# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/281 "2023-12-07T15:36:55Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > This is a “read the room” situation. You’re often trying to entertain Boomers with Millennial humor and it doesn’t land As a Milennial I gotta disagree with this bit. His humor wouldn’t land with most Milennials, either. Zapp Brannigan, since you bring him up, is funny because he is dirt stupid, useless as an admiral or as a romantic partner, yet he believes he is God’s gift to space navies and space women. If you quoted him to Milennials the way Darren does - LHOD put it well here - > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > trying to entertain people with jokes whose punch line is, “Guys think creepy sex thoughts, amiright?” only they land as “here are my creepy sex thoughts!” Then you’d be treated like a weirdo. You generally see Zapp Brannigan quoted _when you are making fun of someone else_. So for example, I might come to the Pit thread, quote a skeevy post by Darren, and respond with a similarly skeevy Zapp Brannigan quote. Another, more common Zapp Brannigan reference is the bit about him overcoming enemy robots by sending his men to die to them until enough men died that the robots hit their pre-defined kill limit and shut down (which he presents as an example of his brilliant tactical mind). You’ll see this referenced for a wide variety of reasons, from players who fail to strategize in video games to commentary on Russian tactics in Ukraine. But again, people use Zapp Brannigan to make fun of someone else; if you commented on photos of attractive women with skeevy Zapp Brannigan quotes people would find you to be a creep. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/282 "2023-12-07T16:31:36Z")
Just speculating here: there may sites on the internet where publishing the more libidinous aspects of one’s inner monologue is a wholly unremarkable activity, but the SDMB doesn’t seem to be among them. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/283 "2023-12-07T16:42:10Z")
That’s what _she_ said! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/284 "2023-12-07T17:06:01Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > > Apparently that crossed the bar of how little we are allowed to acknowledge that some people might be concidered by someone to be in some way attractive. > > Yes, creepy dudes would pay to rub their hands all over her body, and yes, your statement reached the level of gross misogynistic post. Yeah, the original version has now been moderated. Because this mod found it really creepy. I took the “no neck” comment as more about the photograph and the pose than the person, but i thought it was a kind of weird claim. Her neck looked pretty ordinary to me in the photo. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/285 "2023-12-07T17:40:08Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > The same person started the photo talk and the “I’d like to clean her leotard” crap. Tell me it isn’t _actually_ about her appearance. I should have qualified my comment as _most_ people were talking about the photographs. And I made this post before DG went full skeevy with cleaning the leotard, and bailed when it took that turn. There’s a legitimate conversation that could be had if those photos were flattering and if the digital manipulation that happens in every photo shoot was well done in this case, but this conversation wasn’t that. I’ve been here long enough that I should have realized the well would soon be poisoned if it wasn’t already. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/286 "2023-12-07T18:13:46Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > the SDMB doesn’t seem to be among them. Anymore, the creepiness was more normal here once. There are some cringeworthy posts going back a decade or two ago. But an effort was made to curb the misogyny here and I think it has made the board a lot better. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/287 "2023-12-07T18:20:46Z")
Yeah, every now and then a thread will get zombied and I won’t realize it until I come across some truly cringeworthy punching down of one variety or another. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/288 "2023-12-07T18:53:38Z")
We _have_ lost a lot of the sex-based threads that generated Board memes like “pan-fried semen”, “masturbating like a motherfucker”, and “cardboard paper towel tubes”. However, if that makes the SDMB a more comfortable place for female Dopers, then it’s a perfectly acceptable tradeoff. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/289 "2023-12-07T19:02:45Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > We _have_ lost a lot of the sex-based threads that generated Board memes like “pan-fried semen”, “masturbating like a motherfucker”, and “cardboard paper towel tubes”. How is any of that awful crap a loss in particular the last one which was beyond disgusting at the time? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/290 "2023-12-07T19:05:42Z")
