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>Somone messed their meme history class. The scary thing is such class may be necessary in the future. I don't believe I'm saying it about memes, but kids thes

>Somone messed their meme history class. The scary thing is such class may be necessary in the future. I don't believe I'm saying it about memes, but kids these days know nothing about anything! They see somebody using Pepe and assume it's nazi symphatizer, they see word "trap" in reference to a person (I don't even know which alternative is currently not a slur) and instead of Admiral Ackbar they think about some murderer from 80s, doge they associate only with Dogecoin. How did this happen?

anaganisk 4y ago
Probably, it's not just memes. Anything that becomes an icon for representation becomes associated with it Guy fawkes mask, bald eagle for USA etc. Something which is innocent on its own, if associated with something and reaches a bit virality, I think it can not be easily dissociated anymore.
tredre3 4y ago
> they see word "trap" in reference to a person [..] they think about some murderer from 80s Maybe I'm showing my age but in my mind trap has a singular meaning, it hasn't changed since the early 2000s, and it has nothing to do with a murderer from the 80s. When did that change?
- Jorengarenar 4y ago
  For the context: it's related to otokonoko (jap. 男の娘) trope, where a male has a culturally feminine gender expression (although the "reverse trap" also applies); notable example from modern media is Astolfo from Fate franchise. At the time popular reactionary meme to this was famous quote "It's a trap!" by Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars, thus through the evolution of the meme, at some point, in western anime communities "otokonoko" got aliased with "trap" (in fact, it was dominant word). Now, some people on Reddit lacking the above context got it all wrong and thought it was pejorative about transgender people and started a fight with argumentation i.a. that the genesis of the term is from some defense speech by murderer. I admit using a hyperbole, because I don't believe that example actually got used anywhere outside that pitiful Reddit "battle", but accusations of being thransphobe do happen (the same broken logic as with Pepe = nazi).

anaganisk 4y ago

Probably, it's not just memes. Anything that becomes an icon for representation becomes associated with it Guy fawkes mask, bald eagle for USA etc. Something which is innocent on its own, if associated with something and reaches a bit virality, I think it can not be easily dissociated anymore.

tredre3 4y ago

> they see word "trap" in reference to a person [..] they think about some murderer from 80s Maybe I'm showing my age but in my mind trap has a singular meaning, it hasn't changed since the early 2000s, and it has nothing to do with a murderer from the 80s. When did that change?

Jorengarenar 4y ago
For the context: it's related to otokonoko (jap. 男の娘) trope, where a male has a culturally feminine gender expression (although the "reverse trap" also applies); notable example from modern media is Astolfo from Fate franchise. At the time popular reactionary meme to this was famous quote "It's a trap!" by Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars, thus through the evolution of the meme, at some point, in western anime communities "otokonoko" got aliased with "trap" (in fact, it was dominant word). Now, some people on Reddit lacking the above context got it all wrong and thought it was pejorative about transgender people and started a fight with argumentation i.a. that the genesis of the term is from some defense speech by murderer. I admit using a hyperbole, because I don't believe that example actually got used anywhere outside that pitiful Reddit "battle", but accusations of being thransphobe do happen (the same broken logic as with Pepe = nazi).