherfucker!”

However you feel about Dave Chappelle, he’s too big for the mainstream to ignore. His special The Closer has broken the cultural dam, unleashing the torrents of questions TRAs have worked so hard to keep us from asking.

About Time

It’s about time you got here!

The Flow Of Information

The staff walkout at Netflix made the news. NBC probably spun it the hardest, summarizing the day of protests as, “The media giant [was] forced to listen to its workers.” Because a longtime pillar of the establishment, now owned by Comcast, is just happy to see workers getting their own back, right? 

With friends like this, who needs aggressive protesters?

The local Fox affiliate gave us two interviews, one from each side of the fracas. The difference in tone could not be starker: “I’m out here because Dave Chappelle is harming our kids.” Amusingly, the auto-caption has spelled this out as, ‘they should bombing our kids.’ This woman does look terrified!

“He doesn’t realize that the speech that he’s putting out is harmful.” Points for giving him the benefit of the doubt, I guess? “It’s harmful to children.” Chappelle’s material is completely inappropriate for children! “It’s harmful to trans people everywhere, and their allies.”

How this is accomplished by a middle-aged comic using his own thoughts and experiences as grist for the cultural mill is not established. By anyone, anywhere that I could find.

Fox LA’s second interview is with the now-infamous Sign Guy, sign still in hand. “We’re out here to show our support for jokes, comedy, and everything that’s great about America – Free speech!” Holy shit, I think he’s serious! “And I love [that] all these people have free speech, as well, I’m glad we can have a discussion.”

The Jester Tells The Tale

I don’t think Sign Guy was prepared for what he actually encountered that day. His real name is Vito, and his own video regarding the incident is very illuminating.

Illuminated

I can see exactly what’s in front of me!

Billing himself as a Professional Idiot, Vito is more Court Jester than Steve-O. He mostly reviews movies and games, but said he and his friend felt moved to come out in support of Comedy.

“We believe this is an absurd protest. It’s absurd to tell Dave Chappelle not to make jokes about trans people. Transgender issues are huge right now, we’re all talking about it. The idea that a comedian is not gonna talk about it is ridiculous. 

“So, we are being equally ridiculous by chanting, ‘We like jokes.’ And the fact that everyone is mad at us just adds to the absurdity of the situation.” If only absurdity were a guarantee of something being funny.

Vito laughs at himself shouting silly slogans, but his buoyancy sputters as he watches the confrontation from a new angle. The full scope of what he experienced comes into view, and it spooks him a bit.

“Later in the day, when they had the trans speakers speaking, I tried to join in the fun. I was going, ‘Trans lives matter.’ But, again, I’m there to support Comedy – I want my sign to be seen, I want people to hear my message.”

This is when Vito came face-to-face with what he was actually dealing with – These people were there to stifle speech, and they don’t give a damn about your rights if you’re on the Wrong Side of History.

No Debate

He lets it roll a little, then stops to narrate a bit, “This dude in blue is real mad. [He] grabs my sign, rips it out of my hand, puts it on the ground, starts stepping on it.

“A couple people came to me and they say, ‘He’s a writer at Netflix.’ I’m not gonna identify him, I don’t wanna be a part of that. But it is a pretty bad look from Netflix.” To put it mildly. Some crude humor aside, Vito impresses me with his composure through all of this.

Oh Snap

Oh, snap! Did we find a real one??

He acknowledges that some people may see him as a jerk disrupting a protest, “I have every right to be in this public area as much as anybody else and have my voice heard. And my voice is you guys are nuts, and Dave did nothing wrong.” He suggests they should have protested inside the building if they wanted it private, “But if you’re out on the street, the fat guy’s allowed to be there yelling, ‘We like jokes!'” 

Refocusing, he carries on, “Anyway, this Netflix writer destroys my sign…” Vito trails off, momentarily absorbed. Now an observer of his own moment, what he sees begins to bother him. “This guy who broke my sign now goes, ‘He’s got a weapon!’ He knows he broke my sign.

Literally the only reason I can think of to yell that is that you want immediate harm to come to that person. Luckily, the crowd was not that stupid.” Nor Security quick to respond and, for once, I’m glad!

“When I thought someone random in the crowd yelled that I wasn’t as mad, but now that I know a Netflix writer tried to get me killed, I’m a little not happy. That’s really shitty … I’m having feelings all of a sudden, I am not happy about that.”

“I’ll try to move on, but now I really am like, ‘ Ooh, what the hell?'” 

The Fear Of God

As the clip rolls, the high-pitched voice of irony is heard approaching – “Excuse me! Excuse me! Excuse me!” As Thursday Vito launches into a final plea for Comedy, she enters the frame with a large tambourine. In her righteous zeal, Tambourine Lady says the quiet part very loud. Over and over, she shrieks the true mantra of the Trans Rights Movement – “Repent, motherfucker!”

