Free Radicals

[knight steel]

Hey guys what's this thread about?

Spoiler

GREY WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THIS YOU HAVE SUMMONED THEM:

Spoiler

Oh god when they get here there's no knowing what they will do to us they could destroy the Escapist!!!

Spoiler

DAMMIT It's too late:

Spoiler

Why-why does this always happen to us why

Spoiler

We have to get out of here quickly everyone abandon this thread:

Spoiler

 

[rasputin0009]

I agree with radical feminism opposing patriarchy, but I don't necessarily agree with the breaking down of ALL the gender roles. I also haven't thought about any other ways to go about opposing patriarchy other than by breaking down traditional gender roles. So I have contributed nothing. Nothing!

 

[Thaluikhain]

Exactly! Been saying this for ages.

It's easier to blame the "patriarchy", than to blame ourselves.
We like to think there is a shady council, with sinister looking men of power, secretly pulling the strings of the world and making all the bad things happen.
We do it al the time. We do it with Sexism, and we do it with Feminism.
It makes us feel comfortable, because we convince ourself that it's not our fault everything sucks.
That there is someone to blame.
But in reality, each of us is just one drop in an ocean of bad things, and all we can do is try to do our best.

Um, yes. Which is more or less exactly what the Patriarchy is. Nobody says it's a shadowy conspiracy except when constructing strawfeminists.

 

[rasputin0009]

It's easier to blame the "patriarchy", than to blame ourselves.
We like to think there is a shady council, with sinister looking men of power, secretly pulling the strings of the world and making all the bad things happen.
We do it al the time. We do it with Sexism, and we do it with Feminism.
It makes us feel comfortable, because we convince ourself that it's not our fault everything sucks.
That there is someone to blame.
But in reality, each of us is just one drop in an ocean of bad things, and all we can do is try to do our best.

Ya know, patriarchy refers to the traditional "man of the house" gender role situation, right?

 

[BX3]

Radical feminism... not all that radical really. Not to be confused with New Radical Feminism.
Read more at http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/critical-miss/10548-Free-Radicals?utm_source=latest&utm_medium=index_carousel&utm_campaign=all#d7Cz89b2Mk5PslYc.99

Ah, man, I hope New Radical Feminism doesn't later peddle back to regular Radical Feminism and lable it "Radical Feminism Classic" so they can sell it at a higher price. That'd suck.

So is The Escapist just going "hey guys we need more traffic, make stuff that's guaranteed to create arguments" to their content creators now?

The funny thing is that the more controversial comics/articles usually have more "inb4 arguments" comments than the actual comments that take offense to said comic or article. I saw this one thread that had 2 straight pages of "Prepare for shitstorm" gifs, after which the shitstorm never occurred.

...

Oh, lord, Maybe that's Escapist's traffic plan: To start a controversial topic that generates a wave of people feverishly expecting a flamewar that may or may not come... leading to guaranteed hits! It makes so little sense it must be true. I'm on to you, Escapist!

 

[Andy Shandy]

I was, more in hope than anything else, expecting a TimeSplitters comic, or perhaps even Second Sight.

Spoiler

 

[thebakedpotato]

Should have been made out of straw. :B

 

[I.Muir]

Radical seems to work in terms of extreme or unusual sub groups of feminists as well as anything else really. Assuming that is the feminists that are the subject of this comic are indeed radical and departing from the norm. Such feminists may also be departing from reality, basic biology and logic at the same time.

I tend to think of the feminists that are the subject of the comic as ivory tower feminists instead. Many people I know think video games as a feminist non issue, that lack of clothing on the female characters is tacky but not misogyny and that games are just slow to adapt to newer markets. I am inclined to agree with them.

 

[Something Amyss]

I think that a lot of people have a shallow understanding of radical feminism (there's something called the patriarchy, and it's about men oppressing women)and they object to the idea that men are consciously trying to oppress women.

But what do I know? In my mind, everyone described as radical looks like this.

Actually, they tend to object to the notion of women oppressing men. Because that's totes what feminism is.

Personally, I prefer tubular feminism.

Heh, I'm not gonna lie, that was pretty funny.

You do know that this thread is going to explode now though, right?

I'm pretty sure they busted out their satirising stick for this one.

So is The Escapist just going "hey guys we need more traffic, make stuff that's guaranteed to create arguments" to their content creators now?

Who else is doing this? I mean, the closest I can come in the shows I watch on here is Jim Sterling, and he's always been a bit of an iconoclast.

Then again, most of the rest of the shows I watch involve LRR, and they're too Canadian to offend anyone.

Unless you hate Canadia. In which case, they're sorry.

inb4 the radical feminists come to take our penises away.

Too late! Your wang has been NINJAD!

I don't really see how anyone could be offended by this comic...

This is gaming media. People got offended that a woman was going to dryly read off tropes, called her a radical, and threatened to rape and kill her.

Oh, you meant....

