The blow back has not been immediate, so maybe people around Kanye West are sitting on his phone, or sitting on him sitting on his phone, so that he doesn’t make any more remarks which will land him in any hotter water than he’s already in. West’s business relationship with talent agency CAA got canceled today, as part of the blowback to his “going death CON 3” remarks about Jews. Balenciaga has also dropped West, and Adidas might.
But that’s not the real story. Before all of this blew up, Amanda Maricotte at Salon wrote a piece that got to the roots of what is troubling West and why he’s even worth taking a look at. He’s not just an isolated rich dummy, an over the hill artiste who hasn’t gone on tour since 2016. He’s part of something a lot bigger and a lot scarier, in addition to his particular brand of mental illness.
Ye’s mental health troubles have been heavily discussed in the coverage of his recent behavior, but what may be less obvious is the role played by his obsessive anger at his ex-wife, reality-TV star Kim Kardashian. This aspect should not be overlooked. Ye has been throwing a very public tantrum for more than a year, ever since Kardashian filed for divorce. He may be rich and famous, but in this sense he’s just the latest example of the misogyny-to-fascism pipeline that is used to radicalize men to authoritarian politics.
As I’ve written about extensively before, white nationalists and other authoritarian groups figured out years ago that an effective way to lure men into the fascist cause is by appealing to their resentment toward women. The internet has created a bunch of different misogynist communities that fascists latch onto, looking for new recruits. There are the “men’s rights” communities, primarily composed of bitter divorced men, like Ye, who blame feminism for the breakup of their marriages. There are the “incel” communities, where younger men blame feminism for their inability to find sex partners. There are men who position themselves as dating and fitness gurus, only to turn around and feed their audience far-right politics. The Proud Boys, who played a major role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, were founded by right-wing video host Gavin McInnes, after he realized that male insecurity creates an ample recruiting opportunity for the far-right cause. […]
As the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) explained in a 2018 report, “a deep-seated loathing of women acts as a connective tissue between many white supremacists” and “the largely anonymous outrage of the men’s rights arena acts as a bridge to the white supremacist and anti-Semitic ideology of the alt right.” In a 2021 report, the ADL noted that the “great replacement” — a white nationalist conspiracy theory championed by Tucker Carlson, among others — as much reflects “a hyper-fixation with controlling women’s bodies” as it does racist fears about a diversifying America.
It seems indisputable that Ye has immersed himself in the toxic ideology peddled by “men’s rights” activists. Even during the parts of the Carlson interview Fox News was willing to air, he repeatedly asserted that he had a right to control Kardashian’s life, career and body.
Here’s what it all distills down to: West, and his money, are tools of white nationalism. White nationalism, anti-Semitism and misogyny all go hand in glove. Parler was already a ridiculous cesspool, look for it to become more so when he gets his hands on it. And we still don’t know what will happen when Elon Musk takes over Twitter this Friday. Purportedly he plans to cut back staffing 75% and Twitter may become a paid for platform.
West and his platform will become a part of whatever the saga of social media is to be in the next few months and certainly the next year. With the mind set he’s in, it behooves us to keep on eye on what happens. If nothing else, it will be good for comic relief.
Ok now this is going to be a big fucking surprise to the “mens rights” folks and the incels: when we act like complete and utter shits, we don’t get laid. I’ve found this out over the years. Mansplaining is a big one responsible for some mighty cases of blue balls on my part. It wasn’t feminism, it was me being an, wait for it, ASS. WTF people are you that much of a loser you can’t admit you did something wrong? Really?
Here’s another surprise for these idiots: women aren’t going to sleep with you if you continue to peddle men’s rights bull-shit. And what the fuck is this “men’s rights” shit? Yeah, right. After all, what chance do men have? You’re fucking kidding me right?
The world has moved on. We’ve progressed into the future and everyone came along. I have a feeling that if we try to, how is it they put it, oh yeah, make them bitches obey us, we may never get laid again. I’m pretty sure most women realize there are better places to live, and better countries, than with a bunch of cavemen. Such women remaining probably won’t be worth fucking. Time to join the rest of us in the 21st century incels and the rest of the morons.
Oh, and one more thing, if my sister is anything to go by, women know how to use firearms. Sis is particularly brutal-aims low if you know what I mean. We won’t be fucking if we don’t have dicks any more.
Some of us women actually like America. And are well.worth getting to.know, let alone fucking. However,,since making the wrong decision on whom to date,,we tend to have developed a good sixth sense as to whom to avoid.
Most rapists,ate men we actually know, even if only slightly. They include:
The guy we went out with twice but had no chemistry with
The guy in class you talk to about the latest assignment but turned down for a date
The guy you had a relationship and slept with but you ended it
A male cousin or u did or other relative; even worse,,Mom’s boyfriend or your stepfather
A co-worker
A client
S male friend
The pizza delivery guy you make brief small talk with
Any man you have met a couple of times
We don’t want men to become saints, just stop being controlling douchecanoes, rapists,and murderers. Don’t cat call. Don’t tell us we’d be prettier if we smile. Don’t keep pushing for a date if we decline the offer. Don’t follow us on dark streets.
Realize no one is owed sex,no.matter how horny you are. Accept that anything but enthusiastic consent isn’t consent, and that whining or threatening are forms of coercion. Grasp that just because you want sex from a woman does not mean she wants it with you, and you are not owed sex for the price of a movie ticket. In other words stop behaving like overgrown, entitled brats and behave like adults.
Grow. The. Fuck. Up.
Thank you!
I can’t remember where I read it but someone pointed out that Britney Spears was forced into a harsh decade-plus-long conservatorship due to her “mental issues” but, so far, no one has seriously put forward the notion that someone needs to do the same to Kanye who has publicly admitted to his own mental issues.
Britney Spears had family who were willing to go down that road – I don’t think Ye has anybody in his corner who will go that route for him. After all, who wants to be the person to try to have him committed, then get the psychs to write up paperwork for it, all the while with him screaming bloody murder about it. That person would be responsible for him after that, and I doubt if there is anyone who is willing to take on that enormous responsibility.
https://www.politicsplus.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Light.png And just like that, the light goes on. Yeah, it exists. It always has. Even before fascists were consciously starting to use it as a commodity, it’s why Hillary lost in 2016. And it’s why she didn’t get the nomination in 2008, too.
At this point we are far enough along as a society to have decided that Senators and Governors (at least in many states) are unimportant enough that a woman can do the job – even possibly Vice Presidents. But please, let’s not make the mistake of thinking that our country is advanced enough to elect a woman to the Presidency. Especially with all the inroads the fascists have made between 2016 and 2020, and are still making – less aggressively, but the tide is still going that way.
Is that what I want to see? Of course not. But, dammit, it’s reality. I’m afraid it isn’t just Republicans who are reluctant to accept reality when they don’t like it. And when we do it, the biggest victims are the defeated candidates – and the country deprived of theit expertise.