Which leads into my favorite part of Vito’s commentary: “I could not even tell what this chick was yelling at me. I hear it now. What am I repenting for?” He rubs his eyes in exasperation. “This is becoming like a cult. ‘Repent!’ What religion is this??”

Repent

Oh, merciful Gender, Please just let me stay out of the kitchen! Athem!

The wording may be different, but we all know the feeling of someone trying to put the fear of God in us. The US has always been home to strange and unique religious interpretations, having already experienced four ‘Great Awakenings’ where we rediscovered Puritan fervor. This latest Woke wave is nothing but another authoritarian wolf in secular clothing.

“I don’t know what I did. I made a sign I thought was funny and I showed up to support comedians. I was kinda mad that more comedians weren’t out there, instead it’s me and Dick Masterson. I feel like every comedian in Hollywood shoulda showed up.” Sorry Vito, but if Chappelle is threatened by this, everyone else is probably terrified.

He comes to the end of the clip and fumbles halfway through his lighthearted recap, tripping on his words. “I’m all flustered cause I found out a Netflix employee tried to kill me!”

He’s being glib here, but his hyperbole falls flat between nervous chuckles. In an environment where a British transwoman calling himself Phoebe felt *safe* threatening to make The Spectator “the next Charlie Hebdo” for the Movement, we should all be nervous.

Fear Is Exhausting

Vito relates a couple more incidents – One where his friend was pushed down hard enough that his head hit the pavement, and then someone chased their car as they left. “The whole day was crazy. People were going a little too hard here!”

He thanks his audience for their support, since he’s probably not getting a mainstream media job any time soon. “The fact that I’m on the side of Dave Chappelle is gonna get me blacklisted. Think about how crazy that is – Because I’m on the side of one of the greatest comedians of all time, they’re now gonna say that I’m a crazy bigot. It’s madness! We live in madness.”

Cult Girls

Don’t worry, we’ll help you – We’ve been stuck here for a while!

Yep. What the average person does with this information will make all the difference. I hope more of them react like Vito does.

“They’re trying to cancel comedians! They don’t want us to make comedy.” Vito flinches at his own words, “They fucking hate us. They hate that I can go online and find an audience. They would love if they could control it all, like they always used to. But they don’t anymore. You have the fucking control, and that’s beautiful.

“Thank you so much, I need to lie down.”

I bet! Vito has stepped through the Looking Glass into Bizarro World, and there’s no going back.

I’m surprised to find someone like him in the thick of this, a lost lamb who seems to actually believe what he’s saying. But the wolves are in charge, and the mask is slipping in their greedy haste.

Blurring The Party Line

The popular spin on the walkout is outrage over the firing of the rabble-rouser. But not only was she leaking internal company stats, she also turns out to have an axe to grind against Asians, for whatever reason. The Poor Victim of racist execs is actually quite the prolific racist herself!

The universal weakness of the narrative is causing loyal adherents to question the movement’s leadership, if not the movement itself.

I wager that’s still too close to home for many. This whole scandal – The walkout, the outrage, the repetitive spin – looks like one giant exercise in distraction. We are told to be angry that Dave Chappelle poked fun at trans people, so angry we won’t listen to the point he’s making.

Alchemy

I call upon my dark powers to keep you off-balance!

Dave tells us in detail how the so-called Trans Community is destructive. It’s destructive to women, to culture, and to its own members.

Vito learned this the hard way, seeing first-hand that freedom is not their priority. The hypocrisy of people claiming to treasure safety physically attacking someone – For simply disagreeing with them in public – is shockingly bold.

But we have Reuters’ coverage giving us gems like, “We are here today, not because we don’t know how to take a joke, we’re here because we’re concerned that the jokes are taking lives.”

How’s that work, exactly? I’m still waiting for a good explanation, but I’ve heard a man’s greatest fear is being laughed at. I suppose it’s the old affirmation-or-suicide threat, and we’re expected to understand that hurting trans people’s feelings is a step away from murder.

Never mind the hundreds of women actually murdered every year. At least those privileged cis bitches got to have a period!

Heretics Get The Wall

This movement that claims the title Feminist for itself, screeching about supporting the marginalized, ignores the struggles of anyone who isn’t Trans. Never mind that they can’t agree on what exactly that means! Their comfort is vital – More important than the safety of women and girls, or even fat comedians.

Their comfort is more important than free speech, that precious principle those who lived through the last authoritarian flareup warned us to guard with our lives. It’s more important than comedy. More important than the truth.

The truth is, if we’ve reached a point where one person is favorably comparing Trans Rights to Islamic fundamentalism, you can bet he’s not the only one. They are on a righteous mission to convert the whole world, and you’d better be ready to Repent, Motherfucker!

Or prepare to have all your signs destroyed.