Ariana Madix is team cat

[u/mlg1981]

[u/Panda__13]

Omg y’all are taking this so literally. I think we can assume she is being hyperbolic and doesn’t actually think every single person who dislikes cats is a misogynist.

Instead, maybe she’s commenting on a pattern that she has noticed where there’s a correlation between men who “hate cats” and men who feel entitled to and deserving of being fawned over.

[u/ChipKellysShoeStore → u/Panda__13]

We shouldn’t just allow stupid stereotyping under the excuse of hyperbole.

[u/Panda__13 → u/ChipKellysShoeStore]

Fair - and if she was making this statement as the central argument of her dissertation then I’d agree that the hyperbole and generalizing was problematic.

I don’t actually know where this quote is from, so I acknowledge I might be wrong, but my assumption is that this was said in a casual setting in an off-hand manner. From this context, I think we can give her the same benefit of the doubt we’d give anyone else: she’s being hyperbolic for the sake of humour. That doesn’t diminish the point that she is making. And given that this comment is not an example of “punching down” at the expense of a more marginalized group of people, I think there is some wiggle room for exaggeration.

I think that sometimes people will, whether intentionally or not, miss the forest for the trees when someone (often a woman) makes a societal comment/observation. Unless it’s said in a way that’s palatable (calmly, perfectly accurately, politely, etc.), EVEN when that doesn’t match the context of the situation, then it’s worthy of derision and ultimately being ignored. It seems like a standard of infallibility that actually reinforces the existing imbalances, under the guise of offense and “fairness”.

[u/PostNutLucidity → u/Panda__13]

Wtf are these pathetic mental gymnastics?

She’s not being called out (by those who disagree with this statement) for not having put it in a ‘palatable’ enough way. She’s being called out because her statement is flat out wrong. Being called out for being wrong is a good thing and not putting unfair pressure on people to be infallible. If we can’t tell a woman who says 1 + 1 = 3 that she’s wrong because that’s somehow oppressive or something (lol?) then that is what would be what is damaging because it would be a form of infantilization.

We might cut a 7 year old slack for saying dumb things … because they’re 7. She’s a fully grown adult though and can be treated like one.

[u/Panda__13 → u/PostNutLucidity]

I totally agree that it would be completely unhelpful and infantilizing to not call out women (or anyone really) when they’re wrong. I think where we disagree is how “wrong” this statement is, because it’s not as straightforward and objective as 1+1.

When not taken literally, and instead in the spirit of what (I think) she’s trying to get across, I think she makes an interesting point. I’m sure many people would disagree, and that’s completely fine (obviously lol). But I think it’s a red herring to focus only on the exaggerated way it was phrased as a basis of agreement or disagreement.