Shakesville -

[ChinIsDead]

Shakesville is a site dedicated to social justice run by feminist blogger Melissa McEwan.

Sorry, let me try that again.

Shakesville is a viper's nest of passive-aggressive fucks run by manipulator and abuser Melissa McEwan.

It wasn't always this way. Shakesville used to have good articles, a solid staff of writers with interesting ideas articulated well, and a thriving community. Somewhere around 2007 or 2008, though, the founders jumped from being social justice advocates to social justice warriors. So, what important issues are they discussing over there today?

Um. Well, okay. That's just one comment (that has 17 likes). Let's see what the actual articles are like!

Trigger By Void: Melissa talks about how the lack of rape is a rape PTSD trigger.
Noblesse Oblige: Melissa the progressive liberal blogger loves the British royalty!
Two Days in the Life of Fatty Fatastrophe: Melissa is fucking fat and thinks that doctor visits are roses and sunshine for people who aren't.
A Day in the Life of Queen Cunt of Fuck Mountain: Melissa talks about how haaaaaaaard running a blog is.
All In Means All In: Melissa is a goddamn cult leader.

Speaking of triggers, Shakesville has trigger warnings. Lots and lots of trigger warnings. They call them content notes, but they're trigger warnings. Important ones, like...

Okay, yeah, so they go a bit overboard with those things. But at least their intentions are good, right? At least they're doing what they can to make it a place where emotionally vulnerable people can feel safe, right? Certainly not a place where the administration is emotionally abusive and manipulative to its userbase and demands they meet impossible standards.

This is only the beginning of the crazy that comprises Shakesville, though. The absurd trigger warnings, the abuse, the vapid articles? This shit's been going on for about six years. If you want to dig deeper, here are some good places to mine for bullshit:

Shaxicon: much like OPL, Melissa is in the habit of making up words/phrases for things and concepts that already have perfectly good ones. She then takes credit for this like she's accomplished something, even though no one outside Shakesville ever uses them so all it really does is raise the barrier for active participation in the community.
Required Reading: The comment policy says you're supposed to read this page and all of the linked pages before you post anything. In total, there are literally tens of thousands of words to plow through.
Drink the Shaker Koolaid: A (sadly defunct) tumblr mainly composed of former members of the site, who left and started making fun of it when they got tired of Melissa's bullshit.
Shakesfail: Another tumblr for people to discuss Shakesville's many failings. Not officially closed, but hasn't updated in 6 months.
Shakesville Koolaid Refugees: Active anti-Shakesville site frequented mostly by former members of Drink the Shaker Koolaid.
The Dickwolves Debacle: In which Penny Arcade makes a comic about dumb MMORPG logic, Shakesville says the comic promotes rape culture, and a months-long explosion of pure autism follows.

 

[Arctic]

It's like Tumblr on steroids.

 

[Meowzers]

god i love shakesville. it's such a clusterfuck and so embarrassing to watch. i'm a big ol' liberal gay social justice leaguer but shakesville is such a joke.

It's like Tumblr on steroids.

the majority of the tumblr social justice league are teenagers and 20-somethings and not harmful in the long run. as far as i'm aware, melissa is an adult-ass woman with her head up her ass who's abusing her power in a ""safe space""

 

[Pine Tar]

"Fatsronauts—One of Liss' many terms of endearments for her fellow fatties."

So, do they fly in rockets to hamplanets, then?

 

[Dudeofteenage]

What's interesting about Shakesville is that many of its critics self-identify very strongly as feminists.

At the risk of repeating myself, the big problem with Melissa is that she very long ago appears to have concluded that there's a 1:1 correspondence between things that piss her off and things that are anti-feminist/homophobic/transphobic/racist etc etc. So if she dislikes something, it must be racist or homophobic or whatever. Conversely, if she likes something (Bill Clinton, James Franco, a lot of crappy TV shows) anybody pointing out its racism, sexism or w/e is treated like a troll. Given that Melissa is fairly privileged herself (white, married, upper middle class) quite a lot of the things that piss her off are actually a result of her privilege, but she doesn't see it this way.

The best currently active anti-SV site is http://svkarefugees.tumblr.com/, which is most of the people who were on Shakesville Koolaid.

(Having said that, and to prove to myself I'm more fair minded than Melissa, the site used to be a lot better, chiefly because it used to be less of a personal playground for Melissa and more of a collaborative writing project. It also used to be more connected to political action and less about TV and internet culture. And she's written some posts where she has good points, although none that haven't been made just as well if not better elsewhere)

 

[lurkermouse]

Oh god, I remember that site. Maybe because it was one of the first sites that introduced me to the concept of social justice years ago, but I’d hoped to never see it again. I bought into the idea of mansplaining and trigger warnings and fat acceptance despite my confusion and discomfort, because it was all for the greater good, right? Surely it’s okay if it’s meant to help the underprivileged?

It’s rather chilling to come back with a fresh perspective and see how insular and cult-like they really are. I don’t doubt they’re well-intentioned. But you know what they say about good intentions.

 

[AnOminous]

The only thing I remember about Shakesville is the Dickwolves Saga.

Long story short, Penny Arcade made this cartoon.

Spoiler: Alleged "Rape Joke"

The joke is actually about the ridiculous ethics of quests in videogames.

Shakesville was one of the biggest bunch of idiots sperging out about this for literally months and calling for the cartoonists to be burnt at the stake.

First, getting mad about a Penny Arcade cartoon. Ever.

Second, this is far from the most offensive PA cartoon. In fact it is downright mild. Whatever your opinion of PA, seriously, they picked this one to freak out about?

