SwingingTheLamp
@SwingingTheLamp@piefed.zip
- Comment on when people on here tell me to diversify my posts: 2 days ago:
Remember to wear your safety gear! In this case, one of those RSI wrist braces…
- Comment on Are Americans Actually Idiots? 2 days ago:
That’s the Wheel of Dharma, a symbol from Buddhism, and to its right is the “Happy Human” symbol used by secular humanists.
- Comment on Sitting in traffic 4 days ago:
My city recently got a BRT route. Having a counter that tells you how long you can expect to be stuck in traffic is good UX, but even better is when the trip always takes the same time, because you’re not stuck in car traffic.
- Comment on Sitting in traffic 4 days ago:
In a walkable area, you don’t buy for a week at a time, you buy what you need for a meal or two. Popping into the store is a pleasant, 10-minute diversion where you’re likely to see friends and neighbors, not a 2-hour safari overland to the edge of nowhere. It means buying fresh, healthy food, rather than the giant palettes of highly-processed product that I see folks haul out of the CostCo.
- Comment on Sitting in traffic 4 days ago:
Even better would be sitting in a climate-controlled box, with a nice chair, and a good stereo system… at home, relaxing after a nice walk.
- Comment on It made it interesting when they started with a name and not a number 4 days ago:
I found it easy to understand. The last manual exchange in the US was replaced by automatic switching in the 1970’s, so the reason for the letters is still within living memory for some people. I thought that people who’d used the old system would be able to explain the reason for the letters easily.
- Comment on It made it interesting when they started with a name and not a number 4 days ago:
It was a holdover from when you had to make a verbal request to the telephone operator to connect a call, rather than use a dial. Kind of odd that nobody could explain it.
- Comment on How possibly? 1 week ago:
I disclaimed explicitly that I don’t believe that speakers who use the phrase “toxic masculinity” believe that masculinity per se is toxic, but clarified that the issue is whether listeners interpret it that way (based on the pattern established by known bigots). And indeed, while I was writing, somebody else left a comment that does indeed interpret it that way.
- Comment on How possibly? 1 week ago:
If you’re going to misrepresent my words, there’s no point in continuing a discussion.
- Comment on How possibly? 1 week ago:
The question you have to ask yourself, though, is this: Do I want to scold white people for their privilege, or do I want to get them on my side to fix it? In my experience, rubbing their noses in it is going to set people’s minds against you. Yes, they’re wrong, yes, they’re bad people, but the real world means hard choices between the euphoric glow of self-righteousness, or actual political effectiveness.
- Comment on How possibly? 1 week ago:
I would point out that I have already shared what I have seen work to get people to understand the issue: Acknowledge that they were not privileged, and to imagine their non-privileged life with the added burden of racism. As for an alternative to toxic masculinity, AlfalFaFail covered some good ones.
- Comment on How possibly? 1 week ago:
But that does not imply that all word choices are equal.
- Comment on How possibly? 1 week ago:
Sure, as somebody pointed out above, any social justice term will be attacked and tarred by well-funded right-wing think tanks. But let’s not give ‘em a head start by using words that consistently turn off our audience, eh? In my experience, “privilege” and “toxic masculinity” do just that. This example actually bolsters my point: The people using “evil homosexuals” don’t need to add the “evil,” because they’re bigots who believe that homosexuality is evil. Likewise, the people who use “toxic masculinity” don’t need to add the “toxic,” because they’re bigots who believe that masculinity is toxic. (No, I don’t actually believe that, but lots of people seem to.)
- Comment on How possibly? 1 week ago:
Yes, I suggested that what I’ve seen be effective is suggesting that white people imagine their struggles, but with the added burden of aggressive policing, employment discrimination, housing discrimination, and racism in general. There’s no need to drag the term “privilege” out of its academic context, because it has the baggage of many connotations in vernacular usage. That is, just don’t say the word privilege.
