A Day Without Ladywords On Twitter: A Protest That Suggests The Women Who Created It Are Kind Of Dim
This "women must boycott Twitter on Friday!" thing reminds me of black students at Evergreen and other schools protesting what they see as racism by staying home from class.
They're basically opting out of a day of the privilege of education -- just decades after black students were kept out of universities by racist administrators. Genius!
Today's not-that-well-thought-out boycott is a call for women to boycott Twitter -- to...I love this...protest women's voices not being heard.
Um, if you want women's voices to be heard, speak, don't take yourself out of the discussion.
My tweet, and then this helpful dude who came around to tell me what I really think:
Hilariously, he instructifies me on Christina Hoff Sommers, whom I know, and who's been an inspiration to me and something of an intellectual mentor to me (just through her writing) from the very first day in the 90s that I opened her book, "Who Stole Feminism."
It occurred to me that a feminist would accuse him of mansplaining -- an accusation you make when you feel so powerless in the wake of someone's verbal takedown of you that you feel silenced. (Which is kind of proof that you're too weak to act like a man's equal.)
But because I can 'splain right back, I just replied.
And then when he persisted in telling me what I really am, I replied again:
#WomenBoycottTwitter?
More like #WomenBoycottThinking. Seems the new norm, almost a requirement. Present company excepted, of course.
Steven J Williamson at October 13, 2017 5:27 AM
Rose McGowan, the hypocritical, monotonous, boring, pasty, unattractive actress whose banning sparked this whole much-ado-about-nothing, was not banned from Twitter for speaking out against Weinstein, contrary to the narrative. She was banned because she posted someone's private phone number, which is a clear violation of Twitter's rules.
Patrick at October 13, 2017 5:31 AM
A boycott only works if it hurts the target's pocketbook.
The Montgomery Bus Strike hurt the city because it drove ridership down and that hurt revenue. Riders paid by the ride.
A one-day boycott of a free service may have a minimal impact on advertising revenue based on average readership but it won't have a long-term impact.
Staying home from classes you've already paid for will have no effect on the university's bottom line.
Conan the Grammarian at October 13, 2017 6:24 AM
"What kind of asswad decides he knows what you are better than you do..."
They usually call themselves Liberals.
iowaan at October 13, 2017 6:58 AM
Looks like you ran into a #ManTwat.
She was banned because she posted someone's private phone number, which is a clear violation of Twitter's rules.
That's what I am given to understand. I don't follow her twitter feed, so I don't know for certain.
Doxxing for me but not thee? No, sorry, Hurricane Harvey's bad and criminal behaviour does not give you license to behave poorly.
I R A Darth Aggie at October 13, 2017 7:16 AM
"She was banned because she posted someone's private phone number, which is a clear violation of Twitter's rules."
Thanks, Patrick -- it seemed to be what the deal was. Different than silencing women; it's about not allowing people (whatever their sex) to strip others' privacy.
Amy Alkon at October 13, 2017 7:31 AM
I had not heard that about the McGowan thing, but yeah, if that's what she did, she clearly violated the Twitter TOS, as I understand it.
As for the boycott, there's one thing about the politics of boycotts: if you threaten a boycott, you had better execute, or else you wind up with major egg on your face. Even though Twitter is approaching the broadcast-media model (in which there are a small number of approved content providers and a large audience of passive consumers), I still very much doubt that they will get enough women to boycott to where anyone who doesn't already know about the boycott will notice that anything is different. It'll be like the years-long "boycott" that the John Birch right maintained for years against Proctor & Gamble -- no one else noticed, it didn't impact P&G's bottom line, and the boycotters just wound up making fools of themselves.
I think a lot of people have caught on to the fact that a lot of what the Left does is just empty gestures. All these things accomplish is to further separate that subculture from the rest of humanity.
Cousin Dave at October 13, 2017 7:43 AM
That's what Twitter says she did.
