If they didn’t get it when you made the crack about naming your balls, there’s really no hope.

The Swedish government is gonna steal your pot? Damn Sven don’t bogart it.

Guys,

11. some people – ok some girls, the uncool girls – have NO sense of humour.

Brad, maybe it’s because sexism veiled in self-mockery seems to be the rage these days.

mrstrailerco, everyone knows men name their penises…not their balls.

Brad, maybe it’s because sexism veiled in self-mockery seems to be the rage these days.

OK, fine. I will not make fun of myself anymore. I will officially add “myself” to the list of people that I cannot trash. Since apparently, I make jokes at my own expense as a stealth campaign to legitimize sexism.

mrstrailerco, everyone knows men name their penises…not their balls.

Ooop, ooop! Stereotype!!! STEROTYPE!!!! THAT’S SEXISM!!!!!11!

Actually, I am frequently amazed how people can come here regularly and suddenly forget that people tend to at least TRY to be funny. They’ll make 20 funny comments and then take a post seriously.

And I thought I was the only one allowed to comment here and not be funny.

I’m gonna say, if you can’t recognize Teh Snark, you need to hang out at Big Orange

mikey

a. no one would fault you for stalking alyssa milano. NO ONE.

b. your post was funny. and, um, not sexist.

c. people need to relax.

d. you just keep on keepin’ on, brad rocket. really.

also, little known fact: women are more likely to become pregnant by an adulterous lover than their husband. (source: pop science book i read, like, 10 yrs ago, called “The Red Queen” or some such thing.)

also, is it just me, or do people seem to be confused by phrases like “more likely” and “in general” – as in, refering to statistical trends rather than specific cases.

…and just think of Papelbot, Brad. Just think of the Bot against Mr. Fool’s Gold Glove today, and let your troubles fade.

…and just think of Papelbot, Brad. Just think of the Bot against Mr. Fool’s Gold Glove today, and let your troubles fade.

Funny thing is: I like Jeter. Really I do, even as a Sox fan. The guy is an outstanding hitter who is just a pain in the ass who always seems to get on base. His D isn’t great, true, but he’s generally solid and he more than makes up for those deficiencies with his bat, esp. from the shortstop position.

Paps is so frackin’ nasty though. DAMN he made Jete look silly…

Brad, maybe it’s because sexism veiled in self-mockery seems to be the rage these days.

OK, fine. I will not make fun of myself anymore. I will officially add “myself� to the list of people that I cannot trash. Since apparently, I make jokes at my own expense as a stealth campaign to legitimize sexism.

Oh, stop being silly. Lesley has a point. That’s the whole “Hey, ladies, we men are such incompetent boobs you need to drop your silly little careers and cater to our every need” thing that pops up outta guys like Ben Shapiro or Mike Adams about once every six weeks. That Julia Gorin thing below about pregnancy being such a hoot ’cause people bring you ice cream, but she herself ain’t gonna be spurting out no sprouts? Much the same thing.

I thought you were making fun of Alyssa Whatshername’s silly list and such like inspid over-generalizations of human beings. I hate those goddamn things. We all know at least one person who renders the whole list moot, so what’s the point in setting these rules in stone? Don’t you hate it when people make assumptions about what you’re gonna do before you do anything?

Or, since I can’t embed in comments
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tDPDaphgR3k

se verdad

No smiley faces?! How do Joseph and Pinky see without faces, YOU HEARTLESS BASTARD?( and it’s really Mr. Pinky, isn’t it? You can tell us, we’re like family. Hence the constant friendly bickering.)

I thought you were making fun of Alyssa Whatshername’s silly list and such like inspid over-generalizations of human beings. I hate those goddamn things. We all know at least one person who renders the whole list moot, so what’s the point in setting these rules in stone? Don’t you hate it when people make assumptions about what you’re gonna do before you do anything?

But that’s kinda the point. I wasn’t being serious. I left this in the other thread, but I think it applies here as well:

I’m just goofing on stereotypical male behavior is all. If you knew me in real life, and not in my Internets persona/character, you’d know I’m not a testosterone-fueled male who can’t control his actions. I have certain ridiculous stereotypical male TENDENCIES (i.e., I’m the goofiest moron in the world when I’m drinking and watching sports), and that’s what I’m riffing on.

And I don’t think men slip around more than women, or vice versa. I also don’t think that neither biology nor sociology are the main reason why people slip around, though both do factor in, of course. We must diversify our genetics. Why do people screw around on their supposed true love? After listening to a lot of country music and Southern soul music, I’ve come to a decision. To wit: a lot of people are assholes who don’t think the rules they apply to the rest of reality should always apply to them and will often go to great lengths to rationalize what’s little more than petty solopism.

Also, a lot of people indulge at the dark end of the street because The Big Work doesn’t work on all of us. Not all of us find someone with whom romance is never-ending, even though we’ve legally tied our boats with him/her, it’s no longer the same. But that’s how they said it was supposed to be, so something must be wrong with us ’cause the System can’t be flawed. So instead of talking to our significant something-or-other and explaining our feelings – because it might hurt his/her ego or make us look like a freak – we do dumb shit.

Nope, don’t talk about your feelings and desires and needs with the person you say you care for, and never, ever deviate from the norm because, after all, look how well society is ticking along these days.

Oh, Braddyrocketbaby, don’t fuss. Normally I’m the Humourless Feminist in the room, but I thought:
1) Her list was funny;
2) Your response was funny;
3) Nobody was sliming anybody.

Just you keep on being Braddish, and all will be well.

Just as an aside, since I can’t seem to say/think/do just one thing at a time today: some of the items on th lists (on Esquire) were funny, some weren’t, and some were quite perceptive and touching. Like #6 from Julia Louis Dreyfus (“If you’re funny, we will sleep with you.”) or #3 from Dana Delaney (“If you just listen and let her cry, it will lead to deep, wet, soulful sex. If you like that sort of thing.”).

