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Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by mattnewton on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @12:12AM (#13478743)
What's wrong with a hat you can knit at home? It's an effective symbol.
Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by beloch on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @12:17AM (#13478765)
Flip the gender. Would you respect a bunch of dickheads marching around D.C.?
Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by mrbrowning on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @12:48AM (#13478955)
Unsurprisingly, the answer to "would you react the same way if a totally different thing happened in a totally different context?" is: no.
Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by flukus on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @01:48AM (#13479281)
It's not a totally different thing, it's the same thing with male genitalia instead of female. We don't know if the context would be totally different or not.
Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by mrbrowning on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @02:01AM (#13479345)
It's not a totally different thing, it's the same thing with me driving on the left side of the road instead of the right. We don't know if this would cause horrific, fiery tangles of flesh and steel or not.
Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by rokosbasilisk on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @08:04AM (#13481049)
This is reasoning is a great example why democrats have lost the working class.

We all know if men marched with dicks on ther heads in washington they would be laughed and imo rightfully so.

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by MrZongle2 on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @12:29PM (#13483541)
"We all know if men marched with dicks on ther heads in washington they would be laughed and imo rightfully so."

And there would be cries about vulgarity and "what about the children?!" along with it.

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by mattnewton on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @12:03PM (#13483202)
And we are arguing that it's not relevant. Men are treated differently in our society, dicks have a different connotation, etc. This is a great example of how simple metaphors strip important nuance.
Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by antisthenes on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @12:34PM (#13483618)
Yes, applying double standards when it suits your narrative, and arguing for equality when it doesn't is another example of why liberals lost.

Apparently the fly-over country is at least smart enough to notice the blatant hypocrisy, so props to them for that.

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by mattnewton on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @01:17PM (#13484155)
I am unsure what your argument is here. The liberal position here is, in a nutshell, that women's rights are treated poorly and should not be. It's a real stretch to say that means they should be treated as if they were men wearing dick hats because they think men are equal.
Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by flukus on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @06:42PM (#13487350)
So you're argument is that because women are treated differently we should treat them diffently? You aren't advocating equeal treatment but for more unequal treatment.

And how exactly are women treated poorly?

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by mattnewton on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @11:13PM (#13488640)
Because "women's rights" are treated poorly, we should treat "women marching with pussy hats" differently than "men marching with dick hats".

Specifically women's rights around their reproductive organs, between access to abortion, classifying sanitary napkins or tampons as a necessary expense, or sexual assault of those organs.

If men had women in congress debating over making ejaculation without intent to conceive illegal, if men were payed less for the same work on average, if men had powerful people talking bragging about grabbing them by the dick whenever they wanted, etc, maybe then you would have a point.

But as it stands, you're twisting my words into a false equivalence.

Women's rights are treated poorly. Women should have equal rights and should be treated equally if you believe they are equals to men. Women marching with pussy hats represents a different phenomena than men in dick hats. For that to be equal treatment the context has to be equivalent. And it is not.

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by mattnewton on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @12:50AM (#13478959)
If the circumstances of the people marching were flipped as well, yes. That requires a much deeper thought experiment though.

I don't know why we need to get all squeamish about female genitalia now, as apposed to when we are talking about what rights women have with theirs and whether you can talk about grabbing them.

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by fixxer on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @12:31AM (#13478848)
Lol. You're only going to confuse them.
Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by gukov on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @12:14AM (#13478752)
Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by vixen99 on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @12:33AM (#13478861)
https://blogs.harvard.edu/philg/2017/01/21/why-youll-get-you...

'For every hour that an American spent knitting a hat . . .'

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by rconti on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @01:21AM (#13479153)
>Finally, the march here in Boston seems to have proved Donald Trump correct regarding the incompetence of U.S. local, state, and federal government. Despite soaking up 40-50 percent of GDP, the government couldn’t adapt to the forecast demand for transportation today by, e.g., adding extra trains.

Even a stopped clock....

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by dsfyu404ed on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @01:39AM (#13479246)
You, I and every other person who's ever lived in MA know that the MA gov't is beyond dysfunctional. Expecting them to lean on the MBTA or any other entity to get shit done when necessary is like asking for a utopia.
Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by eli_gottlieb on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @03:25PM (#13485662)
>You, I and every other person who's ever lived in MA know that the MA gov't is beyond dysfunctional.

