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kennethmullins · 7 years

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CNN, Doxing, And A Few Ways In Which We Are Full of Shit As A Political Culture

Americans — not uniquely, but powerfully — wallow in political hypocrisy about online rhetoric.

We're not consistent in our arguments about when vivid political speech speech inspires, encourages, or promotes violence. We're quicker to accept that it does when used against our team and quicker to deny it when used on the other team.

We're not consistent in our moral judgments of ugly speech either. We tend to treat it as harmless venting or trolling or truth-telling if it's on our team and as a reflection of moral evil if it's on the other team.

We're not consistent in our arguments about whether online abuse and threats directed at people in the news are to be taken seriously or not. We tend to downplay them when employed against the other team and treat them as true threats when used against our team.

We're not consistent in our arguments about whether calling some individual out by name exposes them to danger. We tend to claim it does when the person supports our team and sneer at the issue when the person supports the other team.

We're not consistent in our treatment of the significance of behavior by obscure individuals. When some obscure person's online speech gets thrust into the limelight, we tend to treat it as fairly representative if they're on the other team and an obvious non-representative outlier if they are on our team.

We're hopelessly bad at applying consistent legal principles to evaluate whether speech is legally actionable depending on which team it comes from.

We're pretty inconsistent in our assessment of what social consequences should flow from ugly speech, with our views of proportionality, decency, and charity diverging widely depending on whether the person at issue is on our team or not.

So it can't be a shock that the reaction to CNN's story about a Redditor is a total shitstorm.

I think it's a legitimate story that the White House plumbs the depths of Reddit for content to post on Twitter. I think it's a legitimate story that the sort of people who post Trump-fluffing memes also post bigoted garbage — that this is the community that the White House looks to for inspiration. I think the existence and nature of sad people like this Redditor — someone who, at the most charitable interpretation, derives pleasure and meaning from pretending to be bigoted — is a legitimate and important story, especially in light of the White House's fondness for them. I think that it's a legitimate and sick-fascinating story to know what sort of person derives pleasure from posting a chart showing the pictures of CNN employees with stars next to the Jews. Does he have a job? A family? How does this hobby impact his life?

I also think that CNN has an absolutely protected First Amendment right to seek his name and publish it if they wish. The First Amendment should place strict limits on CNN's ability to use the power of the state (like discovery in a lawsuit) to unmask an anonymous person, and does. But CNN, and any private individual, has a right to figure it out on their own and talk about it, just like this creepy damaged human has a right to post the Jews-at-CNN chart in the first place.

But there's a difference between legal and moral approval. I defend the Redditor's right to post bigoted garbage but deplore him for doing so. And, under these circumstances, I personally think that it would not be proportional for CNN to use its power to name the person. A number of factors might change my view — it the guy was directing bigoted invective or threats at anyone instead of just posting it in a forum made up of similar losers, if the guy had a position of trust that required treating people equally (like, say, a public official or police officer or teacher), or if the dude was doing something like posting child porn or the sort of creepshots that took down Reddit super-troll Violentacrez.

CNN didn't publish his name. But CNN published this:

CNN is not publishing "HanA**holeSolo's" name because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again. In addition, he said his statement could serve as an example to others not to do the same. CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change.

I found this alarming and ugly. CNN should publish the name or not publish the name. For CNN to tell him what he should or shouldn't say in the future, and threaten him that they will reveal his name in the future if they don't like his speech, does not make them sound like journalists. It makes them sound like avenging advocates, and lends substantial credibility to the argument that they pursued him because he posted a GIF about them. I don't know what they actually intended — they've denied intent to threaten and claim this was only to clarify that there was no agreement. If so, that could have been conveyed much less like a threat. However they meant it, this is reasonably interpreted as a warning that the Redditor must speak only as approved by CNN or suffer for it. That's grotesque. Legal, but grotesque.

The internet is, in human terms, very new. We still don't have coherent shared values about how we use it. Our views on ugly internet speech and the proper response to it are particularly confused. As I've argued for a while, the argument "you have to shut up so I can feel safe to speak" is not coherent. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with my speech but there's something wrong with you identifying me as the speaker" is not particularly coherent. "You are silencing free speech by criticizing it" is not coherent. "This speech is insignificant but it's wrong for you to highlight it" is not coherent. "People should be able to post graphics identifying all the Jews at CNN without anyone figuring out who they are and criticizing them by name" is not coherent. Troll visions of free speech — in which society works together harmoniously to ensure that they can post bigotry without any social consequence — is incoherent. (I also think trolls would hate that world if they got it, since their pleasure depends upon people being upset.)

