• enkers@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    161
    arrow-down
    9
    ·
    edit-2
    2 days ago

    Pepe is a beloved internet meme, not a symbol of hate. Rightoid asshats need to leave pepe and doge the fuck alone. >:(

      • Grumpy@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        85
        arrow-down
        9
        ·
        2 days ago

        Wtf pepe is considered alt-right because alt-right uses them sometimes??? I hear they also use English! Maybe English needs to get banned!

        • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          53
          arrow-down
          9
          ·
          2 days ago

          They didn’t just use it sometimes, they were using it as an intentional dog whistle, that is the difference. Part of dog whistling is choosing something that, otherwise, has had no real relationship to the thing it is being used as a dog whistle for.

          • reksas@sopuli.xyz
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            37
            arrow-down
            6
            ·
            2 days ago

            so they can choose anything and we just have to stop using it because its their dogwhistle now?

            • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              30
              arrow-down
              5
              ·
              2 days ago

              No, but you have to understand that it now comes with the context of being a WP dog whistle. The symbolism of the Nazis weren’t anything to their ideology before hand. They had widespread use for thousands of years. Now they, especially the primary one, is all but verboten in the west, and people who use things, like the swastika, as religious symbols, even know to tread with caution using it in the west. White hoods, and robes, have been used in cultural/religious regalia forever. However, you don’t use them in the US unless you consider being mistaken for a klan memeber.

              Can we reclaim pepe? Probably, it was minor compared to the aforementioned things, and the creator has done a lot to kibosh the commercial use of it from right wing people. However, it was that, and that context doesn’t just disappear because you don’t like it.

              • 9488fcea02a9@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                13
                arrow-down
                4
                ·
                2 days ago

                There’s a whole documentary about reclaiming pepe called “feels good man”

                The more we discourage people from using pepe because WP and shitheads, the more they win.

                • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  5
                  ·
                  2 days ago

                  I agree, a number of the places I hang out online, and friends, use it. None of them are like that. However, when researching bigotry in culture, it will inevitably come up, and it’s significance as an indicator is complicated. So, best to read the details of the data, and what they have to say about it, beyond and chart, and headline, and keep in mind that there is real reason to attach the frog to the alt-right, but it is used in many other ways.

            • thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              9
              arrow-down
              12
              ·
              edit-2
              2 days ago

              to me it’s kind of kind the nazi bar thing. if you’re at a bar with 2 Nazis, and you’re not a nazi, you’re still hanging out at a nazi bar.

              they fucking adore this frog. no other group has embraced it as strongly or consistently. I’m quite happy to let an old ass meme die because i find it distasteful now that it’s the favorite meme of nazis.

              • Voyajer@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                3 hours ago

                Except in this instance the bar is the meme and you can’t stop the Nazis from using it no matter what you do. Even if you move on to some other meme they can just as easily follow you, now no one knows what’s acceptable or not and for how long.

      • petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        2 days ago

        They did, but I don’t think they still have them.

        Pepe is now (or again) a beloved element of Twitch chat, and the OK symbol… I dunno, that was eight years ago. I just don’t hear anybody talking about it, unless it’s to half remember that it’s bad now or something.

        • wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          2 days ago

          The whole OK symbol thing was literally a false flag by 4chan to clown on the news media’s fervor at the time to label things as racist dog whistles, specifically the whole Pepe shit that was going on.

          The fucking thread that started it was (paraphrasing): “Hey guys, do you think the news media would be stupid enough to believe the OK hand sign is a white power dog whistle? [Image of WP poorly traced over the OK hand symbol]”

          Obviously, if you get your kicks out of pretending to be a fool, you shouldn’t be surprised when you find yourself in the presence of actual fools. That also very much applies to the type of edgelords on 4chan that thought it would be funny to “pretend to be” racists, or at least to have discovered a racist hate symbol. Eventually enough people will take it seriously that the original “joke” (if you can even call it that) will be lost.