#mansplaination

something pretty cool has happened recently, and that's all the hullaballo surrounding facebook, their "feeling fat" emoji, and the successful change.org petition that had it successfully removed.

not to say that it all went down without a hitch. at all. because: internet. 

and to be sure some of the dialogue was genuine and legit, whether it was about the semantics about what a "feeling" is, to well intentioned advocates for the right to full expressive tools, etc.... but then something pretty repulsive happened. the endangered bodies facebook page started getting trolled with some pretty toxic comments. and it seems like at least some of it is in the spirit of new libertarian freedom of speech etc. 

but possibly lost or under discussed in all of this is the fact that what groups like endangered bodies work against is the bombardment of manipulative and harmful messages that marketers and celebrity culture use, constantly, and how very harmful it can be.

i was thinking about all of this this morning, and wondered whether anyone who had used the "feeling fat" emoji was all of a sudden a target of ads for weight loss plans, gym memberships, quacky nutritional supplements etc.

and then later on today i clicked on the following.

https://twitter.com/Change/status/575031110893223936

and lo and behold, what was the huge ad that yahoo health has under the article that this tweet linked to...?

so, yes, this IS important work. and NO, it's not really about semantics or freedom of speech, it's about making people feel like shit so that you can sell them a bill of goods. and that's wack, yo.

more:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/06/petition-facebook-remove-feeling-fat-status-_n_6819142.html

http://www.endangeredbodies.org

[words and stuffs the sole fault of adam lawrence]

If you've been on the internet for longer than about...oh...two seconds, you've seen it. There's a point in some arguments where someone says:

;.; I guess I'm not entitled to an opinion any longer!

Somehow, I wonder if they post this and think it is going to change the argument. Maybe they're imagining everyone will read it and crowd around and pat them on the back and say, "No, no, you're entitled to an opinion! We're sorry!"

But it always strikes me as weird and self-centered. Nobody questions whether anyone is entitled to have an opinion. The only question is whether that opinion is one anyone should care about.

Let me give an example. I'm entitled to have an opinion about who is going to win the World Series. Should you listen to my opinion on that subject? Hell, no. I vaguely think that the World Series is baseball (and for purposes of this post I am not Wikipeding it, so if I am wrong, my ignorance will stand in its FULL GLORY, and since I am the person who asked once whether the NFL had a national championship game...the odds of my being wrong are high), and I vaguely remember a few baseball teams...um...Boston Red Sox? Braves? Yankees? Cubs? The Oakland A's? I think I have now named all the baseball teams I know, and I hope they are all baseball teams. (Again, not using Wikipedia, so if I am wrong, this tells you how little I know). (Also, if I am right, I'm going to be so excited.)

The only thing I am certain of is that the Cubs will not be winning the World Series--I lived in Chicago long enough to know that's destiny.

But I do have an opinion. I think the A's should win this year. That would be cool. I used to see the stadium from the BART, so why not? I have an opinion! I'm entitled to it!

But...I don't expect anyone else to care about my opinion, and it would be weird if I did. I am one of the least qualified people to opine on that particular subject. I don't know any stats; hell, I barely know what the stats mean. I can't name a single baseball player. Why would you care what I think?

Whenever someone pulls the super-ridiculous attempted guilt trip where they make frowny emoticons and say, "I guess I'm just not allowed to have an opinion any longer!" I want to roll my eyes.

That's deeply self-centered. You're allowed to have an opinion; it's just that the things you are saying demonstrate that you have almost no experience with the subject matter. You are actually asking for other people to care about your opinion.

And the assumption that other people--people who are not related to you--should care about your opinion when you have no background experience? That's just weird. Why would you imagine they should?