Black mirror's "striking vipers" episode perpetuates a theory that may be very real.

submitted by Mencantbewomen from self.GenderCritical

Spoiler alert.

The plot of this episode is about a married gamer dad who receives a very peculiar gift by his best guy friend: a fighting videogame that through a small device allows you to feel each and all sensations that are virtually happening to you, while you comfortably sit on the sofa.

He plays very soon with said best friend, they can choose characters to impersonate (one chooses a generic muscle man, the other a cute asian girl) have a lot of fun playing. But then something happens... And they end up fucking in the game. Dad starts neglecting his wife and child badly to go play the game and fuck his friend virtually. Oh, they also cuddle and behave like a couple. Everything is of course kept in big secret.

Long story short: wife finds out, the two friends meet irl to understand if they're gay (they aren't), the episode ends...with an agreement. Dad is allowed to keep playing the game and fuck his dudebro, while his wife is allowed to sleep with other men (wtf).

This episode made me think HARD. Are men even capable of loving or being attracted to women? Because it seems to me more and more, that if their homies had boobs and a vagina they would rather be with them than with real women. Perhaps men really do want trans women, or the amount of gay/bi men is actually a ton more prevalent in the world than it seems to be.

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[–]ArthnoldManacatsaman 29 insightful - 4 fun29 insightful - 3 fun30 insightful - 4 fun -  (12 children)

This 'theory' sounds like a slice of hot nonsense.

[–]tuesday 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I play one of the massive multi player games and can attest that the OP is correct.

An awful lot of the guys who play those games are weird as fuck. They do exactly as the OP described. They will have a "girlfriend" whom everyone knows is just a guy playing a girl. It's exactly as if some of these guys just want a woman-shaped doll and they don't actually care who the doll is as long as they get to play "the male doll" and get to ejaculate all over their screen.

They are seriously crude about it, and no one bats an eye.

[–]ArthnoldManacatsaman 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

And how many of those men are well adjusted with a wife and kids?

[–][deleted] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Men with wives and children are not “well adjusted”. They found a woman to further their genetic material and act as a domestic slave. Even better if she works that way they don’t have to pay for the upkeep of the house and put their salaries into their hobbies.

[–]ArthnoldManacatsaman 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

No.

[–]Mencantbewomen[S] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (7 children)

Well, you could actually explain why.

[–]ArthnoldManacatsaman 35 insightful - 4 fun35 insightful - 3 fun36 insightful - 4 fun -  (6 children)

Your arguments are:

  • ‘Straight’ men actually want to sleep with trans women

  • There are more gay / bi men than we have been led to believe

Your claims are based on:

  • An episode of a fictional TV show you watched

Furthermore, the couple don’t live in an open marriage like you describe, with both of them sleeping around all they like. They allow themselves one day a year to sleep with other partners, in this case ‘dudebro’ and whoever the wife meets at a bar.

The two men meet up in real life to test whether they have feelings for each other, which they don’t. Both of them are quite clear on that fact. There is something about the game that makes the virtual sex ‘different’ to whatever they’re doing in real life, and the fact that both of them tried it with other partners, both virtual and real, without getting the same satisfaction, remains unexplained.

If anything, this is a story about two men who struggle with their sexuality and find an outlet for that in a virtual reality video game.

It is not proof that most straight men are incapable of attraction to, or love of, women.

Black Mirror also included an episode where a mother kept 24-hour surveillance on her daughter, forces her to abort her unborn baby, and then is beaten unconscious by said daughter. Are mothers even capable of letting their children do their own thing?

[–]powpowpowpow 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Thank you so much for being sane. Its mindblowing how there are people feeding into this post...

The subtle levels of homophobia on this post is also a great cheff's kiss... YIKES

[–]MarkJefferson 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

There's also an episode with a robot dog that I can only assume accurately portrays a cis dog. This robot dog shoots people in the head. Are dogs even capable of loving humans and refraining from killing them with a gun built into their paws?