Patrick at October 13, 2017 8:28 AM
Not posting on Twitter for a day seems to be the 2017 equivalent of the Montgomery bus boycott.
Today's not-that-well-thought-out boycott is a call for women to boycott Twitter -- to...I love this...protest women's voices not being heard.
Precisely.
Kevin at October 13, 2017 12:30 PM
Wait...a day without feminist screeching? I'm not seeing the problem here. It may actually improve TWTR's income.
*checks timeline* Yep, the camgirls are out in full force.
I R A Darth Aggie at October 13, 2017 12:40 PM
> the hypocritical, monotonous,
> boring, pasty, unattractive
> actress...
Golly, Patrick... Miss McGowan has always spoken highly of your appearance...
And your character, and your integrity, and your talent.
I mean, dood, there's a lot to unpack in your ferocious distaste. Its contents will probably not flatter you.
> Hurricane Harvey's bad and criminal
> behaviour does not give you license
> to behave poorly.
Well— No, it doesn't... But given that the woman was probably never as bright or sophisticated or courageous as she pretended to be at her youthful career zenith, and given also that she (convincingly!) claims to have been *raped* by a loathsome ogre in a severe and humiliating disproportion of social and economic power, perhaps we might all want to cut her just an inch or two of slack.
I threw my own gentle tsk at her the other day.
But let's not get too vicious. M'kay, fellers?
Crid at October 14, 2017 9:02 AM
It's possible, at least, that James simply meant that Amy is very much like most second-wave feminists - or ones like Wendy Kaminer.
At any rate, MRAs certainly don't like Amy much, just as many (most?) of them don't like Cathy Young much either. (I inferred that from some Amazon reviews of Young's book "Ceasefire!" I think it was.)
One example would be Gawain's Ghost, one of the most regular commentators at Dr. Helen Smith's blog.
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2016/05/26/tattling_to_dad.html
I quoted him in the last post. I can only assume PK (a commentator banished from Amy's blog) doesn't like her much either.
lenona at October 14, 2017 9:05 AM
Forgot to say: MRAs are very likely to call Amy a feminist.
lenona at October 14, 2017 9:06 AM
> only works if it hurts the
> target's pocketbook.
Again, my own cynicism: I wonder if McGowan will now be expected to surrender any settlement money, because Weinstein certainly seems like the type to demand that she do so...
At least, he would if he weren't so busy with Scotland fucking Yard....
Crid at October 14, 2017 9:27 AM
Lenona: MRA's turn up here for Amy all the time. They nourish each other. It's annoying.
Cousin Dave: More later, I gotta think about what you say.
Crid at October 14, 2017 9:31 AM
The Pompous One bloviates:
Ms. McGowan's assessment of any aspect of my being could not concern me less.
Hypocritical: She shrieked in incoherent rage over the supposed violence against women depicted in the X-Men movie poster. Three words for Ms. McGowan, if she's so appalled by violence against women in movies: "Conan the Barbarian."
Boring and monotonous: View any episode of Charmed after Season Three, after Shannen Doherty's departure. She is a younger, female version of Ben Stein.
Pasty and unattractive: For God's sake, just look at her! But wear sunglasses if viewing her in daylight. And the current buzzcut she's sporting isn't helping.
Patrick at October 14, 2017 10:22 AM
Crid, I didn't say they're ALWAYS likely to call her a feminist. Just that an awful lot of them are never satisfied with anyone who doesn't call herself an MRA - and they will complain about that.
lenona at October 14, 2017 12:40 PM
I just don't understand why she(Rose McGowen)did not go to the police when she was raped. Telling the studio people, what did she expect them to do? Holding them responsible would have been better. It makes no sense to me. If it was that bad, raped numerous times, go to the police.
M.
marie at October 14, 2017 2:42 PM
That is probably a good reason to ignore them Lenona. You just described a whiny person name calling. Whatever. They may as well call her German, or Salmon, or Martian. It is clear they are just spouting gibberish. Why give it any credence?
Ben at October 15, 2017 6:26 PM
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