As I said when I wrote semi-anonymously, I think people should be prepared to accept the social consequences of what they've written if someone is able to figure out who they are. But I also think we should consider whether to inflict social consequences when appropriate on people who breach the anonymity of others. Sometimes social consequences — even severe ones — may be appropriate. If some anon is sending death threats, I honestly have no problem with their name being published, whether or not their friends cry "it's just trolling." I'm also not terribly sympathetic to the proposition that I should be able to send abuse to people anonymously — you by the ticket, you take the ride. If someone officially charged with treating people equally posts things suggesting they do not, that seems like a correct time for naming them. Otherwise, though, I think we should talk about whether naming people who act like assholes is proportional or decent. And certainly we should talk about whether it's decent for a major network to threaten to name someone unless they speak acceptably.

None of this means I have to take seriously the hollow fury of everyone who rails at CNN, though.

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viralhottopics · 8 years

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7 Famous White Feminists Im So Over

The Urban Dictionary

White Feminism is nowa popular term owing to the abundance of white celebs taking advantage of the movement to further their own interestand career, usually without extending female solidarity or tackling relevant social issues such as trans-womens rights, Hollywoods whitewashing, invisibility of the disabled, police brutality, cultural appropriation, or institutional racism.

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While this type of feminism raises a certain level of awareness to SOME feminist issues, it is harmful in that it paints a negative picture of the overall movement and thusgives dumb, ignorant boys an excuse to create sexist memes so they can call anyone who gets offended as Do not misunderstand me, I do not blame White Feminism as the sole reason why people, especially on the internet, immediately reject the importance and essence of feminism (sad online gnomes who are super bored with their lives and are desperate to be edgy should be held accountable for their own short-sightedness). My point is I would be very unglad if young women were led to believe by their idols that womens rights, solidarity, and empowerment are purely about #squadgoals, #actlikeaman, and #fuckdiets.

Rebecca Vorick, Feminism 101: What Is White Feminism?

Whether as individuals or celebrities, I dont hate the women that I will listbelow, but I do loathe their rejection of intersectional feminism, their habit of whining towards critics, and their collective willfulinabilityto acknowledge andlearn from their white privileged ways.

So here I present to you the role models for White Feminism and why they hella suck:

The Holy Trinity

1. Amy Schumer

Meghan Demaria

The first time I discovered Amy was from her movie after it got rave reviews from critics despite her character being obnoxiousas hell. Hollywood was abuzz with this funny, feminist, body-positive woman. Then I came across this article on her racist antics specifically about her controversial video parody of Beyoncs pro-black . I googled more and found out shes said a ton of racially insensitive things such as that time she joked Mexican men are rapists;or when she was bummed because no lesbians hit on her at a lesbian bar (was she thinking or what?); or when she implied men of color cat-call women more than white men do.

– If your career is built at the expense of minorities whom you mock and dehumanize, then your comedy is probably lazy, gross, and stale tbh. To quote Nathan Robinson but Amys jokes, as the Guardian explains,

If people pointout repeatedly you are racist and you can only respond along the lines of MAYBE you should self-reflectand make an effort to see WHY youre constantly criticized for your tasteless words instead of issuing another hollow Amys PR apologies, like many forced White Feminist apologies, count for nothing until she stops making feebleminded jokes that cater exclusively to a white American audience. Contrary to what Amy has claimed, she doesnt take responsibility for her words and doesnt use criticism against her in order to evolve as an artist and person. Instead she firmly stands her ground, proceeds to produce the same tired material, and shouts

TLDR, Amy, making and being slightly chubby does not a feminist make. No volume of laughter can drown out the fact youre a racist.

2. Lena Dunham

Lena, Lena, Lena. Oh, god, where do I begin?

Rebecca Carroll

If White Feminism were a video game, Lena Dunham would be that aggravating, seemingly unbeatable self-entitled boss villain at the end of the game that suddenly comes alive after you defeat it, cackling at you as it escapes into Video Game Part 2. Without her, the other mini-bosses might not have been enabled. She is the head of the White Feminist hydra whose foot-in-the-mouth diseasereaches far and wide.

