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Culture War Roundup for the week of May 15, 2023

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A 30-year-old pregnant nurse attempted to steal a GPS-tracked rental bike from a young black man right outside her workplace, and when a group of onlookers surrounded her and started filming she had the audacity to start acting strangely, call for help, and briefly cry. Don't worry, justice has been served: she has been identified and suspended, and she will never be okay again.

  • -29

She did not come off particularly sympathetically in the video.

That really depends. She might've been scared, like you might be (as a man) if five or six huge gay dudes were doing the same kind of shit with you and your bike. How would you feel if five gay Mountain-sized guys, 6'8" 400lb strongmen or NFL linebackers, were doing this to a smallish straight dude?

2rafa is a woman. The dudes being gay wouldn't make much of a difference.

That's never been independently confirmed or outright stated by them, to my knowledge. Better to leave it ambiguous to avoid the inevitable ad wominem and white knighting claims that would inevitably follow.

If my memory isn't playing tricks on me and it was indeed @2rafa who wrote it, then there was a post in /r/PurplePillDebate that has stuck in that memory for literally years, with such a genuine confusion about how habitually covering the check could possible be an issue that only somebody both upper class and female could have written it.

Could just be the upper class thing.

On the internet, claiming to be a woman both invites special treatment and accusations of wanting special treatment. Therefore strategic ambiguity is a way to avoid the “tits or gtfo” dilemma.

Given how male this place is, there is also at least a distinct probability that they are a man. Rafa’s views are so idiosyncratic that I doubt much can be gleaned from discussing their sex anyway (in the absence of an explicit claim).

If someone implicitly signals ‘whatever I am, treat me as everyone else’, I am happy to comply.

She's been very clear about it on numerous occasions.

They also said they occasionally switch from commenting as man or woman.