Why is 'white knighting' seen as such a bad thing?

[Phasmal]

Defending a woman on the internet is a sin and must be punished. Even if she's in the right.

No but seriously I doubt White-Knighting is an actual thing. Being a woman who has been on the internet for a long time, I've certainly never experienced it. I've had guys stand up for me sometimes, but then usually they've not spoken to me again after that- so it may have just been that they agreed with me.
I think it's kind of stupid to accuse people of White-Knighting based on little more than `you agree with a woman and I don't`.

 

[Colour Scientist]

Defending a woman on the internet is a sin and must be punished. Even if she's in the right.

No but seriously I doubt White-Knighting is an actual thing. Being a woman who has been on the internet for a long time, I've certainly never experienced it. I've had guys stand up for me sometimes, but then usually they've not spoken to me again after that- so it may have just been that they agreed with me.
I think it's kind of stupid to accuse people of White-Knighting based on little more than `you agree with a woman and I don't`.

Yes, but I'm sure the guys who never spoke to you again did so because you never PM'd them a photograph of your lady bits.

 

[hazabaza1]

I've had guys stand up for me sometimes, but then usually they've not spoken to me again after that- so it may have just been that they agreed with me.

I think the idea of the basic "white knight" is that the girl contacts them because they were nice and therefore deserve sex/equivalent. It's just that showing that destroys their persona that they've got going on.

It's a stupid attitude, and I'm not saying that anyone who sticks up with a woman does it because they want boobs, but going around to some forums here and there you can see a very sad attitude of people getting in pages of arguments with someone they've never spoken to because they disagreed with something a girl said.

 

[Vegosiux]

Screw white knighting, black knighting is where it's at! 'Tis but a scratch!

A scratch!? YOUR ARM'S OFF!

But I think they're people who come to women's aid over men's every single time, eit was necessary/wanted or not, in the hope of being "rewarded."

But yes, pretty much this. "White knighting" is something I'd expect NiceGuys? to do, basically, that's why I find it so annoying. As I pointed out in a thread that shall not be spoken of, the irony would sometimes be delicious if it wasn't so aggravating.

Defending a woman on the internet is a sin and must be punished. Even if she's in the right.

No but seriously I doubt White-Knighting is an actual thing. Being a woman who has been on the internet for a long time, I've certainly never experienced it. I've had guys stand up for me sometimes, but then usually they've not spoken to me again after that- so it may have just been that they agreed with me.
I think it's kind of stupid to accuse people of White-Knighting based on little more than `you agree with a woman and I don't`.

Did you expect people like that to say "You know Phasmal, I don't care whether what you said was right or wrong, but you're a girl, so I shall don my shining armor and jump to your defense (and hope for boobs later cause I deserve them for being such a nice guy to you)" or something?

But you know, it's kind of simple to notice. A person who actually agrees with you will make points, present arguments independently of you (might refer to you, but will still largely make their own case). Someone who's white-knighting for you will be more focused on you and getting across just how vile JohhnyDebater was for opposing and attacking you.

 

[ShiningAmber]

I think when you're helping someone solely based on their gender, there's a problem.

 

[Froggy Slayer]

I agree that defending someone on the promise of tits alone is a bad thing, but I have seen it applied to a lot more recently, which is what I find aggravating.

Example: Poster 1: 'I think that if a woman is taken advantage of while drunk it is not rape because she is responsible for getting drunk.'
Poster 2: 'I disagree with your point-of-view. I think that it is rape because she shouldn't be taken advantage of in the first place, due to basic human empathy.'
Poster 1: 'Oh my god, what a white knight.;

 

[Aramis Night]

Remember guys: A white knight will earn your trust and then try to sleep with your queen as soon as you leave the palace. At least with black knights you know that they will be happy as long as you let them play executioner.

 

[Odbarc]

White Knighting is seen as joining a group of elitists and imposing your moral code on them and is often used (especially when it uses automative process);
Example. I find some obscure perspective on why I dislike your post and flag/report it because we disagree.

The behavior is considered hostile and most people like their freedom of speech. The same group (everyone) also hates that everyone ELSE also has the freedom of speech.

 

[Something Amyss]

Defending a woman on the internet is a sin and must be punished. Even if she's in the right.

And even if you're not actually defending her so much as agreeing with her.

I agree that defending someone on the promise of tits alone is a bad thing, but I have seen it applied to a lot more recently, which is what I find aggravating.

Example: Poster 1: 'I think that if a woman is taken advantage of while drunk it is not rape because she is responsible for getting drunk.'
Poster 2: 'I disagree with your point-of-view. I think that it is rape because she shouldn't be taken advantage of in the first place, due to basic human empathy.'
Poster 1: 'Oh my god, what a white knight.;

That's been a pretty common definition of "White Knighting" for a while.

The expectation that people not violate other people seems reasonable unless vaginas are involved.

 

[Something Amyss]

White Knighting is seen as joining a group of elitists and imposing your moral code on them and is often used (especially when it uses automative process);
Example. I find some obscure perspective on why I dislike your post and flag/report it because we disagree.