If you’re funny, we will sleep with you

This must mean I’m teh least funny person in teh world 😉

And all this time I thought it was because of my Taco Bell date proposals…

Auguste seemed to have a lot to say about it.

One sentence! One! 🙂

And an epithetical sentence fragment, if you want to be pedantic!

I’m not a testosterone-fueled male who can’t control his actions.

Well, let’s not demonize teh testosterone. You probably have your fair share, just would never use it as an excuse.

rolled my eyes at your original post because too many guys who are sexist retards have said very similar things, and later are all huffy and hurt and claim it was a joke. that’s what I meant when I said “sexism veiled in self-mockery”

I work with a clown who is always putting his foot in it, Bill Maher-style, then acts all hurt when we gals roll our eyes and think he’s a pig. Fuck dude, here’s what’s true: you are a pig and that’s no joke. Not you, Brad, the clown I work with. Bill Maher loves and admires women when he’s not talking about the model he’s going to “bang” after the show. “I kid, I love the women.”

having said that, let me also say I get a kick out of Maher and loves the way he rips Bush&Co a new one every week. Can’t figure out his compassion for Coulter though. I figure they slept together at some point in their odd ball friendship and he has reason to feel something for her. I guess she showed him her vulnerable side.

Maybe he’s just into being dominated?

Like #6 from Julia Louis Dreyfus (�If you’re funny, we will sleep with you.�) or #3 from Dana Delaney (�If you just listen and let her cry, it will lead to deep, wet, soulful sex. If you like that sort of thing.�).

See, I don’t like those things. I don’t care how funny you are, there’s gonna be someone you ain’t funny enough for and there’s gonna be someone who don’t find that shit funny a’tall. I know a whole lot of pitiful sonsabitches who’ve taken this “make us laugh” thing to heart yet forgot the whole “oh, and don’t be a smelly, slovenly, jobless, small-minded, selfish jackass” thing to some degree or another. And some women just ain’t gonna hose you, dude*, sorry, and more often than not, these women turn out to be lesbians. I have no idea how that happens but every report astounds me to no end.

I understand it’s supposed to be a vauge generalization and I know it’d be a pain in the ass to have to write out “except for some people for such and such reason” every time, but that stuff just gets under my skin. It implies women across the country/culture/world/what have you get together and vote on what’ll make ’em give it up and what won’t, and I find it difficult to wrap my head around that.

And people believe it, that’s the problem. Or they act as if they believe it, and they go upon the romantic landscape with the knowledge that if they do this or that, the man/woman of their dreams will fall at their feet. But when it doesn’t work, it means there’s something horribly wrong with either the object of desire or the lovelorn him/herself, and it’s always terrible, instead of, y’know, it just doesn’t always work out, that’s all. So people are devestated…or they get annoying and you have to get a restraining order.

I’m sorry, rambling, but it makes me wanna throw rocks at people.

* The Royal Dude, the poor bastard who can’t understand why the girl of his dreams wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole because, frankly, she likes tall guys or whatever collection of criteria she has the guy doesn’t meet. No one in particular, though I am specifically thinking of one kid I work with who’s really pissing up a rope with one of our co-workers, bless his little fenderheaded heart.

I only think the third and last one are bad. I don’t get the third one: What does knowing that women like porn have to do with cheating?

That could be! Ew…. black leather cocktail dress and whip. 😉

Lesley –

Re: Coulter

I met Maher at an FHM party a couple years back (I was there with a friend from Fox News, who has since escaped the Evil Murdochian Empire( and he giggled about Coulter, saying that she was basically just a hustler who was saying outrageous things just to get a soundbite and drive book sales. “Let’s face it – we’re all just trying to pop a number here. It’s schtick. Don’t take it so seriously.”

But in the last two years, you’ll have noticed that he doesn’t have her on as much. The need to go ever further to elicit the same level of shock is doing her in. The jokes have gotten too mean, and are not “Teh Funny” even to someone who has peeked behind her curtain. So to speak.

There’s a lesson there for you, Brad.

If it bends it’s Teh Funny.
If it breaks, it’s not funny.

The cheating thing I have to say is maybe true — men are more prone to it. As a lifelong homo, I speak with some authority. I mean, if I had a penny for every “discreet” MWM… And with so many women apparently willing to spill their guts to a non-threatening homo, I’ve had very few confess to cheating while sparing me no other detail of their sex life. (Seriously, ladies, I just met you and while we can commiserate about the nice ass on the guy who just passed by, let’s not abandon all social boundaries.)

And really, who knew there were so many gay men readers here? I gotta start commenting more often. Like a gay.com chat room without all the gay. (No, it’s not self-loathing…that’s just a word Cher fans use for people who loathe them.)

I thought it was mostly funny. Eyelash curlers scare me. As does this new stereotype that women remember everything. Are we supposed to keep the extra memory cards in our uteruses? Why don’t I remember everything?

Allright, fine: Men may be more likely to cheat than women, but my take is that it’s societal, not genetic. But statistically, they’re only barely more likely to cheat anyway.

I know a whole lot of pitiful sonsabitches who’ve taken this “make us laugh� thing to heart yet forgot the whole “oh, and don’t be a smelly, slovenly, jobless, small-minded, selfish jackass� thing

Sadly the people who read the “how to get a gal/guy in 10 jokes” aren’t ever going to be funny. Though it’s usually “how to get a gal…” as if we’re simpletons programmed to laugh at a specific list of jokes.

Laughter is an aphrodisiac though. A belly laugh is as pleasureable as chocolate and orgasms.

