all 10 comments

[–]EzukiRaen 22 insightful - 1 fun22 insightful - 0 fun23 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

I never quite understood why some people say, "go educate yourself," when someone asks a question. I still don't understand it. Is it because they're aware that they're incapable of answering it properly or is it perhaps because they feel cool and imagine themselves doing a mic drop after?

I just think that, if someone does go and take the time to do their own research, who's to say that they won't come to a different conclusion than you. There's no garauntee that you'll be using the same sources. It would be so much better if they just answer (or even attempt to answer) the question(s) because then they'd stand a better chance of convincing someone of they're particular view. Most people see something once and don't even bother to fact check what they come across after (Well, actually, everyone does this. No one has the time to fact check every piece of information they come across. People usually only do so for things that interest them or directly effect them). If that one question they ask you is the only time they come across [insert topic] then it would be so easy to convince them that you're side is true.

[–]distortedlindsLady Muse 12 insightful - 2 fun12 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

" they're aware that they're incapable of answering it"

yes

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

not to mention it sounds cringy as hell. my insides do a backflip every time i see "please educate me", "educate yourself" and any other form of woke-speech and activist-speech.

[–]ArthnoldManacatsaman🇬🇧🌳🟦 7 insightful - 4 fun7 insightful - 3 fun8 insightful - 4 fun -  (0 children)

I, too, don't really understand why people do this, and I take umbrage at the implication that I'm uneducated. I've spent a lot of time and money on my (formal) education, Don'T InVALidAtE mE BiTch.

But, from things I have read in other parts of the internet, and what people have told me, I gather the dismissiveness comes from a concept they like to call 'emotional labo[u]r'.

As I understand it, what this means is that being special (or black, or a woman or whatever, basically anyone who isn't a straight, white, cis, man) is exhausting and they don't have the energy to answer your questions because just existing in this white, cis-hetero-patriarchal society is a struggle enough, it's not their job to raise you from your ignorance AS WELL as just navigating the world.

This is, of course, nonsense. If you choose to make yourself a queer pomodorosexual non-binary trans otherkin of colour, and this is how you present yourself to the world, you don't get to roll your eyes when people ask you questions in good faith about what any of that nonsense actually means. Fair enough if someone is taking the piss, but if it's a genuine request for information, then you shouldn't just brush this stuff off.

I don't know. I don't want to have one rule for me, one rule for thee. These people are human, and being bombarded with questions about sexuality / gender identity or whatever could certainly be grating. But then my advice would be think very carefully about how you present yourself to the world.

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

I think it's a technique that plays on the vastness of the internet. They have no evidence themselves but they can claim there's a study 'out there somewhere' that 100% proves what they're saying, and if other people can't find it then they're just not looking hard enough.

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

I don't understand the "go educate yourself" either! It seems lazy to me. If someone really wants others to be educated, they would have to bother responding to their questions, and teaching them, telling them to go do their own research might have the opposite effect. Because then they might go find "sources" that give out false information, and we know the internet is full of those. E.g. even most "scientific" articles are pro-trans and not scientific at all.

I think for pro-trans people, it's a mixture of both being incapable of answering the questions properly, and feeling cool by saying "go educate yourself" and leaving it at that.

They don't know what they are talking about, we tell them something and they keep going in circles and repeating "trans men are men! trans women are women!!!"

But when they don't bother going in the circles, they just say "educate yourself!" to sound cool, their followers or those who are neutral think they are being cool too and go "oh so they know the truth but just don't want to waste their time bothering with the uneducated, makes sense!" eventhough they are not telling the truth at all and they are the uneducated ones here.

[–]GoValidateYourselfuseful lesbian 0 insightful - 2 fun0 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

They're the same people that think looking something up on google is "research", or a Riley J. Penis video is "educational".

[–]fuck_reddit 12 insightful - 2 fun12 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I bet you a million bucks it will never help you in life.

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

they always do that "YOU do it" thing lmao, lazy fucks.

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

Yep. They always do that, especially on social media sites. I've left Twitter for a few weeks now, and stick to YouTube, saidit, etc, Twitter was really bad for my mental health. But back then when I was active in there, these pro-trans people would call me and the others "transphobes" for not having pronouns in our bio. And whenever we asked "why" they thought so they would tell us to "go educate yourselves transphobes. If you don't know why not having pronouns in your bios is transphobic, then you wouldn't ever understand even if I told you why!"

Every conversation with them has been like this:

Pro-trans people: "Trans men are men and trans women are women, so many scientific sources agree with me!!"

Me: Care to share the links to those "scientific sources" you're talking about?

Pro-trans people: "A quick google search will give you the answer to that, go search them up yourself you transphobe!!"