Well, except that the MBTA keeps running, laws are enforced, we have decent public schools, and we don't all have lead poisoning -- a few things we've got over, say, Michigan.

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by sergiotapia on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @12:15AM (#13478757)
Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by mverwijs on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @12:33AM (#13478859)
"So pink is not a fighting/protesting color if you want to keep the base energized."

I like Scott Adams, but this is silly. The 'N' word is not something to get energized over either, and neither is the 'Q' word. But those examples he ignores even though he mentions them himself earlier.

Another example: When the Dutch started their war of independence from Spain, the freedomfighters (terrorists?) called themselves 'Geus', derived from the french word 'gueux'. It means 'beggar', the lowest of social statuses. We turned 'Geus' into being a hero.

Same could happen to the color pink. So stop knit-picking (pun!) and join the fight.

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by nkozyra on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @12:18AM (#13478774)
The argument posited here is not that it's "terribly ineffective" but that Scott Adams - someone naturally inclined against such causes and demonstrations - doesn't "get it." (His words)
Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by WA on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @05:10AM (#13480176)
Every blog post of Scott Adams:

"Trump is a master persuader and everything he does is on purpose. I know because I'm a master persuader, too.

Here's proof for his flawless persuasion technique (an anecdote follows).

Here's more proof, because one proof isn't enough (another anecdote).

Because I understand Trump and predicted his election, this is proof that I am really a master persuader.

So now go ahead and buy my book and my app."

I read quite a bit of Scott Adams blog and truth is: He didn't predict anything. He is a comedian. He could've spinned every outcome of the election in any direction in hindsight. He is in for maximum outrage and controversy, because that drives traffic and clicks and comments and ultimately, he makes money off it.

In his book, he even says that he did some pranks that lasted for years and he only did it for the lulz. This is exactly the same. If you think Scott Adams explains it all, you're being played.

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by dllthomas on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @12:28AM (#13478832)
> Women are “owning” pink to rob it of its power to brand them as the so-called weaker sex.

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2009/dec/12/pinkstin...

> The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger colour, is more suitable for the boy

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by legodt on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @12:48AM (#13478957)
I and a lot of other progressives take issue with it because it is trans-exclusionary and continues the long tradition of mainstream feminist demonstrations or expressions being explicitly for a white, cisgendered audience. I think OP was being mysoginistic and wasn't thinking this, but there is criticism on the left of the symbol as well.

That said, now is not the time to start infighting with people just starting to become politically aware/active. Most of the marchers have never done anything political before so mistakes/naivety are to be expected

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by mattnewton on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @12:56AM (#13479001)
The hats were meant more as a symbol of feminine solidarity and to reclaim the word pussy though right? It's not trying to be anatomically correct, and afaict doesn't inheriently exclude trans people any more than it excludes progressive mens issues or the black lives matters movement. I am honestly asking from a position of near total ignorance.

edit: Is it just that it's more a missed opportunity to pick a more inclusive symbol?

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by legodt on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @01:05AM (#13479047)
You're not wrong, but there is more context. There is a near inexhaustible list of feminist art that defines womanhood as an anatomical feature or set of features, and seeing this March that is ostensibly for all women be so tone deaf to this existing fault in the feminist community shows a real lack of understanding of what it takes to truly be intersectional. This is what makes the symbol exclusionary to non-binary or transgendered women, it's continuation of a trend of exclusion. During second wave feminism, this was so common a phrase grew out of it- TERF, Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist. A prominent example is Gloria Steinem. For decades, the gender-nonconforming have been written out or excluded from the feminist movement at large, and this was a major opportunity to unify everyone for possibly the first time.

A more inclusive symbol could have been chosen.

Q: The hats were meant more as a symbol of feminine solidarity...?

A: The solidarity excluded a major group that has historically been discriminated against even by progressive causes

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by nyolfen on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @01:16AM (#13479127)
i'm an outsider to all of this, but i've seen this come up repeatedly on my twitter feed and it seems like a lot of contention for what must be cumulatively (trans, non-binary) less than one percent of women(?)
Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by legodt on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @01:19AM (#13479141)
Their smaller numbers does not render their concerns or oppression invalid
Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by TheSpiceIsLife on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @04:28AM (#13479998)
Right... but:

We've got to pick our battles. It's looking like we might have done some serious damage to the climate.

