Mae govannen everybody! Needlessly gendered memes are now banned. These are the "boys do this girls do this" memes. They will be considered a breaking of Rule 4. They are basically just saying "boys are cool girls are dull."
Here are some examples of the posts I'm talking about:
https://i.imgur.com/TQGethp.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/4vO8NyO.jpg
These posts get lots of upvotes but that's only because the overwhelmingly majority of redditors are dudes. Understand, these memes are pointlessly calling others stupid or dull for no reason. When it comes to Tolkien fandom, there is just as many, if not more, female fans as male fans. This is not represented properly on Reddit just because Reddit is predominately male. Since women are outnumbered, their efforts to downvote these memes have basically no effect. When on this sub we are all one family making memes about the books and movies we love. Lets make sure that no matter gender, race, religion, orientation, or whatever; we are all together here. Just make it say "uncultured people vs cultured people" instead of "boys vs girls" or something like that, its not a hard fix and it has the same effect.
As always, if you see a meme like this please report it, it makes our job easier. Also, stop reporting memes that don't break the rules just because you don't like them. I'm a busy man, you're wasting my time.
Thanks everybody. Let us share in the days of peace.
While I sorta approve of this decision (hopefully it doesn't lead to more bans), I sure hope it wasn't because of that one reversed meme (boys boring, girls cool) that was on here recently. If you banned these memes because that meme pointed out the problem, fine. You could have done that sooner. But if it's because of the fact that someone posted a reverse meme in the first place, then we have problems. I will most likely be downvoted to oblivion for saying this, but I feel like it needs to be said.
We were thinking about doing it for a long time. We decided we were going to start removing them about a week ago but never made a statement. When the post you're referring to got removed, the person reached out to us asking if it was because it was role reversed. That wasnt the case because they were all getting removed regardless of role. We realized that we never made an official statement that these types memes were being deleted. So we did now.
And I can confirm as the maker of that meme! Thank you for your appreciation by the way.
Oh ok, good to know.
You can just visit Instagram for couple of minutes to see A LOT of Tolkien fangirls. There's full of them. I wish in Reddit there was more Tolkien fangirls as well.
Women are in Tumblr and fanfiction community too. Around the same number of men/women in YouTube Tolkien video comments from what I have seen.
Well, following this is a great way to cultivate a better atmosphere
My wife sends me these kinds of memes. Her fragile feminine mind was able to see that it's silly and not be offended. These are her favorite movies and by extension some of her favorite memes. Stepping up for women instead of letting women make their own views clear isn't activism. It's stupid. She's the strongest person I know and acting like a meme would break her is super rude and wildly sexist. Nice work mod team.
Thank you! This decision helps me, a female fan, and everyone feel more included. To the commenters saying "fragile women can't take a joke", my thoughts. I am not offended per se when I see these memes, but I do feel they're inaccurate and uphold a gender stereotype that isn't true, which feeds the exclusion. I hope this ruling helps you understand how stereotypes and these kind of memes can be hurtful and limiting.
So once again, mods, thank you!
Ugh I agree! There’s so much really minor misogyny on reddit in general, but it seems more evident in subs I follow relating to video games or other ‘geeky’ things that tend to be male dominated in general. It’s not like I’m offended per se by seeing stuff like that, it just makes me feel like less a part of the community.
Thank you! These memes are stupid.
I wish some of my video game subreddits would adopt this too. I'm not offended by the memes so much as just deeply unimpressed by how so many men don't know any women who play video games. WE ALL CRIED when insert Last of Us or Red Dead Redemption spoiler here
Edit: grammar
Yeah the meme has become so.....stale. Ive always seen it as a "that" group vs "this" group and not gender v gender but that obviously still doesnt stop the base visual meaning.
Thank you! Those types of memes are everywhere and there’s no need for pointless sexism
I just want to say that I appreciate this decision and thank you.
