I told this story on here before, but it’s relevant.
One day, I was walking around my city with a couple of friends, another guy (M) and a girl (J). We worked together for a while, all generally got along well, killing some time before J had a tattoo appointment. As we’re walking around, we find some stickers covering a light pole, including a pretty new “Yes, all men” sticker. J takes a photo of it and starts posting it on Instagram.
Cue a pretty in-depth discussion. I was pretty hurt. Here I was, hanging with a woman who was actively spreading the very narrative we’re talking about now. Fortunately, I don’t tend to keep company with people I can’t chat with about important topics, so I was able to actually explain why, while I get the actual intent of the message, the relevance in the current climate, but also why it’s very damaging to everyone in society.
I think about that event a fair bit. It’s emblematic of how polarizing the discussions have to be to gain momentum. It has to be all or nothing, or you don’t get to build the message. It’s in every aspect of life now. Dating, Politics, religion, online discourse… If you’re not at the extreme end, buy in fully, then you’re at best ignorant and at worst a false flag.
I told this story on here before, but it’s relevant.
One day, I was walking around my city with a couple of friends, another guy (M) and a girl (J). We worked together for a while, all generally got along well, killing some time before J had a tattoo appointment. As we’re walking around, we find some stickers covering a light pole, including a pretty new “Yes, all men” sticker. J takes a photo of it and starts posting it on Instagram.
Cue a pretty in-depth discussion. I was pretty hurt. Here I was, hanging with a woman who was actively spreading the very narrative we’re talking about now. Fortunately, I don’t tend to keep company with people I can’t chat with about important topics, so I was able to actually explain why, while I get the actual intent of the message, the relevance in the current climate, but also why it’s very damaging to everyone in society.
I think about that event a fair bit. It’s emblematic of how polarizing the discussions have to be to gain momentum. It has to be all or nothing, or you don’t get to build the message. It’s in every aspect of life now. Dating, Politics, religion, online discourse… If you’re not at the extreme end, buy in fully, then you’re at best ignorant and at worst a false flag.