A comment that I wrote about the current Social Justice Warrior "thing" in science fiction (one of their attack dogs started attacking "good" people) got quoted by two of my favorite authors. And then there is this.
I'm seriously considering buying this shirt.... and wearing it.
65 comments:
it was a brilliant insight. And you should. I bought it yesterday and will be modeling it for my blog readers :D
I, for one, want to buy that shirt and proudly wear it around the town square while I sing the praises of the cool, amazingly intelligent people who landed on a comet.
Bravo.
The decadent feminists with too much time on their hands? -- p-off. Losers.
I found myself interested in the subject so I made a good faith (read: abbreviated) effort to educate myself about this Social Justice Warrior phenomenon.
I remain more-or-less wholly ignorant, I'm sorry to say.
I was, however, reminded of that episode of Star Trek TNG that ends with the Professor Moriarty character encased in a virtual Universe that he perceives as the real Universe, as if nothing has changed.
And that is our word for the day: Recursion.
The focus on his shirt is much like the focus on all our other media/pop-cult driven decadent and meaningless superficial obsessions - like race, gender and skin color.
If the dude was Black or a woman the shirt choice would have been celebrated by all the bullies, and those who disagreed with it would have kept their mouths shut. "White privilege"? Yea I checked it, so I have the right to be bullied at will. Yaaaaaaaaay!
Bingo. My problem is that I like stepping on their spots.
Bingo to what you said, Synova - and bingo to that bingo. I bingo the bingo.
I knew Scalzi was a leftist but I didn't know he had gone full Pajama Boy.
http://monsterhunternation.com/2014/06/19/correia-uses-a-bad-word-and-it-is-the-worst-thing-ever-sjw-outrage-of-the-week/
Still, that is one ugly shirt, which just means it's normal nerd custom, and we should respect the strange customs of unfamiliar cultures. We should try to open a friendly dialog with them, trade with them, give them diseased blankets and take their stuff, then name a sports team after them. Although pillaging might take place, I don't expect any raping.
When Did the Left Turn into Rick Santorum?
RTWT- to much goodness to quote the whole thing. The smack down of sad feminists is epic.
Then there's this aspect:
"Several miserable harpies joined Ms. Eveleth on the public shaming, turning a staggering scientific achievement into a colloquy on restoring Victorian dress codes. For the record, the shirt was made by a woman named Elly Prizeman as a fun gift for her physicist friend.
The shirt is really hideous, which makes it delightful and fun. I want one.
I must hate my gender or something.
I want the Hillary-adoring NPR shame-police to feel shame. They should be apologizing to the brilliant scientist who just landed a probe on a comet and instead was forced to grovel in public on behalf of pathetic loser overly sensitive decadent preeners.
FOR HIS CLOTHING.
Look at his tattoos for crying out loud. The man is a nerd genius. Leave him alone. Yo feminists -this isn't about you. Want to compete with the men? Then shut up, get an education, & and stop being distracted by shiny objects.
"waaa I wouldn't feel welcome." oh shut the hell up.
Every American school - elementary through graduate - and every workplace is plastered with rules and language and attitudes unwelcoming to men and their natural instincts. You will actually be disciplined for expressing them in any way. Don't tell us about feeling unwelcome.
Cedar & Synova - thanks.
Cedar's quote got an insty post!
"Matt Taylor, I realize you will never see this, or your awesome friend Elly Prizeman who made the shirt for you. But I’m so sad that the bullies took the joy out of your amazing accomplishments, and the pleasure from wearing your cool shirt. I hope someday you can don it again with a smile, instead of seeing the cloud they are raining on you with right now. Philae is a reason for kids to get into science, your shirt is just a great expression of individual freedom.”
This.
When did the left turn into Rick Santorum?
"what kind of a buzzkill would deny a brilliant physicist a silly, celebratory wardrobe on the greatest day of his professional life?"
Some people just don't know when to stop. Feminism is killing itself.
The guy was made to apologize for a shirt given to him by a woman friend.
Yeah, I saw that yesterday via AceOfSpades. Well done, Synova. Well argued, and nicely written.
