site banner

Culture War Roundup for the week of July 13, 2026

This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.

Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.

We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:

  • Shaming.

  • Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.

  • Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.

  • Recruiting for a cause.

  • Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.

In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:

  • Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.

  • Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.

  • Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.

  • Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.

On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.

3
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

You repost that meme over and over, but Arun Pudur's citations are "per media reports." Yes, I'm sure if you search Tinder for "Ukrainian women" you will find a lot.

Are there any actual numbers indicating just how many Ukrainian women have left Ukraine and joined Tinder? Do you know what percentage of Ukrainian women have fled compared to the percentage of Ukrainian men who have fled?

You repost that meme

Happy to share awareness among those who are less initiated and to remind those who may have forgotten.

Do you know what percentage of Ukrainian women have fled compared to the percentage of Ukrainian men who have fled?

Playing along with the (rhetorical) question, over 30% of Ukrainian women aged 20-29 were already gone as of May 2023 (at the latest, since that was when the report was published) vs. pre-war, as opposed to 4-5% of Ukrainian men (a minority but material fraction of whom may had literally died in war). As of or before May 2023 this would already have been quite dispiriting for a young Ukrainian man getting shot at and/or bombed in the trenches (if he hadn't already died), much less facing a 2:3 girl:guy ratio in those age groups if/when he returns to civilian life (assuming he survives). Competition from 30-39 year old men for 20-29 women would also be more intense than usual given the even greater relative outmigration of 30-39 year-old women.

The ratio from the May 2023 report would have only deteriorated given any Ukrainian outmigration that has occurred since the time the figures were originally gathered (the ratio declines linearly for any proportional outmigration, for example, another 4-5% decrease from prewar in young Ukrainian men and 32-33% decrease from prewar in young Ukrainian women would mean about a remaining 1:3 girl:guy ratio).

Are there any actual numbers indicating just how many Ukrainianu women have left Ukraine and joined Tinder?

Women, especially young attractive women, are generally present on Tinder and/or other online dating sites, if not Instagram, TikTok, SnapChat, etc. No marginal joining needed to continue thotting about, just maintaining or augmenting one's presence would be more than enough.