this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2024

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What does this mean and how do you feel about the whole weird thing? (hexbear.net)

submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by PaX@hexbear.net to c/chat@hexbear.net

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I am elevating this from megathread post to real post

I regret looking at X almost every time

This weird discourse has done actual psychic damage I think

Can someone make this make sense to me? Not uncritically adopting the weaponization of language traditionally, normally even, used to attack queer and neurodiverse people against less-lib American reactionaries by Democrats makes you a fed? It's not a hill I would die but yeah

We are truly reaching levels of normality never seen before, regardless of how not weird and normal it is in many sections of society to be a turbo-reactionary

Have we entered a period where internet leftists and ~~K-hive~~standard internet left-libs become almost indistinguishable? I feel like I'm stuck in the event horizon of a terminally online singularity, spiraling toward a center of infinite onlineness

The most online people I have ever seen are telling other online people to log the fuck off, the 🥥🌴 usernames are joining with the 🍉🇵🇸 usernames in fed-jacketing people, the Democrat campaign is reposting dril tweets

We are cooked, the kamala-coconut-tree internet singularity consumes us all

Weirdn ormal weird werird normal couch weird weird normal

all 49 comments

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[–] RyanGosling@hexbear.net 37 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Almost every word has been used as insult against someone somewhere. From weird, to annoying, to dumbass, to worthless, to useless, to demonic, to motherfucker, and so on. If I can’t call a piece of shit weird for being obsessed with people’s genitals while chatting with teenagers online, I don’t know what to tell ya

[–] Egon@hexbear.net 4 points 3 months ago

I'm entertaining myself with making new insults. It's funny and challenging because you want something that's harsh, but it easily falls into a ""Reddit compound swear" cringe class.
My personal favourites are dog-brained (used it for a long while now and I've been seeing other people use it now too) and porridgefarmer.
There is an old word in my language which just means "poor and lazy worksman" (poor as in low quality) and I really want an English variant.

[–] PM_ME_YOUR_FOUCAULTS@hexbear.net 37 points 3 months ago

My feeling is that Democrats are drunk with power after hitting a successful line of attack for once in their lives and are about 75% of the way through running it into the ground

[–] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 36 points 3 months ago

I think it's pretty funny when the are you triggered crowd explodes over something inoffensive.

[–] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 31 points 3 months ago

My response to being told to vote for Copmala pipimi-finger

[–] miz@hexbear.net 22 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I'M DRUNK BUT HUMANITY MUST STOP CAPITALISM FROM KILLING THE PLANET

[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 months ago

ME TOO!

[–] anarchoilluminati@hexbear.net 22 points 3 months ago (1 children)

doomscroll

[–] PaX@hexbear.net 18 points 3 months ago

yea

Feeling rather doomer tonight

[–] Ram_The_Manparts@hexbear.net 19 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Tell me that this guy isn't weird:

peterson-sus

[–] Southloop@hexbear.net 19 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

This is nothing new to me. I’ve been calling my brain dead asshole “good normal folk”conservative in-laws weird for decades.

Think your kids shouldn’t hear about sex until 18, provide no protection whatsoever and then go into deep grief when they get pregnant in their teens? Weird.

Think the Bible is in English because Jesus walked (yes, on water) to England and had it translated? Weird.

Think we failed in Iraq because we weren’t doctrinally stringent enough with our application of violence, right down to every child and bird (yes, that specific)? Weird.

Have your whole family vaccinated ASAP for COVID, but you think people with ADHD are likely influenced by demons as an explanation for their behavior, despite holding a master’s in nursing? Then change your mind on the vaccines when your kids wind up having ADHD and scramble into months-long fugue state inducing mental breakdown to try and save your babies? Weird.

