So, I came across a particularly horrid article on the whole Rammstein situation written by a radfem, and I just had to share and respond to it.
You know, when I came over to the left in 2012, I kind of thought people like this were strawmen. Rush Limbaugh used to go on about the so called "feminazi", ie, these militant feminists who were ultra obnoxious and insufferable and got in your face over everything. I used to think, gee, those people don't actually exist, they're an obvious strawman made up by the right to make the left look more toxic than it actually is. Well, sadly, the more and more I'm learning in recent years, the more and more I'm learning that these psychos DO exist, and this person, is one of them.
It really pains me, as someone who largely identifies as left on issues, to have to write this. I really don't want to have to keep ripping on these guys. But this article is just so freaking horrid, that I just have to say something.
Anyway, this article is translated from german. Most of the rammstein controversy is taking place over in germany, where Rammstein is from, and thankfully, most Americans haven't picked up on it. I just know about it because I'm like a Rammstein super fan. And by the way, I do wear Rammstein shirts IRL sometimes. So this one is a bit personal for me.
Writing the first column is always difficult. It has to be something pompous that anticipates and shows the topic and style of the following columns: The readers will be able to look forward to one eloquent, theoretically adept, reflected and funny text on the subject of feminism after the other.
So I had planned to start with something basic: a column on materialist feminism. I wanted to write about Frigga Haug, to criticize the contemporary state of many feminist discourses. It was supposed to be a real all-round blow with a final appeal for a return to feminism as a razor-sharp analysis of the prevailing capital and gender relations and the translation of this criticism into a practice that has set itself the goal of overcoming these relations.
But that will have to wait until the next column - the topic is timeless.
Ya know, I have have to sympathize, as someone who, myself, deals in political theory. But at the same time, seeing these guys throw around so much abstract theory I've never even heard of, let me just say that this crap is cultish. It's what I noticed about these radicals. They are so wrapped up in their abstract theories, that they end up losing sight of reality. Seriously, these people need to touch grass IMO. Like, it's fine to have your theories, but if you get so wrapped up in them that you become a radical nutjob in the process, it kind of becomes a problem.
Leftists going on about marxism and their redfem theories like they're religious texts literally remind me of the christian fundamentalists on the right who I escaped from. How they'd get so wrapped up in their books that they became reality and they were unable to actually function as a normal person. This is a problem with all extremists. Left and right. Horseshoe theory is real, and this stuff happens.
And before you accuse me of doing this with indepentarianism and human centered capitalism. Uh....let me remind people that I'm self taught with that stuff. Human centered capitalism, even if yang was the first to write a book about the concept, I did design my own parallel concept based in humanism, and it was designed as a very practical ideology with very simple truths, like "the purpose of the economy should be to satisfy human needs, we shouldnt be slaves to the economy", and "work exists as a means to an end, not an end in itself". Or "don't restrict other peoples' behavior unless it harms others." Ya know, basic truisms that any reasonable people should accept unless they're authoritarians.
But, these people are weirdo authoritarians with much more abstract ideologies, and place their truths about such simple truisms. Rather than having live and let live, they believe in their cause so hard they literally believe in forcing their views on others and even harassing them in the public square for it. Don't believe me? Well, let's read the article.
A more topical topic is burning on my nails a little more: I've started swearing at men (until now it's only been men) in Rammstein shirts. And I think more people should do that.
I'm not kidding, this was literally the next line of the article. This person, this fricking psychopath, literally advocates for going up to people who wear rammstein shirts (and keep in mind, as a rammstein fan, I wear such shirts all the time when I go out), and cursing them out and harassing them.
And people wonder why I was so adamant about NOT punching nazis. This is why. It's not that I like nazis. It's that if you allow for this in society, the next step is for them to go after someone else. And unless you put a stop to the behavior in the most extreme example, they'll just keep pushing the boundaries and normalizing it. Ironically, I'm going to go "first they went for the X, but because I wasnt an X, i said nothing, and eventually they came for me."
Like really, the real paradox of tolerance is that the people who preach hardest about tolerance are the ones least likely to tolerate others. I want a society where people can have their views, whatever they may be, however crappy they may be, INCLUDING THIS PERSON, by the way, and express them, but the second they cross the line and harass others in their name, that's when I draw the line. And that line is the same for both sides. I dont care if you're a nazi, SJW, or anything in between. You're free to have your views, until you start trying to harass others in their name. And this person is harassing others in their name.