I mean it is just a male writer using a strawman argument to make a spurious issue out of said strawman's semantic error of mixing up 2 definitions rooted in the same issue, and wheeling out a reference to a dated colloquial term that will register a humour response out of the demographic of readers, with a punchline so disconnected from the set-up as to make you wonder why he picked that paticular issue at all. Except of course, knowing hot button topics generate views...

Which, except for the "generating views" bit is a strawman in itself.

It's not really a semantic error, given the context in which it's used, re-used and clarified. On this site, no less.

Buuuuuut why let that stop you.

I have to go now. My planet needs me

Oh man, if Erin dies on her way back to her home planet, I will be a sad panda.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

Yeah, whenever people use the word "radical" they tend to mean "extremist". More often or not they tend not to know that radical feminism actually is a preexisting term.

Also incoming shitstorm.

 

[Catface Meowmers]

It's easier to blame the "patriarchy", than to blame ourselves.
We like to think there is a shady council, with sinister looking men of power, secretly pulling the strings of the world and making all the bad things happen.
We do it al the time. We do it with Sexism, and we do it with Feminism.
It makes us feel comfortable, because we convince ourself that it's not our fault everything sucks.
That there is someone to blame.
But in reality, each of us is just one drop in an ocean of bad things, and all we can do is try to do our best.

Dude, that's not what the patriarchy is. It's a concept, not a Shadow Council. It's kind of like the idea that men are the default, "normal" gender and women are just living in our world. And if you do some research, you'll find it's more pervasive than you might expect.

And it doesn't just hurt women. When men complain that they have no chance in a child custody hearing against the mother, that's because "everyone knows" that children will always be better off with the mother than the father. Or how about the idea, perpetuated by advertising, that men are clueless, incompetent children when it comes to basic aspects of housekeeping and child care? Yup, that too. (This paragraph is mostly to answer the question: "If the patriarchy is real, how come my life as a man isn't perfect?" That's a lazy question, fellas.)

It's pretty complicated, and I'm not about to go research and write an essay for a forum thread. But there's a lot of information online if you have some free time.

 

[Dominic Crossman]

I am pretty this guy but instead of saying "radical feminist", I'd say "feminist who are dicks about it"
No pun intended.
Funny strip btw

 

[Mr F.]

So is The Escapist just going "hey guys we need more traffic, make stuff that's guaranteed to create arguments" to their content creators now?

Aww, fuck it, I will bite.

You know, I cannot from any real perspective see how this comic will create an argument. It is quite simply pointing out that "Radical" in this particular context does not mean what many attribute it to mean. I see no issue.

I mean, I am a radical communist, an incredibly INCREDIBLY Orthodox radical communist. So... Yeah.

Uh... There is nothing much else to say. I believe you are incorrect in believing that this particular comic is guaranteed to create an argument, more so than any thread on this site at least.

Now, if we wanted a comic that could create an argument AND make a decent point, how about we run one on how the Patriarchy is incredibly damaging to men as well as women, particularly with the ridiculous, and many times utterly contradictory, ways men are expected to act (Violent, Gentle, Predator, Kind blah blah blah). That would be fun. That would create an argument. That would be guarunteed to get lots and lots of hits, with even more hits when the death threats start to roll in and the site becomes a self-referential shitstorm, much like the BBC when the BBC reports on issues within the BBC.

Man, that was an offtopic mini rant.

EDIT:

So a radical feminist is anyone who believes in patriarchy? Ok fine, I don't like them too much either. I think that whole theory brings nothing of value to discussion since it's so easily used a vague cop-out/scapegoat. Often times I'll hear them say something like "that bias against men exists because of patriarchy, buy our feminist war bonds against the evil patriarchy if you want to help men".

Hello you.

You know, I had just joked in the main body of my post about how the patriarchy damages men. About how it is far more complex than people seem to think and how it is not a one way "Woman Hating" street. Its not really a copout.

This is why we cannot have pretty things.

 

[Kitsune Hunter]

I have a strange feeling the comments sections is about to become very interesting

OT: Every time I hear the words "radical feminist", I always flash back to one of my politics lectures were my lecturer showed us a picture on how she viewed radical feminism

Spoiler

 

[Farther than stars]

I suppose it's easy to confuse the meaning of 'radical' when talking about feminism. After all, there was that point in the early twentieth century when they were technically terrorists.

It's easier to blame the "patriarchy", than to blame ourselves.
We like to think there is a shady council, with sinister looking men of power, secretly pulling the strings of the world and making all the bad things happen.
We do it al the time. We do it with Sexism, and we do it with Feminism.
It makes us feel comfortable, because we convince ourself that it's not our fault everything sucks.
That there is someone to blame.
But in reality, each of us is just one drop in an ocean of bad things, and all we can do is try to do our best.

