A feminst hacked my blog - reader responses

By now you’ve all heard the news: Muse and Abuse was hacked, and my torrent of anti-gay, anti-women, anti-black propaganda shut down.

It’s been a hectic few days. I thought I’d lose my blog forever, but luckily I figured out her password. It wasn’t too hard either. Got it on the first time, too: “OMGdidyoujustassumemygenderSOTRIGGEREDKILLALLMENproblematicBeckiesSTFU”.

I’ve of course, pressed charges, but her father’s expensive lawyer pressured me into dropping the case. Turns out she was right about that two-tiered system of justice.

However, it’s always good to listen opposing sides of arguments – even those you would never vehemently agree with. It keeps you on your toes, keeps your blog from being a circlejerk, and confuses the fuck out of the algorithm that has to try decide what content to serve you on social media platforms.

And since the ordeal, I’ve received a lot of letters addressed to the part-time illegitimate editor of Muse and Abuse. I thought I’d leave the reply (from “Stuart” we’ll call him) below. It's illuminating.

Dear Angie Davison,

Thank you for your bravery. It was truly courageous what you did. You took a risk for a laudable goal: to tell us things. Things we need to hear. Things of dire importance. Things that I, as a straight white male – am not allowed to say because it isn’t my place to contribute to a complex, nuanced discussion of our society and laws.

So thank you. Thank you for taking the incredibly gutsy decision to hack a blog that is read by nearly 12 people.

As a white, straight, cis-male, I think about all those other white, straight, cis-males who inflict such pain on the world by merely being alive. You’re right: men are such fucking scum, especially the white ones. It makes me mad. It makes me ashamed of myself. I’ve thought about killing myself for the past two years just so that there would be one less of me for you to get triggered by at all waking moments.

Feminism isn’t as evil as people think it is. Especially not this latest version of it. It changes lives. It changed my life forever. Let me tell you a story.

When I was in highschool, I was a nerd. I didn’t play any sports. I didn’t have many friends. I was weird. I didn’t develop proper social skills. While all those other boys went out onto the rugby field and re-enacted the values of a violent patriarchy and perpetuated the dangerous norms of ultraviolent masculinity that seeks not only to own women and kill them, but also kill other men who want to own their women, I had to sit and brood.

I was just an adolescent boy, after all. I had hormones. I had insecurities. I had desires. But no girls would talk to me. They would just focus on those rugby boys (of course it was only later that I learned that this is because women are indoctrinated re-enact and re-perpetuate the disgusting patriarchy unless she is doing of her own free will in which case that is an empowering decision and I commend her bravery and FIRE YASS).

And so I sat in sadness.

But where, as we all know, most boys like me would have gone out and murdered hundreds of women in a blood-soaked, sex-driven mass killing spree, I went to a liberal college and discovered our Lordess and saviour, Third-wave Feminism.

Now girls talk to me. I wow them with how amazing they are. I croon agreement and echo their thoughts, agreeing with everything they say because as women they are always right and we need to believe everything they say without hesitation, criticism, or need for evidence. I hold their bags. I snort derisively about men - all men - loudly and aggressively whenever possible.

Sure, they still don’t sleep me, or look at me as anything more than a hand-bag holding lackey to serve as a silent ally without the ability to hold, defend or form his own opinions, but it beats whacking off to Naruto. Besides, who needs the physical touch of another human being if you know you’re an evil that would just infect other, pure, female souls, a sick piece of shit who must atone for the sins of those who share his race and sex?

I’m deeply sorry, Angie (do you have a non-hetero-normative-post-birth-name, or does your assigned identity empower you?), I didn’t mean to say “human”. I meant “humxn”. I’ll add ten dozen “Hail Anita”s and forty “Praise Be to Jessica Valenti”s to my hourly privilege checking.

Anyway, I think third-wave feminism gets a bad rep. So what if it doesn’t use the racist, oppressive so-called “scientific standard”? Who cares if it ignores compelling evidence and argues vague pseudoscience that hasn’t been peer-reviewed beyond a panel of people who share Our Own One Truth? What does it matter if we refuse to have calm, level-headed discussion using clear examples and proven statistics in favour of abject screaming?

It’s all because of unfair stereotypes, baseless generalisations and oversimplified straw-man constructions by trans-hating, racist, misogynistic white male bigots who want to see God-King Trump remove his outer layer to reveal Satan wearing a Hitler costume.

They disparage degrees in Media Studies and Gender Studies – but how else can a person learn not to be a fucking arsehole to women, other men, and people who are different to them? Common decency? Basic human empathy? Societal laws and rules for civil life?

No. Only an expensive four-year degree that saddles you with crippling debt (THANKS FOR NOTHING OBAMA) can do that. Well, that and starting a tumblr blog.

