I don’t see how any of this refutes his OP being a rant, his claims to the contrary not withstanding. Sure, it makes him sad. It’s also something he wants to complain about. It’s also something that a lot of people are going to strongly disagree with. Whatever the OP intended, what he wrote was not MPSIMS material. It was a Pit rant.
Fair enough, I’d overlooked that post. Still, one could make the argument that the mauling was going to take place regardless, and Skip just made sure it happened in the appropriate forum.
Well, I haven’t slammed the OP myself, but personally speaking, the attitude he’s complaining about is so rare that the level of hyperbole he’s employing is unjustified. It comes across as whiney and self-pitying. If he’d included a specific example, people could look at it and see if his reaction is justified. Without a specific example, people apply his rant to their own experiences, which often will not justify such a rant.
Actually, I’m bi. I still have to jump, but they give me a parachute first.
No, exactly the opposite. Why don’t you go buy some reading comprehension, and then try going over my post and the one I responded to again?
Actually, no. I’ve never known a white person who was mugged specifically because he was white, and the idea seems pretty absurd to me. Roving bands of black thugs waiting for the next white guy to cross their street corner so they can jump them? That’s pretty silly. What if that white guy is wearing 10-year-old chewed-up Reeboks, cheap blue jeans and a worn-down T-shirt from an 80s hair metal concert? And, despite my penchant for attracting seedy friends, I’ve never met anyone who selectively targets white people because “they all have everything”.
I could see how someone wearing expensive clothes and driving an expensive car with an expensive sound system might be mugged because they have a bunch of expensive stuff, but that has nothing to do with their race.
That’s a pretty broad question, and, as a feminist with a fairly loud mouth, I would argue that your mental image of a “loudmouthed ‘feminist’” might refer to an imaginary force which isn’t particularly relevant to modern feminism. I’m sticking my neck out to answer this–since it’s about seven million questions wrapped up into one–but I’d have to say, yes, they are. I’m a man, and I don’t feel persecuted.
It bothers me too, and it’s one of the many reasons I can’t stand most “feminist TV” original programming, like Lifetime movies and such. But the majority of negative stereotypes of men seem to be in successful advertising directed at men, like beer ads. (“You may not know it, but you would do anything for a cold lager! It’s because you have a penis!”) But if it really puts you in a fit of depression, you might want to consider growing thicker skin.
of course it is. So is the constant attack on blacks perpetrated by the stereotype of them as drug dealers and muggers–which is alive and kicking, as you alluded to earlier–and the constant attack on Latino men perpetrated by the stereotype that they’re lust-driven gawkers who disrespect women and immigration law; the constant attack on women perpetrated by the stereotype that their looks and their ability in bed will get them farther than their meager intellectual and vocational abilities, etc. Those things are all very real, and the effect of any such constant attack on white men should pale in comparison, since I can’t even think of an example that’s anywhere near as pervasive as the ones I just listed. Sure, there is an attack on the male psyche in general underway, but to the extent that it depicts white males (like in the beer ads), it corresponds to the higher proportion of white males compared to other males in the American population, and it doesn’t seem to me to target men of any particular race specifically.
All true. But do you really have to let it drive you into perpetual angst, even though it has no practical effect on your life?
Perhaps you, too, should try to buy some reading comprehension as well.
Could be. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been called that. Excuse me while I go pour my heart out into an angsty Pit poem.
I’m not sure if this is a legitimate grievance or not. Who is saying this to you on a regular basis? Why? I deal with people who are minorities all the time, in a very racially charged school district. I’m white, and I have never, ever been called racist by an actual minority. Yes, there are generalities spoken about racism, and America being a racist culture, but I don’t take it personally.
The only time I ever felt “persecuted” for being white (and straight) was in grad school. Are you in college, smiling bandit? I really feel that I need to know the context of your rant to determine if it’s valid or if you are just being whiny.
Gays are oppressed, I’m straight. Colored folks of all variety are oppressed, I’m white. Women are oppressed, I’m a guy. I may be the last oppressor in town, which is good, 'cause I’m lazy…
It was funny, it wasn’t PC of course and it was a little bit of an unjustified whine, but it was humorous. You sound like someone that got offended by Sam Kinnison or Dennis Miller.