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Well to be fair there are known breeds of dogs that have killed their owners and eaten them. Some places even restrict your ownership of those breeds. Not all dogs are golden retrievers.

[–]powpowpowpow 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Ok... because some breeds are more agressive and the owners didn't know how to train them properly that makes every dog not capable of love? K... noted, what's even the point of this conversation?

We are seriously using a fictional and sensational "phone bad" tv show to create a malfunctioning theory on people? Jeez

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Why not? A lot of TV however badly written are commentary on people and society. JFC ...Are you seriously telling me that it has to be a documentary in order to explore an idea?

[–]tuesday 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

no, the argument is that this dynamic is found in virtual online spaces.

[–]MezozoicGay 12 insightful - 4 fun12 insightful - 3 fun13 insightful - 4 fun -  (22 children)

For man being romantic and fully loving (and supporting) someone is considered as "weakness" in patriarchic society, and that role is "for mothers and wives". There even slur for such men - "henpecked". So men can be wanting to love, but they taught to not. Fear of being rejected by society can move some men to violence (I know at least one example).

At least I can openly support and love women as friends (not sure if it is legit phrasing in English, but in our language there 3 different words for "love" and one of them has meaning of very deep friendship - I mean that last one) and don't afraid of that slur, because I already marked by other, even worse crime - of being a gay man.

[–]Mencantbewomen[S] 6 insightful - 3 fun6 insightful - 2 fun7 insightful - 3 fun -  (6 children)

The question is however, do men actually love women, or do they love "cool girls", men "trapped" in hot female bodies?

[–]ThisReality 11 insightful - 2 fun11 insightful - 1 fun12 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

I think men's ideal would be to have the maternal, sweetly feminine mommy-partner, and then the cool girl, "thinks like a man but built like a woman" bang-partner and fun-partner.

[–]Mencantbewomen[S] 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

So not one, but two women lol. Now that i remember, there was a very famous classic writer in my country that literally wrote a book about having two women, one motherly and protective, the other hot and sensual. So yeah you may be right.

[–]moody_ape 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

that is so true! you said it all!

[–]yishengqingwa666 11 insightful - 2 fun11 insightful - 1 fun12 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

"Ask men to describe their ideal woman and watch them describe a slave"

[–]MezozoicGay 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I am pretty sure men can love women, but do most want to?

[–]yishengqingwa666 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Obviously not.

[–]MarkTwainiac 4 insightful - 3 fun4 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 3 fun -  (6 children)

"Henpecked" definitely not not mean men who are "romantic and fully loving (and supporting)" of their female partners! It means a man who is continually criticized and bossed around by his wife or female partner. It's similar to the more vulgar "pussy-whipped."

AFAIK, there is no commonly-used English language slur for men who are romantic, loving and supportive of their wives/GFs/female partners as you describe. "Uxorious" comes closest, but it's not in wide use - most people in the Anglophone world have never heard of it. What's more, my understanding is that whatever pejorative connotations it has in the view of some, those have developed only over time.

In the Anglophone West in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, it definitely was not considered a "weakness" for men to be romantic, fully loving and supportive of their GFs and wives. Back then, there were hundreds of very popular songs written and sung by men in which they expressed their love and devotion for the women in their lives. Such songs were constantly at the top of the charts. I'll post titles and links to videos in a separate thread.

[–]uwushallnotpass 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

“In the Anglophone West in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, it definitely was not considered a "weakness" for men to be romantic, fully loving and supportive of their GFs and wives. Back then, there were hundreds of very popular songs written and sung by men in which they expressed their love and devotion for the women in their lives. Such songs were constantly at the top of the charts.”

Right? I was thinking this exact thing about the WAP thread. Music was almost all about the depth of emotion and the focus on another important human being, whether that involved the loss of the person, or just a general expression of how amazing they were, or a particular event or a story of some kind. Music in every genre from new wave to death metal. It wasn’t forced or fake, it was just the most interesting and important thing that nearly everyone (both men and women) wanted to express.

