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73
[CW SA/NSFL] The disturbing rise of ‘gooner’ assaults at Dollar Tree stores: ‘They find it funny to degrade women’ | US crime | The Guardian | Ghostarchive (ghostarchive.org)
submitted 4 days ago by SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net to c/news@hexbear.net
37 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

These guys deserve to be shot by a woman packing heat.

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[–] TheoryofChange@hexbear.net 60 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Utterly disgusting behavior obviously. One note on one of the articles "experts"

One common trope of the pornography that these gooners consume has men ejaculating over women’s bodies, faces and hair – acts that, Lankford said, have no basis in evolutionary biology and are difficult to interpret as anything other than demeaning to the women.

This is both obviously wrong and so completely misses the point of how generic porn is misogynistic/what is going on here. I actually would like to never hear criminologists and "evo psych" weirdos takes on sex.

[–] Chana@hexbear.net 20 points 4 days ago (2 children)

It's more of a puritanical analysis that serves to be misogynist in its own way.

Porn is itself misogynist, certainly as produced as a commodity under capitalism, and sex work is expanded by capital as a sign of gendered impoverishment. And it impacts not just women, but all those systematically hyperexploited. Very, very few sex workers are simply working a job because they have other reasonable employment options. Most are trafficked.

The consumption of porn does spread misogyny, but the people in question are fantasizing about and acting on sexual assaults, which is a very particular corner of the internet that is already misogynist in its own other ways as well. These are the most hateful people, the most dehumanizing of women, and it's not about seeing some "outrageous" sex acts in commercial porn and trying to replicate them. They find a community of like-minded misogynistically violent people and share their assaults.

At various points in European history, these would be people openly tolerated by the state to be doing regular nightly raids and assaults on women as roving bands. If the target is women, it is usually tolerated by the bourgeois state by default, as their marginalization serves a "useful" ongoing function in driving down wages and the reproduction of wage labor.

The puritanical analysis flips this around to an extent and makes it about labeling somewhat innocuous sex acts as inherently degrading, a decision that makes sex itself a degrading act that is inevitably turned back on women et al as a way to oppress them and humanity more generally.

[–] TheoryofChange@hexbear.net 11 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I think your analysis is overall very good but I want to flag one thing

Very, very few sex workers are simply working a job because they have other reasonable employment options. Most are trafficked.

Is a bad take. The org I am a part of actively organizes sex workers among others (both hookers and dancers, not so much porn actors/models) and probably a quarter of our cadres are such. A large majority of the sex workers we organize with in our specific local area consider their work preferable to other jobs under capitalism, for a variety of reasons. Conditions vary widely from region to region and from industry to industry within the exceptionally broad category of sex work, much as the specific experience of manufacturing workers will vary wildly based on region, industry etc. Broad and inaccurate generalizations are not necessary to argue that sex workers face unique forms of exploitation under patriarchal capitalism.

[–] Chana@hexbear.net 11 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

It's important to understand that your experience is the slim minority. If the typical case were that it was work like any other job (i.e. not uniquely coerced) then we should of course consider it like other forms of wages labor and prioritize a rejection of the harmful social aspects surround it rather than the thing in itself as it usually exists. To attempt work to divorce it from its material roots in systemic capitalist misogyny (sex as a means of last resort for gendered economic violence, the escalation of proletarisn division via the establishment of misogynist mores and associations). I do appreciate efforts to destigmatize in isolation, it's important to work to divorce a socialist analysis of sex work from those exact mores socially ingrained to say it's wrong on puritanical grounds.

But this is not the typical case. The typical case is more extreme forms of coercion than face the typical wage workers in their own societies, and of course especially male wage workers. It more often is slavery than wage work. You likely deal most often with the most state legitimated forms. You likely also encounter some less state legitimated forms, wherein failure to comply with your boss's demands comes with a threat of direct physical violence or death. In that limited context it's easier to see a path forward through further legitimation and (always) industry expansion, i.e. attempt to turn a black market into one regulated explicitly by the state and ostensibly with identical worker protections as everyone else.

I do not of course know everything about your experience, but I would guess you work less often with those with stolen passports, with servants forced into unexpected sexual aspects of "employment" (again tied up in immigration or other legal status), with abused partners, with children.

I want to also note that there are principled communist orgs against the expansion of sex work and many are made up of or founded by sex workers. Some of the positions I'm sharing come directly from them.

Edit: I think I maybe wasn't clear so I just want to say your work in organizing sex workers is great and so is them being in your cadre. I also don't want to imply that you are simply "expansionist".

[–] haxboar@hexbear.net 1 points 2 days ago

I think both can be true. I always like to imagine: If we had luxury-space-communism, would these sex-workers still be doing sex-work?

Some absolutely would be, some absolutely would not be. Based on vibes, I think most wouldn't, and that's a problem.

But I think the same can be said for accountants, or wait-staff, or most other professions. The problem is the "need to earn a living" that is pushed on people by society.