"White Feminism" BINGO card. I have experienced ALL of these. Ugh. (From feministbingocards on Tumblr) http://pic.twitter.com/rUo4JubVeO

— Trudy (@thetrudz) February 6, 2015

Which brings me to why shes tied with Amy and why she is THE poster child for White Feminism (I only placed Amy first because I personally find her more unbearable). Because Lena, Amy, and friends are praised as feminist heroines, they and their careers get away virtually unscathed ifthey carelessly make racist, homophobic, or transphobic remarks. While Amy is guilty of proudly creating insipid humor, Lenas affronts are more unsettling.

Shes incredibly narcissistic as shown when she ranted (as in seriously, as in not a joke) about being offended by a black man not flirting with her and when she confessed shed never had an abortion but wished she had one (gurl, there are other ways to drawawareness on an issue without making it about yourself); her tv show supposedly represents feminism but only casts white girls and downplays sexual assault;she repeatedly objectifies black male bodies;she stated unbelievably ignorant gibberish about India and penned a sexist essay on Japan;she tweeted a racist joke about Asians; her view towards Rihannas abusive relationshipis perplexing; she doesnt acknowledge her success was heavily influenced by her wealthy familys connections; and she may have outed her sister to their parents without consent.

Theres also the questionable incident with said sister that Lena wrote of in her book I mean kids do weird crap and girls should be allowed to discover and explore their bodies and do naive stuff, but IDK what to sayabout this one so Ill just quote this anonymous comment on Jezebels article:

And this one by redditor scdi:

Plus this one by Victoria Brownworth:

While Im all for women being shameless in their self-love, theres nothing really new or groundbreaking with Lenas capitalist-centric feminism. Her work has indisputably raisedthe spotlight on important womens issues such as abortion and sexual autonomy, but is that enough given the harm shes done to feminism, to people of color, to LGBTQ+? She invites women to support her and her show because girl power, but hasnt bothered to address intersectionality and diversity, much less internalize any negative comments towards her regarding the above-mentioned stunts.

Lena Dunhams feminism is tone deaf. Theres nothing empowering about a classist, rich, privileged white girl who, like her counterpart Amy, contributes nothing profound or of actual substance for womens issues and is averse to improving her advocacy. I just I cant anymore. Lena, please ssssh.

If youre like me and youre done with Lena DONEham, check out some of the silly things shes saidhere.

3. Taylor Swift

My problematic fave! Who knew she was trouble when she walked in? T-Swizzles damsel-in-distress feminism may not be as toxic as Lena Dunhams, but its still clear as dishwater.

Taylor primarily rose as a status symbol for geeky shy girls, but even then people were already dissing Americas sweetheart. Somewhere along the way it became uncool to hate on Tay-Tay (whether legitimately or not), especially after Kanye stole her moment during the 2009 VMA.

Alas, regardless how polished and sweet your public persona is, if theres dirtunder all that sugar itll inevitably seep through bit by bit.Besides,any person who learns his/her feminism from Lena Dunham should not be trusted.

Ill sayTaylor is a hypocrite. Once upon a time she asserted she was not a feminist until one day she realized feminism is prettyradand helps her brandas an artist(plus it can be handy to dismiss your critics as). Of course its perfectly fine to change your opinion as you mature and learn from your initially confused view of feminism, but weve yet to see Taylor own up her missteps and strive for change.

She built an empire by portraying an angelic female whose biggest enemy is the sexualother female who steals her mans attention, and she exemplified this when she shit on Camille Belles career because Camille dated Taylors ex. She called her clique of BFFs to film a music video to drag Katy Perry after a feud. She accused Nicki Minaj of thereby overshadowingNickis discussion on her legitimate struggles as a black female artist and yet its Taylors character thats being assassinated? K.

Additionally, Taylor seems to be unaware of her privilege as a white woman; she culturally appropriates POC and uses them as props in her videos; her #squad is not inclusive; and her latest drama with Kanye contributes to the stereotypeof the angry black man vsthe innocent, faultless white woman. She also contendsthat if you are female and you do not support her, then there is aspecial place in hellfor you. Her self-serving feminism needs work because her white privilege is showing (and probably stressing out her PR team) and her constantly being marketed as a modern feminist despite her problematic-ness may detrimentally impact her young, impressionable fans.

