Happy 20th Anniversary, Daily Kos
Twenty years of Daily Kos history, rowdy as it’s been, doesn’t compact easily. I’ve only been here for 14 of them (I’ve got to be kidding. No? Yikes.), and I thought I’d try a couple of diaries about the things that stand out in it for me. So far I’ve got four to publish; that may be all, or a couple more may come and knock on the back of my skull and ask to be written. This is the third.
Previously:
A VERY Short History of the GBCW and TTFN diaries; An Unofficial Koscar Addendum
The Pie Fight Diaries (A VERY short history of Daily Kos advertising)/ An Unofficial Koscar Addendum
and finally
Most Prolific Community Diarist; An Unofficial Koscar Addendum
It was May of 2014, and I had never heard the term “Incel.” Or much, if anything, about the Men’s Rights Movement. That was about to change drastically.
It began, for Daily Kos, on May 24, with a diary by OllieGarkey:
420 recs, 1,019 Comments
Followed that day by rexymeteorite’s
Followed by Onomastic’s
For the next batch, this Search is your guide. Overall, you have a choice among some 40 to 200 hours of reading — even if you’re fascinated, I suggest taking it in small doses. If you want a slightly shorter list, here’s the quote from my Meta diary for that month:
It isn't meta, but there was certainly pie flying around the subjects of GMOs, pesticides, and Monsanto, and a good start at "Come HR the Trolls" who came flocking in for a discussion of Men's Rights after a California shooting spree. Other contributors to the subsequent explosion of the topic and associated issues are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. And then the fun really began. NRA callouts, thoughtful responses, and a dollop of humor.
And another that was neither pie nor meta, but I have to highlight it anyway, from Onomastic. A slight change, the pie was flying quite outrageously after a bit... And here, and here, and again here. And there are more, at least a dozen more ranging all over the map, most well worth reading. Look at a diary listing for 5/29-31, and pick your way down. There's 50-200 hours of available reading over about a three day period, most of it worth taking a look at. I'm sure there will be more, but May has ended and I need to run stats.
This diary, by Empty Vessel on 5/30, is a good recap of the first week, and set off one hell of a much-needed explosion — and it’s not on the Search list, but it is in the quote below it.
566 recs, 1,167 Comments
And this one, I’m going to quote from. This is approximately half of the diary. Go read the rest
For those men who think they have the answer to violence against women.
Whatever fucking brilliant idea you have to solve violence against women, its fucking stupid. Women have already thought of it and realized it won’t work. Seriously, do you really think that none of the 3.5 billion women on this planet haven’t already thought of your brilliant idea and tried it? Do you think that if it worked they wouldn’t have told their friends, and every woman would be doing it by now. Stop being a paternalistic asshole and accept the fact that women probably have a better idea on how to be women than you do. So take your brilliant idea and Shut the Fuck Up.
For those men who think it’s a good time to talk about men’s rights.
You know, there are a few real examples of men’s rights being limited at the expense of women. Perhaps the best example would be in regard to child custody cases. Do you know where it would be good to discuss those issues? Anywhere other than a diary about violence against women. Because if its in a diary about violence against women, it is false equivalence, always. You see, those limited times that men have their rights infringed pale in comparison to the regular, systematic and institutionalized violence against women. By bringing this subject up in a diary about violence against women, it necessarily will be seen and understood as trying to equate it with violence against women. So take your child custody issues somewhere else, and Shut the Fuck Up.
For those men who think it’s a good time to talk about female violence against men.
Again, by bringing up this subject in a diary about violence against women, it necessarily implies an equivalence between sexual violence by men and women. But no such equivalence exists. Yes, there are some women who victimize men. Far, far less than there are men who victimize women. There is no comparison. Think about it, how often have you heard about a group of “radical feminists” gang raping a 12-year-old boy, posting it on the internet, and not getting prosecuted because the female DA says “girls will be girls”? There is no equivalence between male violence against women and female violence against men, so Shut the Fuck Up.
Then it was June, and other things exploded for a few days. From my June meta diary:
Women's issues began to quietly come back with a series of diaries roughly based on LaFeminista's diary, under the tag/title Walking on Eggshells. Thanks, Lilith Gardener and the various and sundry users who expanded on the theme. This was followed, on the 18th, by the most recommended first diary I have ever seen that wasn't by a politician or, possibly, Keith Olbermann. The thread was live, and lively, for the next three days.
That last reference was to this diary, by Silencio:
It didn’t end there — it did taper off some, but the diaries continued throughout the year. If you’re interested in more, I recommend the group blog Walking on Eggshells.