And right now the most popular song on the planet is “Wet Ass Pussy”, with a video that is a literal five-minute advert for prostitution, with no characters, no connection, no message except porn. And everyone has been brainwashed into thinking this is normal human behaviour, as if it was never any different. I can’t believe we’ve all fallen this far in 15-20 years, it’s like watching the last days of Rome on fast forward.

Obviously I’m not saying there was no misogyny before, or that institutionalised relationships were never used to oppress women, but “bros before hoes” wasn’t a thing. Men were proud of their ability to relate to women individually, on a romantic basis, and that’s what the songs were about.

I’m currently reading Theweleit’s “Male Fantasies”, which is about the attitudes of male Nazi soldiers towards women. The whole reason he wrote the book was to highlight the fact that they were all brought up with a “bros before hoes” attitude. Women were seen as weakening, shameful influences on men, and every self-respecting Freikorps man was at pains to demonstrate that he was manly enough to be immune to romantic attachments and would put his bros first. To Theweleit in 1987, this was so peculiar and so self-evidently pathological that he wrote the book to show everyone how odd their attitudes were.

And yet here we all are. The slur for a man who is romantic and faithful towards a woman is “simp”, by the way. It’s new, and it’s depressingly popular.

[–]Feather 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I think it's a matter of interpretation.

A man who is loving and supportive of his female romantic partner would not see himself as being henpecked. He would just (accurately) see himself as being in a loving relationship.

His buddies, on the other hand, might disagree and inaccurately claim he is henpecked just because they're too immature to fathom that a man might genuinely want to put a woman first.

Their logic is basically...

  1. No man would want to put his romantic relationship with a woman first.

  2. My friend, a man, is putting his romantic relationship with a woman first.

  3. If no men want to put their romantic relationships with women first, my friend can't want to do it.

  4. But he is.

  5. So someone must be tricking or coercing him to do it against his will.

  6. He is henpecked.

[–]MarkTwainiac 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Yeah, I completely agree, but I was responding to the poster who claimed

For man being romantic and fully loving (and supporting) someone is considered as "weakness" in patriarchic society, and that role is "for mothers and wives". There even slur for such men - "henpecked". So men can be wanting to love, but they taught to not.

Yes some men, such as immature incels and misogynistis, display the kind of logic you laid out. But many do not. And the other poster's claim that in "patriarchic society" universally all/most men are conditioned to consider being romantic, loving and supportive as weakness is simply not true. FFS, it was men who came up with the notions/constructs of romantic love, courtship, fidelity and marriage in the first place! And it's men who have made these ideas into institutions and built industries around them.

[–]Feather 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I see what you mean now that you point out exactly what you were responding to.

I agree with you that men came up with the structures of these institutions and ideals. It's absurd that some of them now act as though women came up with these structures as a plot to oppress men.

[–]MezozoicGay 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Here it was actually the case until recently, majority of men were supporting such behaviour. And in many countries it still the case.

Maybe I should specify more that I meant world in general and not just USA or EU, where it should be less the case (at least I hope it is).

[–]VioletRemi 4 insightful - 4 fun4 insightful - 3 fun5 insightful - 4 fun -  (0 children)

"Woman" does not mean male, and yet we are here.

[–]ArthnoldManacatsaman 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Out of interest, what language is that?

[–]MezozoicGay 12 insightful - 1 fun12 insightful - 0 fun13 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Ukrainian. It is "любов", "кохання" and "закоханність". First means deep love to parents or to friends, second means deep and/or passionate love to your partner and last one means easy love or crush.

However, in last few decades in spoken non-official speech it is valid to use "любов" to a partners who are living together for a long period of time and now have "calm love", as "кохання" is more "passionate love".