Thank you so much🥺😭👌🏼👏🏼👏🏼 those honestly just make me feel so unincluded and looked down on! I'm sure I'm not alone🙏🏼 women like lotr too🥺🧝🏻♀️🧙🏼♂️✨
I feel you. Honestly, I don't think this sub is as bad as other subs I've been on regarding misogynistic content, but it's still really annoying when it pops up.
Those memes you linked are lazy and don't even actually point out anything funny about the relationships between or the differences between the two genders. Those memes should be "normal people vs lotr fans" clearly... So yeah, I get why you made the ban!
But why not just downvote and forget about them then? Why go this far?
I guess I'm not seeing why anyone should care.
What's the point of having low quality content that's also got misogynistic (or racist or homophobic) overtones appear on a sub? Why risk having content that's not even funny possibly drive your followers away? I'm sure the mods are tired of receiving complaints about these memes as well.
Thank you! I can't stand those memes.
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Yes!! I immediately thought this too, the timing is so suspicious???? Like one gal made a tongue-in-cheek flipped meme where dudes are the "dull" ones and literally THE NEXT DAY they're all banned?? Doesn't seem like WOMEN being special snowflakes/offended is the problem here lmao
Yeah I’m wondering if the places were flipped, would it still be a problem, or are we just assuming that only women can’t take a joke?
Unfortunately, I think the latter.
What’s absurd is that it’s not even an edgy joke (which are very often the funniest kind)! They really must think we’re all just that emotionally delicate and fragile.
Agreed. I've seen plenty of jokes at the expense of men (women being civilised, and men running around like retarded apes) - nobody has an issue. But the reverse? Gotta protect the fragile women!
Often, looking for sexism where none exists leads to creating sexism. I feel that is the case here.
We actually made the decision about a week ago. When the role reversed one got deleted then we realized it looked like we singled it out because we were sexist or something. That's not the case since all of them were being deleted. So thats why we made an announcement here.
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They are being removed?
Hey, wtf? I'm a woman here and I actually find them funny, when done right. Sure, a lot of them are cringe af, but some are actually pretty good. And ffs, it's a joke. Don't tell me, that someone can get offened by this? Just how much of an insecure snowflake are you? So take this and cast it into the fire! Can't wait for the time, when every little joke will be taken as a personal offence. Fuck that.
I'm personally offended by your opinion Kappa
I dont think anyone used to meme culture is offended by any memes, it is simply not possible, they are merely jokes and if some are poorly done you can just ignore them, the problem is that this meme is actively pushing one group of people away from the inclusion. Many many many memes are ones that are targetted to a specific kind of people of course, but this meme is specifically excluding some people from being able to relate. It can easily be fixed by replacing the parts with for example "Aliens vs Humans" or "People who know nothing of the subject vs us" but for some reason the one most commonly used is one that tries to underline a non existent difference between the two. Its tragic because it could be such a great meme, absolutely one of my favourites, IF it didnt have this cringey approach.
Thanks guys, I appreciate this decision. When I saw these memes I didn't cry at night or lose my mind or anything, but they made it look like everyone accepted that this was a sub for guys and I don't belong here. Which obviously isn't the end of the world, I can handle a joke, but it's nice to see that this sub is acknowledging how that's a false stereotype.
"Since women are outnumbered their downvotes have no effect"
What? That's a big assumption.
Could it not be that the majority of women can appreciate a meme is a joke, and don't wish to downvote (I like to think the majority are intelligent enough to know this)? I can certainly appreciate the reverse of "girls smart, boys dumb". There is no reason to be offended - it's a jestful stereotype. If you can't be the butt of a joke, humour isn't for you. It goes both ways.
Just about every meme in this sub is not intended on being serious (we aren't advocating for people to put potatoes up their arses). So why try and single out this one format? Seems like you are trying to solve 'sexism' where none truly exists. That only limits creativity (Eru knows this sub needs as much as possible...).
If you want to better this sub, perhaps stricter repost rules should be looked into.