Everyone has their own unique list of what turns them on. Chemistry is hard to box up neatly though. Though very specific characteristics turn me on, I’ve also been extremely turned on by people who don’t have them. Like that balding diminutive prof I once had… 😉

Re the whole cheating thing, it’s my understanding that married men are healthier than single women and don’t do so well without a mate. Maybe this is because of socialization too, though. Straight men are able to be emotional with women, not so much with each other. Maybe this is changing. I hope so.

I also get a chuckle over the whole men are oversexed stereotype since I’ve experienced men say “not tonight, I’m tired” too…and men do withhold sex as punishment, too. I wonder how much of that is just showing off, posturing, pressure.

Me thinks the guys would love to just cuddle sometimes but disguise it as a sexual comeon so their manliness isn’t questioned or compromised.

All my men have been real cuddlebugs.

Oy.
Dear feminists,
You aren’t, as a general rule, good judges of humor. I know I committed a hate crime by addressing you communally in a critical way, and that I’m really speaking, primarily, to the so-called radical faction, but seriously, don’t try.
Thanks.

I don’t care how funny you are, there’s gonna be someone you ain’t funny enough for and there’s gonna be someone who don’t find that shit funny a’tall. I know a whole lot of pitiful sonsabitches who’ve taken this “make us laugh� thing to heart yet forgot the whole “oh, and don’t be a smelly, slovenly, jobless, small-minded, selfish jackass� thing to some degree or another.

See, I don’t get this. There is a whole bunch of us who figured out pretty early we weren’t going to be football stars, valdictorians or typical suburban highshchool heroes. But we were fucking LONELY! We wanted companionship as much as anybody else did. And we discovered in Jr. High that we could engage even the prettiest girls if we made them laugh. If we took them on weird picnics with good drugs, if we did things that superboy couldn’t even get his mind around. If we showed up on a harley with a leather vest and a belt knife and her dad fucking HATED us and she could rebel by dating us, if we did shit that could result in our dying, but if we lived who was hugging us and and going our way? Yep. C’mon, you cannot deny that the thinking dood beats the gorgeous dood one outta four….

mikey

adifferentbrad, go on and crack a joke from that book o’ ten you read. 😉

Hmm… book of ten…….
Oh, as in I’ve read a total of 10 books? Ouchy.
You’re a funny one to be speaking for feminists, considering feministe doesn’t agree with your hatred of fat people.

brad, for the last time, i don’t hate fat people. you can protest fat without hating the person it’s attached to. like the surgeon-general.

now, i’m gonna ignore your clueless ass. again.

A belly laugh is as pleasureable as chocolate and orgasms.

I hope my prior jokes have given you multiple belly laughs =]

I can’t believe you’ve been so daft – of course women don’t like porn.

I showed my mother Back Door Sluts 9 the other day, and she didn’t even crack a smile.

Awwww. But I need you to tell me about me, so that I may learn.
N is that like hating the sin but not the sinner?
I don’t doubt you mean well at heart, Lesley, but goddamn you’re haughty. You act like you own tbogg’s place, too.

C’mon, you cannot deny that the thinking dood beats the gorgeous dood one outta four

Jon Stewart is sexay!

“I showed my mother Back Door Sluts 9 the other day, and she didn’t even crack a smile.”

Hehehe. Mildly obscure culture references make me giggle to myself.

I’ve noticed a sharp upturn in forum/chat mis-understandings the past few days. I blame the moon.

maggie, way back up there: You don’t think that book you read might have had some kind of agenda, do you? Although that factoid might be a pro-genetic diversity factor, or a result of immunity build up to steady date’s vital bodily fluids. Or….
(It’s tough being fair minded & knowledgeable, as we all know.)

nice “Crimes and Misdemeanors” line, wordyeti. It was made for Alan Alda.

Bradrocket,

Now you know how I feel! Just tryin’ to be funny around here and….wham!

Here’s the thing, though: the human mind is wired to create generalized categories. Our ancestors were able to survive a much harsher world by being able to abstractly generalize/categorize their experiences, rather than treating each new phenomenon as unique. In fact, I would argue that the ability to create such abstract, short-hand views of our experience and communicate them to one another is the essence of human culture.

We will never stop making generalization about the world, and, as helpful (or destructive) as those generalizations may be for navigating daily life, they will never directly match up to reality. Indeed, I would argue that anyone who says that “all men who make jokes based on gender differences are misogynists”, are, themselves, guilty of stereotyping. Is that stereotype generally true? Probably, but it doesn’t reflect actual reality.

Case in point: the infamous GIANT SAMMICH flamewar. I got a lot of shit for posing the “try walking around the mall in a fat suit” thought-experiment but I’ve found that to be an effective way of hacking people’s unchallenged stereotypes. That is, taking a group someone defines as “other” and explicitly creating a mental space that includes both the speaker and the “othered” group. I could’ve come at it by direct assault and shrilly screamed “why do you hate Teh Fatties” but, honestly, that shit never works. What does seem to work, though, is to create abstract categories that tend toward empathy and identification between us Fatties and those who make erroneous, stereotyped judgments about what our fatness “means”. IOW, fighting exclusion by explicity creating inclusion. Doesn’t always work but its the best strategery I’ve found.

also, little known fact: women are more likely to become pregnant by an adulterous lover than their husband. (source: pop science book i read, like, 10 yrs ago, called “The Red Queen� or some such thing.)

Matt Ridley (“Red Queen” author) is a numbwit pl0nker, but even he knows that very few husbands become pregnant by their adulterous lovers.

Damn, The Unseen Handâ„¢ got there first.

C’mon, you cannot deny that the thinking dood beats the gorgeous dood one outta four….

Mikey, here at Chez Cat, the thinking dood beats the gorgeous dood four outta four. I’ve never once got hot just from a handsome face: there’s gotta be some evidence of brain, humour, and intangibles like compassion and justice and stuff, before I’ll think about sharing the kitty cushion.

