• Grumpy@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      86
      arrow-down
      8
      ·
      3 days ago

      Wtf pepe is considered alt-right because alt-right uses them sometimes??? I hear they also use English! Maybe English needs to get banned!

      • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        52
        arrow-down
        10
        ·
        3 days ago

        They didn’t just use it sometimes, they were using it as an intentional dog whistle, that is the difference. Part of dog whistling is choosing something that, otherwise, has had no real relationship to the thing it is being used as a dog whistle for.

        • reksas@sopuli.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          38
          arrow-down
          5
          ·
          3 days ago

          so they can choose anything and we just have to stop using it because its their dogwhistle now?

          • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            29
            arrow-down
            5
            ·
            3 days ago

            No, but you have to understand that it now comes with the context of being a WP dog whistle. The symbolism of the Nazis weren’t anything to their ideology before hand. They had widespread use for thousands of years. Now they, especially the primary one, is all but verboten in the west, and people who use things, like the swastika, as religious symbols, even know to tread with caution using it in the west. White hoods, and robes, have been used in cultural/religious regalia forever. However, you don’t use them in the US unless you consider being mistaken for a klan memeber.

            Can we reclaim pepe? Probably, it was minor compared to the aforementioned things, and the creator has done a lot to kibosh the commercial use of it from right wing people. However, it was that, and that context doesn’t just disappear because you don’t like it.

            • 9488fcea02a9@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              14
              arrow-down
              3
              ·
              3 days ago

              There’s a whole documentary about reclaiming pepe called “feels good man”

              The more we discourage people from using pepe because WP and shitheads, the more they win.

              • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                4
                ·
                3 days ago

                I agree, a number of the places I hang out online, and friends, use it. None of them are like that. However, when researching bigotry in culture, it will inevitably come up, and it’s significance as an indicator is complicated. So, best to read the details of the data, and what they have to say about it, beyond and chart, and headline, and keep in mind that there is real reason to attach the frog to the alt-right, but it is used in many other ways.

                  • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    3
                    ·
                    edit-2
                    3 days ago

                    I didn’t say, nor imply that. I am saying you have to operate within a world where this is how things are. Doesn’t matter what you think is good, right, ethical, whatever, this is what is, and you have to make you decisions with this in mind.

          • thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            9
            arrow-down
            13
            ·
            edit-2
            3 days ago

            to me it’s kind of kind the nazi bar thing. if you’re at a bar with 2 Nazis, and you’re not a nazi, you’re still hanging out at a nazi bar.

            they fucking adore this frog. no other group has embraced it as strongly or consistently. I’m quite happy to let an old ass meme die because i find it distasteful now that it’s the favorite meme of nazis.

            • Voyajer@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              19 hours ago

              Except in this instance the bar is the meme and you can’t stop the Nazis from using it no matter what you do. Even if you move on to some other meme they can just as easily follow you, now no one knows what’s acceptable or not and for how long.