Meat Puppets Say Funny Things
The Strange Sociology Of This Little Corner of the Internet
A lot’s already been written and said about the weird side of people that gets brought out by the relative anonymity of the internet, but as a student of human behavior I just can’t help noticing and sharing about a couple of kooky things that have happened to (and around me) as I talk with people in these parts.
It’s no secret than on the interwebs if someone can’t challenge what you are saying logically or with data, a certain type of person will resort to some kind of name calling or insinuation about your intelligence or ability to be logical. Fortunately, I take this kind of thing with a grain of salt and have even enjoyed playing with it some.
One guy referred to me as an “intellectual” intending that as some kind of slur. I promptly thanked him for noticing. Later he deemed me a “white princess” and although I considered thanking him for noticing my royal blood, by that time it was apparent there was not going to be any real discussion to be had and I was ready to just get away from him. I’d commented earlier that he seemed to be frothing at the mouth just a bit, and his response was that all kinds of people from Trump supporters to Jordan Peterson fans had told him the same thing recently. Interestingly, he didn’t take the fact that such a wide swath of humanity all had the same impression as a sign that there was any truth to it and that maybe he should take it down a peg before he had some kind of aneurysm.
I’ve gotten friendly with Living Out Loud and sex-positive advocate Elle Beau and although she is a lot more adventurous than I, we seem to view most things in pretty similar fashion.We both think that the world would be a better place if people were allowed to be who they actually are, instead of having to conform to societally prescribed roles or boxes. One gentleman has recently been complaining to Elle quite a bit about me, complementing her on being so reasonable and an emerging voice whilst I am considered domineering, demanding and thoroughly unreasonable. The funny thing is, from my perspective, she and I are saying pretty much the same things to this guy and she seems to agree. But to him, we are night and day.
Maybe it’s because she is out there talking really openly about her sexcapades and fantasies, living a life that a lot of guys might envy, and it seems to give her some badass street-cred that I just don’t have as a regular, boring kind of woman. If going to sex clubs and having three-ways is what it takes to get more men to grant you some respect in discussions, I may have to consider taking that up. Elle says that she has definitely noticed this phenomenon in play, but that it doesn’t give her complete immunity from what she calls “the backlashers.”
The backlashers, as the term implies, are the guys whose response to the #MeToo movement and to what’s going on for women society-wide right now, is to push back as hard as they can. They like to talk a lot about how logical and rational they are but what really comes through loud and clear is what they mean by that is that their emotional responses feel right to them, and so they can then be deemed logical. If you respond to them with facts, studies or any kind of actually rational response, they project their cognitive dissonance onto you faster than a horsefly on a pile of dung. And the more you point out their inconsistencies and fallacies of reason, the more they project.
It can be pretty frustrating and even infuriating at times, but ultimately, it’s kind of comical and at times even a bit sad. As a people watcher, I like to watch what people do and how they think - and how they avoid thinking to go in for tribal markers instead. It also makes me really appreciate the men and women who show up self-aware enough to hold actual conversations and exchanges of ideas. One guy, who was clearly a foreigner, even went so far as to concede a couple of good points I’d made. He later apologized for his imperfect knowledge of English since it was not his mother tongue, but frankly that wasn’t what gave him away as not being a Yank. It was all of that civility and actual debate skills.
It’s weird around here at times, but it’s also never boring. I guess I’ll stay!
