Journal of Other Forum Analysis (Volume II, Issue 1)

[Straight Edge]

Why is he inviting trumpers to his bday party? Pretty sus

[Nintex]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/what-does-progressive-outreach-to-men-look-like-how-can-we-turn-the-tide.1028586/

Obviously we're all shocked, sad and angry at today's news and consequences that'll unfold because of it (And that's putting it mildly). But it's also part of a very concerning worldwide trend where younger men are going to the far-right in non-insignificant numbers, and I fear it's going to get worse.

I often hear (Including on this board) that progressives aren't doing enough to reach out to men, but I'm wondering what the heck is missing and what can we do on an individual or community? Progressives frequently talk about mental health, the cost of living and how to address it, employee rights, trying to make better designed cities with more social spaces so people aren't as isolated (To name but a few things). That to me would be pretty big factors but I'm obviously way off the mark judging by what's happened in nations around the world in recent years.

Where the hell do we even get started?

[Uncle]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/donald-trump-is-the-47th-president-of-the-united-states.1028550/page-6#post-131252355

Feels worse than 9/11 somehow

Feels like the world won't be the same after this

[Polident]

Can someone explain this in MCU terms?

It's like Captain Marvel 2 when Keri campaigns for leader of the Avengers but everybody votes for Tony Stark instead. White men (spider-man, thor), yt women (black widow, natalie portman), and latinos (...?) pushed Stark to victory.

[Propagandhim]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/donald-trump-is-the-47th-president-of-the-united-states.1028550/page-6#post-131252355

Feels worse than 9/11 somehow

Feels like the world won't be the same after this

"Worse than 9/11"  good god LOL

[Cauliflower Of Love]

Can someone explain this in MCU terms?

It's like Captain Marvel 2 when Keri campaigns for leader of the Avengers but everybody votes for Tony Stark instead. White men (spider-man, thor), yt women (black widow, natalie portman), and latinos (...?) pushed Stark to victory.

You made me look up captain marvel 2.

[Propagandhim]

So, about Ross Ulbricht 

Trump: "Who?"

[Cauliflower Of Love]

Between nepenthe and trans era they could have clutched the election

[HeavenIsAPlaceOnEarth]

Lilith? Malds isn't even trying.

[Polident]

Can someone explain this in MCU terms?

It's like Captain Marvel 2 when Keri campaigns for leader of the Avengers but everybody votes for Tony Stark instead. White men (spider-man, thor), yt women (black widow, natalie portman), and latinos (...?) pushed Stark to victory.

You made me look up captain marvel 2.

It's a movie, allegedly.

[Propagandhim]

Why do they always have such exotic names.  Lillith.  Aurora.  Seraphine.   Never Jennifer.

[Straight Edge]

Can someone explain this in MCU terms?

It's like Captain Marvel 2 when Keri campaigns for leader of the Avengers but everybody votes for Tony Stark instead. White men (spider-man, thor), yt women (black widow, natalie portman), and latinos (...?) pushed Stark to victory.

Now do Disney Star Wars

[nachobro]

brehs i aint reading all this so ill just assume yall had a good time last night

[JoeBoy101]

Can someone explain this in MCU terms?

It's like Captain Marvel 2 when Keri campaigns for leader of the Avengers but everybody votes for Tony Stark instead. White men (spider-man, thor), yt women (black widow, natalie portman), and latinos (...?) pushed Stark to victory.

Now do Disney Star Wars

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

[JoeBoy101]

brehs i aint reading all this so ill just assume yall had a good time last night

Motherfucker, you will give us our metaphorical brhave!

Get down, give us 10, and read those pages!

[Vertigo]

https://bsky.app/profile/melodyshreds.bsky.social/post/3labirv6ldi2r

I feel this is bigger news than the election, trans racial even.

I'm Lilith.
Melody is not doing very well so I had to front for her.

I'm going to make us go to bed. I hope she's doing a bit better tomorrow.

I hope she brought the system up before so I'm not doing something bad by saying this here.

Lilith, for reference:

https://bsky.app/profile/riveroceansea.bsky.social

This is 'them' apparently

https://bsky.app/profile/riveroceansea.bsky.social/post/3l77bpmtlmj2z

The grift never ends.

[Nintex]

brehs i aint reading all this so ill just assume yall had a good time last night

Welcome to the party 

[Propagandhim]

https://bsky.app/profile/melodyshreds.bsky.social/post/3labirv6ldi2r

I feel this is bigger news than the election, trans racial even.

I'm Lilith.
Melody is not doing very well so I had to front for her.

I'm going to make us go to bed. I hope she's doing a bit better tomorrow.

I hope she brought the system up before so I'm not doing something bad by saying this here.

Lilith, for reference:

https://bsky.app/profile/riveroceansea.bsky.social

This is 'them' apparently

https://bsky.app/profile/riveroceansea.bsky.social/post/3l77bpmtlmj2z

The grift never ends.

