Sometimes,
you have to see something to believe it. And yet, words can be illustrative too:
In three days, starting from my initial pledge to commit up to $1,000 to these organizations (if certain conditions were met), over $50,000 has been pledged by folks who wanted to stand with me. I’m deeply honored and humbled by this, both by the show of support for me, and rather more importantly, by the show of support for organizations focused on women, GLBT, people of color and those sexually abused. Thanks, folks.
As a way to show my appreciation, I commissioned a piece of art.
Now, as some background, out there in the stupider parts of the Internet, there are dudes who think of themselves as “alpha males.” My experience with these fellows is that they tend to be ignorant, status-anxious and undersocialized; they tend to mask their various panic attacks about race, gender and sexuality by maintaining those panic attacks are in fact a sign of their superiority. They disdain those who are comfortable with a world in which diversity is respected and encouraged — especially those who are men — and call them “beta” or “gamma” males and/or describe them as “rabbits” or some other species which they presume to be frightened or prey.
With that in mind, for those of us who are comfortable with diversity, who try not to be racist, or sexist, or homophobic, who don’t see the world as an apocalyptic zero-sum battle to the death between ourselves and whomever we try to hide our confused fear of by considering them as lesser beings, who aren’t in fact appallingly ignorant bigoted shitballs every single waking hour of the day, may I present to you an avatar — an icon, if you will, of who we are and how we choose to live our lives:
Yes, Gamma Rabbit, who likes people as they are, fears no one no matter how they live their lives, and who is comfortable with himself and his own personal values of kindness, tolerance and diversity. Sure, there are some who look down on him and his ways, but you know what? Gamma Rabbit knows that those people are kooky, silly, wacky racist sexist homophobic dipshits, and aside from looking forward to the day when they might pull their heads out and join the rest of the human race, lets them alone to do their own thing. Because Gamma Rabbit has other, better people and things to think about.
So to everyone who pledged so far, and to those who might pledge in the future: Here, have a Gamma Rabbit. My gift to you, with thanks.
Again, from the Alpha Game perspective, I'm less interested in the details of this particular gamma performance than what we can learn from observing it. Note the following things:
- It's all about the gamma and his need for emotional sustenance. "I’m deeply honored... by the show of support for me". Rabbit People are drawn from all levels of the socio-sexual hierarchy, but the gamma-rabbit correlation is the strongest one.
- Reality reconstruction. The gamma's description of the "alpha male" is not only obviously false, but is also completely dishonest. His experience with alphas was almost certainly nothing of the kind.
- Psychological projection. Does "ignorant, status-anxious and undersocialized" better describe men who are socially and sexually dominant or men who behave in the observed manner?
- Self-deceit. It took all of three days for the gamma to find an excuse to go back on his word and make reference to that which he had declared he would not refer to again until the end of the year. His feeble pretense that this response is somehow addressed towards all alpha males rather than a specific individual isn't going to convince anyone any more than his previous pretense to be enjoying the adorable attention was.
- Avoidance of direct confrontation. The gamma has been challenged, by a third party, to engage in a debate in which he would have the opportunity to defend his beliefs. Instead of simply agreeing to the challenge, the gamma prefers to seek emotional support and engage in literally cartoonish antics.
- Total inability to understand the thinking of the socio-sexually dominant. Note that the terms "rage" and "anger" keep surfacing in the comments, which is bizarre when it should be eminently clear that the primary response to the gamma antics have been "incredulity" and "laughter".
Now to return to the particular. As I mentioned on Vox Popoli, I fully endorse Mr. Scalzi's embrace of the Gamma Rabbit icon, and indeed, I have pledged ONE DOLLAR towards allowing him to demonstrate his commitment to equality and diversity by funding the cost of providing him with a full-color Gamma Rabbit tattoo.