[–]tuesday 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The greeks had similar. Agapa was a love one had for a god, a perfect being. Eros was the lust one had for a sexual interest. Philia was brotherly love, the love between equals. Philadelphia was named after that. And the last one has recently been whitewashed all out of it's original context: Storge, the love one has for a family PET or SERVANT.

Think about it. Philia is the love has for a male. It is literally "brotherly love". Women were and are still loved as the family pet or servant.

[–]Fuzz 2 insightful - 3 fun2 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 3 fun -  (4 children)

That's not what that word means, henpecked is a man with a controlling female partner, such that he is afraid even to contradict her, possibly implying verbal abuse. It doesn't have anything to do with being romantic.

[–]MezozoicGay 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Here it is does mean this and that for sure. When a man is canceling fishing with friends because his wife got sick or when man is making romantic gifts, he is almost always called henpecked - either jockingly or seriously.

[–][deleted] 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

You have no idea how many times my husband has been called whipped because I expected him to do his fair share of the household chores. Henpecked is used to shame men who actually want gender equality. They think it’s abusive for a wife to expect men to pick up after themselves.

[–]Fuzz 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

There's a similar expression in Ukrainian, or do Ukrainians commonly use 'henpecked' in English? I guess I've seen it used ironically, as in "oh haha you are spending time with your wife on your anniversary, how henpecked, have fun", but it seems pretty rude to joke that way about a sick partner.

[–]MezozoicGay 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yes, it is similar expression, but it has more wide meaning in spoken language. To which I am refering to.

And I was called by that as well, even thought I am gay man with gay partner. And I am still called henpecked for supporting women I know and for not being "manly enough".

[–]meranii 11 insightful - 3 fun11 insightful - 2 fun12 insightful - 3 fun -  (5 children)

Honestly, the plot of the episode sounds like hot-ass garbage. Like someone thought to himself "dumb gamer shit but make it woke and exaggerated". If anything it calls out gender identity as a complete construct, like male AGP roleplaying online taken to the next level. The ending that the wife is "allowed to sleep with other men" (idk how it plays out in the episode so I can only go by what you wrote) would surely anger most guys watching it, wouldn't that be basically "being cucked" or whatever MRAs online call it? She lives her life for real while all the men on the show get is a fantasy of being/fucking a cute Asian girl.

[–][deleted] 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Honestly though, I’ve met men like that? I’m ashamed to say I dated men like that. They seem happier with their virtual relationships than real ones. I’ve been in their shoes. Sort of. The episode is an extreme example but not far off.

[–]meranii 8 insightful - 2 fun8 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Oh definitely, lots of men prefer their fantasy of a woman to the real thing. But then they also complain when real women don't live up to the fantasy, they have to do something outside of gaming/jerking off or they feel disrespected when we don't take their loser lifestyle seriously. I didn't mean to say the the relationship between the guys on the show is unrealistic, just that it sounds like a very dumb unsubtle plot.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah most definitely unsubtle.

[–]tuesday 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

The dynamic described by the OP is true tho, I see it many times a day while playing a massive multi player game. Lots of men do that.

[–]meranii 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but where did I say men don't do online roleplaying like that? They're AGP and they do. The episode took it to the next level in that the two men were actually able to have a form of tactile sex in their new identities. You and user Morningmist both replied to me with "but these men exist/they do this!" like we're in disagreement, so now I'm thinking maybe I phrased something wrong. My basic points were that the plot is dumb, it's all a male fantasy, and the woman in the episode "wins" by not being pathetic, haha.

[–]luckystar 10 insightful - 2 fun10 insightful - 1 fun11 insightful - 2 fun -  (6 children)

Yeah, I'm gonna disagree on this one. Men can and are capable of loving women -- of course then you get into the weeds of how we define "love" -- but if we're asking if men prefer their friends and only put up with women in order to get sex... I'm not doubting that there are some relationships like this, but that's definitely not the only type of relationship model out there. I've seen many cases of men that prefer to hang out with their wife rather than their male friends. Assuming we're talking about your typical "cishet" couple here... remember humans evolved for millennia to reproduce. Asking if men and women can love one another is like asking if humans and dogs can love one another. Either you've defined "love" to mean an emotion that doesn't exist, or the answer is obviously yes as we've literally naturally selected for thousands of years for those capable of this kind of love.