The ancient Rush L.term"feminazi"is so perfect.
Excellent analogy. Missed it the first time. I like stepping on their spots too. Last night I was telling my son and his girlfriend about a duffle bag for donating money to then NRA. I told them I regularly donate to the NRA for two reasons: 1) I believe in freedom, 2) it pisses off liberals. Since they're of a similar mind as I, we all had a good laugh.
I also would like to buy that shirt and wear it. Although....I would prefer buying the fabric and making a really neato retro Dorothy Lamour sarong style dress Wouldn't that look cool???
What prudes the left has become. Intolerant and humorless. The guy was wearing a tacky shirt that he likes and they made his proud day miserable.
I want to line them up and slap them all....while wearing my new sarong and spiky high heeled sandals....of course.
Afterward, it’s still impossible to see the spots, and walking across the room becomes fraught with danger. Sitting down at the keyboard gives this very “good” person the shakes and panic attacks… where are the spots? She still can’t see the spots but she MUST agree and believe that those spots exist.
I have a LOT of sympathy for those who were hurt, just like I have sympathy for any abused person.
The tea parties have been similarly cowed.
This is related to "gamer gate" too isn't it.
I'm not a gamer, so I haven't followed this story.
I've read a couple of articles. Maybe I should post one of them.
I have no idea what gamer gate is.
I'm posting something on that AllenS
In a nutshell gamer gate is the same story of people from time immemorial... People resisting tyranny.
@ Allen
It is a bunch of feminazis all bent out of shape because video games have sexy women in them and the people who play those games are by and large (with the exception of people like Synova and myself) males.
The women want to change the games, make them less violent and accuse the gamers of being misogynistic. Some games are violent. Some games have sex involved. So what?
The women are hyperventilating and falling on their fainting couches because there are guys who like to play games and show women like those on the shirt in question. I like to play those games as well (I'm pretty good at PVP---killing other players--- if I do say so myself in some of these on line multi player games) and am perfectly ok with the sexy costumes and armor that some of the characters are wearing. These are computerized cartoons people. Fantasy games.
In addition, there has been an instance of one woman game designer who has (reportedly) decided to screw her way into getting good reviews of her lame-o game. Because people noticed this they are also oppressing femininity.
The won't be happy until they totally spoil the game industry and force people not to play the games that they want to play and we are all sitting around playing kiddie games. Bunch of totalitarian, uptight, prudish bitches.
At least that is my take on it.
Great insight, Synova, and well said.
My own take is that the behaviors you described (as experienced by children) are classic for mothers with borderline personality disorder.
Their opaque rules are myriad and arbitrary and capricious and contradictory and impossible to follow on purpose. You are rendered always guilty of something, and therefore easily controlled. Borderline mothers manipulate and manipulate, and make their kids crazy this way; they grow up broken and unproductive, generally.
The Soviets turned that method into a state terror against its own citizens in the very same way. And I.n the same way, their citizens became broken and unproductive.
Gloves are off for me. I'm calling these people what they are from now on. Fuck them, fuck the horses they rode in on. Fuck their shunning. I've had it.
These feminists are borderlines, that's my argument.
One never ever ever capitulates to a borderline. That's rule number one.
You know what would be cool?
We need to contact this Elly Prizeman and ask her if she would be willing to make more shirts (and dresses!) for purchase. Gather all varieties of non-leftist/non-prog/non-totalitarian/non-femanazi (male and female) and take a photo as we proudly wear our delightfully tacky colorful expressive bowling shirts and sarong dresses.
Blow up photo to large format poster size, and send it to Mr. Matt Taylor with a huge - "congratulations on your awesome achievement." written on it.
Oh, maybe I should mention one of my twitters caused a little mini sensation too. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating, but for me it's my most retweeted tweet ever.
I picked up on a Gruber / governor Walker tidbit.
Pogo said... These feminists are borderlines, that's my argument.
I'm going to go on a limb here... but I think it's a safe sturdy limb.
"Borderline" includes "men in shorts".
