sthetic

joined 4 months ago
[–] sthetic@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Saying, "Both these things are bad, and one is worse," is not the same as saying, "One of these things is more okay than the other." Neither one is okay.

If we cannot compare bad things without that comparison implying, "one of them is more GOOD than the other," then all bad things are equally bad. If I said that committing pedophilia is worse than beating your wife, am I now saying that beating your wife is better? What about stealing from the cash register at work, or jaywalking? Are all bad things just equally bad, with no comparison possible, or else we're praising the virtues of crime?

To your first point, in that sentence I wasn't talking about actually dating or having sex with the 15 year old. I was talking about looking at them, and thinking they are attractive. So no, nobody would say that the "relationship" was okay, but they wouldn't roundly condemn someone for being attracted to them, or having the urge to look at them sexually, in their own head.

It used to be relatively acceptable to say something like, "Man, I sure think that 15 year old looks hot, but of course I won't go anywhere near her, because she is too young," but never, ever, to say the same about a 5 year old. That first sentiment is the basis of many distasteful songs and jokes and movies. The second one would be met with confusion and revulsion for even thinking it.

And once again, I am not saying that is right. I am just saying how attitudes have changed. For the better. Now we say that even looking at a teenager is wrong. That looking at their body is as bad as looking at a very young child's body. Because in both cases, it's not how messed-up you are in the head to even think about it. It's about how it would harm them to go through with it. And that's a better attitude.

[–] sthetic@lemmy.ca 13 points 6 days ago (12 children)

I think that back then, people defined pedophilia in terms of the perpetrator's attraction, not in terms of impact to the victim. Essentially, "is it weird for the adult to be attracted to their body?" more than, "would the young person be harmed, physically or emotionally, by sex?" Now we are more evolved.

Back when I was a kid, pedophilia meant what she said - attraction to a prepubescent child. If someone was an adult who thought a physically developed 15-year-old was sexy, that was just logical. Because their bodies had secondary sex characteristics. (It wasn't considered a good idea to actually have sex with them, at least from what I could see. Maybe in Azalia's experience it was considered OK.)

But if an adult thought that a flat and hairless child was attractive, that was messed up on their part. The same way people think that furries or scat play or other fetishes were messed up. But even more so. There was just nothing to consider sexy about an actual child.

Now, we consider the impact to the victim. Pedophilia is defined as attraction to a victim under the age of consent. Because their brain is not fully developed, their body can't handle pregnancy, they are socially able to be manipulated, and a host of other reasons.

I am not trying to be accused of being an apologist, but from someone who grew up in the 90s, I find it strange that we use the same word for someone who rapes a toddler, as someone who "statutory rapes" (as it would be called) a 15-year-old. They are both wrong, but it seems to me that one is much worse than the other. Both because of the attraction (or I guess power fantasy) on the part of the adult, and the impact to the victim.

I think Azalia is wrong to say it was always totally fine. But she is right that it was considered right or wrong for a different reason back then. The definition was different.

[–] sthetic@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 weeks ago

You put your finger on it. Most of the ads say, "this is not for you," to a young girl.

Old ads for cars, alcohol, cigarettes etc. were like that as well. They're aimed at the hotshot guy who has a chick he's treating poorly, or more accurately, the guy who wants to have chicks throwing themselves at him. They have nothing to offer a woman or girl, because why would she want to be ignored arm candy?

I guess the one with the woman holding a controller in the bathtub may be an exception.

I'm sure a lot of boys and men were weirded out by these ads too.

[–] sthetic@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 weeks ago

Or: Everyone decreases their discretionary spending to invest in companies that make consumer goods.

As a result, few people are buying the products these companies sell, like books and iPods, and they don't become successful.

[–] sthetic@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 month ago

I agree. I hate this meme because it seems to say: "Emma Watson thinks women should have rights, and yet, she has a butt. Curious!"

Or, more generously, it says, "These men believe in feminism, and yet, they enjoy looking at attractive women. Hypocrites!" which is also unreasonable.

[–] sthetic@lemmy.ca 86 points 1 month ago (5 children)

I know this is terrible, but I find it fascinating in a sort of juvenile, teen magazine personality quiz, collect all the dolls type of way.

We've got our Businessman, Jock, Normcore main character, Sensitive Grunge Musician, Dweeb and Rebel.

Ignoring the manosphere bullshit and blithely viewing this as a team of characters planning a heist, or potential matches in a farming game or dating sim, how is this not kind of cool?

[–] sthetic@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Seconds after the last human being dies, the Wikipedia page is updated to read:

Humans (Homo sapiens) or modern humans were the most common and widespread species of primate

[–] sthetic@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 month ago

"Unwomen" rings a bell for me.

I looked it up, and in Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid 's Tale, Unwomen were infertile women sent to clean up toxic waste in the colonies.

:(

[–] sthetic@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 month ago

It means that AI tends to write in a dorky, friendly and informative way, even when covering negative topics.

And that's the way a lot of writers write. Especially in the past. And those types of sources are probably what AI was trained on.

V, as a character, is a giant dork quoting Shakespeare, constantly explaining things to a captive audience, and being an old-fashioned gentleman. Essentially an obnoxious neckbeard.

[–] sthetic@lemmy.ca 19 points 1 month ago

Yeah, that's what I like about the joke - you don't even realize what his hand was doing under the table, until the last panel

[–] sthetic@lemmy.ca 44 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Oh look, it's the guy from this comic:

 

Done with a nib pen, India ink and sloppy watercolour.

 

I made this comic about a random thought I had.

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