Insist on buying guns for your kid who has about the most egregiously spastic cerebral palsy imaginable, all so he can defend his home, it’s okay, he watches his brother play the Fortnite! He know how they work!” Home BTW is a squalid dump no one in their right mind would chance breaking into because he’s neglected and won’t use help? Then when his older brother joins the Marines (imagine the stupidest reason why you’d join and you got it) you engineer the purchase of a class III firearm and silencer for a Christmas present to take with him to basic training—not allowed—despite your trailer home falling down around your ears and you complaining about money constantly as your kids have to skip meals? WEIRD!

Sorry for the dump. Had to get some stuff off the chest.

[–] Egon@hexbear.net 19 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I'm surprised the discourse went with queerphobic instead of ableist.
I think it's wrong and silly. It's just someone trying to have discourse (TM). But I also think it's silly that the hexbear party line is that "stupid" and "idiot" are ableist words, so what do I know?

I'm neurodivergent, queer and I was literally a minor once. Back when I was a gay little weirdo I got bullied a lot and "weird" wasn't what people were calling me. At least not as far as I can remember.

I feel like I'm talking in circles, I'm sorry.
Sometimes words are bad, and we all use those words, but the people who run society are seen more and they use the words more. So we get used to the words being used on us and then we see them being used on others and we think it has something to do with us. It doesn't. Except for the times when the words are actual slurs like the r-word or the n-word.
But suddenly a bad word gets more common usage and online opinion-havers will think it has something to do with them, because that's just how they are.

Same thing happened with "ok boomer". People talked about how the dismissal was like that used on ND people or how it was mean to the elderly or something.

[–] Bloobish@hexbear.net 11 points 3 months ago

You honestly got it, this is an example of someone creating discourse for the sake of discourse to stop people from using the term "weird" against oppressors (either knowingly or unknowingly). This is because weird is a term to label those outside the societal consensus, and so fascists and reactionaries are very afraid of being called weird as it signals they are now outside the societal consensus while what they hate, minority groups/lgbtq groups/neurodiverse peoples are normalized or becoming normalized in their oh so valuable consensus of "normal".

[–] SmokinStalin@hexbear.net 19 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The rhetoric is actually calling right wing shit weird. This has the effect of labelling the things they are throwing fits over as normal (like being gay)

Ultimately its normalizing queerness 🤷

[+] shamrockpreacher5@reddthat.com 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

[deleted]

[–] Bloobish@hexbear.net 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

See my comment but this is more or less getting into the weeds and allowing the terms of this dialogue back into the hands of oppressors/fascists. Using a term used to oppress others towards the oppressors is liberation for the oppressed and praxis against the oppressor by way of renegotiating who is and isn't in the "out group". Being ugly in your example is subjective as beauty/attractiveness is variable depending on context/kinks/culture/society etc. Using a term that was done to out group marginalized individuals and instead bring them into the in group while out grouping the oppressors and their way of thinking is horrifying for fascists and reactionaries as their greatest goal is to create acceptance to oppress, marginalize and eventually exterminate out groups. This is why the far right became truly troubled by being called weird by a perceived average individual such as Walz (who looks like a stereotypical Midwestern father figure), as this is a signal to them that they are not allowed within the "normal consensus" of society.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Using a term used to oppress others towards the oppressors is liberation for the oppressed and praxis against the oppressor by way of renegotiating who is and isn’t in the “out group”

I think I disagree. Would a perceived average individual such as Walz calling Trump a f*g be liberating?

[–] Bloobish@hexbear.net 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The use of the term f*g would need to be culturally changed so as not to just be calling Trump a member of the LGBTQ group and thereby out grouping them with Trump. Weird as a term is meant to state you are outside of what is acceptably "normal" while the slur is for a specific insult towards a specified out group (i.e. homosexuals), thereby using "weird" against fascists and reactionaries states that they and their beliefs are not normal nor accepted within society and inversely that those they persecute are more welcome than them thereby culturally challenging the dominance reactionaries have in cultural discourse away with one simple phrase "why are you so weird?".