It is really great when someone you admire quoutes you or reads your blog.
I was really pleased when SM Stirling and Lawrence Block commented on my blog. They are two of my favorite authors and I was thrilled that they took the time to respond to something I wrote about their work.
Cool beans Synova!
Glad you got quoted. I'll give my, no doubt, unneeded summary of Gammergate.
You have SJW's in the media reviewing games and commenting on games. They aren't doing it objectively, but constantly demanding that: more women game designers be hired, more women characters be inserted, and more games be more PC. They also praise or criticize games in their reviews based on their cultural politics as opposed to their intrinsic worth.
Gamers are fed up. They just want to play the games the way they always have been and be left alone. Hence, the push back.
If the feminists are all in a frazzle because one of the scientists who put that space probe on the comet wore this "sexist" shirt at a celebration of the achievement, if that's what this kerfuffle is all about, well, it relegates feminists to pygmy stature.
That mother should just resign herself to the fact that of course her daughter is going to turn herself into a pretzel in a vain attempt to gain the approval of the pretty-wickeds. But she won't.
Sarah Hoyt says:
"Women who like space exploration, or science fiction, or gaming are already perfectly welcome in those fields. Welcome with open arms, in fact.
Women who want to change them to be all about social justice and neo Marxism and a kind of ridiculous self-absorption that could only interest the subject and her giggly-girls club (see Lena Dunham) need not apply.
Because the truth, Ms. Eveleth, is that women who have an interest in space exploration will not be put off by a scientist’s shirt showing pretty women in next to nothing, holding ray guns. THOSE women – I’m one of them – will think it’s cool. They will dive into the field with renewed interest because there are Odd men there, and only Odd men get Odd girls, the same girls your cliques tend to treat as pariahs because we don’t wear the right clothes and we don’t emit the required bleats at the right time.
I know you’ll never get this, but you can keep your “social justice” and your damned Marxist-derived feminism.
I want my ray guns and my spaceships."
Sarah is awesome.
We need to contact this Elly Prizeman and ask her if she would be willing to make more shirts (and dresses!) for purchase.
Elly Prizeman has a blog. About doing more shirts, she says:
"I am genuinely surprised that so many of you want the shirts.
I am no professional seamstress by any means. My clothes are made with love and time put into it.
Yes I can make other clothes and pin up (male and female!) printed material is readily available.
Yes I can make ladies shirts.
If I was to recreate the same print and other similar prints from the fabric designer I use for these shirts I need to be very clear that they are far from perfect.
The other issue unfortunately for me is sadly the cost. That fabric designer’s material is very expensive in the UK. I was shocked to see the shirt available online for only $60!
My fabric has cost me £45 for each shirt and then 5-6 hours of my time to put it all together!
Because of this that also means I that if I was to embark on this that unless I can get my costs downs with fabric that I will have to charge around £150 for 1 shirt which I feel is excessive! From the magnitude of this I would have to stop working in the daytimes to meet the demand and I need to make a living like everyone else in the world.
The other down side is that as I am only just me I cannot mass produce these at the moment as part of why I started making clothes is that I want to do each one myself and put the passion into every one that I put into all my clothes. This means that if all of you seriously want me to make versions then there will be a considerable waiting list!"
ah -thanks Lydia. That makes the shirt even more special. It truly is a one-of-a-kind hand made gift. She made it for her friend, and it is absolutely possible that he wore it, (in part, perhaps) to show his gratitude. (I'm only guessing there - but it's a possibility)
"I'm seriously considering buying this shirt.... and wearing it."
To work?
Why?
Meade said...
To work?
Why?
These days you have to watch out for sensitive peoples' feelings. Here's an example: I used to work for a law firm which held a Halloween costume contest every year for its employees. The prizes were generous which was a motivation. One year I won first place by going as a "Wisconsin Swing Voter." The costume consisted of a wooden swing with a short loop of heavy rope which I looped around my neck which kept the swing against my behind. I also wore a red "Wisconsin" sweat shirt.
