Mojo Dojo Casa House: X & Masculinity

Saskia

Jul 26, 2024 • 6 min read

Screenshot from Barbie (Gerwig, 2023)

Say goodbye to the Twitter you knew, Musk's X is stomping on the grave.

I've recently had the displeasure of going back to X (aka Twitter), a platform that continues to turn further and further from the light it once was.

The platform is a lot like a cockroach. It is ugly, skittering, repulsive, and incredibly difficult—despite many efforts—to kill. - Warzel, The Atlantic

I knew it would be bad, but I didn't realise just how bad things have got over there. I titled this with a fun Barbie (Gerwig, 2023) reference, but honestly there's nothing fun about what I'm going to say.

FYI: As much as I hate referring to what once was Twitter (and in my mind still is) as X, I think it's an important distinction. Twitter is dead. X is a bad impersonation, wearing the same face. What made Twitter Twitter is cold and buried.

With The Newsmast Foundation, we've made the decision to go back in and see what we can do from the inside. We dropped X, then Twitter, early on as we dove further into the Fediverse.

But as outrage surrounds the platform again, we realised we had to do something. Not only to help the people who are still there, looking for a way out, but to stir the pot.

I started with a tentative look around, trying to find where (if at all) people were organising with similar goals. Get people onto more democratic social media, highlight the growing issues with X, and cause a little chaos.

It was here, just trying to navigate X on a cobwebbed account (important to note as the algorithm had been starved back to basics), where I saw the things that inspired this blog.

X for 'the man'

The fastest way to get across how bad things are looking is by showing you the adverts filling the feed:

If you don't know semiotics - don't worry - I do.

This advert screams Übermensch, an idea coined by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, which described the perfect human - or man, depending on translation. This idea has, of course, been picked up by society as more people discuss the idea of modern masculinity.

To the Andrew Tates of the world, the Übermensch is the goal. A man free from the burdens of his life, only focused on making himself better in mind and body, who won't be told what to do. Especially by a woman.

Sadly, these kind of men and their young followers are quite the opposite - easily swayed and quick to follow.

Which is arguably why violence against women is on the rise, because of a few men who turn their toxic masculinity into cult-like content.

X, led by Elon Musk (an Übermensch - I suppose - of money, rather than muscle), has become the perfect stomping ground for these people - even the adverts know it.

Musk has publicly endorsed Donald Trump and regularly shares political posts and memes. Although, he apparently doesn't "subscribe to cult of personality".

I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery pic.twitter.com/ZdxkF63EqF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 13, 2024

Because of this, and because of Musk's decisions to strip back the teams behind X that made Twitter work, the platform has become a place for the far-right - as much as the famed Truth.Social.

On X, you can say transphobic, homophobic, racist, misogynistic slurs with very little consequence.

I saw at least five words, whilst exploring the space, which constitute hate speech - all from different users.

Even emojis that were once transformed in order to reduce the platforms role in violence have been reinstated.

Why? Because Musk wants, and does, use some of these words and symbols too. But words which he takes offense to can easily be policed.

Pornography, an issue the original team at X worked hard to combat, is also allowed now.

Whilst sex workers may celebrate the change, I can't help but wonder if this too is due to the influx of masculinity on the platform?

Ironically, I was greeted by a wall of porn when searching 'Twitter' - an issue many thought would come from searching 'X' (also full of porn, btw). Further proof of how far the platform has fallen.

How does it feel as a woman

Scary.

Ever since masculinity hit its crisis point, women have been paying the price.

We're watching a world go backwards, fuelled by the fear of some straight white men that they might not be the most important people in the room anymore.

A fear they can project back at the average man and say look, this affects you too.

I often think about Fight Club (Fincher, 1999) when I think about this. A film, made by a man, to highlight that men in their masculinity issues, were going too far - now the cult classic that many of those same men refer to as a masterpiece.

A big studio won't make a film that criticises male behaviours without a confusing ending.

The pressure is building

We're witnessing men indoctrinated by the fear of losing their easy lives, or of the influencers they follow losing theirs, organise in a way no platform has ever allowed before.

We need to address the double standards, why do governments allow this to grow on social media when groups with similar views, labelled terrorists, are instantly removed?

Will we look back in years to come and wonder why didn't we label this as terrorism too?

So, X has become the 'Mojo Dojo Casa House', but with less horses and less lighthearted, forgivable fun. Here's hoping for a bit of a Femininomenon and the (actually) important people joining some of the nicer alternatives.

Mojo Dojo Casa House: X & Masculinity

Saskia

X for 'the man'

How does it feel as a woman

The pressure is building

Further Reading 🦙

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