But as someone said above, attraction is different things for different people. For some, according to Kaz Cooke (Aussie comedienne) it’s the man with the least teeth and the most tattoos. For others, it’s a button-down shirt and a $200 haircut.

And for kingubu, your mall-walking thing has been kinda interesting, I confess. Reminds me just a tad of an English comedian called Ben Elton, who is one of the few (and they’re mainly British) who make comedy that makes us laugh at ourselves. Elton refers a lot to “farties”, as in we’re all sad gits whose pants never fit the way they do in the ads, who get bits of spinach stuck between our teeth, and do all the other embarrassing things that models and movie stars never do.

It’s a wonderfully inclusive comedy, and extremely piss-funny. I saw him once live, and the balcony (where I was sat) was shaking so hard I thought it’d come down, we were all laughing that much. Every face I saw was red, and every mouth was gasping for air, he was so extremely good.

Notice that, while one man can satisfy hundreds of people of any gender in this fashion, it’s much harder with sex. Just pointing this out, in case anyone gets any ideas.

This entire thread is insulting. People, people are mean to each other. Men are mean to women, and vice versa, and soooo000oo stupid in the meantime. Women rock, men aren’t stupid, stop it. It’s kind of insulting.

I also read all of those stupid fat threads, and that shit is complicated.

Herr Doktor, wasn’t there some murmuring a number of years ago about allowing men to at least carry the foetus? Attached to the bowel or something, if I recall correctly (and I’m sure I don’t).

Somehow I managed to avoid being trampled by the rush of men stampeding off to enrol.

ME: (To husband of 12 years): Do you remember our first kiss?
HUSBAND: Um- no.
ME: Well, do you recall the first time we made love?
HUSBAND: Um- vaguely.
ME: What DO you remeber about our courtship?
HUSBAND: When you gave me a set of keys to your car.

My vagina hates my love handle.

(three line breaks)

Danny Bonaduce

That’s odd. Danny Bonaduce hates my vagina….

I don’t believe anyone reading this blog seriously thinks that the Bradrocket is rampantly sexist or misogynist – I certainly don’t. All the same, I have to confess I read the whole Alyssa/10 things about women with Brad’s spoofing response post and it just left me grinding my teeth with annoyance. Why? I think it’s because what all those “10 things about women we women are going to explain to you” types of articles are trying and (to my mind) failing to do is awaken a kind of “Hey, this is funny! And you know why? Because even though it sounds crazy, deep down you know it’s funny ’cause it’s true!!” response.
You can make some good jokes using stereotypes and generalizations, if you know what you’re doing and can subvert then or play off of them, but that’s not what these women do.
So, it’s as if you had a woman saying “oh, yes we both try to pretend I’m a rational being – but the truth is I’m really a nitwit who’s perpetually insecure and hopelessly at odds with my own biology. By the way, I also like to cry a lot! For no reason whatsoever! It’s all kind of adorable – don’t you think?”

” … cheat … ”

If you lose that loaded verb, then it’s just sex with a different partner.

If you don’t consider the person you’re living with, married to, having sex with as a possession, it immediately becomes much safer to keep a gun in the house.

And now that I’m less grumpy, as far as cheating, yeah, some people are just wired for it. But either guys are less discrete or they plain do it more. The biggest sluts i’ve ever known have almost always been male, and being in relationships doesn’t affect them sating their appetites.
The only female I can think of off the top of my head I’ve known who was a serial cheater, to my knowledge, was a good example of an exception that proves the case.
Which brings up a question that’s related only to me. Is it common for people whose mental health depends on medication to be active members of DARE?

You really want to debate the value of the concept of cheating?
If an open relationship works for you, fine. Me, I like monogamy, so naturally I’d hope to fall in love with someone who feels the same. It’s not about ownership or territory or whatevah, it’s that for some of us sex is, hopefully, still a bit more than just sex. Not to make too much of it, but neither to make too little.

11. some people – ok some girls, the uncool girls – have NO sense of humour.

Brad, maybe it’s because sexism veiled in self-mockery seems to be the rage these days.

Irony, thy name is Lesley.

Here’s the thing, though: the human mind is wired to create generalized categories.

Well, there are people that believe that, and then there are the other kind.

Which brings up a question that’s related only to me. Is it common for people whose mental health depends on medication to be active members of DARE?

I’ll answer that if you tell me what DARE is.

It’s not about ownership or territory or whatevah, it’s that for some of us sex is, hopefully, still a bit more than just sex. Not to make too much of it, but neither to make too little.

I second that. There’s all sorts of issues like trust and intimacy and caring, but if I get into those this thread will get even heavier.

Man, I am having one extremely bad day. I must have forgotten to take my happy pills or something.

“Man, I am having one extremely bad day. I must have forgotten to take my happy pills or something.”

*Insert Rush Limbaugh Joke here.*

…And then Bill O’Reilly points at the freezer and asks, “What did that chicken say?!”

Sex is sex.

Tautologically yours,

XOXOX

DARE is the organization that hatesmehatesmehatesme for the big bonghits i smoked before writing that last comment, your feline highness. They’re the main organization tasked with lying to schoolchildren in the US about the dangers of illegal drugs. Been at it since Nancy Reagan’s time, roughly, founded by a guy who turned out to be an embezzling cokehead.
She has some sort of uncommon condition where if she doesn’t take her pills she has manic episodes she cannot recall at all. I don’t talk to her anymore.
Another random question, is it common outside my personal experience for serial cheaters to moralize about the behavior of others around them?

The condition my former friend has is not connected to her being my former friend, to do the PC dance for you.
*insert remainder of cartman german dahnce lyrics….. here*

One fun thing about DARE is that all of their classes are taught by local police officers. It adds a thin veneer of plausibility to claims that smoking weed can cause psychosis and death.

Not sure about any attempts to steal the pot of gold in your pancreas Bradley, but Chris Hitchens is definitely looking for a new liver.

