cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/20487558
skin destroyer @gloomingly
(trying to make small talk) notice any patterns lately
2:34 PM - Oct 1, 2024 · 73.9K Views Follow
Bad news, this is sadly an antisemitic dogwhistle designed to be obscured by common neurodivergent memes :(
The twitter account in question seems genuine. It’s an unfortunate overlap, though.
Yes, apologies, I wasn’t trying to imply anything about anyone posting while ignorant of this dogwhistle, neither OP here nor on Twitter are to blame for this. It’s just really shitty that actual neo Nazis have co-opted language otherwise used in a marginalized community.
Something I recently read that makes 100% sense though is, such dogwhistles gain power if avoided.
You probably should make memes with it, to muddle its meaning, and make it useless for them to identify each other with.
really would like to see the article if you have it on hand. i can see the argument for both sides, so i would like to read more and potentially be persuaded one way or the other
I can’t, for the love of god, find the damned post and comment that talked about it, no matter how much I look for it.
Where I found it.
It was about the same screenshot though, and posted in Lemmy not too long ago (maximum 2 days before this post)
But, like, this is how language works. If you normalize a different meaning to a word, that word loses its previous function. That’s what oppressive regimes and cultures do to the most useful linguistic tools of the oppressed.
Short explanation
They use the specific word, to identify and objectify those that use it first, and then co-opt the word and change the useful meaning to something that helps the oppression instead.
Am example is the word “woke”, coming from poor African Americans, meaning to keep an eye out for dangerous racists. That word being, over a long period of time, stolen and bastardized by those same racists, and turned into a tool for othering whoever is not part of their cultural group.
So, it definitely works, and it should work better the more secretive the original meaning is.
makeSmallTalkInSmalltalk:
Transcript show: 'notice any patterns lately'.