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buybuydandavis comments on [LINK] Why I'm not on the Rationalist Masterlist - Less Wrong Discussion

21 Post author: Apprentice 06 January 2014 12:16AM

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Comment author: buybuydandavis 07 January 2014 07:41:42AM 32 points [-]

The author apparently has the privilege of living in a bubble where everyone she knows fundamentally approves of all her opinions, but occasionally has one person out of 20 show up at a gathering who disagrees, and just may throw a fit if that person dare voice their opinions.

Me - atheist, egoist, libertarian - I'm lucky if one person out of 20 won't think I'm the devil if I'm open about my opinions. I weep for the discomfort she feels when my existence impinges on her awareness.

I note that a Christian or Muslim describing how they are hurt by those who dare openly(!) question their sacred values wouldn't receive such polite consideration, and certainly not by this blogger.

Comment author: Locaha 07 January 2014 09:40:09AM 7 points [-]

Me - atheist, egoist, libertarian - I'm lucky if one person out of 20 won't think I'm the devil if I'm open about my opinions. I weep for the discomfort she feels when my existence impinges on her awareness.

Are you ever in physical danger because of your opinions?

Comment author: Dentin 07 January 2014 05:56:00PM 4 points [-]

Not really a valid question; I feel similarly, but you quickly learn to suppress it when the situation becomes questionable. Anyone who reacts strongly to my more mainstream opinions, is almost certainly going to be a lost cause when it comes to my extremist opinions. I can't say I've been in physical danger because I've never pushed it to that point. However, I can think of instances where physical danger was on the table of options (the KKK in minnesota is a good example.)

Comment author: buybuydandavis 08 January 2014 09:58:56AM 5 points [-]

I don't believe the blogger was in any danger because of her opinions at a dinner party either.

My guess is that she travels in a terribly civilized circle where watching a boxing match would induce fainting spells. I travel in fairly pansified circles myself, and that's the way I like it. I like civilization.

As for actual violent crime, all the crime statistics I've seen show that men are at least as likely to be victimized as women.

Even in terms of partner violence, all of it of which I'm aware in my circles are of females acting out against their partners in rather dangerous ways. We've been laughing for years about how a female friend gave her boyfriend a shove down a staircase right in front of me in college. He managed to catch himself on the sloping ceiling above and avoid crashing to his death. The look he gave her in return was priceless.

Because you see, it's funny when women try to hurt men. When it's the other way around, it's a crime against humanity. And we all have to be thrown into a tizzy at the thought of violence used against a woman. The mere thought of the possibility of it entitles the blogger to have all opinions that give her a twinge of worry shut down. No matter that the statistics show that the evil enpenised person she shuts down faces the same or more risk of actual violence.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 08 January 2014 02:54:29PM 11 points [-]

We have no idea how much violence the blogger has actually experienced, but it might have something to do why they're so concerned about it. I'm more than a bit surprised that they find SJ (?) circles so emotionally safe, but maybe they haven't run into the nastier emotional attacks is a way that affects them personally.

I agree that violence by women against men is all too frequently treated as funny-- in popular art as well privately. Is there anyone here who follows popular art enough to have an opinion about whether this has changed and in what direction?

I think violence against men by women not being taken seriously is partly sexism against women-- an idea that women aren't strong enough to do real damage. The other half of the problem (this is probably obvious to you) is a highly mistaken belief about how tough men ought to be.

Comment author: CronoDAS 08 January 2014 07:33:00PM *  5 points [-]
Comment author: NancyLebovitz 08 January 2014 11:37:13PM 4 points [-]

Monty Python and the Holy Grail: 1975

Airplane: 1980

It seems to me that a certain sort of violence by women against men was a common trope some decades ago-- perhaps other people can tell me whether it's still popular.

He says something obnoxious. She hits him, and not with a slap-- with a solid punch coming up from the ground. Big laugh from the audience. Rather implausibly, he isn't injured and he doesn't retaliate.

Comment author: Douglas_Knight 09 January 2014 04:20:57AM 0 points [-]

Monty Python was the example of men vs men. The examples of women against men were Airplane (1980) and Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008).

Comment author: CronoDAS 09 January 2014 07:00:13AM 0 points [-]

Those were examples of men against women being funny.

Comment author: Douglas_Knight 09 January 2014 07:11:51AM 0 points [-]

Oops...but now I don't know why Nancy was giving dates.

Comment author: CronoDAS 09 January 2014 07:22:06AM 0 points [-]

Maybe to show that things have changed somewhat? Repo the Genetic Opera is something of an unusual movie, but it's more recent than Airplane! is.

Comment author: Nornagest 08 January 2014 11:44:00PM *  0 points [-]

As you might expect, there's a trope for this. (caution: TVTropes link)

Judging from the examples, the answer is "yes", although I don't know comedy well enough to say whether these are truly representative.

Comment author: CronoDAS 09 January 2014 07:13:32AM 0 points [-]

This trope might be closer.

Comment author: Nornagest 09 January 2014 07:26:39AM *  0 points [-]

I knew there was something I was forgetting.

Though on second examination, that to be looks more about the sight gag than the violence dynamic. Armor-Piercing Slap (warning: TV Tropes) can include violence, but all it requires is humiliation, contra NancyLebovitz's description.