Oh, okay, a different brad. My mental health is dependent on daily drugs, and I’m not in the slightest a member of any such organisation. I’ve done non-prescription drugs, and they don’t do for me what the corp-rat produced ones do, alas. Nonetheless, most of my friends either do or have done drugs to wildly varying degrees, which completely fails to bother me one iota.

Now if they started declaring war and killing strangers, that would bother me. Getting stoned doesn’t even rate on the Annoy-o-meter.

Viz your serial cheaters comment, I have absolutely no idea. Human behaviour remains a mystery to me.

” I don’t really spend days holed up watching Airwolf to escape PMS attacks”

Speaking as somebody who’s spent much of the past two days watching Airwolf clips over and over again, I can tell you that this, in my experience, is 100% effective at leaving you no risk of being in the vicinity of a PMS attack in the near future.

So, phew, right?

Would this be a good thread to mention that Emmanuelle Beart is even hotter than Alyssa Milano?

WTF?

dude.

Brad- Stop apologizing and explaining your jokes to the sensitivity police. You will not be able to appease them unless you become a self-righteous humorless prig. They get off on being offended, so you’re really doing them a favor.

What Matt T. said in his first post. Not that there is any hope of Brad “getting it”, of course. But what he said.

I so look forward to the day when people realize that:

1.) Women are people. Girls are people.
2.) There is such variation among people that there are far more similarities between females and males than there are differences (any study which purports to show a difference – which is then trumpeted by the media – is talking about small differences in averages. These studies invariably fail to mention that the overlap in ranges was huge).
3.) Powerful people are mocked for their abuses of power and the powerless are the ones doing the mocking. (Yeh, I know you feel powerless, Brad, but this blog gives you more of a forum than I have).

Since we are still fighting the same stupid sexist battles as 30 years ago, I’m not holding out much hope.

Men smart, women are smarter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUsjR4FSgSQ

Maybe the dead were sexist also!

Also, I agree with not_that_pablo. Don’t justify or defend your jokes (unless there is a total omgrawr of uproar). If people don’t think your funny, who cares? Let them go and create their own blog of all PC all the time jokes.

If you ask me, milano was the one being sexist. I really hate stereotypes. Your post was funny. Hers… aside from not being funny, it just reinforced stereotypes about women.

I think people are making too big a deal of Brad’s original post. I’m very much a living, (fire) breathing feminist and I thought it was amusing and fun.

Speaking as somebody who’s spent much of the past two days watching Airwolf clips over and over again, I can tell you that this, in my experience, is 100% effective at leaving you no risk of being in the vicinity of a PMS attack in the near future.

Sadly, no; there were still migraines, salt cravings, cramps, and depression in my immediate vicinity. Coterminous, even.

The real problem here is that many people who have no real understanding of humor beyond “that made me laugh” still feel qualified to lecture about teh funnie. Everyone who’s been criticizing the Hon. Rev. for making sexist remarks has somehow missed the obvious fact that he didn’t mean them. They were jokes, playing off of both existing male stereotypes and a published list of ten female stereotypes (which was itself a bit tongue-in-cheek).

Everyone who is criticizing Brad’s sexist remarks has entirely missed the plain fact that Brad was mocking the very ideas which, on the surface, he seems to espouse. He clearly thinks these beliefs are stupid on some level. (Except that cheating thing, I don’t agree but I ain’t deleting my bookmark over it.) Honestly, I half expect these critics to make their next blog post on the evil Jon Swift’s barbarous cannibalistic ideas.

Of course, many of Swift’s contemporaries said just that.

I don’t know why your critics miss the joke. Maybe some of them do see it and simply refuse to allow themselves to find any humor in the subject. Maybe some have never actually sat down and tried to write something funny, never watched Richard Pryor or Sam Kinison sets over and over trying to figure out how they did it. Maybe some of them are morons.

All of them fail to understand that comedy is hard, and it’s impossible for any comedian to hit the mark for everyone every time. You know what, if a comedian makes me laugh half the time, smile 20%, be indifferent 20%, and pisses me right the fuck off 10% of the time, that means he or she is doing good.

Some of us understand it, Brad. Keep writing your stuff for us, and yourself, not the humorless.

When you have to explain to your audience that your joke was a riff, there’s a problem with the delivery.

Those of us who didn’t “get it” explained more than adequately why we didn’t, Jrod.

Seconding not_that_pablo, eire1130, etc.

Doodle Bean, people are not being mocked – attitudes are. And for those who say that Brad perpetuates misogyny – how exactly? Are most of us so stupid that we would read this and see it as a vindication of ancient prejudices? That seems rather insulting, but don’t worry – I take no personal offense. Those who are that stupid – well there’s no hope for them anyway.

If “getting it” means knee-jerk condemnation of anything that someone may be offended by, then I happily accept the “not getting it” label.

It was obvious to me that the jokes were at least 90% unserious. Maybe you’re just not good at “getting it.” You are, after all, a person who helped instigate a massive flame war by writing hateful and abusive things about fat people in 100% seriousness, and failed to “get it” when it was pointed out how messed up that was.

As for your “adequate explanation”…

rolled my eyes at your original post because too many guys who are
sexist retards have said very similar things, and later are all huffy and hurt and claim it was a joke. that’s what I meant when I said “sexism veiled in self-mockery�

I work with a clown who is always putting his foot in it, Bill Maher-style, then acts all hurt when we gals roll our eyes and think he’s a pig. Fuck dude, here’s what’s true: you are a pig and that’s no joke. Not you, Brad, the clown I work with. Bill Maher loves and admires women when he’s not talking about the model he’s going to “bang� after the show. “I kid, I love the women.�

In the first paragraph it seems you truly don’t understand that the target of Brad’s jokes were the sexist assumptions themselves. Sure, he could have been more clear about it, but without subtlety there’s no humor, just a list of “things that are stupid.” But by the second paragraph Brad is no longer a sexist pig, he just sounded like a sexist pig and that’s bad. Never mind that sounding like a sexist pig was the crux of the jokes!

