Today, I got a message at the associated email account saying this guy is "following my updates on Twitter." I don't have any updates on Twitter. I don't even know what it is or how I would update it or what I would say (what the hell, I'm no Barack Obama; where would I be GOING and why would I give anyone regular updates? Do ordinary people do this these days?? My god, I felt guilty because I thought blogging was a bit narcissistic!). And I really think this same guy tried "friending" me on myspace a few months ago, via my page at DailyKos.
I just followed his Twitter thing to his blog and he's pretty conservative, (I think) Christian conservative, definitely very homophobic. He mentions "gay 'marriage,'" with those damn quotation marks around the word marriage, which means he doesn't think there can be real (no quotation marks) gay marriages - right, because all the straight women I know with asshole unfaithtful husbands have the REAL marriages, and it's so helpful and good for one's self-esteem. Then there is his bit about Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl:"
This is an alarming trend as the song itself promotes unhealthy relationship between same sex genders especially for easily impressionable young females. Imagine this song becoming the talk of school playgrounds, neighborhood backyards or even at dinner tables. Little girls experimenting among themselves to see whether if the song is true or not. What would you say as a parent if your daughter brings up the content of this song? Is it ok to kiss another girl? Is it normal? Is it natural? Or your daughter telling you... Mom I want to kiss Jennifer or Ann and why not because it should feel good right!!! ??***My daughter already played it for me because we actually talk like that (otherwise - I must admit - I wouldn't know a thing about it, because I don't listen to much new music - yep, my fortieth birthday will be this Saturday; just think of the song "1985" as my anthem and you've got the picture). Girls are already talking about the Katy Perry song, dope; it's number 9 on the pop charts. So what? And what would I say if my daughter asked me about it? Well, she's kissed a few boys without asking me first, so I doubt she would ask me first if she should kiss Jennifer or Ann. She has talked to me about the couple of boys she's kissed afterwards though. So, if she asked me about Jennifer or Ann, I would ask her if it felt right to her (which is what I've asked her about individual guys she's kissed before - does it feel right?). I would tell my daughter that if kissing Jennifer or Ann feels right to her, then it is okay (although she and I have talked about the popular phenomenon of faux lesbianism among young straight women being used as a way to titillate the straight boys, and we both agree that that's annoying). So I'd be okay with it, Twitter dude.
I don't know why he would be trying to connect with me again via Twitter, as he did before from my myspace page, since I'm the same person on myspace that I am here - as in, definitely no conservative.
I did just post some things at DailyKos this weekend - where I have a link to my myspace page - about the difficulties of parenting and protecting our children from toxic culture (but when I say toxic culture, I tend to mean violence and graphic sex and objectifying women, but I don't give a shit about there being a song about a teenage girl kissing another teenager girl at a slumber party, "liking it," and finding that "she tastes just like her cherry chapstick;" as long as you're not homophobic, this is just a cute little song about a frickin' KISS (although the video seems annoyingly designed to titillate the straight boys who like thinking about lesbian kisses, as long as the "girls" involved are hot, pornolicious babes). When it comes to the sexual content that's out there generally, I see this song about a kiss as practically G-rated. So, yeah, I wrote about protecting kids from toxic culture, but I didn't mean that like a conservative thing. I mean, geez, it was at liberal Daily Kos! What's this guy doing there?
I notice too that his blog is FULL of criticism of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Hannah Montana, and that he calls them "pop tarts" (ah-ha-ha; how about at least coming up with some creative or original misogynistic bullshit, eh?). He worries about little girls not wearing panties to school "just like Britney" (dude, spare me your sick little daydreams - OH shit, I just accidentally typed "daycreams," how totally Freudian!). I don't want Britney to be my daughter's role model either, so I try to provide other models and some conversation about women-as-sex-objects, but I don't insult Britney either, for god's sake. And if he is SO concerned about toxic culture affecting our kids, why doesn't his blog have ANY criticism of any males - like Eminem and all the woman-hating (and gay-bashing) lyrics sung by men that I know my daughter is also hearing? Why are Britney, Paris, and Miley the great pop-culture evil-doers, with no mention on the blog of my new "Twitter buddy" (whatever the hell that is) of any male counterparts?
So, anyway, back to the whole Twitter thing...anyone reading who is younger and hipper than I am - Should I be concerned? Ignore it? Are there any potential consequences of being "followed on Twitter" that I should know about? What can he see about me from that? Can I somehow cancel him as my "Twitter buddy" or should I just cancel the damn account completely?
Thanks in advance,
technologically out of touch old lady who turns 40 this weekend
NOLA radfem turns forty - indulges in some eighties nostalgia
1985 by Bowling For Soup
***I have a longstanding policy of NEVER challenging what's written on someone else's blog here on my blog. I just don't think it seems fair to, you know, borrow someone's words, run back to my own little space, and then trash them. But I've made an exception here because this guy seems to be following me around the intertubes and I wanted some input about it.
Now you've got me all a-twitter!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, does this guy think that girls don't experiment already?
Even more seriously, he seems to have a weird and creepy fascination with the sexuality of young teen-aged girls. I wouldn't let my daughter near him. If I had one, that is.
Mazel tov on your fortieth!
ReplyDeleteOne of the weird things about Twitter is that one will be notified about somebody following them and it will only make sense in terms of a certain type of spam - namely, that someone is determined to "collect" as many people as they can right away in the hopes that some of those same people will turn around and follow them. It's largely a way of using Twitter to generate more traffic to one's site.
Sounds like you need to block this guy, though. Nothing wrong with doing that. I'm on the Tweeter Tube, myself, so start out slowly with it if you intend to use it more. Link to people you know who are also on it first, and experiment a little from there.
K:
ReplyDeleteLOL @ "all a-twitter!"
Yes, I think girls probably do experiment already. And, actually, boys experiment too, although I don't think we're likely to hear a hit song in which a guy announces that he kissed a boy and he liked it. The older I've gotten, the more I've heard from several heterosexual men that there was some experimenting with other boys when they were teens - mainly mutual masturbation. It's kind of surprised me (I mean, it did when I first started hearing about it a few years ago, but it doesn't surprise me anymore), but if you read somthing like the Kinsey report, you learn that, statistically, it really is pretty typical stuff.
Yeah, he does seem to have a creepy fascination.
Hey, I notice from your blog that you are recently married to your soul mate. Congratulations on the changes in your life. That's wonderful.
Hi, Leigh.
ReplyDeleteI started out responding to your birthday wish and it has become its own blog entry, which I will post later!
Thanks so much for explaining about Twitter. That makes a lot of sense because the guy has like 1500 people he's "following." So, it's supposed to get you to his blog, huh?
What kinds of things do you post on Twitter, if you don't mind my asking? I just don't really understand what it's supposed to DO.
I see Twitter as one giant chat room in which people on it can come and go at will. It's good for those little bits of information one can share with others who are on it, such as traffic or weather reports in the area - and it is great for arranging to meet up with others locally who are on the service.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I use it for. Some folks also pimp their latest blog entries on it or provide interesting links to stuff on it. i used it to try to get people to contribute their questions to a phone town hall meeting in progress with (gasp! GROAN) David Vitter when he called my house that second. Fun stuff.
Did you get in touch with anyone to add to the Vitter conversation in time?
ReplyDeleteMan, that guy really creeps me out.