A. H. ReaumeI don't use the term because I don't want to make someone feel shame about their body but I have always read uses of 'small dick energy' as insulting, not organ size, but the culture of toxic masculinity that believes the ridiculous idea that genital size is indicative of value.
And then overcompensates with other toxic masculine traits in order to PROVE stereotypical masculinity through other means. Depending on who is wielding it, it seemed a critique of toxic masculinity and traits and not actually buying into the idea that genital size = masculinity.
When it's used by feminists, I don't see it's focus on genitals as validating the toxic masculine belief that small genitals are indicative of less masculinity but a mockery of that belief system and its toxicity. I read it as mocking a kind of masculinity not a kind of body.
Because it can be read as body shaming or connecting genital size with bad behavior, I don't use it myself. I also don't use big dick energy. I don't use gendered or body-related insults. But I think the use of the term is far more nuanced than some are making it out.
I'll add that, in this particular case, Greta has dealt with some of the absolute worst dregs of toxic masculinity from a very young age. She's gotten graphic rape threats and violent fantasies shared with her from the time she was a very young teenager.
Often from people connected to the oil and gas industry and very explicitly connecting their ability to drive gas guzzling cars and trucks with their virility, masculinity and violent fantasies. This merging of toxic masculinity and car culture isn't new for her.
Pointing to the toxically masculine connections between size of car(s), size of penis/virility, relative masculinity, and climate change is actually a relevant discussion. These are all bound up together in the minds of those who have been attacking her for years.
This is the value system that she has been explicitly fighting. A value system that believes that it would be emasculating to drive an electric car because real men burn oil. A value system that would threaten to rape a 13 year old if she threatens that way of life.
Rather than saying Greta was inappropriate and body shaming, it makes more sense in my mind to examine what those words point to -- which is the fragile and toxically masculine car culture where cars are stand ins for masculinity that will destroy our planet & cause mass death
PJ "Vote Green" Coffey@ahreaume I agree with what you're saying but context matters.
The majority of people aren't meaningfully feminists. Thus bodyshaming is alive and well. I agree with the logic of your arguments but even here on Mastodon it isn't being used that way.
Further context, human traffickers 2-3 times her age attacking a young girl is wildly unacceptable. Adults attacking children or barely-not-children is not OK.
And he's gained 100k followers in a place where that matters. Context.
Juliette@ahreaume I remember someone I met on a flight long ago using the acronym "TPS" (Tiny Penis Syndrome) for this, which I always thought pretty apt as it puts the focus on the self-perception of the person exhibiting the toxic behaviour and not so much on body shaming.
Drew Tipson@ahreaume I mean, it's ok to also say that it's inappropriate? Like, I get it, I don't think ill of her, I get what you're saying, but it's like calling Trump fat or people making pronoun jokes about transphobes. Yeah, if you think someone is bad, hitting them in any way at all feels good.
But if the whole premise of the hit is a logic that I don't actually agree with, or a bias I'm trying to rid myself of, I can still wish I'd put more work into finding some other comeback.
@ahreaume but it's also just not a big deal, compared to everything else going on there, and given how toxic and pervasive other shaming things are
@adrew okay I usually am the first to come out against ableist or fatphobic jokes. And like I said I don’t use this insult myself. But there is a nuance here because it’s referring to toxically masculine energy and behavior related to a toxically masculine belief system. It’s closer to saying skinny girl energy or karen energy than making fun of a fat person.
HandgunYoga (he/him/his)@ahreaume
These toxic men loudly proclaim their “Big Dick Energy,” and Greta’s clap back simply inverted their own words. That’s not the entire context but it is the immediate context. The original claim of BDE is of course intended to body shame; Greta rejects the shamers in the manner most likely to trigger them.
When my 3 girls were quite young I’d point out booming stereos, loud exhausts and truck nuts and ask, “What do we know about these men?”
And they’d reply “Tiny dicks!”