Something has been bugging me since @GretaThunberg swept the floor with that guy everyone keeps talking about (still have no idea who he is btw). It's the concept of body shaming. Making fun of someone's body is always wrong. But IMHO that's NOT what Greta was doing.
The term #SmallDickEnergy is a dig at the cishetero patriarchy that values certain atributes, such as penis length, and underpins the kind of toxic masculinity that this Andrew guy appears to worship. It is not a dig at his *actual* penis.
Does it imply that having a small penis is wrong? Sure. But body shaming implies that she *actually* made fun of his penis (which she didn't) as opposed to the toxic masculinity he displayed when he came after a 19 year old for no apparent reason other than an attempt at a flex
Its the same as the phrase "short man syndrome". Like SDE, on the surface it implies that there is something with shorter men. But more often than not, it is used to describe a toxic man who is compensating for the fact that he feels inferior as a result of his size.
Once again, I believe that this is a dig at the patriarchy, and almost certainly a dig at the person, but it's a stretch to call it body shaming. Body shaming would be "shut up short a*se" or something equally as lame.
You may be wondering why I've spent time reflecting on this and what qualifies me to have an opinion. Let's deal with the latter 1st. I'm a 5ft2 trans dude who is too fat to qualify for bottom surgery. I am the epitome of a short man with a small (in this cases non existent) 🍆
As for why I think it is important to talk about this in a nuanced way is because dismissing these kind of things as body shaming devalues what *actual* body shaming looks and feels like.
As someone who is body shamed on an almost daily basis on social media, I take umbrage with the notion that this Andrew person experienced even a fraction of what I experience regularly. It is NOT. THE. SAME (I don't care whether you agree with me or not)
And as someone who has been accused of body shaming someone because I implied that their well defined muscles did not necessarily make them healthy or fit, I can assure you that it is NOT THE SAME as when people imply I deserve to die younger because I'm fat.
So look, you may not like the term #SmallDickEnergy and I totally understand and respect that. I also agree that we *should* be challenging this patriarchal bullshit as often as possible. SDE is a crass term, but name calling often is. That doesn't make it body shaming.
I've heard people say Greta should have just risen above it and not given him the attention that he clearly craves (I understand that's his actual business plan?). But that's because they weren't *personally* attacked by him. She was. Who are we to judge her reaction?
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