Anyway, that was when I realized Shakesville was a bunch of lunatics.

 

[Handsome Pete]

I'm honestly shocked this didn't have a thread yet. (Comment edited to remove unhelpful and dehumanizing expression of surprise)

Like a lot of aging liberals, I liked Melissa's writing back during the Bush administration. But at some point,she sort of... cracked. I had naturally drifted away from her blog by then, so imagine my horror when, years later, I discovered she was still around and had gone completely insane. Like, to the point where if a reader says they like her writing, she takes it as a covert insult because it implies she should be working harder and posting more. But thanks to the connections she made during the early-00s glory days of political blogging, she's still taken seriously by writers who have otherwise remained sane.

The end of the Bush administration really drew a hard line between the politically engaged people who honestly disagreed with his policies, and the assholes who were just looking for something to complain about. The social justice types who get lolcow threads are always in the latter group.

 

[PurpleSquirrel]

Yet another example of my contention that SJWism is much, much more a nasty, selfish form of pseudo-therapeutic coping-strategy, than it is serious activism.

 

[Meowthkip]

I had not heard of Shakesville before this thread. Or, I might have, in passing, but nothing stuck out in particular compared to SJW bloggers like Riley.

But, um... .

The end of the Bush administration really drew a hard line between the politically engaged people who honestly disagreed with his policies, and the assholes who were just looking for something to complain about. The social justice types who get lolcow threads are always in the latter group.

Yeah, I don't think it's a coincidence that Bush leaving office caused a schism in the left on the internet. Without a big common enemy to unite them, they turn in on themselves.

And that's how we got the SJW culture we have today.

 

[Surtur]

So, wait, theyw were upset about people approriating the term "Warrior" that comes from the Old French "guerreior" a word dating back tot he fucking middle ages? In fucking Europe? What the actual fuck?

 

[Handsome Pete]

So, wait, theyw were upset about people approriating the term "Warrior" that comes from the Old French "guerreior" a word dating back tot he fucking middle ages? In fucking Europe? What the actual fuck?

Oh yeah, there's gold here. Can't find the posts right now, but she frequently declares that anti-Scottish prejudice is a problem on par with institutional racism. Why? Because that gets her and her husband into the oppression club! Lots of SJ blogs have the "I'm not like other white people" subtext, but she just says it.

EDIT: Found it.

 

[melty]

What's interesting about Shakesville is that many of its critics self-identify very strongly as feminists.

At the risk of repeating myself, the big problem with Melissa is that she very long ago appears to have concluded that there's a 1:1 correspondence between things that piss her off and things that are anti-feminist/homophobic/transphobic/racist etc etc. So if she dislikes something, it must be racist or homophobic or whatever. Conversely, if she likes something (Bill Clinton, James Franco, a lot of crappy TV shows) anybody pointing out its racism, sexism or w/e is treated like a troll. Given that Melissa is fairly privileged herself (white, married, upper middle class) quite a lot of the things that piss her off are actually a result of her privilege, but she doesn't see it this way.

I've noticed a few SJWs are like that. They can't stand being wrong and they realized the best way to always be right is to call someone else racist, sexist etc. Since those things are bad, apparently that means their opponent by extension is bad and their opinion is wrong and irrelevant! Then they can be right all the time.
The worst case of this IMO is in shipping fandoms, where certain people who take slash and shipping way too seriously figured out if other people don't think their OTP is THE best couple, they can just call them homophobic (or racist, if their OTP includes a mixed race character) therefore they don't have to be triggered by seeing other people ship their OTPs with different characters. It's kind of brilliant, in a really stupid and autistic way.

 

[MW 002]

Trigger Warnings: When strong and independent warriors of justice need to be protected from words!

 

[harvey dirdban]

Trigger Warnings: When strong and independent warriors of justice need to be protected from words!

Actually on Shakesville they are "content notes" because "trigger" is gun imagery which might upset someone.

No, I'm not kidding.

 

[blackie toy]

Dickwolves Saga

Well to be fair, that kind of anti-dog, anti-wolf content would probably trigger people like Jace. And we mustn't be ableist.

 

[Trombonista]

Actually on Shakesville they are "content notes" because "trigger" is gun imagery which might upset someone.

No, I'm not kidding.

That reminds me of the word filter on forumer (or was it Yuku?) that turned "content" into "penises".

Nobody tell Shakesville about that.

 

[Slowboat to China]

Oh yeah, there's gold here. Can't find the posts right now, but she frequently declares that anti-Scottish prejudice is a problem on par with institutional racism. Why? Because that gets her and her husband into the oppression club! Lots of SJ blogs have the "I'm not like other white people" subtext, but she just says it.

EDIT: Found it.

You know, I can think of a few Scottish stereotypes, but I mainly learned them from the work of George MacDonald Fraser. He wrote at one point:

My forebears from the Highlands of Scotland were a fairly primitive, treacherous, blood-thirsty bunch and, as Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote, would have been none the worse for washing. Fine, let them be so depicted, if any film maker feels like it; better that than insulting, inaccurate drivel like Braveheart.

That from one of the most beloved Scottish writers of the 20th century. Sue me if I don't shed tears for Melissa's clear and obvious oppression.

 

[BadaBadaBoom]

You know, I've never agreed with the methods bullies employ on the meek and less-fortunates of the world. Thanks to sites like Tumblr and Shakesville, however, I finally understand why.

 

[For The Internet]

Am I super duper white oppressed because half my biological family is Ulster Scott and the other half are from the north of Ireland? Cause that would be awesome...

... I mean, a total outrage. Everyone rapes my cultures!