Internet Mycology
Mar. 13th, 2023 09:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingI ended up subscribing to the QAnon Anonymous podcast on Patreon. Their “network” (I guess you’d call it?) has a miniseries about the MRA movement that’s really interesting. I feel like I’ve been seeing the surface effects of this mess for the past ten years, but I never really understood its history and precedents. Learning about where this came from has been enlightening; and also, I hope all men everywhere are doing okay.
For real, though. Despite everything, I still consider myself a feminist, but I wish we could change the word “feminism” to be more inclusive. Everybody sure is suffering from the same basic shitty sexist social systems. Anyway.
What I’m starting to understand by listening to the QAA podcast is that the rhetorical violence of the Woke Left is an almost perfect mirror of the rhetorical violence of the Alt-Right. I actively distance myself from alt-right spaces, so I had no idea how clear this mirror is. This is especially evident in the case of “pedophilia.” I personally think about “pedophilia” an average of zero times a day, but people engaged in social media political discourse seem to be obsessed with it.
So like, a lot of people loosely affiliated with the alt-right are frustrated at feeling disenfranchised, and they don’t understand how contemporary power structures work. Which is fair, as contemporary power structures are extremely complicated. But, instead of spending their mental bandwidth digging into obtuse academic explanations, they blame the very real nastiness implicit in these structures on a literal Secret Cabal of Satanic Pedophiles.
Meanwhile, a lot of people loosely affiliated with social justice movements are frustrated at feeling disenfranchised. Which is fair, as injustice is the focus of these movements, and issues like discrimination and media representation are extremely complicated. But, instead of doing the work to puzzle out how contemporary art and writing often address these issues in a way that can be difficult to understand, they blame the unpleasant “darkness” of creative expression on a literal Secret Cabal of Homophobic Pedophiles.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that it seems as though everyone is swimming in the same toxic soup of a culture in which everything has been dumbed down enough to be relatable on social media. And I guess I didn’t really understand this because, since the beginning of 2019, I’ve been aggressive about curating my time online through various browser extensions.
Perhaps it might be fair to ask why I’m so interested in freaks on the internet, but the truth is that I’ve lost a lot of my friends and most of my family to this sort of social media brain fungus. This isn’t because I’m too high-minded and pure to associate with “bad” people, but rather because people just won’t talk to me anymore. On one hand, I’m homophobic and also a pedophile for reading Stephen King and thinking Ganondorf is kind of neat; and on the other hand, I’m a coastal elite who’s promoting the transmutation of children’s DNA through microchip-infused vaccinations.
It's a weird position to occupy, especially since all I really want to do on this earth is eat potato chips and play Dark Souls.
The conclusion I’ve come to is that I’m glad someone else is doing this research. It’s important, sure, but it’s also something I’d personally prefer to keep contained in its own horrible little box.
For real, though. Despite everything, I still consider myself a feminist, but I wish we could change the word “feminism” to be more inclusive. Everybody sure is suffering from the same basic shitty sexist social systems. Anyway.
What I’m starting to understand by listening to the QAA podcast is that the rhetorical violence of the Woke Left is an almost perfect mirror of the rhetorical violence of the Alt-Right. I actively distance myself from alt-right spaces, so I had no idea how clear this mirror is. This is especially evident in the case of “pedophilia.” I personally think about “pedophilia” an average of zero times a day, but people engaged in social media political discourse seem to be obsessed with it.
So like, a lot of people loosely affiliated with the alt-right are frustrated at feeling disenfranchised, and they don’t understand how contemporary power structures work. Which is fair, as contemporary power structures are extremely complicated. But, instead of spending their mental bandwidth digging into obtuse academic explanations, they blame the very real nastiness implicit in these structures on a literal Secret Cabal of Satanic Pedophiles.
Meanwhile, a lot of people loosely affiliated with social justice movements are frustrated at feeling disenfranchised. Which is fair, as injustice is the focus of these movements, and issues like discrimination and media representation are extremely complicated. But, instead of doing the work to puzzle out how contemporary art and writing often address these issues in a way that can be difficult to understand, they blame the unpleasant “darkness” of creative expression on a literal Secret Cabal of Homophobic Pedophiles.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that it seems as though everyone is swimming in the same toxic soup of a culture in which everything has been dumbed down enough to be relatable on social media. And I guess I didn’t really understand this because, since the beginning of 2019, I’ve been aggressive about curating my time online through various browser extensions.
Perhaps it might be fair to ask why I’m so interested in freaks on the internet, but the truth is that I’ve lost a lot of my friends and most of my family to this sort of social media brain fungus. This isn’t because I’m too high-minded and pure to associate with “bad” people, but rather because people just won’t talk to me anymore. On one hand, I’m homophobic and also a pedophile for reading Stephen King and thinking Ganondorf is kind of neat; and on the other hand, I’m a coastal elite who’s promoting the transmutation of children’s DNA through microchip-infused vaccinations.
It's a weird position to occupy, especially since all I really want to do on this earth is eat potato chips and play Dark Souls.
The conclusion I’ve come to is that I’m glad someone else is doing this research. It’s important, sure, but it’s also something I’d personally prefer to keep contained in its own horrible little box.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-13 06:59 pm (UTC)This exactly. I had no desire to ever need to know anything about these subcultures. Unfortunately, they've eaten my family. I think I'll check that Patreon out. Thanks.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-14 12:49 pm (UTC)It's weird, you know? On one hand, I feel like it's not good to be so disconnected from popular culture. On the other hand, I find the experience of scrolling through TikTok to be deeply upsetting, and everything I've learned about influencers like Andrew Tate has been largely against my will.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-14 05:44 pm (UTC)I haven't found too much that is directly helpful, outside of a few things Normal Horoscopes (now known as Cryptotheism over on Tumblr) reblogged about deradicalizing cult members. (They don't necessarily hit that subject very often, but it's always great when they do - I of course cannot find anything through my wonderful Tumblr search right at the moment.) Otherwise, I think understanding it and thus being able to face it more calmly is probably the best we can do.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-19 12:03 am (UTC)Unfortunately, I had to stop reading their blog because I wanted to keep my Tumblr feed as low-stress as possible. This wasn't just a matter of not having Normal Horoscopes in my feed; it also involved remaining in blissful ignorance. For example, if a mutual reblogs something filled with Tumblr-specific dog whistles, I don't want to know about it.
The way I refer to this is "the
This is a shame, because I remember Normal Horoscopes being really interesting to read.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-20 03:57 pm (UTC)I actually am thinking of taking time to deliberately stay away from Tumblr for a while. I stopped watching the news years ago, but Tumblr serves the same function at a delay, and honestly just the state of the world is bad for mental health right now. I don't have the gumption to commit to a Tumblr fast yet, but I think I'm getting there.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-20 04:33 pm (UTC)This is such a healthy way to move through the world.
Full disclosure: I've definitely reblogged photos of castles from "European pride" blogs. When someone pointed this out to me, I was like 😨😨😨
no subject
Date: 2023-03-17 05:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-03-19 12:04 am (UTC)Me too! At first I was like, "I am fascinated by the cultural politics of fandom." These days I'm more like, "I would infinitely prefer to turn off the computer and read a book."
It's such a good and healthy choice honestly.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-24 03:05 pm (UTC)