The second year (Halloween occurred shortly after Hurricane Katrina that year) I went as a "FEMA Worker." My costume was a pair of stilts, a yellow raincoat with block letters FEMA on the back, and a button I made with the slogan "I'm from the Government and am here to help." I walked on stilts! Not only did I not win show or place, an attorney told me later that it may have offended some people.
I boycotted the contest every year thereafter.
Did you ever wear your award-winning red sweatshirt and the swing against your ass on a day when you were to be giving expert testimony in court? If not, why not? And if you did, what sort of law firm was it in which, presumably, no one in the firm stopped you to ask, "hey, uh, Mr. B., just what the hell do you think you are doing?
We had strict dress codes (except for the Halloween office party, Meade).
Oh and your dig at synova is moot because she never said she intended to wear it to work.
I don't quite understand Elly Prizeman's statement of her limitations.
She is presented with an outstanding commercial opportunity.
She cited the difficulty of making the shirts the same way she made one shirt for one friend. I must say, that is incredibly ace. Lucky guy. I painted a few shirts but they were rejected. Bummer. One of my favorite shirts is one that I painted. Egyptian design, of course.
But to fulfill a sudden large bulk of orders requires a change in process. She needn't sew them herself. She can hire better seamstresses than herself and she can have any fabric she wants digitally printed with any design she wants and purchase it by the bolt.
It's not a matter of buying that exact same material she bought before from the same place. And it is not a matter of her own sewing limitations.
I have to conclude that she'd just rather not. Because that sounded like a blow off answer I'd give myself to get out of engaging in production and order-filling.
I do give such responses. Customers are flakes. I'm not into customer satisfaction. Not into production. Not into profit seeking. So I say, "well, a pop-up card would cost $150.00 and that puts the discussion to rest.
Or an Egyptian style bas relief will cost $1,428.72 To make it seem mathematical and not just a number I pulled out of my butt to end the line of inquiry.
A less diplomatic answer would be, "Do I look like your eye-destroying unsightly garish cartoon women with ray guns print shirt making bitch?"
It wasn't a "dig" at synova, chickenlit. It was a serious question. Why did Matt Taylor choose to wear that shirt to work that day? Matt himself said it was inappropriate and that he regretted doing it. It wasn't a special contest day like yours was when you roped the swing to your ass.
I'm honestly interested in whether or not Synova plans to totally commit by buying the shirt AND wearing it to work. The way Matt Taylor did. And thereby demonstrate her solidarity with Matt and every other poor STEM guy who is being oppressed to tears by the nazis. The feminizing feminazis.
If you want conventional, conformist lawyers who went to school to do what their parents expected from them to be doing your rocket science then good luck to ya.
Geez maybe the young scientist never gives a thought to what he dons for the day. Ever consider that Meade?
I'd wear it to work if I cared enough. Which I don't.
As for Mr. Rocket science who wears a sexy T-shirt, then cries, grovels, and apologizes, I don't have one ounce of sympathy.
The man seems to be complete dunce outside of his particular field of expertise.
Think of all the work. I'd have to find out what stores carry the shirt, order it, or go get it, and pay money.
Damn that's too much work for a shirt right there.
"To work? Why?"
If any of this was about "tacky hawaiian shirts are inappropriate for work" you might, maybe, slightly have a point.
I wouldn't wear it to work... I'd wear it to *school* to my senior level earth and planetary science courses in order to send the message that women aren't welcome in STEM.
DUH.
On the other hand, my work place has a dress code which doesn't have a Hawaiian shirt Friday... if it ever does, I'd wear it to work, too.
If a SINGLE critical crying feminist had said "wow, they sure let them dress casual there which gives the idea of a rather laid back work place and I prefer to have a more formal work place and formal work attire" they might have a point, just like you might have had a point.
But really... how about we do that, huh? Girls... no skin at work, mkay? No cleavage at work. No leg above the knee at work. We want to look *professional* when we're at work.
Make the rules the same for everyone. No boobies. No thighs. No gapping shirts. No spaghetti straps.
You know as well as I do, Meade, that the feminists would HOWL and call it slut shaming.