I only ask one thing, Angie. That you delete this blog. Of course, everyone is gonna shout about “MUH FREEDUM OF SPEECH”, but they forget that we have nothing against different opinions. Just as long as they are all different in the same way.

This isn’t funny. This isn’t satire. When I read him making fun of third-wave of feminism, it was triggering. We can’t allow this kind of violence and patriarchal brutality to be meted out any more. I’ve already blocked him on Twitter. Please do us a favour and block him for the rest of the world.

PS: if you’re triggered please please please reach out DM me I have cookies and hugs and blankies and puppies and I can say nice things to you.

Yours in a way that doesn’t condone ownership of other people,

Stuart

Man bravely captures other man saving child’s life on film

A local man is being hailed as a true hero this morning, after bravely capturing cellphone video footage of another man saving a child’s life.

According to eyewitnesses on the scene, when the 8-year-old Billy Thomson tumbled off the edge of Platform 18 at Kingscrossing Train station, closely followed by another man dashing down into the tracks of the oncoming train to grab the boy, 34-year-old bystander Eric Jackson immediately flew into action.

“I knew time was of the essence,” explained the brave soul modestly. “Precious seconds were ticking away - I had to act quickly. So I immediately whipped out my Samsung and started recording.”

Jackson’s actions have been praised by the Mayor as “an incredible show of quick-witted initiative”.

“Not only did he start recording from the moment little Billy tripped into the path of the roaring 10:41am Express Line, he also had the wits to film in landscape mode, where many would have unthinkingly done that irritating portrait stuff that leaves those big black bars on either side of the screen. I mean, he even went so far as to enable HD, full-res mode, zooming in with a still, unshaking hand to capture every moment of the near-tragedy in perfect clarity.”

Teary-eyed parents have lavished him with their deep and sincere thanks.

“If it weren’t for him, we would never ever be able to relive those special moments on Youtube where our boy’s life was pulled from the very jaws of death,” they said, expressing their undying gratitude. “Without Eric, it’s almost as if our son might as well have died.”

However, Eric remains humble and unassuming.

“I’m no hero. I’m just a guy who was in the right place at the right time, with the right HD-ready smartphone,” he said. “I just did what any other human being would do in such an awful situation.”

“Really, in moments like this, we should really be thanking guy who was instrumental and hands-on this awful close-call," he said. "That’s right: the nameless engineer-hero who made such an excellent camera. Without him… well, I’d hate to think what would have happened. Something awful probably, like a 4-megapixel camera without integrated shake-compensation.”

The guy in the background, who almost ruined Eric’s shot when he flung Timmy up and out of the train tracks, could not be reached for comment.

Man in shower suddenly remembers he's a terrible person

Citing the soothing, calming and meditation-provoking sound and feeling of warm water pattering lightly against his skull and skin, a 38-year-old man reportedly had a silent weep in the shower this morning, after every single fucked up thing he’s ever done in his life simultaneously came rushing back to haunt him like a video montage made of sledgehammers.

“It was brutal,” said Eric Sohbes in an exaggerated bass baritone to make up for the masculinity he lost from being a fully-grown man weeping in the shower at 9am on a Wednesday. “One minute I was relaxing under the gentle torrent of blissfully warm water, and the next I suddenly remembered that time I was 17 and told a friend that women should dress ‘less like a slut’ and ‘not drink so much’ to avoid being a victim of sexual crimes. Jesus. Was I that person?”

Sohbes explained that the memories of all the times he’d made racist jokes, catcalled women, ignored starving homeless people in the street, finished Matt's last beer without asking, not replaced the TP after finishing it, and generally been a raging douche-monster in otherwise civil society – combined with the ultra-clear hindsight that he had been the dick-faced ass-hate in every failed relationship he’d ever had since seventh grade – were just too much.

“I’ve just… God, I wish I could take it back. But I can’t,” he said, crouching down on his knees in under the showerhead, bracing himself against the tiled wall with one hand and biting a fist to stem the ugly, heart-tugging sound of a grown man realising his horrifying, terrible past.

This sudden flood of memory and emotion was reportedly compounded by a feeling of hopeless despair and desperation for the future.

“It’s all so unclear,” he said. “What if, in seven years, I look back at what I am right now and regret everything I think is okay now? What’s the point of it all? Geez, I’m 38! Shouldn’t life be certain by now?”

However, at the time of going to press, Sohbe’s sudden epiphany had faded away during the car trip over to his ex-girlfriend’s house to patch things up.

“Yeah, he kinda just sat there in the car outside her place with a look of dumb incredulity smeared on his face,” said one eyewitness. “I think he had that second-wave realisation of ‘what am I doing, nah, actually I can’t have been that bad, could I?”

Friends and colleagues have confirmed this.

