KelvarCherry [They/Them]

I’ve been online for a loooong time. From my recollection: it hit its peak with the “anti-SJW” / “anti-feminist” rage during GamerGate in the mid 2010s. It was well on the decline until Andrew Tate and the TikTok manosphere accounts which copied him brought that rhetoric back; now targeting real world women instead of “woke” gamedevs and script writers.

Reading these last three comments — I was taking “dating” to mean forming a stable relationship because they’ve been throwing out words like “stability” and whine about divorce; but you’re probably right. The “GamerGate” rage that funneled into the manosphere has very rapey vibes, and that’s about fictional video game women. Seeing the rise in misogyny-inspired attacks; increased joking about rape and abuse; and that online rape guide CNN did a report on… I’m very scared for our future, especially for the future of feminine Gen Z and Gen Alpha folks.

Hear Me Out: This capitalist/traditional attitude towards dating radicalized men into the manosphere. For the last three years this anti-“modern women”/anti-feminism movement has been rising across the internet; and about 75% of their resentment is just about distaste toward dating apps and paying to take a girl out for dinner.

For years I was laughing at ( and then after they helped Trump’s re-election, ripping my hair out over ) their complete refusal/inability to see any other alternatives to connect with people besides the most shallow idea of a date. Perhaps these folks just completely unimaginative, or have no personality to offer, and nothing to provide besides the traditional chivalry of this generic “provider” fallback that is unfeasible for most in this economy.

I wish I could just sit down with one of these men, and just ask them “Why not find women elsewhere?”. Delete the dating apps and go find a hobby, join a volunteer organization. If you’re such a “traditional conservative masculine man”, go to a Catholic church or alt-right fascist rally. It’s a whole lot cheaper than flying abroad to sugar-daddy at a favorable exchange rate. (Passport bros)

Though… the article does say: “More than half of Gen Z adults reported spending $0 a month on dating in a 2025 Bank of America Better Money Habits survey.” and mentions folks rejecting dating apps because they prefer real interactions…so maybe folks are waking up.

For context, Bob Ross is a well-respected painter who passed away in 1995. His “The Joy of Painting” broadcast, originally made for the PBS channel, has been re-streamed on Twitch by the site, making him a notable figure online.

While nowhere near the ongoing existential polycrises we’re battling, there is something disturbing about a real person’s legacy being used to promote a cash-grab video game that squeezes money from kids. I’m certain Bob Ross would not want anything to do with Epic Games or Fortnite. To have one’s existence and fame used in this way is on-par with running crypto scams with deepfakes of a public figure.

oh, wow. I was completely unaware of that aspect of it. I will research that now. Thank you for correcting me.

I agree with everything you wrote except the PPP fraud. IIRC that was all forgiven under Biden, and all the real perpetrators were businesses. They’re absolutely coming for Section 8 people and those on food stamps before the new rules kicked most off, next.

“indentured servitude”, which is what this is, is slavery; especially when the costs are forced upon you. This was a common method of immigrating to the USA back in the, like, 1800s; but that debt was taken by willing people who had the option to walk away.

And the crime is sleeping. Jesus fucking Christ USAmerica has gone from a prison state to a torture state.

Whether you are planning on using Windows 11 or Win10 or Linux, I would recommend doing a clean reinstall from an ISO. You can download a fresh ISO from Microsoft’s own website. This way, if there is any bloatware from your manufacturer, university, or benefits organization, it will be wiped.

haha I paused a bit as I wrote that, too; but yeah. W Bush was stupid, a bad public speaker, and a warmonger… but he knew when to listen to his advisors.

This might have been the case under sane-but-horrible leaders like George W. Bush, Mike Pence, and the last Democrats, but I think this outcome is improbable as 1) that international united refusal didn’t happen when George W. Bush waged war over lies in the Middle East; 2) This administration is composed of hyped-up christo-fascists and their sycophants, and is goaded by oligarchs who want the destruction of the USA so they can buy up what remains.

^ this. The specific example in my mind was TikTok short-form manosphere content that flooded the internet in 2023.

It doesn’t even need to have fake views. Content tagged with rising extremist views will naturally foster higher engagement—some of it from the absurdity; some of it from the growing group of people who believe it. Andrew Tate was a large part of promoting violent misogyny and patriarchy. The views never changed; they just became far more familiar.

It’s not about quality. Most people use content just to fill a void. Look outside at the people around you. Just about everyone is looking at their phones on rides, listening to podcasts when walking. It’s just filler.

The alt-right took over the social sphere just by taking up space. All the manosphere/trad-life/christo-fascist/slopaganda crap flooded the internet, and then it became the norm—not because it was convincing, but because it was recognizable. People parrot what they hear; And that’s especially true for the majority of unintelligent folks who wish to masquerade as intelligent. It just so happens the masses heard a lot of “women/people of color/queers are destroying our great white Christian society”.

There’s nothing about this that’s inherent to bigotry or conservative ideology; It’s just that USA conservative-aligned businessfolk bought up the outlets and skewed the scene a little bit in the favor of alt-right ideology. Over years that compounded, and now it’s seized the entire conversation. Perhaps lefties/liberals were hesitant to use those methods because they play to emotions, and not intelligence; But this is the reality of our current social sphere.