I stand by what I wrote; Brad, and no other comedy writer, should be writing for the likes of you, Lesley, because it is impossible. You don’t want to laugh, you want to be angry. You also apparently want all the disgusting fatties to stop eating so damn much so you don’t have to look at their hideous flab, so pardon me if your whining about the bad ol’ sexists comes across as flatly hypocritical.

Nor do I draw smiley faces on my…
You don’t… Am I the only… never mind.
Me, I’m opposed to this “All guys are incompetent boobs” stereotype. I like to think that whenever I make a doofus or an arsehole of myself, it is in my own unique personalised way, as opposed to some routine male mode of stupidity.

You know what, if a comedian makes me laugh half the time, smile 20%, be indifferent 20%, and pisses me right the fuck off 10% of the time, that means he or she is doing good.

I knew I was missing something, so I’ll try harder on that 10% part, especially for Jrod.

Brad- Stop apologizing and explaining your jokes to the sensitivity police. You will not be able to appease them unless you become a self-righteous humorless prig. They get off on being offended, so you’re really doing them a favor.

A fucking men. Jesus Christ, what you wrote was just goofy comedy.

COMEDY WEBSITE. Is that so hard to grasp? There *are* people that get off on being utterly humorless and will read deeply into something in order to take offense.

Brad, I’m so offended that you said men are simple creatures that like chicken wings. OMG I CAN’T BELIEVES YOU SAID THAT!!!!!

Look, any list you read on MSN is going to be fucking stupid, and the response was equally fucking stupid. Gah.

You better try harder, that comment only pissed me off 4%. Numbers like that will never get you a mid-season replacement sitcom, that’s for sure.

Really, Lesley and Doodle Bean! As members of the oppressed group that comprise the basis for the oppressor’s jokes, your not finding his comments just totally hilarious onlly proves that you have no sense of humor, not that the comments weren’t humorous! That’s really the only possible explanation.

Next up: Another Barbie doll du jour’s random thoughts (interspersed with male snarkiness about how those darn boyz will be boyz) about how complimentary it is, really, to be stalked, cuz stalking is just so damn hilarious too.

The basis of the joke was mocking sexist stereotypes. Why is that so hard to grasp? If you shortered the post you would get “Sexist stereotypes are pretty silly, even if people do sometimes exhibit those stereotypes.”

Never mind that even by a literal reading of what was written Brad is putting down men, himself included. The fact that some assholes pretend that they were joking after being called on sexist/racist bullshit does not change the fact that Brad was very obviously actually joking. Which oppressed group are Lesley and Doodle in, men or sexist stereotypes? Those are the two targets of the jokes.

If you wanna rant about jokes oppressing women go rant at Alyssa Milano, she’s was the one putting women down with her list.

ATTN: The Hon. Dr. St. Rev. Bradley S. Rocket, Esq, PhD, MD

I so completely agree with you, including that men are more prone to cheat because evolution has hard-wired them to cast their seed far and wide. One of the reasons I won’t claim the feminist label is because I cannot abide the PC code that makes people afraid to wax funny about gender differences. And *I* think you are funny.

But then, I argued with righties that Jane Hamsher’s Joe Lieberman blackface schtick was not racist, and everybody needed to start relaxing about such bullshit. I also think that while Imus’s “nappy & etc” was a very dumb thing to say, the national Passion Play and rending of garments it engendered made me barf.

The right only cares about this shit when it is useful to attack the left, but the left has too many who are exquisitely prudish in their own PC metrics. A pox on both.

Oh, and as my real first name would suggest, I am a wimmin. And sometimes a ho.

MzNicky, your snark would be much more effective if you could spell “humour” correctly. Well, no, actually, it wouldn’t, because it uses a rather tired old schtick;

1) Highlight and exaggerate a criticism that has been made by some here (humourlessness – which, by the way, I don’t agree with –de gustibus non est disputandum, etc).

2) Elevate the snark to a surreal level (in this case, implying that Brad et al think stalking is funny in and of itself).

Really, this is so fucking lame. It would be better if you could actually explain why Brad’s post is, in it’s context, oppressive.

Jrod said:
“The basis of the joke was mocking sexist stereotypes. Why is that so hard to grasp?”

Perhaps because it didn’t come off that way? Duh?

and

“Which oppressed group are Lesley and Doodle in, men or sexist stereotypes?”

Neither, genius. That group would be women.

and

“If you wanna rant about jokes oppressing women go rant at Alyssa Milano, she’s was the one putting women down with her list.”

No, she’s not. She’s being cute for men. That’s what she does.

Leeds man:
Your point about my spelling might have meaning if I were a resident of Great Britain, which I’m not. Here in the USA we spell many words as you do, but without the “u.” Perhaps you’ve noticed that; apparently not. On the other hand, when you use the word “its” as a possessive pronoun, the apostrophe is unnecessary. That’s ok; it’s a common mistake.

I don’t write Basic Feminism tracts, although if you’re really interested, you could start here.

Brad doesn’t think stalking is funny? My bad. Sure sounded that way. Must be my “humo(u)rlessness” coming out again.

“Basic Feminism” apparently consists of abysmal reading comprehension.

To the tune of Run-DMC’s “It’s Tricky”

MZNicky is right on time
To judge your lines
And yell “hate crime”
MzNickaaaayyyyy!
MzNickynickynickynicky
Hoo-uh

Dear Hon Sir Steve etc etc

You stole my act! That was your first mistake sir.

Faithfully,

Rt Hon McAdder Esq KBE

MzNicky, my point about your spellling was a joke. Your point about my apostrophes was spot-on. I do that now and then.