Hell, I was joking with a Dutch guy about the Dutch being weird ~12 hours ago - and making fun of stereotypes. All could see it was friendly - not serious. He took it well, and took the piss out of himself (what a champ).
What's next? Are we to ban ALL jokes at another person's expense? For consistency's sake - it would be expected then? Unless you are only interested in pandering. Only, if that was done - god knows how many posts would need to be removed. Half the memes on this sub are at the expense of something or someone, or some group. Yet no one has an issue...
The point is, the majority of people here are intelligent enough to understand humour without looking to be offended. It is a meme sub afterall. So why are women being singled out as being unable to take a joke? (Sexism?)
(I wonder... if I were to say I'm a female, would I be downvoted less? Knowing Reddit... probably)
The repost rules were made by the community. We polled the subreddit on what to do with reposts and the sub decided that if they arent same day or very close then they should be tagged as reposts but not deleted.
If memory serves, the options were very limited. Either ban or tag reposts. Very little in between.
I also voted to tag - because banning all reposts isn't a good idea.
Regardless, the period of no 24 hour reposts is way too small imo (I don't recall this being mentioned on the poll). I think many would agree. Surely bumping it up to a week is better for everyone? People who aren't frequent visitors will still get multiple chances to see the same meme - but it won't be reposted every single day - flooding the sub.
"This post is talking about a certain type of post being banned because it makes some people feel excluded from the subject, sO aRe YoU tRyInG tO tEll mE tHaT aLL Of tHe peOpLE tHe PoStS aRE exCluDiNg cAnT TaKe a jOKe????????? SEXISM!!!!!"
Edit: this is a tl:dr ;)
I dont really see why its neccesary
Yeah me neither.
It's like we do have a voting system in place after all...
I know your intentions are good, but this is not something I agree with. The posts here are intended to be humourous, and not representative of someone's serious opinions.
With this action you are simply sending a message that women can't take a joke, that they need special treatment, and that they need protecting.
Women should be allowed to make jokes about men, and vice versa. This thing is not equality. I'll take your downvotes, but I strongly disagree with this.
I see where you are coming from, these really aren't that offensive.
They're still just dumb childish jokes though and im very in favor of banning them. This is just a meme subreddit, the mods decided we've had enough of a certain low effort kinda sexist meme, and theyre getting banned. Whatever seems fine to me. If youre really into that kind of joke im sure you can find it elsewhere.
I don't care for them much. And I didn't think they're such a big issue. As you said, they are kinda childish and don't seem all that offensive. Or frequent. If they were really flooding the feed, fine. If they really portrayed women as inferior, fine. But this not doing anything for anyone.
If you banned all dumb childish jokes, all meme subreddits would be dead.
Its not funny when it perpetuates stereotypes about women being stupid and not having any interests besides fucking makeup and being "cute". if you can't be funny without being an asshole, maybe you're not very funny afterall🤷🏻♀️ its not about needing "protection", its about taking accountability and stepping up to say something isn't cool, and that it needs to stop.
I've seen plenty of the opposite: "guys dumb, girls smart". I'm a guy. They can be funny. It's a joke and meme. There is no reason for me to be offended.
I didn’t see anything specified about a stereotypical “girl’s interest” at all. I especially didn’t see anything implying that women are in any way inferior. It literally just said “‘what do you want to do this weekend?’- ‘idk’”. How is that offensive? I think you’re reading WAY too far into it. People are actually getting pissed because essentially someone implied: more boys like lotr than girls? That’s just silly.
It's not offensive, but it does imply that two guy friends would obviously watch LotR, but two girl friends wouldn't.
When some girl friends absolutely would and some guy friends absolutely wouldn't.
As someone pointed out elsewhere, these memes are just "normal people" vs "lotr fans", but then needlessly gendered.