“He told this real knee-slapper about two jews and a black man fighting over a chicken bone at the water cooler this morning,” said co-worker Roy Sissem. “For a while there I was worried the old E-Dawg might have left us.”

His parents, too, have denied the incident.

“Yes, he took a long time in the shower this morning,” said his mom and dad, “but he always takes a bloody long time in the shower”, adding that the “hot-water-finishing son of a bitch” was “probably just fapping” again.

Pic: Memecrunch  

Nation mourns loss of Insane Gunman, 34

The people of South Africa are in a state of a profound loss and deep mourning this morning, after the sad loss of psychopath, schitzophrenic-turned-uzi-weilding mass murderer Jake Allanhard, who tragically committed suicide after gunning down only 21 corrupt, bribe-taking police officers, incompetent and unpleasant Home Office staff and utterly useless border post officals.

"Though our nation and indeed the world has seen its fair share of drug-addled and utterly unhinged sociopaths," said President Jacob Zuma at an Honourary State Funeral right next to Mandela's burial grounds, "he truly distinguished himself in his choice of 'victims'. Because let's face it, we're not really going to miss them that much."

Zuma praised Allanhard's courage and boldness.

"We've all thought some pretty twisted shit about these kinds of people who just want to make life needless unpleasant and difficult for no real reason whatsoever, but he had the guts to do something about it."

Though many international critics are calling Allanhard's actions "Morally repugnant", "worthy of eternal damnation" and "really really messed up, man", they also added "but we totally get it."

"It doesn't matter how often I go [to the Home Office] or if I've printed out every piece of documentation that could possible be needed for getting a new passport, there is always something that I don't have and have to drive back home to fetch," said Secretary General of Amnesty International, Anne Mesty. "AAARRRGH"

Pic: MSN news (ca)

Zuma continued his heartfelt memorial, calling on all divorced-from-reality nutcases to do their bit.

"Though he was sadly taken from us in a messy on-Live-TV suicide that will be endlessly repeated on CNN and SABC news for the next week, he will be sorely missed. He leaves behind an unfinished legacy - we can only hope and pray that somewhere there is a troubled, parentless, drug-addicted and abused youth who will go on to finish Allanhard's extensive and comprehensive list of the most imbecilic, vituperative, unhelpful foaming-mouthed morons that ruin this already difficult decades-long journey we call life."

Now that he is gone, the nation has been forced to go back to helplessly grinding their teeth in impotent exasperation which imagining violent scenarios in their minds where they totally give that stupid teller a piece of their minds.

Guy two rows behind you now officially biggest prick alive

According to sources from an awards selection committee, the guy sitting two rows behind you chattering away incessantly during that theatre production you were trying to enjoy last night has now been dubbed "the biggest prick currently living on planet Earth".

Nominated by his peers and fellow theatre-goers, the praise for his proficiency in this department was heaped on the man within minutes, after the well-attended premier of this play, held at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.

"That f*$#ing son of  bitch, he's honestly the biggest asshole in the world. Couldn't he just shut the hell up for two seconds?" reads one of the first nominations. Other sterling commendations of his superiority in this field include shining words like "prick-faced loudmouth" and "Blackberry-thumbing knobhead".

According to the selection committee from the Institute of Deciding Who, Exactly, Is The Biggest Douchebag On This Planet (IDWEITBDOTP), 28-year-old fitness instructor John "Boet" Bradshaw from Johannesburg was the immediate stand-out candidate. Apparently, the gym-loving loudmouth outdid even Mit Romney and that guy who always smokes in the nonsmoking section of your favourite restaurant for the coveted award.

"His loudmouth, inane commentary with his equally intellectually-challenged significant other, his tendency to not turn off his phone and always chuckle at his BBM messages, and his grating habit of snapping flash-always-on-and-as-bright-as-bloody-possible photographs of the shows you've paid good money to enjoy were all factors that made him on par with some of the biggest contenders for this award since we started giving it," read the Institution's report.

Historic analysts have come forward with a detailed history of the man's achievements, showing his long history of experience in ruining performance art.

"He's been ruining theatre for years now, but this is his first real recognition for all his hard work," said Histaree Boeks, a record keeper. "Ever since his first days as a six-year-old in a beautiful wedding ceremony, in which he constantly and audibly nagged to go pee-pee, he's been destined for greatness."

However, insiders on the committee have admitted that it was a close battle.

"Apparently, it wasn't until he started crinkling endless Sparkles packets to death that he sealed his prize," said the source, whose name we would have misspelled misspellt mispelt mispelled gotten wrong if we'd actually had to write it out.

Bradshaw will be honoured at a ceremony later this week, where he will join other awardees Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and the guy who recently ruined the Great Gatsby for everyone who's ever read the book.