Does this mean we should ignore some minorty or another? Probably not.

Inclusivity is all people working toward our collective betterment. Inclusivity isn't agonising over which symbol or colour or words includes all the freaks. There will always be someone who feels left out.

Inclusivity is all the freaks working the frontline with the normals and everyone getting on with the job, then having a beer together afterwards. Or whatever roasts your goat.

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by eli_gottlieb on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @03:24PM (#13485646)
Their smaller number does mean they can expect mass propaganda to target mass audiences, and that they have to speak up for their own interests to be heard. I don't go around complaining that every single non-Jewish progressive or leftist demonstration has somehow failed to include Jews simply because I don't see a Magen David on most signs about racism.
Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by legodt on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @03:42PM (#13485834)
The symbol perpetuated a continued trend of trans-exclusion, in your example it would be as if people selected to march under the symbol of crosses when protesting on behalf of all religions.

I am astounded by the negativity my comments have received for relaying long standing tensions and issues in the transgender community on relation to mainstream feminism. It's as if any time you ask the community here to look at historical context or complexity in social issues people just shut down, despite the fact that this site is made up of such a well educated, creative group of users.

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by eli_gottlieb on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @06:44PM (#13487355)
>I am astounded by the negativity my comments have received for relaying long standing tensions and issues in the transgender community on relation to mainstream feminism. It's as if any time you ask the community here to look at historical context or complexity in social issues people just shut down, despite the fact that this site is made up of such a well educated, creative group of users.

No, it's that you're not suggesting useful, effective alternative actions. What symbol could people wear on their heads or bodies which would convey trans-inclusive feminism, and be recognizable easily by the masses?

Sometimes issues are complex, but messaging has to be simple. This is a painful, but necessary, trade-off: you can't expect everyone looking at your protest hat or sign to be "woke" and understand your complex beliefs. You don't get to issue moral condemnations against over-simplifying a good thing, provided that it does net good, without offering some strictly superior alternative. When you try to condemn an over-simplified good thing, you're basically just supporting doing nothing, which right now is unacceptable.

What you're saying also sounds, well, a lot like political hostage-taking. While I'm on board with trans-inclusive feminism (AFAIK), I don't see why feminism broadly should be held hostage by whoever's angriest or most judgemental about trans issues.

Would you cancel the Women's Marches just to dispute about symbolism? That would amount to telling cis women they're not allowed to have their feminism unless it conforms to your feminism. Political activism is about interests shared in common, not about hierarchies of wokeness.

> The symbol perpetuated a continued trend of trans-exclusion, in your example it would be as if people selected to march under the symbol of crosses when protesting on behalf of all religions.

I don't really think so. Women are women, after all, trans or cis. If you see cisgendered female anatomy as innately trans-exclusionary, well, that may be your problem, since after all the whole point of transitioning is to come as close as possible to actually having that very anatomy.

If I march for socialism with a hammer-and-sickle symbol, you would apparently be the person to tell me hammers and sickles exclude shovel-using construction workers. It's a symbol! It means whatever people want it to mean, and your interpretation has to carefully way your own prior experiences with those of the people putting forth the symbol. Language has to communicate, not merely carry moral connotation.

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by nyolfen on Thursday January 26, 2017 @12:39PM (#13493376)
assuming some better symbol could be presented as an alternative hat, what issue is solved by using those hats? what material condition is improved for trans people? the self esteem of some of the more histrionic ones?

it's a non-issue, you're using it as a bludgeon for status by virtue signaling.

Re:George Orwell’s 1984 is currently the top selling book on... by eli_gottlieb on Wednesday January 25, 2017 @03:22PM (#13485629)
>I and a lot of other progressives take issue with it because it is trans-exclusionary and continues the long tradition of mainstream feminist demonstrations or expressions being explicitly for a white, cisgendered audience.

How is a public gesture, worn in front of everyone, supposed to target... actually, whom? The most intersectional possible audience? In fact, why should we rate the progressiveness of the message on which audience it seems to most precisely target, rather than assuming the audience (as ever, for politics) is everyone?

Instead of complaining that gestures aren't precise enough, we can acknowledge that this one gets its damn point across and talk about the policy question. Rape: for or against? Assault: for or against?

Personally, I'm against on both.