[–] Le_Wokisme@hexbear.net 9 points 4 days ago (1 children)

you should specify hetero porn made for straight men if that's what you mean. when the puritanical crackdowns come they hurt queer people first.

[–] Chana@hexbear.net 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Basically all porn adopts misogynist trappings and framings, unfortunately. I intentionally did not add that framing. Misogyny is the primary marginalization at work here.

[–] BeanisBrain@hexbear.net 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

What misogynist trappings and framings specifically does "basically all porn" adopt?

[–] Chana@hexbear.net 10 points 4 days ago (1 children)

The establishment/reinforcement of a (implicitly or explicitly gendered) sexual hierarchy where traits deemed feminine are the object of submission, degradation, domination, ridicule, and undermining of consent. These traits tend to be intentionally played up to have exactly those effects, as they are or become fetishes.

If all involved are men, the direct economic misogynistic relation is missing (systematic impoverishment of women, their casting into the role of sexual servitude, human sex trafficking overwhelmingly women victims), sure. Though indirectly it tends to be the same industry, the same companies.

To be clear I'm not kink shaming, I'm focusing on the ways in which misogyny exists in both the production and consumption of porn, and nobody is a bad person because they watched some random porn video.

[–] BeanisBrain@hexbear.net 11 points 4 days ago (1 children)

The establishment/reinforcement of a (implicitly or explicitly gendered) sexual hierarchy where traits deemed feminine are the object of submission, degradation, domination, ridicule, and undermining of consent.

I hate these tropes enough that I have no desire to engage with porn that uses them, and despite this I have no shortage of suitable material, so I feel like "basically all" is doing a lot of lifting.

[–] Chana@hexbear.net 12 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I think it's one of those things where misogyny is so deeply normalized that it can be easily missed even by those who are committed against misogyny. I'm not saying you personally necessarily missed it nor do I want to drag through your own habits, but if you did miss it you wouldn't be the first - and still wouldn't be a bad person for having done so. There is also an extent to which it can be relatively harmless compared to the more explicit examples, audiences, and cultures.

For an example in a different topic, consider the trope of BIPOC people getting killed off first in a movie. It implicitly devalues the lives of BIPOC people, a pervasive racist sentiment, but is every single film that has done it equally guilty of racism? Of course not. And it may even be a decision made for other reasons entirely or even as a critique of the idea or to mean something more deeply about the film itself (

spoiler: parts of a certain horror movielike in Midsommar
). But we can still say that the trope, and how pervasive it is, demonstrates and perpetuates a deeper societal commitment to racism.

[–] BeanisBrain@hexbear.net 6 points 4 days ago

Not a question we can resolve conclusively since obviously I'm not gonna share my stuff here, but this is a genuinely interesting bit of cultural criticism.

[–] SerialExperimentsGay@hexbear.net 13 points 4 days ago

Sadly not surprising, either. Lots of people will go to incredible lengths to explain sexualized violence without mentioning patriarchy.

[–] Infamousblt@hexbear.net 58 points 4 days ago (2 children)

There is so much to unpack here:

  • Chronically online right wing culture directly leading to violence
  • Toxic masculinity finding new disgusting ways to express itself
  • SA being swept under the rug as an active corporate money saving strategy
  • Texas judges yet again doing what Texas judges do best
  • "Free speech" leading to public reinforcement of this behavior
  • Especially vulnerable women being the target of this sort of thing as always
  • Men making profit off the exploitation of women

This is like the perfect storm of most of what's wrong with American culture. And nothing will be done. And nobody with power will care. And Dollar Tree will get tax breaks and cops who do nothing to stop this will get raises and more and more women will continue to be assaulted in new and disgusting ways.

Oh but don't forget it's online left wing space that are the real danger to Americans.

This country is so fucked up its unreal.

[–] Muinteoir_Saoirse@hexbear.net 64 points 4 days ago (1 children)

One perpetrator was a freshly hired sheriff’s deputy.

Turns out the cops aren't doing nothing, they're participating

[–] Infamousblt@hexbear.net 41 points 4 days ago

As expected

[–] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 40 points 4 days ago (2 children)

It kind of reminds me of japan's sex crimes, with men going so far as to hide in sewers to look up women's skirts. I'm sure like you said, there's a whole intersection here of late capitalism, alienation, power, etc. etc.

[–] Tabitha@hexbear.net 32 points 4 days ago (1 children)

hide in sewers

it's permissible as long as you're dressed as a turtle and LARPing as martial arts enthusiasts from California.

[–] GrouchyGrouse@hexbear.net 19 points 4 days ago

dressed as a turtle

If the number of turtles is greater than four than the fifth turtle must dress as a rat instead

[–] theperfidiousOrbweaver@hexbear.net 26 points 4 days ago

"MR’s lawyers believe this constitutes a new frontier in sexual assault – what Cecelia Prewett, a consultant to the legal team, describes as a “gamification” of sexual abuse perpetrated and encouraged by isolated men who pool their anger towards women in online forums."

