Political dissent begins with the vaguest feeling that something is wrong and a lot of people have that feeling but the problem with vague feelings i… - Natalie Wynn

It's possible to take genuine virtues like nuance, empathy, and impartiality, and to twist them into fucked up apologia for horrible, oppressive behavior. If you play this game long enough you can essentially explain away the entire concept of bigotry, and conclude that in reality there are no bigots, there's only tragically misunderstood people with difficult childhoods and valid concerns, cruelly demonized by militant activists defaming and silencing them with such reputation-ruining slurs as "homophobe".

I really don't want to shame men for feeling anxious about dating trans women because I mean, I was anxious too in the other direction, but I do want to shame men for treating trans women like their dirty little secrets. And I do wanna shame men for dehumanizing us and voting away our rights by day, while jerking off to "shemale" porn by night. And I do wanna shame men for refusing to date us because they're not strong enough to shoulder one hundredth of the burden of stigma that every trans woman carries every moment of every day. I do wanna shame men for attacking their trans girlfriends because they couldn't stand being treated like a gay man for five minutes. That is pathetic! If you're so worried about proving you're a man, why don't you start by standing up for the women you love, you chickenshit cowards?

This is an aesthetic century. In history, there are ages of reason and ages of spectacle, and it's important to know which you’re in. Our America, our internet, is not ancient Athens - it's Rome. And your problem is you think you're in the forum, when you’re really in the circus.