If anything I'd guess the husband in the show you watched is secretly gay or bi. "Tranny porn" is a particular niche fetish, and as I understand it a lot of the appeal comes from being able to engage in homosexual acts but still feel "straight". This is also where the "trans women getting murdered" comes from -- men getting a trans woman prostitute, then in their "post nut clarity" realizing they had sex with a man and going into a rage due to self disgust.

Anyway, so love and attraction can come in many forms. Homosexual and bisexual people obviously exist, though they're in the minority compared with heterosexual people. And of course humans can reproduce without love -- think of all the raping & pillaging conquests -- but since tiny humans are fairly resource intensive, and childbirth is really fucking hard (thanks bipedalism), humans tend to be more interdependent than most mammals. We all know that for say, a cat, or an otter, the males just bang the females and then bail, and the momma gets by just fine on her own. Humans aren't really like that, we're one of the few species where the female can (and often is) be entirely dependent on the male for resources (ie, stay at home mom). Obviously we do have single mom scenarios in humans too, but it generally is correlated with worse outcomes.

Basically I feel like you're asking if most men are gay or bi, and I don't think they are. It's probably a higher percent than a survey would reveal (due to lingering stigma) but not a majority by any means.

Do you know many older couples? I feel like the fact that men can love women is more obvious if you talk to older couples who've been together for decades. Yeah there's the cliche boomer that hates his wife but there's also many couples where they obviously enjoy being together. I don't know of other species that are that monogamous except maybe those penguins.

[–]BEB 5 insightful - 3 fun5 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

My parents. They had some bad times, but over the course of decades their love was wonderful to behold.

[–]Mencantbewomen[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Times have sure changed imo. Men nowadays respect women even less, and if they do, they still don't when they're together with their bros.

[–][deleted] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Those men cheated and the women didn’t have the financial means to get out of the marriage and since the economy is stacked against older women, they still don’t have the means to get out of it. Have YOU talked to older couples?

Also how many trans women get killed because of regret? The numbers don’t back it up.

[–]luckystar 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

  1. This is just a difference of opinions or experiences I guess, I know many happy older couples
  2. I know it's few, I'm saying when it does happen that trans women are killed it's due to male homophobia

[–]tuesday 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I don't know any happy older couples... hmmm, upon further reflection, there might be one.

I do however, know a lot of very happy older single women.

[–]luckystar 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I've met both!

[–]moody_ape 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

i've that episode and it's one of the worst they ever wrote. i didn't analyze it from a feminist point of view. i think you're overthinking it. the guy does love his wife as it's shown in their past as a couple, but living in a fake world has messed with his sexuality. he's close to his friend, time has made his marriage kinda boring... the game is like porn, but a next level porn, where he gets to experience sexual pleasure beyond masturbation. another thing i didn't like in the episode was the ending where the wife takes off her wedding ring to go have fun. it gives the idea that she hides from her potential partners that she is married. she shouldn't do that. people have the right to know who they get involved with. yes, she's just looking for a one night stand, but feeling can develop from one night stands. well, that's just a detail. it's just an episode of a show and most people didn't even like it. i do think it's an interesting parallel to porn and how living in a fake reality can be damaging to one's sexual experiences and relationships in real life.

[–]tuesday 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I think the reason she takes off her wedding ring is because she's looking for someone to replace her current husband.

[–]yishengqingwa666 4 insightful - 4 fun4 insightful - 3 fun5 insightful - 4 fun -  (3 children)

Most men are gay. They only see women as fuck objects, unpaid housemaids and incubators. They only show real love (and NO, loving what women DO for you is not love) and respect to other men.