"It’s a view broadly shared by criminologists and sociologists who study the intersection between human sexuality and crime – although they note a similar wave of sharking attacks in Japan about 15 years ago that attracted an online audience before subsiding again."

[–] ashinadash@hexbear.net 40 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Sorry for the barely-relevant comment but the fact that this article about dudes opening "a new frontier in sexual assault" featuring impressive amounts of misogyny to even perpetrate goes to Jeffrey Dahmer and then Slience of the fucking Lambs for 'pop culture' reference material is killing me. What did the Guardian mean by this.

Also acab fuckin deputy sherrif "gooner".

TURBO EDIT:

But Dollar Tree never produced any footage, never apologized for what happened to her and, when challenged in a lawsuit alleging negligence and failure to provide a secure environment, argued that MR was not entitled to damages under Texas law because she had suffered no physical harm.

I fuckin love capitalism bro. In what universe is it the better choice for this corporation to hire a lawyer and take it to court instead of just handing footage over? Is dollar tree pro-gooner-assault???

[–] blunder@hexbear.net 7 points 4 days ago

I wonder if the cameras are fake because they are too cheap for real ones

[–] stink@lemmygrad.ml 41 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I think all men should be sent to re-education camps once amerikkka falls

[–] Chana@hexbear.net 9 points 4 days ago

I think we should make Amerikkka fall by sending every man to reeducation camps

[–] Rom@hexbear.net 35 points 4 days ago

I'm just saying if I was on a jury for a case where a woman shot a man dead for doing this to her, she would 100% be walking free.

[–] OffSeasonPrincess@hexbear.net 34 points 4 days ago (1 children)

A “Dollar Tree gooner” crypto coin launched in January 2025

amerikkka-clap freedom-and-democracy

[–] InternetLefty@hexbear.net 36 points 4 days ago (1 children)

The Internet helps breed a culture of nihilism and self destruction that's increasingly appealing to the deranged and malicious psychos doing this stuff. Take our isolated society, pump everyone full of racism and misogyny and then turn everyone loose onto an anonymous internet and this stuff is bound to happen. Another black mark for this decaying so-called Western "culture".

[–] VComrade@hexbear.net 28 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Misogyny and racism long predates the internet. This is just liberalism running its course. Where individual self-indulgence takes precedence over social courtesies. The "freedom" to discriminate and initimidate.The internet just created a faster medium for these people to connect and jerk eachother off.

[–] Kuori@hexbear.net 36 points 4 days ago

These guys deserve to be shot

many, many such cases. as many cases as there are stars in the sky

[–] Shaleesh@hexbear.net 22 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I think that article hurt me. I regret reading it.

Speculation on the prevalence of the issue.The article suggests that instances of this kind of offense peaked 15 years ago before subsiding until recently. However, video evidence of these kinds of assaults circulated on imageboards (often by the perpetrators themselves) throughout the 2010s. The problem could be larger and more persistent than what the article is claiming.

Dunno if that needed spoilering, felt wrong not to.

Edit: damn I post like shit when Im triggered, hope its chill that I went back and edited

[–] Frogmanfromlake@hexbear.net 11 points 4 days ago

Oh yeah I remember seeing those videos on certain sites around that same time.

[–] EmmaGoldman@hexbear.net 27 points 4 days ago (1 children)

These men need to be cut up, perhaps by some sort of society.

[–] vanDerVaartBlackenedRanch@hexbear.net 7 points 4 days ago

I find it sad that it is not obvious to most readers that the central thesis of the SCUM manifesto is that we are already living in the Society for Cutting Up Women.

[–] puppygirlpets@hexbear.net 30 points 4 days ago

what the fuck is wrong with yanks

[–] PurrLure@hexbear.net 20 points 4 days ago

the Biden administration reached a settlement with Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, under which the companies agreed without admitting liability to pay $1.35m in outstanding fines and overhaul workplace safety arrangements.

Gonna keep this in mind next time libs try to guilt me into voting for the "good guys". libbing-out

[–] Chana@hexbear.net 21 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Overt misogynist violence openly tolerated by the state (and even participated in by it). Not the first case, nor the only current, but an escalation.

While it is true that alienation plays a role, really the angle is that divisions (like misogyny) tend to be actively promoted by capital to prevent solidarity within the working class. The misogyny and violence are real and gain their own momentum, but this momentum is fostered by a social order that tolerates or promotes it. The article begins with an example where the person assaulted felt she wanted to kill her assaulter. In a society where women could get together and decide to enforce their will against assault, that might have actually happened. But women are systematically disempowered by capitalism, and power is detached and placed in the hands of the state - there are no community meetings to mete out a form of justice based on this assault, it is left to the police state, and that police state effectively legalizes (etc) these assaults.

There would simply be no story to write if this were policed, most likely. The underlying misogyny that started it would be there, but it would not be a series of assaults. It would be one.