Oh, I legit thought Melanie was talking as one of her "alters" or whatever.  It's actually another person?    I just assumed the more likely scenario.

[Shecky Fragbaum]

Nepenthe after the last 2 elections where Dems cleaned up: "Black Women saved yall asses, not that you DESERVE IT" *sips tea*

Nepenthe after this election (during which she actively browbeat potential voters into accepting apathy rather than banding together in support of the first Black Woman POTUS): "DEMOCRATS AIN'T SHIT. "

[Boredfrom]

Will it have Kiryu and will he be able to fight women XD

Mask Off!  

https://www.resetera.com/threads/sega-confirms-a-new-virtua-fighter-is-in-development.1028817/

[garamonde]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/what-does-progressive-outreach-to-men-look-like-how-can-we-turn-the-tide.1028586/

A nice discussion, some really good takes, but...





Nothing good ever lasts.  

[Boredfrom]

I love (hate) how fake Kyuuji was acting during yesterday election.

Bitch ass fake positivity with emojis.

[Cheststrongwell]

“So, cracker votes for Trump were the same or lower than 2020, and the minority votes had a sizable increase? WHO DO WE BLAME FOR THIS WITHOUT LOOKING LIKE BIGOTS!?!”

[Vertigo]

https://bsky.app/profile/melodyshreds.bsky.social/post/3labirv6ldi2r

I feel this is bigger news than the election, trans racial even.


Lilith, for reference:

https://bsky.app/profile/riveroceansea.bsky.social

This is 'them' apparently

https://bsky.app/profile/riveroceansea.bsky.social/post/3l77bpmtlmj2z

The grift never ends.

Oh, I legit thought Melanie was talking as one of her "alters" or whatever.  It's actually another person?    I just assumed the more likely scenario.

I thought the same, as they have very similar writing styles. I wouldn't put it past Malds to create a black female persona to get more money.

I mean this stuff is beyond parody

Friends
I am black
I am trans
I have disabilities
And I have learning
Disabilities and mental
Issues also
Friends I am
Overweight
From medical issues
Friends need help
Get furniture
Need to raise
Total of 368$
More bucks
Can help me
Please friends
Skeet my stuff
Can help Lilith

[jooseloose]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/what-does-progressive-outreach-to-men-look-like-how-can-we-turn-the-tide.1028586/

A nice discussion, some really good takes, but...





Nothing good ever lasts.  

Oh a little brigade. What a surprise.

[Averon]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/what-does-progressive-outreach-to-men-look-like-how-can-we-turn-the-tide.1028586/page-6#post-131277492

Probably not a popular take here, but I think we have to lay off with expecting everyone to be perfect or they're trash. It's a self defeating prophecy. Anyone who has ever said something bad is terrible. Everyone who has ever played or watched a piece of media we think is bad is terrible. Anyone who shows any inclination to not agree with us wholesale on a variety of issues is terrible. These people are the scum on our shoes.

I get the inclination, I really do. We want to protect people. We want to make the world a safe space. We know how bad certain attitudes can go and the damage they can do to minorities when they feel those attitudes. But trying to bludgeon the world into thinking and feeling as we do doesn't work. It might for a short time, but long term people just feel like they're being told what to do, and people hate being told what to do. And when people push back against this and vote someone like Trump back into office, well, those minorities sure as heck aren't better off now.

A good recent example from the last few days is the Jason Kelce thing. People loved that he smashed that idiot's phone (myself included, there absolutely should be consequences for being an active troll in public) but the second he used a term we don't like, the degree to which people turned on him was insane to see here. Not everyone, but a lot of comments literally saying after that he's just as bad as the first person.

Which, I mean, no, that's not true, and the thought that it even could be is actively insane. The troll kid was yelling the slur because he actively hates gay people. He thinks being gay is inherently a bad thing. He chose that word for a reason, because of who he is. Jason Kelce yelled it back not because of any hatred for gay people, he did it because that's what the kid called him. He knew that kid considered that a major insult and he wanted to hurt him, so he used the tool he knew would do so. That is not the same thing. Context matters. It's perfectly reasonable to wish no one would use that word. I agree with that actually. I would never use that word, under any circumstances. I would have loved if Jason Kelce chose a different one. But I also know angry people lashing out don't always make the best choices, and there wasn't any hatred for gay people in what he did. What he did doesn't make him a bad person in my books, and it sure as heck doesn't make him "as bad" as the hateful little troll who needs a new phone. The reasons we do things matter. Two people can do the same thing for entirely different reasons and the impact often can be different in large part because of the differences in why they did it.

Another example which is probably even less popular around here is the wizard game. There was a very real attitude around here (and in many left spaces) that anyone who played that game was trash, an open bigot who was scum. I know because I had that thought myself at times. Told a few people it too. And again, I get the thought process. Anyone who has read some of my posts in the trans community threads over the years knows where I am on that, not going to make this about it, but believe me when I say I want a world which is more welcoming to trans people. More than just about anything else in the world.