Now, for their justification for this:
Allowing criminal protection officers to feel the consequences of their actions is a basis of feminist practice. Rammstein fans have now, after dozens of women have reported sexual assaults by singer Till Lindemann and all their reports point to a system that has existed for years, based on patriarchal entitlement, making very young women available through drugs and alcoholand sexual coercion lost all claim to ignorance. Anyone who still wears Rammstein merch does not do so despite the allegations against Lindemann, but because of them. They say: We don't find sexual violence that bad, we see it much more as something that a rock star like Lindemann is naturally entitled to and should be looked into.
Criminal protection officers feeling the consequences of their actions? Also note how they always frame their willingness to attack and censor others as "the consequences of their actions". F off. Seriously. You're an authoritarian who wants to punish people for having different views. Your "feminist practice" is basically HARASSING OTHERS IN THE REAL WORLD.
And it just goes on and on. Patriarchical entitlement, blah blah blah. All cultish buzzwords. Almost surprised they didnt use the word "complicit" in there, but they muight as well have.
Seriously, people who wear rammstein merch dont do it despite the allegations but BECAUSE of them? Who the hell made YOU my clinical psychologist?
I wear rammstein shirts because i LIKE rammstein. I dont give a fudge about the allegations. I personally believe Rammstein is innocent, and if they aren't, the proper place for that is the court of law, not this direct action trial by mob BS people like THIS PERSON are trying to pull.
As for sexual violence, if you want my honest opinion, yes, actual sexual violence is bad. BUT, again, I dont believe till is guilty of actual sexual violence. And for these people, the bar for sexual violence is so low that anyone can be accused for any reason. Seriously, these radfems make a mockery out of the whole concept.
You aren't helping your case. You're not making people sympathetic to your cause, you're making enemies out of them.
I mean, you do realize rammstein themselves are lefties, right? And you realize most of the fan base is fairly left wing, right?
Here's my thing. Because THEY dont like Rammstein any more, I cant like them either. if I refuse to throw my rammstein merch on a bonfire in protest, I'm a bad person. And bad people deserve to be mobbed for not going around with their virtue signal circlejerk. As a relatively left wing (or maybe centrist by this point, because of you) Rammstein fan, let me just tell you to kindly F off.
I can no longer accept such a statement posted on my body. No person who calls themselves a feminist should put up with that anymore.
It's not on your body. The shirt is on mine. Unless you actually see my shirt as a statement about yours, which given how delusional your mindset is, you very well might. But that's the thing. I have my right to freedom of expression, and you have yours. No one has a right to interfere unless that statement interferes with another. And you're the one interfering with ME. Fricking authoritarian.
The important thing is: This criticism should only be practiced in safe places, with other people in the immediate vicinity. Rammstein fans are extremely delicate little snowflakes who don't deal well with criticism of their idol. And safety always comes first.
Oh noes, you wanna provoke people, but you do it in a public place because provoked people often respond with hostility? Who knew? When we talk about consequences of actions, that's literally a consequence of your actions. If you go up to a rammstein fan minding their own business and you start harassing them, YOU ARE THE AGGRESSOR.
And while I don't support rammstein fans acting violent toward feminists, if they react angrily to being provoked, yeah, you kinda have that coming.
And it's not because we're fragile snowflakes. It's because YOU'RE HARASSING US.
Ya know? If I came across this person in public, and they had pink hair, and a septum ring, and some crappy feminist book in their hand, you know what I would do? I would ignore them. I wouldnt go up with them and start harassing them for their dress or what they're reading. These guys are literally the equivalent of people who victim shame actual sexual assault victims by saying that they're asking for it because look at how they dressed. Literally the same energy here, ironically. That's how badly these guys lost the plot.
No one does that.
Anyway, if they only do it in public around other people, can I just start yelling HEY THIS PERSON IS HARASSING ME, I DID NOT CONSENT! very loudly? Maybe I'll do that if I come across this idiot one day. Make them look like the harasser. Because they are.
I mean, we all know they wanna bully and harass others but the second they get the reaction they wanted they start in with the crocodile tears and how OMG THEY'RE SO MEAN AND VIOLENT TOWARD MEEEEE!!!! I've been noticing these feminists do this. They literally weaponize their gender in order to manipulate people into the reaction they want, it's very dishonest.