I think the offenderatti in this thread are over-reaching in their attempt to be offended.
Seriously, fetus, you know me by now. I am on neither the left nor the right. I am one of the greens that the Op was offhandedly complaining about (pollution), I have no worries that white men are being oppressed. I am glad I get counted among whites, my grandfathers sure as hell didn’t. They were called waps and guinnies. So I am happy we I get lumped in with the WASPs now. Makes life a lot easier for me than my Grandfathers or even my Dad.
Somehow I found the Op 85% humor and only 15% whine and you found it mostly whine and even racists. I can’t explain the disconnect, but the Op really wasn’t that bad.
No, Jim, because Sam Kinison and Dennis Miller were (past tense in both cases) funny. And there wasn’t a lot of doubt about when they were being sarcastic. You can say the same exact thing in two different ways and have the reception for the same message be completely different. If the Dennis Miller of the early 90s spewed the OP, even if I totally disagreed with it, I probably would have laughed a few times in spite of myself because of something witty Mr. Miller said. That’s the difference between a humorous rant and a whiny one.
I’m inclined to think the OP was a whine. Not worth getting into a froth over, but really-- how often do you have people getting in your face, personally, about being white? To the pont that you feel so sad and mad that you have to write a post about it say how sad it makes you multiple times, employ incredible amounts of hyperbole, and fill to overflowing with bitter self-pity?
Honestly, I don’t find the OP offensive. It’s more of a :rolleyes: than anything else. I wouldn’t say it was remotely funny, and I’m not sure it was meant to be. Hyperbole, yes. Make you laugh? No, not even a little chuckle. Because I honestly think he feels obsolete and sad about it, and angry at people who make him feel this way and I don’t see where that could possibly be originating. I wish he’d explain it, rationally, so I can grasp his position here and where, in reality, it comes from. Still won’t make the OP humorous, but might negate my impression that he’s whining a little bit.
Have you always been an asshole and I’m just noticing it now or is this just for this thread? I hope it’s just this thread.
My post was all in fun. Did you really think I sent my son to school with that stuff? Silly, gullible fetus.
The homework assignment was real and we did indeed come up empty.
I had to call the teacher and explain that we had no Ellis Island story, no “ethnicity” to celebrate. We eat a traditional Thanksgiving dinner etc. There is no bilingualism, no grandparents with funny accents and colorful vocabularies. We DO celebrate our roots and ethnicity–we live in WASPY/YUPPY land. Should I have send him to school with a copy of that movie by Martin Mull?Martin Mull’s “Documentary”
My family, while WASP, has been here since the founding of Rhode Island–that would be 1636. Sure, we have a few, vague British customs left in my family–mostly a refusal to confront one another, a taste for Yorkshire pudding and an inexplicable tolerance for bagpipe music (we are English, Scottish and Protestant Irish).
I’m sure we have some things in common with some Brits, but by no means all. The shared aspects would have more to do with our SES than our culture.
You subsequent posts in this thread–especially the one the claims a strong response must imply a guilty conscience is just ridiculous. If anything, it is you who needs to go back and reread for irony, humor and sarcasm. In the immortal words of the Master–you could find something suggestive in a dial tone. Get a grip.
The head-in-the-sand approach seems to work well for you.
There you go again. You’ve got this response memorized by rote. The OP is completely unjustified in his POV & feelings because you can always trump it with “blackslatinoswomen” have it worse. Whatever that means. You know what, you need to shut the fuck up. You know why? Because deaf people have it worse. Blind people have it worse. People with cancer have it worse. People with HIV have it worse. So quit fucking whining about blackslatinoswomen, you big pussy whiner. Someone’s always got it worse, and your petty whiner little feelings are unjustified.
You keep saying that. I don’t think that means what you think it means.