Remember that average peeps in society don't usually read long essays on why accepting human beings is good which is something reactionaries bet upon and use small form propaganda to emotionally distort, therefor using a common tactic they use back upon them has ruffled them far more than calling them murderers/psychopaths etc because stuff like this stays far longer within the cultural zietgiest (i.e. why are those forever Trumper people so weird about genitals/gay people/Mexican people?).

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

So this is an attempt to take back normal for ourselves and relegate fascists into the role of counterculture?

[–] Bloobish@hexbear.net 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Counterculture movements are commonly legitimized by way of being seen as counter to culture and open to discussion or investigation by the prevailing culture (for examples hippies, green movements, anti imperialist actions etc), labeling something or a group as "weird" more or less relegates them into the same lane as cults, extremely religious/zealous individuals and people in town that parents wouldn't want their kids around. Weird as a term when applied is used to remove the chance for debate or open exchange and is why it is used by fascists to shut down other groups, i.e. "don't talk to those weirdos they want to turn you into x".

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Punks and hippies were definitely considered weird.

[–] Bloobish@hexbear.net 4 points 3 months ago

I'd say odd but not weird given they were absorbed into the culture (music, grung, punk aesthetics), weird is more Scientology and how they have to interact with people without saying who exactly they are until they finally have them in the organization given how much of a joke they are.

[–] iie@hexbear.net 19 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I was actually amazed that calling conservatives weird worked at all. When I heard that Kamala Harris planned to call Trump weird if they debated, and that this was some kind of big strategy, I thought it sounded like the most toothless strategy I had ever heard. But now that I think about it, yes, they are weird, they're some of the weirdest fucking people on the planet, and nothing hurts like the truth, so I guess I can kind of believe it. It's still hard to imagine that the insult would hurt if you heard it from a lanyard, though.

As for it having an ableist or queerphobic resonance, that never really occurred to me. But I could see it morphing into that in the future if it lasts that long. Instead of an attack against conservatives it becomes some kind of "horseshoe theory" attack against the right and the left, and then all the queer and neurodivergent and disabled people on the left become "weird" too, while "normal" is a NATO-supporting warhawk neoliberal who wants to glass Ukraine and Palestine.

[–] Bloobish@hexbear.net 7 points 3 months ago

Fascists want to be normalized, being called weird makes them an out group and delegitimatizes their platform. It's why being called scary or sociopathic is okay since that is seen as "being strong" towards the enemy.

[–] Awoo@hexbear.net 18 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Fascists are ultra conformists. They believe in a "normal" and want everything to conform to it. They see everything as outside that normal as "weird" and attack it.

The second comment is not incorrect in that this is what fascists do.

However, what it fails to recognise is that by calling fascists weird you're calling everything they claim is weird "normal". Thus the term does not apply to lgbt people or other marginalised nor is it harmful.

[–] Bloobish@hexbear.net 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Exactly, this is an example of linguistic/cultural liberation by relabeling a oppressive term back upon the oppressor and bringing the oppressed into the societal consensus. i.e. LGBTQ, minorities, neurodiverse individuals are normalized and welcomed into society while reactionaries are not, a nightmare for fascists.

[–] Awoo@hexbear.net 10 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Yes exactly.

Also what's neat about this is that if it goes on for long enough it will force the fascists into conforming to what we've defined as normal. They are ultra conformists, if they are made uncomfortable by being the "weird" ones for long enough they will conform in order to find comfort again. They can't go on feeling uncomfortable forever, they will triangulate a comfort zone for themselves.

Bullying them genuinely really works.

This also works on some of the liberals from a leftist position too but with moralising. They want to believe themselves moral people and pointing out that they're not and bullying them for it makes them triangulate into a new comfort zone where they move leftwards. It doesn't necessarily create socialists but it does create something better. Although I would say in the case of at least some people here a pathway into socialism did come through this.

