I ll start : I have been following a pretty known tech/Linux journalist, and always found he is a fun dude to listen to, with interesting tech takes
The fact that he is also very openly “american conservative” (aka, religious & weapon nut, anti abortion, etc) annoys me, but i keep those things separate. And he does keep it separate too (politics channel vs tech channel), which is a great decision.
Neckbeards, because I fit some of the stereotypes.
I’m interested in roleplaying and videogames, so people assume I’m one of those gatekeeping basement dwellers that mock “girl gamers” and play WoW and weird hentai games 23 hours a day. Honestly, I couldn’t care less about what other players have in their pants or which games they like as long as everyone is having fun.
I own two swords, so people assume I’m one of those “leave the multibillion dollar company alone” fedora-wearing m’lady incels who pose with their katanas for sh*tty profile pics and think they look like ninjas or something. The thing is, me and two buddies did show fights for medieval faires for a couple of years, so the weapons aren’t just decoration / dumb tokens to make myself feel cool. Granted, the “fights” were more or less scripted, but it still had to look convincing enough to entertain the masses.
It’s especially annoying when actual neckbeards think I’m “one of them” and are then surprised that I don’t share any of their cringey, prejudice-laden, condescending world views.
I have questions about terminology. Things I never understood. I mean no offense, just curious.
“Neckbeard”. Hair naturally grows on the neck. So we are okay with beards, but if you don’t shave the neck, you’re judged negatively? Not just for your appearance, but for your moral character? I don’t understand. Isn’t this like judging a woman for not shaving her armpits, or judging a man for not being circumcised? What difference does it make if a man has an unshaven beard? And why in the world would you use a natural thing as an insult?
“Incel”. I think this means “involuntary celibate”, right? Someone who isn’t good at socializing and hasn’t been able to get someone to have sex with them. Why in the world would you judge someone based off this? Doesn’t it seem needlessly cruel and illogical? There could be any number of reasons why a person has never had sex. They might not all be bad. But now we’re trying to build a culture where you’re a loser if you haven’t had sex? I don’t understand. I don’t understand how liberals have these weird derogatory categories to put people in.
I can understand being opposed to bad belief systems. I feel pretty strongly about that myself. But it seems like you need to attack the beliefs themselves if you want to get anywhere.
Assuming you’re asking in good faith from curiosity…
The “neck beard” as a facial hair style is associated with hair only on the neck, not as part of a full beard. It’s often associated with a cluelessness about personal hygiene or style, because it’s not something that actually looks good on anyone. Because of this, it’s usually a product of ignorance, neglect or depression. The stereotype includes a certain lack of awareness of personal grooming.
Correct
Normally you wouldn’t, in fact the originator of the term intended it to be neutral and without judgement, however the term has morphed. It’s been adopted by a subset of extremely toxic individuals online, who blame others (society, more successful men, but especially women) for their romantic inexperience. The spaces they inhabit online are full of a nearly cult-like mentality, and the worst of them support such abhorrent ideas as human trafficking, sexual slavery and rape as natural and justified.
No idea where you got the impression this was a “liberal” thing. That seems like a very strange assumption to make. It’s a very widely known internet subculture/stereotype that’s been around for at least 20 years and has been generally apolitical. The only line you could draw between the stereotype and politics would be perhaps the rampant misogyny, in which case if that makes you immediately think only liberals could be against that maybe you should do some self reflection about the “side” you’re on.