Conservatives have been spouting this sort of “non-pitting” since the late '70s at least, and from the start it has been far more depressing than that to which it reacts. Not only depressing, but pathetic. And not only pathetic, but ridiculous. Same goes for “non-pitting” of Political Correctness.
Damn! I thought I’d finally broken that habit…I’ll pay for your headlight and front bumper, of course. Terribly sorry and all that. (oh-I sound…British!). Heh.
I found Dennis Miller funny until he jumped the shark, which had nothing to do with his political viewpoints. Not familiar with Sam Kinnison, but I laugh at un-PC stuff all the time. Of course, it’s easy to nail a guy like me with “You’re just the PC police!”, but that’s not what this was about. Joking at the expense of Jews, women, blacks, whatever is not that bad because you don’t have to believe the stereotypes mentioned to joke about them or find them funny, you just had to be aware of them–and it worked, because those stereotypes were a major part of our culture for a long time before we started actively trying to unravel them. Since we’re only midway through that process, laughing about it helps ease the nervousness we feel about it. Everybody’s a little bit racist, after all, and it’s nice to get it out of your system passively at a comedy club so it doesn’t fill you up with anxiety until you explode.
The “joke” in the OP–which it wasn’t–smells pretty different to me. It’s not “ha ha, funny, white people are this and that!”, it’s, “look at this outrage, we need to fix this.” Note that that’s an entirely different tone from a joke I heard about black people on a stand-up show recently (told by a black comedian): “Other people go to the gas station to fill up their tank. Us black people, we go up to the window with the change we found under the seats and go, ‘Uh, yeah, can I get 25 cents on #4?’” That was funny–because it referred to a stereotype that none of us believe in its entirety but in which we find a kernel of truth that’s embarrasses us and makes us uncomfortable. Laughing at a joke about it is cathartic; its intent and its effect is to keep us from really thinking that stuff out in The World. The “joke” in the OP, OTOH, assumes that a vicious majority believes its underlying stereotype, and lambasts them for it. At best, it’s a whiny bitchfest about how the world just isn’t nice to white people, and there just aren’t enough rolleyes to give that meme an adequate response. That’s not funny, that’s insulting. It’s clearly a rather humorless slam on those of us who the OP would probably call “PC police”. It’s called poisoning the well, and it’s a fallacy, not a joke.
YMMV. If you found humor in it, well, I’m glad someone did. I wish I could have.
Hey, I’m in the same boat. I’m a Green and I’m Jewish, which means that my family (much of which was working in the federal government or in Hollywood at the time) was decimated by the McCarthy Era, which really wasn’t that long ago. So a whine about how life is just sooooo tough for WASP males is not going to get any sympathy from me–and that’s what it is, a whine. I guess I can’t convince you, but it screams “emo-fest” to me.
When did I say that?
Presumably, the Mexican kids–no matter how long their families had been in the US–talked about Mexican culture, the Polish kids talked about Polish culture, and the German kids talked about German culture. Why couldn’t your kid have talked about English, Scottish or Protestant Irish culture? Just because it’s not part of your daily life doesn’t mean it’s not part of your heritage.
When I went to grade school in Maryland, we were asked to pick some great icon of Maryland or DC history, study that person, come into school dressed as that person one day, etc. I don’t remember who mine was–Francis Scott Key or something–but at the time I found it challenging and rewarding to immerse myself in that place in history and learn about a culture and a historical context different from my own.
FTR, some people here say I’ve always been an asshole, so I guess you’re out of luck. Thanks for playing.
Actually, no, I’ve never had to give it before. I came up with it right there on the spot. I’m sure you’re impressed.
On behalf of all white people, I’d just like to say that we’re sorry about Vanilla Ice. We didn’t know he was going to do that. He didn’t mention it at any of the meetings.
Whiny-ass rant with zero ‘comedic’ value. As a Spaniard who lived in the States for close to 15 years all told, I never once experienced any kind of discrimination for ‘being a white man.’
Quite the contrary actually, I did witness some rather blatant racism vs blacks and other minorities. Whether the OP likes it or not, it is still a ‘privilege’ of sorts to be white in the US of A and most anywhere else in Western civilization.