For more examples of Taylor Swifts misguided feminism, I compiled a page of quotes on Quote Catalog which you can view by clicking here.

Honorable Mentions

4. Tina Fey

Jamie Peck

Tina, while undoubtedly very talented and funny, has stated in a 2009 Vanity Fair interview that (after her husband visited a strip club) she disapproves of strippers because “we need to be better than that”.Meanwhile she has no qualms about slamming sex workers as the punch line to her jokes. Self-worth does not equate to modesty, Tina!

Besides these, shewas complicit in a cast members terminationfrombecausethe actresswas not conventionally attractive. Then there was that episode from her other show that bordered on racist and the other one that parodied a famous doctors appearance which may or may not haveaddedto the doctors depression.

Ill sum this up with a post from blacklamb:

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5. Jennifer Lawrence

Ugh.

I wouldnt have included J. Law here but thenshe wrote that patronizing open letter about the US Presidential elections expressing that loving your neighbors was the answer to ending racial violence.

While were here, Ill point out she says a lot of dumb shitbelievingshes being quirky (like that time she roasted a foreign reporter for using his phones translator) when shes actually being an asshole. Recently she alsodesecrated and destroyed a sacred Hawaiian relic by scratching her butt on it because, again, she thought it was funny even after guides specifically asked herNOT to touch said relics. Ha. Ha. Ha. I guess?

Hopefully Hollywood realizes feminism isnt mainly about women eating pizzaandnot being a size zero.

6. Miley Cyrus

White Feminism, whats good?

Like every other proper White Feminist, Miley Cyrus uses the movement for her own agenda, exploits people of color, and remains mum on important topics such as Black Lives Matter. She is kind of an expert in perpetuating misogynoir and appropriating black culture. Like shes so good at profiting from black people and reformulating black culture into her own style (then whitesplaining about it) that Nicki Minaj called her out on the 2015 VMA stage.

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Thankfully, Mileys antics seems to have simmered down recently. Lets hope other White Feministstake heed.

7. Meryl Streep / Caitlyn Jenner / Tilda Swinton

This last one was confusing. Thereare just too many White Feminists to choose from! So I mergedthree instead.

Remember that time Meryl Streep erased black peoples struggles by saying or when Caitlyn Jenner (as important as her visibility is) transitioned butdenied that same right forother trans-people?; or when Tilda Swinton broke my GOT-fan-girl heart by playing the asian-friend card with Margaret Choto make herself feel better about accepting a role as a whitewashed character?

Hollywood is flocking with White Feminists who range from annoying to problematic to downright toxic. As much as Western Media tries to shove them down my throat as exceptional feminist figures, they do not successfully represent my generation, my gender or genders issues, or my feminism.

Alternatives?

If you want some examples of non-White Feminists, see: Zendaya, Angela Davis, Ariana Grande, Laverne Cox, Mia Mingus, bell hooks, Malala Yousafzai, Matt McGorry (yes, males can be good feminists, too),Amandla Stenberg, Carrie Fisher, etc.

Some of you may complain but pleaseread the sources. I encourage everyone, especially dissenters, to first click the links above if you have questions regarding the incidents, people, or statements written. The thought pieces/web pages the links lead to will likely be able to address your queries and offer more context and in-depth analysis regarding specific issues.

We need to become responsible for actively educating ourselves rather thanjeering should a feminist raise a concern. On the other hand, although its easy to call out White Feminists and leave it at that, this by itself will not help advance the feminist movement or strengthen solidarity. So if you spot a White Feminist, do not just call them out – call them in, too. Encourageothers to practiceintersectionalityand inclusiveness just in case they have not been schooled on the broader philosophies of feminism.

Last notes: critiquing White Feminist celebs does not diminish whatever kindnessthese ladies have done for othersor commendable work theyve accomplished in their fields or in charities (such as Meryls inspirational Golden Globes speech or Taylors altruism for her fans). You can simultaneously be a good celebrity and generous person, and still be a White Feminist.

Iacknowledge the celebrities mentioned may have already offered apologies or addressed certain matters.Thats fine– everybodys activism is messy or imperfect, and it is understandable that a public figures learning process can be more challenging. As long as one isvisibly trying to make an effort to do better it should be okay. Unfortunately most of the people I mentioned dont seem to care much.

Having well-meaning intentions that falter in execution is simply not good enough anymore.

http://ift.tt/2jHFUJP