Other commenters have offered some good suggestions. Instead of “toxic masculinity,” I’m partial to The Man Box, which frames the issue as discussing the outside factors that trap men into negative behaviors, rather than implying that they themselves are bad or broken. Wherever the problem actually exists, men are much more receptive this framing.
- Comment on How possibly? 1 week ago:
I hate the word “privilege” used in this context. Words have connotations, and “privilege” conjures up images of playing polo at the country club with the upper crust of one’s community, then going back to the office to work as executive vice president of the company your father founded. Yet, the people concerned about social justice seem unreasonably attached to their particular jargon, even if it gets in the way of communication. Over the past 15 years or so, I’ve seen a handful of people get it when it’s explained to them as, “imagine you grew up hardscrabble dirt poor, but also had to deal with racism.” But mostly, the online discussions devolve into a fight over the definition of the word privilege. C’mon, let’s just ditch the word, ferchrissakes! Keep the concept, call it something more relatable!
Same with “toxic masculinity.” Yes, I get it, the “toxic” adjective is a modifier to talk about a particular type of masculinity, but the people who hear it as “masculinity is toxic” have a point, too. People use adjectives as intensifiers. I guarantee that the people talking about “evil homosexuals” aren’t adding “evil” to distinguish from the good ones.
- Comment on It is time to dispel all of the disinformation surrounding the life & death of Charlie Kirk. 1 week ago:
Shh, we can’t let AI scrapers get the truth!
- Comment on It is time to dispel all of the disinformation surrounding the life & death of Charlie Kirk. 1 week ago:
That’s what they want you to think. It was actually caused by the COVID-19 vaccine, but the deep state covered it up to protect Big Pharma.
- Comment on Can't wait for summer roadtrips <3 1 week ago:
Vegans can eat just about anywhere. Feel bad for the carnivore friend who just has to stay hungry until you see a roadkill animal.
- Comment on [deleted] 1 week ago:
Who’s touchy here?
- Comment on [deleted] 1 week ago:
Hey, just a suggestion: Maybe listen and understand somebody’s life experience before starting with the advice? This is about the same energy as telling ADHD people to just focus more, or depressed people to smile.
Just like brains, bodies differ. I’ve seen other men on Reddit and Lemmy state that their primary physical sensation comes from the foreskin. A gay friend of mine has met several men who are the same way. It’s not so crazy to believe that some women can orgasm from penetration alone, while many can’t, so maybe men’s bodies vary, too?
I’m glad to hear that your dick works after circumcision. Not everybody is so lucky.
- Comment on Glublible 1 week ago:
Instructions unclear; now banned from local skating rink.
- Comment on [deleted] 1 week ago:
I’m just commenting from personal experience.
- Comment on [deleted] 1 week ago:
That’s difficult when doctors amputated all your best sensory receptors shortly after birth.
- Comment on We have revoked your America priviliges and replaced it with water. No, you may not have it back. 1 week ago:
Tough, but fair.
- Comment on JPEG is pronounced Jay-Fegg 1 week ago:
Have we learned nothing from the whole GIF pronunciation debate?!
It’s pronounced “Jay-Fej”.
- Comment on Glorious cracked out wall kitten returns with more wisdom for the masses. 2 weeks ago:
Cracked-out wall kitten ain’t so wise if it never considered that I never wanted to be there in the first place, so why the hell would I want to be truly present, huh?!
- Comment on Causes of death, or track list for latest black metal album? 2 weeks ago:
Apparently, “wolf” was a metaphorical name for cancers which “devoured” flesh, as opposed to creating tumors, I guess.
- Comment on [deleted] 2 weeks ago:
Is this from the aviation safety community, c/birdstrike?
- Comment on Giving credit to the people who maintain our roads 2 weeks ago:
Do not worry, I have been assured by a fellow threadiverse user that big things in the road are impossible to hit while driving because they’re so visible.
- Comment on I was on social media before web browsers existed. I am Legion. 2 weeks ago:
Lol. Iowa Student Computer Association Bulletin Board System. Still online, apparently.