Maaate

[ClawedButler]

Anyone else just kind of baffled as to what #maaaate is supposed to achieve?

I mean, I feel like it's come from a good place, for the MOL to announce this as a campaign while women are still being killed at a rate of around 2 a week just seems like turning up to a tsunami clear-up operation with a dustpan and brush.

I think people in this country find any form of assertive communication difficult. The daily threads here where people cannot make a simple reasonable request without seeing it as a ‘confrontation’. As in ‘my neighbour has cut a hole through my fence so that her XL bully can shit in my garden, but I don’t like confrontation’ , followed by numerous ludicrous / passive aggressive suggestions : say your insurance won’t cover it / call the RSPCA / tell her you have put fertiliser on your plants that might hurt her dog/ call the police / put the dog shit through her letterbox etc. anything other than simply ask her to repair the hole immediately and keep the dog in her own garden.

The campaign tells men how to make a challenge that doesn’t need to be a confrontation, and therefore more likely to be listened to and absorbed.

Sadiq Khan can’t even define women & as far as I know, hasn’t said a word about the violent convicted criminal who stood in Trafalgar Square & encouraged a cheering crowd to ‘punch terfs’. Anything he says on this topic is mere lip service.

It was the comedian Romesh Ranganathan (hope I've spelled his name right) whose video I saw, who at the end of his show did a bit asking men to call out their mates.
Have seen Sadiq mentioned a couple of times, but not sure where he fits into it?

It's got men talking about it though.
Which can only be a good thing I think, even if they go on the defence it might make some of them stop and think (hopefully)

Lily Maynard’s blogged about it: https://lilymaynard.com/its-not-great-maaate/

It’s breathtakingly cringe. And hypocritical.

Have seen Sadiq mentioned a couple of times, but not sure where he fits into it?

It's the Mayor of London's campaign.

Ah OK thanks 🙂
It was Romesh's vid I saw and people moaning at him for calling it out, will look into Sadiq's campaign more now

I'm honestly not sure which came first Romeshs video or the mayor of London campaign. But it's the MoL campaign that's currently the focus of the pasting that Sadiq is getting because he's saying people should make their mates aware when they aren't treating women right whilst himself treating women rather badly.

Yeah, this is where I am.

There is a level of saturation people get to with messaging. Whether it be signs or other media, or just cultural stuff where everyone is on about a thing. Once they are over-saturated, none of it makes much difference, the content is irrelevant. At best it's a minor flash in the pan and then the next thing pushes it out.

I think the current bar is a bit too fucking low for people to be seriously complaining about any publicity campaign aimed at deterring men from doing nothing about harassment or sexism. It’s not a campaign aimed at anyone on these boards, that’s for sure. I don’t need to like it. Fine. It’s not aimed at me.

Even if it only stimulates debate, that’s good isn’t it? And it’s men-focused for a change, rather than women being told not to do things that provoke/attract poor helpless men with their uncontrollable urges.

Sentiment seems fine... execution is questionable!

I agree it’s too soft and apologetic (as well as incredibly cringey).

There is also a sign up at the moment on TFL saying something stupid like ‘exposing your private body parts is harassment’.

Oh for fuck sake, really?

Jokey, blokey shit like ‘Maaate’ and stating the fucking obvious like my second example isn’t good enough.

Maybe it’s because conviction rates are so low for sexual offences? Otherwise, why not just say ‘Don’t sexually harass or assault women or you’ll be charged with a crime and banged up’? or ‘men who sexually harass women are sex offenders’?

Just bloody call it out and stop farting about.

Yes, there's a video of him constantly talking over women, shutting them down, refusing to listen to them. Generally being rude and obnoxious.

That was a reference to BoiledBeetle's comment about Khan.

I saw that the other day, it was so shocking to watch.

Conveniently the video just came up on my Twitter

https://twitter.com/we_are_LBL/status/1682380657857626113?s=19

Exactly, agree

Just bloody call it out and stop farting about
That's what this is starting to do though?!
I personally think people will maybe stop and think if it comes from disapproval from their mates, rather than a more official "don't harass or you'll be banged up!" message.

I dunno. I find calling out any other shit behaviour directly - racism, for example - is the only way people stop thinking they can get away with it.

‘Maaaate’ feels like tiptoeing around men and their shitty behaviour.

Maybe I’m just too old and short on patience these days.

Man 1: "If you see a woman, punch her in the face".
Man 2: "Maaate, don't say that".
Man 1: "I'm now a trans woman".
Man 2: "Sorry, go ahead, please take a job at an NGO and receive lots of money being a spokesperson".

Boiled** that video of Khan and his appalling attitude to women! I am totally shocked. What an absolute knob. The chair person wasn't much better.

I know if was really awful wasn't it. I hadn't realised how much of an arse he was until that

christ on a bike

what a dick