[–]herecomesthesass 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Ancient Greece

[–]Mencantbewomen[S] 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

This is very much the most palpable example there exists. Men were considered the erotic, intelligent, superior beings. Women were breeding stock or slaves.

[–][deleted] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I mean they even have a shitty mantra to go with it “ Bros before ****” and many live by that. Men do love men because they actually respect each other. They don’t love women.

[–]our_team_is_winning 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

To me it sounds more like a comment on gamers than on men in general. All I can picture is Brianna Wu. (If you don't know Brianna Wu, look him up for a groan). I'd say most men want to have sex with women. If women are not available, they will have sex with men. If men are not available either, unfortunate four-legged animals get abused. Germany had (or still has?) farm brothels. I wish I were making that up.

Here's my question about that episode (never seen the show, just reading your summary) -- the men KNOW they will feel what the characters do, and one chooses to LARP as a cute Asian girl? This episode sounds like it was written by, inspired by, or "gamer consultant" by an AGP.

[–]Mencantbewomen[S] 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

Do men actually want women? Because it looks to me that any sign of natural female characteristics get very much frowned upon (hair, cellulite, natural weight distribution). The episode also features two men, and the larping one justifies himself by saying that "feeling" sensations as a (fake) female is so much better.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I remember there was a House episode where he commented that the perfect woman was a man. The patient was a person with CAIS so looked female externally but had cancerous testes that needed to be removed. I think that episode drove home the point that men are not looking for women even the so called heterosexual ones.

[–]tuesday 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

the only reason they want a real woman is because they want kids.

well that, and because a transwoman wouldn't clean up after them. or provide free emotional support without expecting much in return.

[–]our_team_is_winning 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I looked up the writer on Wiki; here's more from his sick mind:

In February 1998, one of Brooker's one-shot cartoons caused the magazine to be pulled from the shelves of many British newsagents. The cartoon was titled "Helmut Werstler's Cruelty Zoo" and professed to be an advert for a theme park created by a Teutonic psychologist for children to take out their violent impulses on animals rather than humans. It was accompanied by photoshopped pictures of children smashing the skulls of monkeys with hammers, jumping on a badger with a pitchfork, and chainsawing an orang-utan, among other things.[8] The original joke was supposed to be at the expense of the Tomb Raider games, known at the time for the number of animals killed, but the original title, "Lara Croft's Cruelty Zoo", was changed for legal reasons.

[–][deleted] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Is he sick though? He seems to be making strong extreme comments against violent games. The fact is that a lot of games do have that sick level of violence and many parents I know don’t seem to know or care that their children might be too young to handle the themes of those games. The thing is he showed that we don’t accept that kind of violence in books or magazines aimed at children then why are we ok with it in games?

[–]uwushallnotpass 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I think what the writer is trying to say is that when men’s sexuality is so warped by porn that an image of a cute computer-generated character is sexy, then it doesn’t really matter who’s on the other end of it. When sexuality involves psychologically disappearing into the “matrix” (of a computer game, or porn, or other forms of imagery which have nothing to do with a real person), then who cares whether it’s a man or woman on other side of the screen?

I also think the episode is showing that sexuality has now become a shared experience between straight men. This is the exact opposite of healthy intimacy, and is the basis for all prostitution and pornography – which are seen as exciting because the woman is an anonymous cipher who is shared between them (so they can avoid all the anxiety and responsibility of seeing her as a real person and also have the “backup” of other men seeing her the same way). Having sex with a male buddy via a computer character is the logical next step in that thought process. It’s a clever way of highlighting how fucked up modern attitudes to sex are.

[–]Ossidiana 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Turn the question around. If your best friend were a man, wouldn't you love her? Truth is, we like who understands us. Of course a man understands another man better than a woman, and vice versa. They have more in common. But "understanding/getting along" with someone and "loving/feeling sexual attraction" for someone are not exactly the same thing.