But that is not what patriarchy means. It can mean that, but these days most feminists see it as a more subconscious thing; something that's been instilled in the minds of both men and women. It's a framework that's pervasive in every aspect of society. So in that sense, yes, we are part of the problem; we are part of the patriarchy. And every time you use a word such as 'manpower' or make a joke about women and housework, you are supporting that framework.
Also, sexism and feminism deal with exactly the same issue, namely gender equality.

 

[Requia]

By the comics logic, libertarians are all communists. What a word meant half a century ago is not necessarily relevant to how people use it today, and even if it still had widespread use, there is such a thing as a homonym.

 

[jehk]

It's easier to blame the "patriarchy", than to blame ourselves.
We like to think there is a shady council, with sinister looking men of power, secretly pulling the strings of the world and making all the bad things happen.
We do it al the time. We do it with Sexism, and we do it with Feminism.
It makes us feel comfortable, because we convince ourself that it's not our fault everything sucks.
That there is someone to blame.
But in reality, each of us is just one drop in an ocean of bad things, and all we can do is try to do our best.

Dude, that's not what the patriarchy is. It's a concept, not a Shadow Council. It's kind of like the idea that men are the default, "normal" gender and women are just living in our world. And if you do some research, you'll find it's more pervasive than you might expect.

And it doesn't just hurt women. When men complain that they have no chance in a child custody hearing against the mother, that's because "everyone knows" that children will always be better off with the mother than the father. Or how about the idea, perpetuated by advertising, that men are clueless, incompetent children when it comes to basic aspects of housekeeping and child care? Yup, that too. (This paragraph is mostly to answer the question: "If the patriarchy is real, how come my life as a man isn't perfect?" That's a lazy question, fellas.)

It's pretty complicated, and I'm not about to go research and write an essay for a forum thread. But there's a lot of information online if you have some free time.

Well said. I often use Kanji Tatsumi as an example of patriarchy affecting a male. All of his problems and insecurities stem from this idealized male construct. Real men don't sew! Real men don't like cute things! What are you? Gay?

This is why gender roles are so bad.

 

[I.Muir]

It's easier to blame the "patriarchy", than to blame ourselves.
We like to think there is a shady council, with sinister looking men of power, secretly pulling the strings of the world and making all the bad things happen.
We do it al the time. We do it with Sexism, and we do it with Feminism.
It makes us feel comfortable, because we convince ourself that it's not our fault everything sucks.
That there is someone to blame.
But in reality, each of us is just one drop in an ocean of bad things, and all we can do is try to do our best.

Dude, that's not what the patriarchy is. It's a concept, not a Shadow Council. It's kind of like the idea that men are the default, "normal" gender and women are just living in our world. And if you do some research, you'll find it's more pervasive than you might expect.

And it doesn't just hurt women. When men complain that they have no chance in a child custody hearing against the mother, that's because "everyone knows" that children will always be better off with the mother than the father. Or how about the idea, perpetuated by advertising, that men are clueless, incompetent children when it comes to basic aspects of housekeeping and child care? Yup, that too. (This paragraph is mostly to answer the question: "If the patriarchy is real, how come my life as a man isn't perfect?" That's a lazy question, fellas.)

It's pretty complicated, and I'm not about to go research and write an essay for a forum thread. But there's a lot of information online if you have some free time.

If that is what it truly is then it needs to be called something else. I don't really understand how a word simply meaning the ruling of fathers can convey so many unrelated, pervasive and damaging stereotypes. Unless of course you believe all these troubles are exclusively the fault of men.

Then again what is true for some may not be true for all. If you have heard some talk of patriarchy, you might easily think that they believed it really was the coordinated systematic oppression and hatred of women on the part of all men. That you can easily find anybody in the western world that believes rape is OK but that depends on what you think rape is I suppose. Put that way it sounds like a crazier conspiracy theory than anything L Ron Hubbard could have come up with.

 

[Farther than stars]

Does feminism stand to gain anything by trying to redefine what a radical feminist is? I don't think so.

Well, you thought wrong. Everything that can be more nuanced is useful, otherwise we'd just go around like cavemen grunting at things and using words like 'That!' and 'You!', leading to frequent misunderstandings. When we human beings can relay more information, we act more efficiently.
In this specific case, it is certainly not without merit to distinguish between the different branches of feminism, especially since they've become so diverse in the Third Wave of Feminism. For instance, there are feminists who want to topple the patriarchy and women who just want equal pay. Making that distinction from the get-go can be useful in determining the priorities of the individual feminists you are talking to.

 

[Quantum Glass]

I want that T shirt.

I'm far too privileged in life to speak with any authority on feminism, or equality in general. I don't know the difference between feminism and simply wanting everyone to be treated equally, or if there even is a difference. I can't empathize with those who've who've faced hardship and prejudice, who've been looked down upon or discriminated against, who've even been persecuted for traits or beliefs that I share with them myself, simply because I've been sheltered from all of that all of my life. I can say that I'm on their side, and perhaps I even am, but when push comes to shove I don't know what it's like, and likely never will.

The only thing I know for sure is...I want that T shirt.