This is quite an old little screencap and I saw it again today.
Here we can hear the lamentation of the boner, as it cries out against the wall of earbuds caging it in a blue kingdom. Woe to the boner that stands up but can find no release that women’s choice, decision and Steve Jobs hath design’d!
My favourite is how he misses everything:
“You can’t approach a woman with earbuds in her ears.”
Give the man a bells! Truly amazing. It’s almost… well, like woman intentionally wear earbuds to avoids creeps?
Now you may ask: But how will women know who are creeps and who are the nice guys, if they have their earbuds in? The answer is: If you are thwarted by earbuds, you’re a creep. If you feel that earbuds – and the subsequent intentional isolation they allow – are less important than you, you’re a creep. Indeed, the whole point is earbuds help identify who the creeps are, while simultaneously helping people not deal with them.
That’s their beauty.
And if you’re a dude who yanks earbuds out women’s ears or demands/requests they take them out so you can comment on their body, well I hope that Meninist Hoodie fits you nicely.
Via @NotAllBhas. I am soooo glad these exist so I know who the fuck to avoid pic.twitter.com/MmoiHNv6uk #MeninistTwitter
— Tauriq Moosa (@tauriqmoosa) January 17, 2015
This was on Dave Futrelle’s blog a while back. The part that still stands out to me is the idea of “cold approaching” a woman you’ve had a crush on for 6 months. That means he’s been crushing on a woman that he’s yet to talk to for half a year, but now that he’s built up the courage, she’s wearing earbuds. But, who does he blame? The earbuds. Not himself for lacking the courage to talk to women, but something she was doing that had nothing to do with him because it stopped him from taking advantage of that small window of opportunity he, and he alone, created. What’s she supposed to do? Never listen to music in public in case today’s the day that guy finally builds up the courage to talk to her?
The funny thing is that I know where that guy is coming from because I used to be him. I know what it’s like to see somebody who you’ve decided is going to be the love of your life, but instead of trying to meet this person in order to find out if that’s true, you “bide your time” until the “right moment” (which never comes). The big difference was that I didn’t blame her (or her earbuds) for my own social failings. I knew that the only reason I didn’t have a chance to have a relationship with her was that I never tried.
That’s the interesting part. Clearly, he sees this woman on a regular basis, but apparently he can only approach her when the stars are properly aligned. I mean, I could understand the disappointment (though not the almost psychotic anger he displays with the all caps) if this was someone he was probably only going to see once in his life, but someone he was able to crush on for 6 months?
Yep. I’m pretty sure that’s what he means by “WHY DO YOU WOMEN ALWAYS WEAR THESE ALL THE TIME IN PUBLIC..JUST BE OPEN AND RECEPTIVE TO COLD APPROACHES.” In his world, women are always supposed to be ready for men to approach them, free from anything a man might perceive to be offputting. It’s pretty sad.
In other words, women have to purchase and wear electronic equipment just to avoid being harassed and accosted in public. Sigh.
In a brighter future women won’t have to wear earbuds, because men will be taught not to harass.
Forgive me for trivialising, but Steve Jobs constantly being credited with inventing the modern world drives me up the wall; people were wearing ear buds long before Apple ventured into music players 🙂
Seconding (thirding) the objection that he’s had a crush on her for 6 months, but his actual interactions with her are so infrequent that he’s balked by earbuds? And that he’s treating it as his only shot at talking to her? Is this the ninth grade?
I often have my earbuds in when I’m out while I’m not even listening to anything. Occasionally with my phone in the other pocket and the buds not plugged in. It’s just a good way to avoid people who think “cold approaching” those who are just trying to run errands is a good idea.
How can he say he has a crush on this woman when he’s never interacted with her?
Ironically, giving her a smile and then letting her continue to do what she wants would have done more than whatever dashing declaration he had planned.