I do it like this now: I think of a saying – usually it's something along the lines of "Is your 'I hate women' shirt in the wash right now?" or "Uff, well I wouldn't admit so openly that I support an alleged rapist" - and after a short break continue. It always takes a while for many of them to get the criticism.
Yes, that's literal harassment. I encountered punks like you in school all the time. You're a bully. F you.
However, if they do react: remain objective and cool. Siezen - that signals distance. The last man really started yelling at me, in the supermarket, even in front of his son. Women like me should be put up against a wall and shot. I then told him what it must look like from the outside: If, as a Rammstein fan, he wants to prove to the world that there aren't just misogynistic creeps in their ranks, he failed miserably.
Yeah, harass people to get the reaction they want then claim to be the victim, like I said.
So far I've always gotten away with it. I'm tired of that feeling of clenched teeth in the face of obvious misanthropes. The fact that FLINTA* (women, lesbians, intersex, non-binary, trans and agender people) feel powerless or afraid of men like Rammstein fans is a core element of patriarchal conditioning. I refuse.
Gee, maybe people should use this article as evidence should this person ever get into an actual altercation where they F around and found out then.
Also, for reference, FLINTA is the german equivalent of LGBTQ+. And sorry you somehow missed the memo, but Rammstein couldn't be more pro LGBTQ+ if they screwed each other on stage. Because you know what? THEY'VE ALREADY DONE THAT. They waved gay flags around and kissed each other in FRICKING RUSSIA. Like holy crap, how are you radfems so dumb? Dont start talking about the LBGTQ+ community and Rammstein here. You guys have ZERO fricking clue what you're talking about.
It's time to make sure that such men (and women too - but why women betray their own interests is a topic for a future column) out of fear of the consequences of their behavior, think twice about becoming a suspected rapist to confess and to proudly carry their misogyny in front of them. It took a lot of effort the first few times, but it got easier and easier. Feminist practice always takes will and courage - but the feeling of having done something is so much nicer and more satisfying than the fainting after the anxious silence.
I'm gonna be blunt. You know what this behavior is? It's literal fricking terrorism. They're trying to bully and scare people for wearing rammstein shirts, because they dont believe rammstein should continue to exist as a band, and they dont want anyone enjoying them. This is literally the end goal of this cancel culture nonsense. To scare people for daring to do something that they dont like and disapprove of. It's literal terrorism by definition. And I don't negotiate or bow to terrorists.
But yeah, F this person, F everything they stand for. This person is NUTS. It disturbs me that this person literally has as much respect as a "journalist" as they do. She's literally a feminist author over in Germany or some crap. Like what the actual hell.
If anyone should be cancelled, it's this person. Not because they're a feminist, but because they literally advocate for literal harassment against people who don't think like them. To me, that's what really crosses the line. A loss of respect for civil society and being willing to use violence and harassment in order to achieve your political aims. The second you do that, you become a terrorist and a criminal.
I hope, if this person continues their harassment against Rammstein fans, that her behavior catches up with her and she eventually gets arrested. She deserves it, for this behavior. This is not okay.
And for reference, I don't support or advocate for any rammstein fan doing anything violent against any feminist themselves. That behavior aint okay and I'll condemn it when it happens on my side too. Because Im actually honest and consistent like that. But let's be honest. These guys are generally speaking the aggressors, and then if any rammstein fan gets provoked in response, even if not violent (like giving them the finger or telling them to F off), they scream WE'RE the bad guys. It's really dishonest. But that's the game these guys like to play. I really wish more people would see through it.
Anyway, I hope these people understand some day that their behavior is counterproductive to their cause on top of it all. A lot of people literally become alt right over this crap. I probably never will, as it's against my ethics, but this sure as crap is solidifying me against radfems and shifting me to my radical centrist position of "F the whole SJW/alt right continuum". Really.
When I was conservative, I refused to call myself a feminist, because when i thought of feminism, I thought of people like this. Then I came over to the left and i did call myself a bit of an ally of feminism. Now I'm anti feminist again and hold almost the same position I did as a conservative (which was actually quite moderate and liberal as I was always egalitarian and never really was a sexist in the first place). And it's all because of whack cases like this.
You're not helping. You alienate potential allies to your cause via your extremism and cause people to oppose you, even others on the left (and i do largely still consider myself on the left broadly, even if I am specifically centrist on this set of political issues).
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