A recent Guardian article revisits the curious case of Lindsey Stone. Ms. Stone, as you may remember, became internet famous in the worst kind of way by being tagged in a friend’s picture at Arlington National Cemetery.
While approximately 4 million people visit Arlington every year, none before her had decided to take a tasteless and disrespectful picture and post it on social media.
Douchebag
Social Media Shaming
I personally know three men interred at Arlington. They were three of the bravest and best men I ever came across in my life. As you can imagine, none of their deaths were easy; in chronological order, they were due to mortar attack, sniper bullet, and helicopter crash.
Needless to say, I am one of many who found the picture of Ms. Stone egregiously disrespectful. The internet backlash caused her to be fired and she fell into “depression, [and] became an insomniac.” I can’t say whether or not poor Lindsey should’ve lost her job over the ordeal. I can say that I don’t feel that bad about it. Since the picture was taken on a trip for her job, I can understand a company wanting to distance itself from this kind of PR nightmare.
In perusing the Guardian article two years down the road, the most remarkable thing is that even though it tries to show her in a sympathetic light there was still a noticeable lack of contrition on the part of Ms. Stone. Rather, she is made out to be the victim instead of an adult responsible for her actions.
Instead of an admission of guilt or apology, there are hints at Facebook conspiracies and condemnation of her treatment at the hands of the media. Her solipsism does not let her understand the sensibilities of those legions of people who found her actions disdainful. She still thinks ‘It was just about a sign.” So in rushes Michael Fertik of reputation.com to save Lindsey from her internet infamy.
Triggering Intensifies
Also in the Guardian article is a rehashing of “Donglegate.” Just shy of two years after the event, the author has a sit down with one of our favorite feminists of color, Adria Richards. What follows is a peek inside the twisted world of a social justice warrior.
When questioned about her initial reaction to overhearing a slightly risqué joke, Adria said she felt “Danger…Clearly my body was telling me, ‘You are unsafe.’” When challenged on the absurdity most people would perceive of feeling threatened in a room full of 2,000 people, she pulls out the usual SJW trope: “Sure,” she replied. “And those people would probably be white and they would probably be male.”
If this is the case, how does this person leave their house? A joke between two of the most harmless-looking men on the planet scares you?
Run for your life!
Perhaps she wasn’t frightened as much as she was affronted. How dare those two heterosexual white beta males behind her make a joke! The compartmentalization displayed by Ms. Richards is astounding to behold. Just like they did for Lindsey Stone, the Guardian tries to portray Adria in a sympathetic light. But she makes it very hard for them.
After the internet shitstorm she incited led to her termination, she laments, “I felt betrayed. I felt abandoned. I felt ashamed. I felt rejected. I felt alone.’’ Probably not unlike the married father of three she had earlier caused to be fired from his job. But rather than empathize with the man she shamed other than grudgingly, she instead continues to play the victim and blame him for all her woes.
“[H]is own actions that resulted in his own firing, yet he framed it in a way to blame me… If I had a spouse and two kids to support, I certainly would not be telling ‘jokes’ like he was doing at a conference. Oh, but wait, I have compassion, empathy, morals and ethics to guide my daily life choices. I often wonder how people like ‘Hank’ make it through life seemingly unaware of how ‘the other’ lives in the same world he does, but with countless fewer opportunities.
The Struggle is Real
That’s right, she is blaming him for apologizing whilst concurrently refusing to take responsibility for her own actions. If you have to specifically list all of your admirable traits unsolicited, I have a strong suspicion you don’t actually have any. I certainly cannot ascertain and abundance of “compassion, empathy, morals and ethics” in Ms. Richards’ words and actions.
If she had any small degree of compassion or empathy, she would’ve at least remembered that the man whose life she tried to ruin had three kids, not two. There is a silver lining, inasmuch as the man she caused to be fired found a new job (in a female-free work place), and Adria had not.
It would be an exercise in futility to point out to her that she seems to spend at least as much time being a professional victim as she does being a “developer,” and such a person is a liability to any company foolish enough to hire her.
Shaming and Victimhood
Both Lindsey Stone and Adria Richards are typical millennial women, albeit from slightly different places on the spectrum of silliness. Both are readily able to blame anyone but themselves, and see fault in anything except their own actions. For both, the passage of two years or so has not led any self-examination or admission of wrong-doing.
The Feminine Imperative endemic in modern western society enables them, while simultaneously blaming every ill on the dreaded white-cis-het-male. So what are we as men to do? We must realize that shaming has had a long history in our social constructs. Dalrock wrote a great post about slut shaming and its role in the SMP of past and present.
Public shaming is something employed in an attempt to modify behavior. Case in point, the poor beta who was the subject of Adria Richards’ public shaming: He admitted wrong-doing, apologized profusely, and showed genuine contrition. He admits the incident has influenced his behavior, specifically “I’m not as friendly. There’s humour, but it’s very mundane. You just don’t know. I can’t afford another Donglegate.”
However, such things are no longer good enough for SJWs. So we modify our behavior, but not in the way they want. As shown by the backlash caused by donglegate, we have the means to fight back against SJWs’ encroachment into our spaces. We must remember that the SJW worldview and inherit solipsism does not allow them to feel shame the same way we do.
Since part of their currency is the prestige and recognition of being “right-minded”, exposing their hypocrisy and narcissism depletes their pretenses at both.
Conclusion
As evidenced by Ms. Richards and Ms. Stone, Millennial women are indeed quite shameless. Perpetual victims such as them can never be appeased short of a blank check and full societal control. Even pornstars know that they don’t give a shit about actual victims.
Thus, the process of shaming them isn’t to modify their behavior, but rather the behavior of others. As opponents of #Gamergate continually lose credibility, so too do its proponents gain leverage. The SJW cries of “victim blaming” are merely an attempt to absolve people of responsibility for their actions.
Call them on their bullshit. Expose them as the frauds they are. Better yet, hurt their wallets.
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