Yesterday, I was scrolling down my Facebook wall, scanning, reading, liking, when a picture caught my eye. As a photographer, I appreciate beautiful lighting, contrasts and composition, and this had all that. Plus, as a bit of an agitator with strong opinions, I like images that are provocative, even if only because of the caption they carry.
This is the picture my friend shared.
I like this picture, I like this message, I like this post, so I liked it and kept on going.
Checking my notifications a short time later, I saw that a very gentle, non-gender related objection had been expressed. However, it didn’t feel entirely authentic to me, and because sometimes I’m a troll, I decided to offer up an alternative opinion, in a similarly gentle style.
The following images are screen shots of the ensuing conversation. The names and profile images have been changed to protect privacy. Some comments that were not relevant, personal between the OP and their friend or potentially able to identify the person commenting, have been omitted. However the comments are in order and unaltered from how they were posted.
The cast of players are as follows:
- Tinkerbell True – the OP (original poster)
- Blind Sheeple – female friend of the OP
- Bigot Indenial – male relative of the OP
- Anarchy Girl – me.
(Hint: click on the image to see in full size.)
I noticed some time later that a second person had begun to comment, obviously hitting the enter key and posting at the end of each poorly structured, grammatically horrendous sentence, rather than posting one complete thought. The comments were so 1970 in flavour, that I honestly thought he was just joking, “taking the mickey” out of bigots, so to speak. However, from his continued enter key addiction, I began to realise that he was indeed genuinely a bigot. And worse than a fire and brimstone bigot, he fancied himself as a bit of a comedian. As a comedian, he makes a great bigot.
Still, I decided to just leave it alone. You can’t reason with these people, it’s like throwing pearls before the swine, an exercise in futility. Then, he made a comment that hit me so personally, touched on one of my most profound scars and ripped the scab off. See if you can pick which comment sent me over the edge. (It’s easy, it’s the last one.)
The flippancy of that remark poked a still very painful wound in me, one that feels completely fresh every time someone even just brushes past it.
It hurt, and I lashed out.
The comments that followed included such gems as (these quotes are copied and pasted, the spelling and grammar is authentic to the poster and I take no responsibility):
“…it is animalistic behavior…”
“… left our animal tendancies behind…”
“…we set ourselves standards of living like ages of consent
and not to indulge in incest or beastiality…”
“When i say we I don’t include myself lol”
The last comment was difficult to understand. Exactly what didn’t he include himself in? Maybe he didn’t set higher standards for himself, maybe he didn’t leave his animal tendencies behind, or perhaps he’s fond of touching up the family pet. Either way, clearly he sets himself apart from the rest of us.
The final two comments on this thread so far, belong to Bigot Indenial:
I thought long and hard about the best way to respond, and what I came up with follows in “The Sheeple and The Bigot: Episode 2, WWJD”.
Love
AnarchyGirl
AnarchyGirl 
The Sheeple and the Bigot: Episode 2, WWJD – AnarchyGirl
Good for you, AnarchyGirl! I would have been eventually reduced to rage and sputtering names at this person.
I was rather proud of myself for staying cool and on point. He left himself wide open with the grammar and spelling. Glad you enjoyed it.