This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.
Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.
We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:
-
Shaming.
-
Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.
-
Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.
-
Recruiting for a cause.
-
Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.
In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:
-
Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
-
Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.
-
Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.
-
Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
And yet Hogwarts Legacy still has a highly conspicuous trans character (who must have been directly approved by Rowling given she maintains absolute creative control over her setting), and it’s likely the new show will too.
There were multiple backlashes to the growing gay rights movement between 1967 and 2015, but in each case the long term trajectory was clear.
Sure they're still hedging their bets, but in the process they're learning that A) it doesn't actually take the heat off them and B) nobody really cares anyway. Zaslav going out of his way to make sure the public knows Rowling is directly involved in the new show, even as the headlines about her dunking on the trans community flow, is a significant signal.
Everything isn't the gay rights battle. Social media is a lot more ubiquitous now than it was ten or fifteen years ago, and frankly the trans community uses it to be their own worst enemy in ways that are uniquely their own.
More options
Context Copy link
The question of how inevitable is the inevitable march of progress is a pretty fascinating one to me. I don't really have an answer here, and you may very well be right that over the long term the trans movement will keep winning, but it's not like there has never been a Science backed Progressive idea that has turned out to be a short-lived fad, and an embarrassment, forcing progressive elites to run damage control, and lay thick layers of dust on historical documents, lest someone finds and reads them. Or maybe they'll just redefine victory. A world where transgender people aren't cast out of mainstream society as weirdos, but their demands to be treated as literal women in every aspect of society go unanswered, and everyone pretends pediatric gender care was a Big Pharma conspiracy to exploit children for profit, looks like a win for the trans community to me, if you look at it from the perspective of 20 years ago, but a massive loss from nowadays.
That particular capability relied on monopolistic control of the media and a general consensus that the media they controlled were trustworthy. Both are now absent, and history is coming for them.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link