Why do I need a feminist tract when you’re here? Does it take that long to explain why, in context, Brad’s post is oppressive? Longer than extended, second-rate snark? Because, in the grand scheme of things, snark is just a bit of cheerleading for the home team. And very boring.

And I’m sure you’re scintillating at parties. The last sentence is 99% snark-free.

“The basis of the joke was mocking sexist stereotypes. Why is that so hard to grasp?�

Perhaps because it didn’t come off that way? Duh?

But it did. It’s neither mine nor Brad’s fault that you can’t see the obvious.

and

“Which oppressed group are Lesley and Doodle in, men or sexist stereotypes?�

Neither, genius. That group would be women.

But nearly every joke he made in that post was aimed literally at men and sub textually at gender stereotypes. One exception is a joke aimed squarely at himself, and one that perpetuates the awful and damaging stereotype that women like to talk after sex

and

“If you wanna rant about jokes oppressing women go rant at Alyssa Milano, she’s was the one putting women down with her list.�

No, she’s not. She’s being cute for men. That’s what she does.

Wow, so it’s men’s fault that Alyssa Milano makes remarks that are disparaging to women. You say she’s just being cute, like, say, making a fucking joke?!

So, let’s see if I have this stupid bullshit straight. When a woman makes a joke using sexist stereotypes, it’s only because men are sexist oppressors. OTOH, when a man makes jokes using sexist stereotypes, it’s proof that the man is a sexist oppressor.

Look you moron, if the people here are so terrible and sexist, why don’t you stop subjecting your poor self to it?

Jrod spent his Sunday having a hissy fit on the Internet. I spent it luxuriating in the sun at the beach.

Golly Les, you’ve devastated everything I said with your rapier wit. By pointing out that the comments I’ve made here literally took the entire day for me to hunt and peck out, and I did absolutely nothing else, you’ve made me look far less cool than you.

I hope no eat monsters accosted you with their unsightly rolls while you were at the beach, I know how much you hate that.

BTW, by calling what I wrote a “hissy fit”, you are trying to feminize me, implying that by reacting with any emotion over the concern trolls that are trying to ruin my favorite blog makes me like a woman, and thus dismissable. Hey, that all makes as much sense as anything you and MzNicky sad to say.

Lesley, we oppressors hate the beach. Too much light, air and exposure. We prefer the dank recesses of the internets to hatch our nefarious patriarchal schemes.

Jrod, I think the sensitivity troll got the desired response from us. We been had, son.

Jeez this is depressing. I hate to see lefties arguing with each other over gender issues so I’m going to stay out of it other than to say to the guys who are encouraging some of the women they’re arguing with not to come back to teh Sadly; STOP IT! As in the regular world I want MORE women around not less. C’mon now.

Just one of the reasons why women might be ‘oversensitive’.

you know guys, this whole thread has left me with a very sick taste in my mouth. No one is listening to anyone else, everyone is just taking one more opportunity to explain “why I hate X. THIS PROVES IT.”

I expect better from Sadly No.

Here’s another reason.

Hey, we got a million of ’em!

The real problem here is that many people who have no real understanding of humor beyond “that made me laugh� still feel qualified to lecture about teh funnie
Actually “that made me laugh” strikes me as a perfectly adequate understanding. When someone expounds a closely-reasoned philosophical or psychological analysis of Teh Humour and proves “That isn’t Funny”, but it makes me laugh — or vice versa — then the analysis is wrong.

So now we get links to other stories about crap things happening to women. What does that have to do with the topic at hand? I agree, it’s wrong that women are paid less than men. It’s wrong that K. Parker is paid to write. I agree that you, and I, should be angry about those things.

None of that changes the plain and bare fact that Brad’s riffs off of Milano’s list were not slams against women. The only possible way he could have made the sarcasm in that post more obvious would be to write “sarcasm” on the tip of a sledge hammer and crush skulls with it. Come on, he friggin named his balls Joseph and Pinky, do you really need more clues that he may have been writing something not entirely serious?

Doodle Bean, “oversensitive” is a word used exactly one time in this and the last thread, and you’re the one using it. Don’t put quotes around a word we never used, that’s called lying. I don’t think you’re oversensitive, maybe you are, but I don’t know and it ain’t my business. My problem with you, and Lesley, and MzNicky, is that you either deliberately or for some other reason do not get the jokes. You are misrepresenting what Brad said, period. It’s a constant thing these days, and I’m fucking sick of it.

Brad, and the rest of the SN crew, have been providing quality, free humor for three years now, and all they get for it is shit. “OMG you made fun of a fat guy one time in 5000, you’re eebil!” “If I completely ignore the point you’re trying to make it looks like you hate asians!” “You admit that it hurts to be rejected? Womyn haeter!” THEY DON’T DESERVE THIS CRAP.

I know they’re big boys and can take care of themselves, but defending them on this subject is all I can do to thank them for making my journey through this twisted, unfair world a little bit easier. They point out where the world is fucked up, and, miracle of miracles, they give me a laugh about it. If you don’t like it, then GTFO, and stop wasting everyone’s time!

Herr Doktor: Yes, you are right, the ultimate test of any comedian is whether they make the audience laugh. In the end, that’s what matters. However, part of making the audience laugh is knowing your audience. SN is written for an audience that possesses at least minimal sarcasm detection skills. If someone without that doesn’t understand the joke, it’s not Brad’s fault. The audience he wrote it for got it. That was the point I tried to make… poorly.

I mean, I hate hate hate hate hate ‘Tom Goes To The Mayor.” It’s not funny – to me. However, I can still see where the show’s jokes are, and it obviously appeals to some people. I don’t assume that since I don’t enjoy it that the humor isn’t there, it’s just not for me.

kathleen: I’m sorry, I’ll stop now.