The behavior is considered hostile and most people like their freedom of speech. The same group (everyone) also hates that everyone ELSE also has the freedom of speech.

Except, of course, "White Knight" is rarely thrown around to refer to that. It's kind of like how the word "Nazi" has been tossed around to mean just about anything someone doesn't like.

 

[Piorn]

Defending a girl because she's a girl is just as sexist as harassing her for being a girl.
Just ban the wrongdoer and move on.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I think you're version of "white knight" is different than the one I'm used to. Standing up for what you believe in is fine but purposely being offended for someone (particularly females) because you think they can't defend themselves is in my book, a white knight.

yupp, this is about as white as the beard in your avatar is, white knighting is somewhat self explanatory, but it can go in multiple degrees (defending a woman because you might think it'll lead to pussy, or you think because she is a woman she cannot defend herself, etc..)

sticking up for what you believe in is no problem at all, but the above is usually taken way too far and is sexist.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

White knighting is far more prominent in MMORPGs like World of Warcraft where someone would have their raid spot defended because they had gained the sexual attractions of an influential member despite that individual's performance being sub-par.

Except we already had a perfectly serviceable word for that. Favoritism.

OT: White Knight, like "Fanboy", is just basic argumentum ad hominem. I'm not sure why we need to spend a lot of time breaking it down and discussing the different circumstances under which it might apply. It's a hostile label that speaks volumes about the people who employ it non-ironically.

 

[Relish in Chaos]

As far as I understand that, ?white knighting? is a male excessively defending a female from abuse over the internet, usually used as an insult by those who accuse ?white knights? of doing it to make themselves feel better/?prove? they?re not sexist/look like a ?nice guy?. Essentially, it?s cyber-chivalry. (Although I?m not sure why ?kiss-ass? or ?favouritism? weren?t perfectly acceptable terms for that sort of behaviour anyway?)

But if you were referring to Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight?well, I guess the whole ?holding an innocent kid hostage and almost killing him? could count as ?bad?.

 

[amuasyeas]

Because it's unnecessary. If you're so thin skinned to insults you need assurance from a stranger, you have no place being on the internet in the first place.

 

[Lieju]

The question is how do we tell the difference? You see if i see someone, anyone, abusing or being horrible to another person and the victim is CLEARLY being offended or upset by it (in other words they dont seem to be handling it well themselves or it seems to be hurting them) ill say something about the other person being an asshole. I mean hell even if the person doesnt mind at all ill still call the other person an asshole.

But how do you distinguish my reaction from a sexist reaction? Arnt they almost identical? You dont know what i do outside of an argument. I might go stand up for anyone of any race, gender or sexuality after this one. Its hard to call someone a white knight because it implies you know ALL people they have defended past and future. When all you know is present.

This.

I've often seen guys arguing points for feminism and other such topics, only to be accused of "white knighting". It seems like the default response to dismiss a man arguing a point in favour of women/feminism/whatever the fuck, even if there aren't any women involved in the discussion/argument.

And of course there are no women in the Internet anyway. I have been accused of 'white-knighting' for having opinions on feminism, and few times that I'm being 'offensive to women' for having feminist opinions (while their opinion aren't offensive because of reasons)...

There certainly are people who defend people and things for dumb reasons (often because they are fans), but what's the point of trying to guess their motives? Either their arguments hold water or they don't. Most of the time you can't be sure why they hold those positions, why try guessing?

black, Chinese lesbian taxidermists with tourettes, one hand and defintely no discernable breasts.

Sounds hot.

 

[Quadocky]

I think what disturbs me the most is that the mere act of abstaining from harassing an individual on the basis that she is a woman is considered white knighting. Hell, just being a kind person is considered white knighting.

Being a kind person does not make you a white knight, it makes you a kind person. People seem to make the mistake of thinking that showing kindness is purely done for selfish reasoning when in reality its done for mutual benefit and social cohesion.

The whole white knight thing is purely a reactionary insult. Its very similar to how one would call someone 'gay' as insult..

 

[danon]

I think what disturbs me the most is that the mere act of abstaining from harassing an individual on the basis that she is a woman is considered white knighting.

If you abstain from harassing someone because they're a woman you're white knighting. That would imply that you would harass them if they were male. I guess you meant something else though?

 

[Brad Shepard]

This isn't to say that I always agree with them, but why has the idea of sticking up for you ideals and values seen as a bad thing by a lot of people these days (*cough*4chan*cough*)? As I've said, I don't always agree with some of these people, but I respect them for standing with their morals. It actually kind of disturbs me that so many people think of having morals and basic human empathy as a bad thing.

Ok, starters, 4chan is not as bad a site as everyone thinks, its not a place of evil, its a place where a bunch of people gather, simple as that, 2nd, White Knighting is, by definition, defending a woman no matter what online, and 3rd, White knighting is bad for the simple fact of they are defending a person for the reason of they are a woman, and simple fact, if you say something stupid or are annoying, you should be called out on it, boy or girl.