But that didn't help anyone. Let's be clear, as awful of a bigot as she who I'm not going to name is, that game was still the best selling game of 2024. And of course it was. That franchise has been the biggest piece of pop culture for 25 years. An entire generation attached to it so hard that it pretty much became their identity. Pretty much any of us could tell any stranger who asked what house we were part of. I myself stood in line at midnight to get the last 2 books and read them both in a single night. I devoured them. People aren't going to detach from that just because you tell them the author is a bad person. Historically we haven't ever done that when we believe the author is a bad person. I've known for 25 years that Roman Polanski was scum, but Chinatown is still one of my favorite movies. I still went and saw The Ghost Writer in theaters back in 2010 without even thinking about it being a bad thing. I've known for just as long that Orson Scott Card is an awful human being, but Ender's Game is still my favorite novel. For awhile I told people it was The Great Gatsby, which to be clear is still one of my favorite books, but no, it's Ender's Game. That book literally saved my life in middle school. I am very confident that if I had not found it when I did, I would not be here today. And yes, it was created by an awful bigot. But I can't bring myself not to love it, despite knowing that.

People talk about it should be easy to let go of these things, because people should matter more than media, and intellectually that holds true for me. Emotionally though, I can't not love Ender's Game. And a part of me can't not love the wizard franchise, even though following the exploits of its writer more closely online has tainted them further. I'm able to stay more detached from people like Orson Scott Card and Roman Polanski because I mostly just know the works. I haven't gone out of my way to read interviews or follow the things they think about the world. (I've seen a few in passing, but they're not something I regularly engage with) But because I've followed her presence online, because I know a ton of specific things she's done, because I've read her own hateful words, those works are more tainted for me. I can't imagine going and rereading them and getting joy out of them at this point, even if I know there's a lot in there that I once loved.

But most people don't do that. Most people haven't read her Twitter posts for years on end. I'm not saying they don't know she's a bigot, most of them know at least intellectually. They've had someone tell them, maybe looked at things enough for ten minutes at some point that they even agree. But its not a big part of their world, while the works are. One is going to win out. It just is. Trying to fight back against that and shame people for it isn't productive. You're fighting back against human nature in a way which makes you no allies. Who are we helping with this? Trans people? What do they get out of it? It isn't like she doesn't still have all the money in the world to throw at hurting them. Some might feel briefly supported in a nice way when they hear people are forgoing the game for them I suppose, but that doesn't even come close to counteracting the harm that comes if movements like this are used to rally young men against us and get Trump back in the White House.

No trans person is better off today with him having won than they would have been if we'd just ignored that people wanted to play the wizard game. And yes, I'm well aware that's not a one to one correlation, but the attitudes behind it are absolutely part of what is being used against us with the youth. They're absolutely part of why we've lost many of those voters and may never get them back. I'm not saying go out and buy the thing. I have no plans to, I do know too much about her and that work is too tainted for me to really enjoy at this point. I'm not even saying don't let people know she's a bigot, do so. But once they know, let it go. You've educated them. If they want more info, it's out there. If they ask for more info, share it, but if they don't, it isn't helpful to shame them and act like they're awful people. Most people don't care who makes the media they engage with. You can wish people did more. You can feel disappointed that more don't. But at the end of the day, trying to act like anyone who doesn't is a monster just isn't helpful. It doesn't bring people to your side, it actively pushes people away in a way which can be nearly impossible to undo.

Word salad, but a few nice gems in here. Kyuuji is already miffed about it

A 5 paragraph dump of grievances around how trans people react to Harry Potter and Rowling, while acting like we don't spend our lives navigating conversations with well-meaning but ignorant cis people and educating them in the proces, isn't some necessary cornerstone to avoiding fascism. It's patronising drivel.

[Boredfrom]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/what-does-progressive-outreach-to-men-look-like-how-can-we-turn-the-tide.1028586/

A nice discussion, some really good takes, but...





Nothing good ever lasts.  

Oh a little brigade. What a surprise.

1 bio woman and 2 transbians.

Perfect.

[Snoopy]

Nobody has ever told Echoes to tone down the feminism.

[JoeBoy101]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/what-does-progressive-outreach-to-men-look-like-how-can-we-turn-the-tide.1028586/

A nice discussion, some really good takes, but...





Nothing good ever lasts.  

You missed this gem:

My initial rage answer is that maybe we need a high-casualty war to thin them out a bit.

A thread with some good discussion, for the most part, productive ideas, and meaningful analysis on what can be done.

TransERA: Fuck that, don’t blame women* you Chuds!

[Tycoon Padre]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/donald-trump-is-the-47th-president-of-the-united-states.1028550/page-6#post-131252355

Feels worse than 9/11 somehow

Feels like the world won't be the same after this

Uhhhh yeah it does dude, you were 3