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kevinbolk — Punching Down
#bully #bullying #humans #people
Published: 2014-11-26 16:56:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 47509; Favourites: 676; Downloads: 89
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Description
I had actually conceived and drew most of this comic over the weekend and was hesitating to post it due to recent events. I think it’s something important that folks need to remember though. Still, my apologies if it offends. Be safe and take care of each other.Related content
Comments: 91
No such thing as punching up or punching down, that's an excuse made up by SJW's to justify how when people disagree with them without bullying it's bullying, while when they ACTUALLY bully people it's not bullying. These are the same people when caught out being racist, sexist, or heterophobic, declared "no we can't be those thing you can't be that thing unless you have power, because that thing is prejudice + power. We have no power so it's okay when we do it."
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This is so relevant these days. Whenever I hear the phrase "punching up", I reach for my Luger...
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"Oh isn't that just so true. In fact it's just like *insert my enemy here* they're just so horrible and act like *insert my allies here* are the ones bullying them when they are bullying us! But I see right through them. Whatever they are angry about can't possibly be as validated as what I am angry about."
.... we really.... just don't even try, do we?
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This speaks a lot to me as someone who's had to deal with bullies doing this at present. Painting themselves as the moral good while acting rather immoral to me and my friends because "we deserve it"
For what it's worth, I was bullied at school and I never punched or verbally hit back. IMO no matter how much someone might bully me, I knew "revenge" or reversing their treatment of me back was never the answer. If I hit back, I would be wrong, if I spoke to them like they spoke to me, that would still be wrong. I'm a great believer in treating others how you want to be treated
I once had a boy who for a while, every time I came home from school would wait and be a massive jerk on my way home, never physical (my bullying was usually verbal bar for a few instances) but enough to make me dread the walk home. My mother found out the boys parents details, and went over and told them what was going on. They frogmarched their boy to our house as my mother tried to explain how his actions affected me.
It's the only effective way I've even seen a bully dealt with, he was horrified as he understood, and actually became quite sympathetic towards me.
As an aside, I realize I could of done more for myself - my self-esteem sucks and I've always let people hit at that when I should be stronger. That doesn't justify their actions any more, but I realize I need to be stronger all the same.
You don't punch up, no matter how tempting the situation might be. The only true way to stop a bully is to make them understand how they hurt others. Not that it always works, people have their problems and their own demons to deal with. So simply saying "you're being mean!" doesn't do all that much if they are coming from a dark place themselves. You can lead a horse to water....
All the same thanks for this kev, keep being awesome
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The whole "punching up" argument has always come off as nothing but people trying to excuse their asshole behavior.
Bullies are bullies, no matter the reason. Be the better person and find away to solve a situation without lowering yourself to that level.
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Oh damn that's messed up. This is just more proof that bullying needs to stop.
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It's funny, but a sad, depressing kind of funny. The kind where a laugh soon collapses into a puff of air, and then you have to spend a while thinking about life.
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It's not bullying until they knock the other person over, I guess.
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The power of perception in society. :\ ...or rather the limitations of it thanks to a heavily filtered/censored media conglomerate...
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It is true George Takei posted a piece about a kid who was bullied in school and when he fought back against the kid who tormented him for months he was suspended.
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I'd say the opposite; Feminists in a nutshell.
The fact is, one group is allowed to lash out at the other without any repercussions whatsoever, and even gets applause; the other group isn't allowed to say even neutral things, outside of their own spaces, without being threatened with doxxing, police activity, and the nightly news stirring up more shit and fear.
Yes, Feminists actually dox. SJWs FTF.
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Fucking everybody doxxes. You're describing the entirety of humanity there, our species generally sucks.
Feminism is equality. It's gotten a bad name, yes, because a vocal minority has taken it to misandry. That doesn't change the fact that actual feminism is neither more nor less than equality across the board.
That's why I can in good conscience, even as a dude, declare myself a feminist.
This still does not change the fact that our entire species sucks, but we should still do what we can to make life for the "fairer" half of us suck only as much as is necessary.