If they aren’t offensive then I don’t really see the point in mods removing them. Would it not make more sense to just downvote them if one finds them unfunny? It seems to me like they are being removed for being ‘sexist’, and therefore offensive. IMO they aren’t sexist or offensive; anyone who believes they are is being overly sensitive, and looking for sexism where it doesn’t exist. Obviously enough people are offended by them, if mods feel the need to remove them.
I don't think something needs to be offensive to be sexist.
They are sexist and therefore removed. I'm not offended by that kind of meme, but I do recognize that they play into a sexist world view. If we can avoid doing that - by simply not needlessly assigning genders to a meme that works just as well without - then why not?
If it had the drooling dented-head meme character made to look like a girl, then that would be sexist. These characters aren’t portrayed in a negative or offensive light. I don’t think it’s sexist at all. Maybe slightly inaccurate, which might make one find it slightly less funny, but not sexist. I’m much more concerned by the limiting of creativity, than a meme that merely implies fewer girls enjoy a certain book/movie compared to boys (which may actually be true, though I suppose that’s beside the point). It isn’t sexist, or offensive. It should not be banned, but simply down/up-voted according to an individual’s opinion.
Well, I disagree. You're asking for special treatment. Good day.
Disagree all you want🥰 simply leave and join a different sub if you're so emotional about it. OP stated its a violation of rule 4. The end.
Not emotional, just expressing my opinion. I didn't use any faul language, even. But I'm glad you got so much joy out of this. Next time try to have a civil discussion. If you thought I was wrong, I would've happily listened to you opinion, and potentially changed mine. But I guess you that wasn't what you're here for.
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Maybe you're reading a different comment than I am. First 2 sentences are about what's funny. That's subjective. Last part is a statement that saying something that's not cool needs to stop. There were no arguments offered, unless you count fuck and asshole as arguments.
Thought I made my view pretty clear. Memes aren't funny when they're perpetuating a stereotype. Thats what I said. You simply don't want to listen to it.
That's subjective. I disagree.
Sterotypes can be funny. As long as it is in good faith - I see no issue. I've laughed at "men dumb girls smart" memes. I've laughed at race based memes (whether it be of my own race, or others - it matters not).
But now we have to ban a format because some snowflakes don't understand what a joke is on a meme subreddit. Great...
Actually these memes do not send the message that one group would be superior to the other, or that ”boys” would be more fun than ”girls” or anything. It is merely a joke with no deeper meaning, and we shouldn’t look for reasons to be offended where there are none.
Agreed.
If you try hard enough, you can get offended about anything.
A meme sub, with blatant jokes, using a stereotype that can go both ways, should be no grounds to get mad.
Next we are gonna ban Gollum memes because people with split-personalities get offended...
Lady redditor here. Take my upvote.
Thank you, you pointed out very well why these kinds of memes should not be banned.
This is stupid and pointless. Unsubscribed if you're going to police memes for no reason.
Hmm, makes some sense to me. But then, you are a small. Perhaps you're right.
"women aren't strong enough to impact our community so we're going to do it for them" is the dumbest shit you can do. It's like being a sexist while pissing off everyone that both is and isn't sexist.
Waiting for the "I am no man" line to he banned for bullshit next.
"Members arent mods enough", there I fixed the start of your sentence.
I hope this is a joke. It's the same as saying "poor women, they can t stand a joke let's protect them like we would do with a pet or a child. It's bullshit
It is saying that posts that actively excludes and pushes away a certain type of people, making them less likely to feel interested in the subreddit, are now banned. Good day.
You all are so cringe.
Time to leave the sub, then.
Ahh gawd dear 2020
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I am sure there are probably a 50/50 ish balance regarding fans of LOTR, but the subreddit is most likely mainly males since the unwelcoming memes made their entrance all over reddit, this obviously isnt specific to this sub, many parts of the internet has made plenty a female less interested in trying to enjoy memes online.
Always wanted to ask - can I report obvious reposts that aren't on a retirement list?
Yes
Needlessly hmmm...
But what about second lotr marathon?