None of the complainers... NONE of them posed this as a complaint about casual clothing at work.
So making that the question is sort of like lying.
Would a Hawaiian shirt with flowers and sail boats have resulted in the claims that this "unprofessional" attire was going to put women off their feed, intimidate them, and send them away from the STEM courses and fainting into the arms of Women's Studies?
Honest to gawd... how dumb do you think I am?
One of the graduate students in the program wears nothing but pajama pants, ever. He has an amazing collection of them that he's very proud about and will match patterns if something special is going on such as spaceships for a comet landing.
Honest. To. God.
STEM people are Odd. We had an Ed. student in one of the classes for those in the major and she'd sometimes get this sort of panicked trapped look as if she stumbled into an asylum.
If you can't deal with the Odd in science you probably can't deal with the SCIENCE. Because actual science is obsessive and myopic and very very ambitious. It's made up of people who think that sorting microscopic teeth out of Permian limestone for weeks is actually interesting.
Stop. Trying. To. Fix. Us.
Go ahead and (as they say) admire the back-side of science all you like... and follow that guy Tyson and position yourself as the sort of person who loves science but never ever ever could stand the tedium of DOING any of it.
Very well stated synova -- especially at 11:53.
"I wouldn't wear it to work"
Why not?
I vote Synova for queen of the universe - with a ray gun.
Meade - ppffft - you can be a conformist boring old fart in the wind. Is Meade ready for Hillary, or what?
"Honest to gawd... how dumb do you think I am?"
Not dumb at all, Synova. In fact, I think you are the smartest contributor to this blog.
I do think the pajama pants wearing grad student you mentioned might be doing something dumb. Especially if he isn't wearing underpants. Do you think maybe someone should say something to him? Not you, of course, but maybe one of his fellow Odd STEM guys. Or do you think it might make him cry?
Thanks for writing that Synova. On a note I've always held close to my heart, socioeconomicpolitical justice is the the rancid bullshit it is and the people who practice it are nothing more than the dog shit on my lawn. SWJ's are nothing more than the dogs that will crap on a perfectly good lawn, kick their back feet and keep walking on by. Two words for those types: Fuck you.
The pajama pants have something to do with mountain climbers.
I don't understand, but that was what I was told.
Lots of cavers in the field, too.
Lots of tattoos and piercings... but that might just be this generation.
The discussion over at Althouse could really use your input on this, Synova. I wish you'd consider going there, just this once.
Okay, Synova, I think I can understand why you don't want to answer my simple direct questions.
Congrats on your famousness yesterday.
Sincerely.
Your simple, direct question?
Me: "I wouldn't wear it to work"
You: Why not?
Me: "On the other hand, my work place has a dress code which doesn't have a Hawaiian shirt Friday... if it ever does, I'd wear it to work, too."
Yes, I understand why I don't want to answer your simple direct questions. If I don't answer how you wish, you pretend I didn't answer. Thus, my motivation to jump to your tune is sadly lacking.
It must be a lot of fun to be quoted by people you admire.
I know I would love to see more posts from you about science fiction. It is very interesting for a big science fiction fan like me to get a knowledgable woman's perspective. You have given me some good ideas about books to investigate.
It's like listening to Adele Mundy in real life.
Thanks, Trooper. I really ought to write about science fiction more because it's got to be a more profitable pass time than politics.
I always feel better when I write about science or music rather than politics.
"If I don't answer how you wish, you pretend I didn't answer."
No I don't. To my simple question you add "Hawaiian shirt Friday" rather than explaining why you would not wear that shirt to work on a normal day. You changed "the tune" to which you accused me of wanting you to "jump".
The pretending is all yours.
While some people don questionable attire, others stand naked and believe themselves to be dressed in splendor.
Congratulations, Synova, on having a comment that came from the heart be picked up by another as valuable and worth additional consideration.
That the sparkle you brought to the Althouse blog continues to be reflected here at Lem's and elsewhere is a fine thing.
“It is better to lack the semblance of honor but possess it than to possess the semblance and lack the honor.”
― Lynn Flewelling, Traitor's Moon
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