Jrod:
Jeez, man, what is your problem? Some didn’t find Brad’s comments funny; some did. If I find something funny I yuk it up and move on; strangely, I don’t feel compelled to keep popping up and bashing those who didn’t find it funny. You seem to think some commenters here are purposely “not getting it” simply to piss you off. I would suggest that this perhaps indicates a bit of overweening you-know-what entitlement on your part, or worse, but since you seem so oversensitive about the whole thing, I won’t.

I’m popping up to say that bashing Brad for for being a sexist pig, when he has shown quite clearly that he isn’t, is wrong. If it gives you that smug feeling you crave to say I feel that way because of male privilege, then go nuts with it. Don’t forget my white privilege too, for extra smug points.

Strangely, upon reading something you don’t find is funny, you feel compelled to troll the comments until it’s all about the evils of the patriarchy, and how Brad or whoever is perpetuating it. You’ve done this at least twice. Quite frankly, I think you’re laughing your ass off that I’m dumb enough to keep assuming that you’re interested in any sort of actual discussion here. You’re a troll, plain and simple. And frankly, I find a troll using the rhetoric of feminism, something for which I have a lot of respect, for no purpose but to derail comment threads disgusting.

If you want to discus feminism, then find a blog that’s talking about it and have at it. If you want to spend all day pointing at stuff and shouting “patriarchy!” there are many places for you. This is not one of them. This is Sadly, No! It is for mocking wingnuts talking baseball, and an occasional serious piece.

Anyway, Leeds Man, you’re right, I’ve been had! Mea culpa. I got trolled and I didn’t even realize it. Christ Almighty, how many thousands of words did I waste trying to explain my position to be greeted with “Jeez, man, what is your problem?” How much clearer can I make it? Not every goddamn thread on SN needs to be about picking the post apart to look for evidence of the writer’s true evil motivation!

kathleen: Sorry, I lied.

f you want to discus feminism, then find a blog that’s talking about it and have at it. If you want to spend all day pointing at stuff and shouting “patriarchy!� there are many places for you. This is not one of them. This is Sadly, No! It is for mocking wingnuts talking baseball, and an occasional serious piece.

When someone writes something like this I tend to think their opponent might be worth reading.

Then read what she has to say. I’m just saying it’s extremely rude and trollish behavior to come onto a blog and derail one thread after another. The last several derails have been about the SN writers being misogynist slimeballs, and it’s getting very tedious, like my writing in this thread. It’s even become Shoelimpy’s favorite trick! It’s almost to the point where a Neo-Nazi troll infestation would be a breath of fresh air. Not for very long, but still…

Honestly, I don’t understand why anyone would choose to come here if they’re itching to have serious discussion on the subject of feminism. Pandagon, Feministe, Feministing, Pam’s, Twisty’s, and dozens of others have insightful and intelligent discussion of every aspect of feminism by people who have spent their lives immersed in that study. Sadly, No! has comment sections full of people looking to crack jokes or commiserate on the latest Bushco atrocity. That’s no slam against either group, and the groups overlap quite a bit. Is it wrong to think that commenters should let the blog host set the topic for discussion?

MzNicky linked to Molly Ivans so I know she can’t be all bad, but she is still trolling, and she’s still doling out a lot of undeserved grief. (Not what’s directed toward me, I asked for it when I started arguing.)

Then read what she has to say.

Let’s take this thread then. MzNicky has written very little, and it’s on-topic as the subject was Brad getting annoyed that people were calling him out for something. This right here is not trolling. Limpy and Annie are of a different order entirely, and they can eat pie. I can’t see her name on the “More Alyssa Milano” post.

I’d appreciate a more clear explanation, dissection even, of what was sexist since I’m stupid and awful (really, that part’s true) although I admit to an “uh-oh” upon reading what Brad wrote for reasons I cannot articulate (did I point out my stupidity?). If someone wants me to see another side of something and they’re not some sort of nut, I’m all ears. MzNicky’s welcome as far as I’m concerned, but nobody with sense should give a shit what I think about an almost wholly free comment section.

I’d appreciate a more clear explanation, dissection even, of what was sexist since I’m stupid and awful (really, that part’s true) although I admit to an “uh-oh� upon reading what Brad wrote for reasons I cannot articulate (did I point out my stupidity?).

I feel the same, and that’s really why I’m feeling trolled. I’ve pointed out specifically and exactly why I feel that Brad’s post wasn’t sexist, and was in fact mocking sexist stereotypes. Nobody on the other side has responded by pointing out, specifically and exactly, why I’m wrong about that. I just am, and it’s because of my male privilege.

I can see a few weak arguments for it, primarily an argument that making use of the stereotypes in any context helps perpetuate them. If someone had made that argument, I’d have responded that the stereotypes exist whether we acknowledge them or not and mocking them may do some small part in reducing their power, and we could discuss from there. Never had the chance, though.

One of the hallmarks of a troll is a refusal to explain a position, but to simply assert it again and again.

Then there’s the case of people utterly missing the sarcasm in the post, which actually was talked about to an extent. No need to rehash, though it’d be nice if the other side of the argument could at least concede that Brad was trying.

nobody with sense should give a shit what I think about an almost wholly free comment section.

Giving a shit breeds discussion. I’m all for it.

Thanks, Righteous Bubba. You’re neither awful nor stupid; otherwise you’d not have had that little unarticulated “uh-oh.”

Sadly, No! makes me laugh out loud, and that’s worth a lot.

i have not read nor do i have the inclination to read this entire thread, but sadlyno is genius. if it’s not your brand of humor, and if you can’t take the simple fact that not everything is gonna be framed to suit your worldview, please don’t read it. i think you guys are funny as hell.

– mitch

I don’t agree that Brad’s post fit into the “gosh, us men are so pathetic we need you women to quit your pretty little careers to take care of us” vein of thought. If anything, he was mocking that kind of thinking.

good ???