[–] HexbearGPT@hexbear.net 15 points 3 months ago

the dems are going to lose by being too twitter-style-online. funny as hell.

[–] Bloobish@hexbear.net 14 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Some libs are uncomfortable to the realization that yes you can call out your opponent for being fucking crazy and call them weird, and also that the term weird used as an insult to marginalized groups now being turned against those that would oppress them is in my perspective a legitimate act of praxis by coupling the term weird to individuals way too obsessed over what kind of genitals people have and making sure your kids can't read books (while also being the kind of people that likely fuck random pieces of furniture).

By disengaging the term from the groups that would be oppressed by it instead connecting it to the oppressors there has been an act of cultural/linguistic liberation which makes fascists angry and uncomfortable because they in their minds are not supposed to be the "out group" like "those people" and so out grouping them makes them realize their mode of thinking is not normalized in society (an existential fear of all fascists and reactionaries).

[–] Pili@hexbear.net 12 points 3 months ago

I don't think being gay is weird. But if someone wants to check a kid's genitals before a sports competition, that's really weird.

If they are being weird then I'm calling them weird, I don't want to torture my brain trying to figure out if I shouldn't.

[–] Antiwork@hexbear.net 12 points 3 months ago

Literally everyone on this site is a weirdo. But we don’t spend our whole lives trying to pretend that we’re something different. When you’re a weirdo and just beg for people to think of you as completely not it becomes very easy for people make fun of you. The libs are bullying conservatives. It’s the type of bullying we’ve been calling on for a long time.

[–] GalaxyBrain@hexbear.net 9 points 3 months ago

It's silly

[–] Sulvor@hexbear.net 8 points 3 months ago

There's a difference between being weird being weird.

See: "Baka got a weird case, why is he around"

[–] SteamedHamberder@hexbear.net 8 points 3 months ago

I guess theres a big difference between “being weird” and “being interested in weird things” when “wierd” is used as an insult it’s because it’s an obsession which spills into how one interacts with people on a daily basis.

[–] SpiderFarmer@hexbear.net 7 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I mean, I'm sure I'm not the only one who wears queer as a badge of honor. This rando on Twitter is just being a weird dork, though.

[–] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Weird is simularly used as a badge of honor by the great Al Yankovich

[–] nocturnedragonite@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 3 months ago

Yes also saying lgbtqia+ gets tiring, lmao

[–] scarcity_of_the_self@hexbear.net 2 points 1 month ago

Just lazy fedjacketing that won't even threaten the quoted person. Same people who say "America deserved 9/11” instead of explaining AMERICA DID 9/11.

It's almost like the people staying on a site that openly hosts illegal child abuse images and Nazis actually enjoy the abusive hateful incoherent discourse and fear the prospect of engaging with people other than the obvious demons who enjoy being insulted by them for years and treat them like court jesters

That can't be though, that would be so embarrassing. I'm sure the serfs and majority report and all the other radlibs are still the adults in the room. Surely they haven't just made a career out of pointing out the right does things that are obviously weird and childish, surely they can't have zero depth to them at all, right?

[–] BeamBrain@hexbear.net 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

As a weirdo, I resent being lumped in with reactionaries

[–] PaX@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Rly tired rn and usually I lurk if I'm still online but I have to know:

How did you find this old post? I don't mind necroing but you're the 2nd person to reply in the last few hrs on this months old post, did someone link it somewhere?

Also I generally feel the same about the weird thing, good thing they stopped using it lol

[–] BeamBrain@hexbear.net 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Was browsing through someone's post history, no doubt the same person who just replied recently. Didn't notice the thread was so old because their most recent post was so new, lol.

[–] PaX@hexbear.net 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Ohh okay, I see lol

[–] FunkyStuff@hexbear.net 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Hey I'm here too for the same reason. Just wanna say hi to one of the best posters rat-salute

[–] PaX@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago

meow-hug

And I also say hi to another one of our best posters