i’ve seen this phrase used around here in a few variations and it rarely gets called out as problematic. i really don’t think its ok so i thought i’d ask: does hexbear think its ok? i can understand and support the use of violence against fascists and colonizers, but genocide is really their thing. i don’t see why it makes sense to use it even as a rhetorical device. why doesn’t this get called out? is genocide so normalized in casual conversation that it doesn’t register or what?
edit: i have all the [he/him]s on the website telling me that this is actually a very funny joke. i still don’t like it or get it, but i’ve had my fill of arguing with y’all so thanks for the info. i can see why nobody calls this one out. it kinda fucking sucks. i’ll just go ahead and block people who post this type of joke and go on my merry way.
now that everyone has had a chance to chime in, i’m just going to add some context for y’all
most of the responses i got at first were from [he/him]s which is why i said the above. nothing against any gender, just what i saw.it wasn’t my intention to misgender anyone sorry if it came across that way. i really meant it as an observation of who was jumping in to reply at the start of the thread, but i didn’t realize how it could be perceived in other contexts.- i’m not american. i’m technically a US citizen, but i have much more significant cultural ties to SV, MX, and separately and to a lesser extent NA indigenous community. i don’t always get where western people are coming from. i like the overall tone of hexbear maybe i just don’t how imaginary genocide is supposed to be cathartic. i apologize if it came across like i’m trying to tone police y’all. that’s really not my jam, but y’all do seem a little pre-disposed to getting offended when your little jokes are questioned.
- i still don’t like the joke, so i’m going to remove them from my feed. if y’all don’t have an issue with it that’s fine. i was just trying to get a feel for what y’all think. the push back was a little upsetting after the day i had yesterday, but i’m over it now. i can live with curating my own experience based on my personal taste.
- i haven’t been that articulate, but i think my feelings are best summarized by this reply:
As someone that does find the joke funny, upon some reflection i have realised that it is an inapropiate joke, genocide is a horrific thing and to make light of it by making it a subject of a joke is in bad taste the same way that jokes about sexual assault are in bad taste, we rightfuly look down on redditors for the latter but allow the former
the original meme was about communist banter being unhinged and socially unacceptable.
I think it resonates with us because it’s relatable, we’ve all been the person holding their tongue at a family gathering. I also think it resonates as a reaction to the lopsided “colonizer deaths are a tragedy while colonized deaths are a footnote” tone-policing in western media (see Israel discourse). Also, a politics of violent revolution makes flippant humor inevitable, back in '73 people were joking about “spain’s first astronaut” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Carrero_Blanco
It also speaks to the insidious nature of discourse in the West.
Incivility of language is considered deeply uncouth, but electing leaders who have promised to do horrific things is perfectly fine, as long as they express it in acceptable language.
Biden sending billions to Ukrainian skinheads, continuing to build a wall, increasing police funding, doing nothing about COVID, gutting the child tax credit etc is all perfectly fine because he was polite and well spoken about it. Can’t come out and say overtly you want Israel to turn Palestine into a graveyard, but aiming to help them achieve that is fine.
People by and large don’t get extremely obvious satire – they aren’t going to get any of that out of “unlimited genocide” jokes.
