this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2024
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Lefty Memes
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An international (English speaking) socialist Lemmy community free of the "ML" influence of instances like lemmy.ml and lemmygrad. This is a place for undogmatic shitposting and memes from a progressive, anti-capitalist and truly anti-imperialist perspective, regardless of specific ideology.
Serious posts, news, and discussion go in c/Socialism.
If you are new to socialism, you can ask questions and find resources over on c/Socialism101.
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0. Only post socialist memes
That refers to funny image macros and means that generally videos and screenshots are not allowed. Exceptions include explicitly humorous and short videos, as well as (social media) screenshots depicting a funny situation, joke, or joke picture relating to socialist movements, theory, societal issues, or political opponents. Examples would be the classic case of humorous Tumblr or Twitter posts/threads. (and no, agitprop text does not count as a meme)
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That includes so called: Social Democracy, Democratic Socialism, Dengism, Market Socialism, Patriotic Socialism, National Bolshevism, Anarcho-Capitalism etc. . Anti-Socialist people and content have no place here, as well as the variety of "Marxist"-"Leninists" seen on lemmygrad and more specifically GenZedong (actual ML's are welcome as long as they agree to the rules and don't just copy paste/larp about stuff from a hundred years ago).
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Notable achievements in all spheres of society were made by various socialist/people's/democratic republics around the world. Mistakes, however, were made as well: bureaucratic castes of parasitic elites - as well as reactionary cults of personality - were established, many things were mismanaged and prejudice and bigotry sometimes replaced internationalism and progressiveness.
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I have no idea what's going on with either of your responses (digging into what exactly?), but ok.
The use of "females" here is objectifying, and generally frowned upon. Here's a way to avoid this mistake in the future: replace "females" with the word "people" and if it works grammatically and in the context of what you're saying (eg, you're not talking about animals) then you should be using "women" instead of "females."
Thank you for clarifying, I appreciate it. I didn't know that, but I'm not going to stop using the word "female" for reasons I put in another post just above.
"Thanks for explaining why using this word in that way is problematic and makes the people it is attempting to describe uncomfortable, but I don't actually give a shit and will continue to use it regardless" 🙄
I'm not telling you to stop using the word altogether, just trying to help you understand why some uses are inappropriate and will garner ire from others. It's fine if you want to say "well that's their problem" but alternatively you could try to have some empathy. Broadly speaking, being considerate of others rarely requires anything of you, and helps make the world a better place.
But if that's asking too much, I understand.
Edit to add: this applies to the usage of "males" and "females" equally. By continuing to use this terms inappropriately, you're not somehow promoting equality, you're just being stubborn about using hurtful language.
I'm not telling you to stop using the word altogether, just trying to help you understand why some uses are inappropriate and will garner ire from others. It's fine if you want to say "well that's their problem" but alternatively you could try to have some empathy. Broadly speaking, being considerate of others rarely requires anything of you, and helps make the world a better place.
But if that's asking too much, I understand.
Edit to add: this applies to the usage of "males" and "females" equally. By continuing to use this terms inappropriately, you're not somehow promoting equality, you're just being stubborn about using hurtful language.
Edit 2: It's possible that your usage of "male" wasn't problematic, I'd have to see the post. But if it was problematic, and others didn't call it out, that's a failure on their part. I don't see why the hypocrisy of others should excuse your inappropriate usage of if certain words, that feels very... Whataboutism, perhaps? Anyway, I get why you're frustrated. Sorry you're dealing with that, but please don't be a bad person just to spite others. You're obviously smart and caring, and I think you can do better if you wanted to.
I'll bite. Referring to women as "females" is usually used by incels. Women, ladies, those are your safer bets.
Well, thank you for clarifying at least. I'm not changing the wording. Let me be clear, I'm definitely not blaming you for being helpful - I appreciate at least knowing. However, if someone reads my post supporting and valuing women and the thing they comment on is the word "female" as if that makes me an incel misogynist, then I don't really care. I wrote a post in this thread about the radicalization of men, and I used the word "male" 4 times. 31 upvotes, no downvotes (at time of posting) and no one had issue with "male".
I support women and I never ever use the actually pejorative terms, but I'm not stopping using the word female. Incels use the word "women" too all the time btw. There's even the famous coffee meme that uses the word "women" and I hate it because I'm a gamer and it's always used in gamer communities to mock women.
Edit: After thought and given how people seem upset, I won't post on this forum anymore. I'm sure there are some who will think "Bye - no loss" and it's their right to do so and tell me so if they want. I don't like that my obvious intent was overridden by the use of a very common word and it feels like a minefield I'm not interested in navigating. That "female" is an ok adjective but a really offensive noun just seems odd, especially when the equally-misused "woman" is fine. Hateful people say words hatefully and if you let them claim words there won't be any left. I'd never hear something like "males are being pulled to the extreme right" and wonder if they mean humans (aka dehumanizing). In a lifetime spent with female friends and decades on boards like Reddit and Lemmy this is the very first time it's been an issue. I have other thoughts but they're not helpful so I'll just say adios.
P.S. I'll keep on supporting women in other places. I believe strongly that the only ethical position is that a person be judged by their character, and determined fit for any role by their capabilities as opposed to genitalia, ethnicity, preferred sexuality, etc. Regardless of people telling me they know my beliefs better than I do, I actually know what I believe - biases of all kinds must be fought, especially now.
Yeah, saw that one coming.
Anyway, you can say “female” as an adjective all day. It’s the noun that has really icky nonhuman connotations.
Stop trying to force misogyny on me. It's crazy that I tried so hard to convey the fact that women are valuable and needed, and now because of one word and the fact I play video games (and have for 25 years) you're posting "got you" replies like I'm sexist.
Stop doubling down on misogyny then. You might not have known initially, but you do now, and no longer have an excuse.
Perhaps if you didn't double down on your refusal to use human terms when talking about human women, you might come across more like someone who genuinely cares, rather than someone virtue signalling for a pat on the back.
Nope. I'm going to continue supporting women as equal to men, I'll use male and female as terms to describe both, and if I do so without your approval so be it. I know where I stand as someone who cares about people regardless of gender and recognizes women's rights still have a way to go (and are under attack especially now). As such I don't mind you trying to tear down my honest support as virtue signalling because it's just not true.
My man. I’ve been playing games for 40. But I don’t identify as “a gamer” because, yeah, that.
Anyway, yes, the words you choose convey meaning. Pick the ones that convey the meaning you want, or live with the meaning you convey.
coffee meme?
I'd rather not post it because I hate it, but it's not hard to find if you want. (BTW I'm not judging you at all for being curious).
ok. no worries. just never heard of of it.
<3 All love amigo, I totally understand.
Your moral high ground eroded when you vociferously said it was everyone else who was wrong about the current connotation of the word.