I haven’t read any of those, but based on the titles, none sound like they ought to be moderated. I mean, “pan fried semen” is the opposite of the “cat hair” comment. Talking about cooking semen takes a sexual topic and kind of weirdly desexualizes it. Whereas the other takes a boring, non sexual situation (cats shed fur) and turns out into an excuse to sexually fondle a woman. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/291 "2023-12-07T19:08:35Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > How is any of that awful crap a loss in particular the last one which was beyond disgusting at the time? I really do have a dark sense of humor because that last one cracked me up, not because of the truly vile subject matter, but because of the idiocy of the person who created it, who deserved a lot of mocking, IMO, for such a stupid fucking argument. But I don’t see that as being something that wouldn’t be allowed in the Pit today. IIRC that entire thread went down in the Pit. Generally I enjoy a bit of blue humor, but it can be overdone, and perhaps it was overdone on these boards long ago. Certainly with a crackdown on sex jokes has come a reduction in misogyny, and if you ask me what I prefer, I’d pick today’s board over the past one. There’s a part of me however that just wishes we could have a slightly less uptight culture _and_ less misogyny. I don’t know if that’s possible. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/292 "2023-12-07T19:16:58Z")
I guess I overstepped a bit. Pan Fried certainly wasn’t misogynistic in any sense, just lame (in my opinion and I may well be in the minority). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/293 "2023-12-07T19:19:39Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > There’s a part of me however that just wishes we could have a slightly less uptight culture _and_ less misogyny. Yes, I’m aware that a complete free-for-all always ends in disaster, bringing out the worst aspects and the worst audiences, and that moderation and moderators are essential. But I do have the opinion that the SMDB has overcorrected into the stoid and stuffy. My ideal forum is somewhere considerably north of 4chan but somewhat south of here. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/294 "2023-12-07T20:03:49Z")
Darren definitely gives off an Elliot Rodger vibe. Besides his misogynistic posts, there are also his racist posts like his defending the murder of the black jogger Ahmaud Arbery by two racist white men. I don’t know what Darren’s problem is, but he doesn’t seem to think right, like he is not firing on all cylinders. He needs to run his thoughts through his brain before they leave his mouth. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/295 "2023-12-07T20:34:21Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > There are some cringeworthy posts going back a decade or two ago. But an effort was made to curb the misogyny here and I think it has made the board a lot better. I remember those days (Mark Serlin and his pouty hair, uhh…predilection, to name one example) and I agree that the steps taken have improved things. ETA: I believe that there _is_ a personage (don’t know if it’s accurate to call him a _celebrity_) IRL. I thought he might have been a sportscaster or something. Anyway, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the one-time Doper. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > My ideal forum is somewhere considerably north of 4chan but somewhat south of here. I can pack you a lunch, if you feel like wandering out in search of it… ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/296 "2023-12-07T20:44:48Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > But I do have the opinion that the SMDB has overcorrected into the _ **stoid** _ and stuffy. I don’t think of “ **stoid** ” and “stuffy” as belonging in the same _phrase_, and certainly not in the same sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/297 "2023-12-07T22:11:12Z")
Doesn’t it mean dry and unemotional? Sounds perfectly fine next to “stuffy.” ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/298 "2023-12-07T22:29:59Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > > But I do have the opinion that the SMDB has overcorrected into the _ **stoid** _ and stuffy. > > I don’t think of “ **stoid** ” and “stuffy” as belonging in the same _phrase_, and certainly not in the same sentence. > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Doesn’t it mean dry and unemotional? Sounds perfectly fine next to “stuffy.” I think the word they meant was “staid.” ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/299 "2023-12-07T23:01:08Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Pan Fried certainly wasn’t misogynistic in any sense, just lame (in my opinion and I may well be in the minority). The lameness of endless sexual jokes is a good point. My husband is a fan of the comic series _Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal._ (oh my God I just got the serial joke.) Anyway, it’s responsible for gems like [this one](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2011-04-25). He’s always sending me the good ones. But there are a lot of dick jokes. Like a looooot of dick jokes. We’re not opposed to dick jokes on principle, it’s just that there’s a certain threshold beyond which it is incredibly lame. SMBC has a new book out about how far we are away from the colonization of Mars, but my husband is reluctant to purchase it because he’s afraid it will be like 10% interesting content and 90% dick jokes. Don’t be like _Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal._ ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/300 "2023-12-07T23:04:13Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > My husband is a fan of the comic series _Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal._ (oh my God I just got the serial joke.) I am too. > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > But there are a lot of dick jokes. Like a looooot of dick jokes. We’re not opposed to dick jokes on principle, it’s just that there’s a certain threshold beyond which it is incredibly lame. Well yeah, not every entry is a winner unfortunately. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=16)