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At least you put "fairer" in quotes. They really aren't; they're human, just like the rest of us. I also like how you admit that there IS such a thing as misandry; most feminists do not. Still, I think it'd be nicer to not put one group on a pedestal, no matter who that group is. Once you have the ability to look down on someone, you don't stop. Anton Chekhov (I KNOW I spelled that wrong) wrote as much.
The thing is, if it's a vocal minority, why do you hear almost no mainstream feminists denouncing that hatred? Hell, even the GG movement, the Tea Party - they at least tell those who are making things worse to stop it.
While we're at it, though, have you heard of ROKS over in Sweden? They pretty much have the government in a chokehold, and they literally believe that "to call a man an animal is to uplift him; ... (he is) a walking dildo." They believe that treating men who do rape - as in, psychotherapy to fix their issues to try and STOP this - will never work...even though it's working with their neighbors in Norway. They think that's not the issue, and that it's just giving men the power to do it all over again. These are the people in charge of women's shelters in Sweden; they refuse to use another lens to see the world through.
Analogy: A rancher of the 1800s has, say, 10 horses. He notices one has broken its leg. He shoots it. This is what people did at the time. And this is what I advocate, as far as rape goes: use a scalpel.
On the other hand, these people in ROKS, at the very least, honestly believe that if one horse has a cold, you shoot them all to prevent the cold from spreading, because they already are partially infected and why take chances? In other words, they use a sledgehammer instead of a scalpel.
If you're an equity feminist - I know someone else online who is, and who told me the term - then fine, I'm totally for that. But say that you are for ACTUAL equality. The fact is, most people equate "feminism" to GENDER feminism (which is what I've been discussing), because that's what most people have an experience with.
And while I agree that MRAs are, on the whole, pretty reactionary to gender feminism, at least they ARE reacting. And they generally seem to be pushing for the same things that women now enjoy, as far as rights. Their idea is more of a "We're being pushed around; we need to push back". And while two wrongs don't make a right, there seems to be fewer ACTUAL MISOGYNISTS in the MRA movement than there are ACTUAL MISANDRISTS in the Feminist movement. Are there? Yeah, I'm sure there are, and I'm sure they're just as awful as their miso-counterparts. I'm sure their membership will swell with those too, and probably faster since gender feminism is a big, powerful force and has been screwing things up for a while now. Maybe it'll all balance out finally...or maybe this Convention of States thing will pull off and be a good thing. One can hope.
~~~~
"Fucking everybody doxxes." Um, Amish, people who honestly don't care about internet arguments (IE those with even a modicum of maturity), people who don't know how to program/how to hack/what doxxing actually involves as a process, people who've never HEARD of doxxing (I guarantee you neither of my parents have, and while my old man is computer illiterate, my mom isn't so much), people who believe in, you know, at least trying to be an upright, moral, thinking person...the list goes on.
And yeah, individual persons are the only real place to go for socialization anymore, it feels like. Joining a large or popular group is begging to become part of a black hole (the greater the mass, the denser the object, and all).
Anywho, if'n you don't mind, can we take any further debate to notes? I'm sure our host here doesn't want us gumming up the works of a great message and picture.
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It depends on how it's interpreted, I think. It means whoever has the power in a situation and is attacking someone who doesn't. Now a lot of folks take that to mean "societally" and use that as an excuse to display aggression to "the enemy/oppressor/etc" as determined by their worldview. To me, I consider it on a more intimate scale, like with interpersonal relationships or within social groups, and it requires a lot more context.
Like, let's say someone said something mean to me on this site where I've got a lot of followers and friends to back me up that the aggressor didn't. I'd think he was an asshole, but not a bully since he has little to no power over me in this situation or within this space. Whereas if I retaliate by getting my followers to run the the aggressor off the site (something I've done unintentionally in my younger days here and I'm still very much ashamed of it) then I'd be a bully 'cuz I've got power in this scenario that the other guy doesn't (hence the "punching down" metaphor.) It does bother me a lot when folks twist that logic to justify being pro-actively nasty to another person, especially in a space or scenario where they have more leverage and less risk in going after someone they feel has wronged them. Hence the message I was trying to convey in this comic, though I think I've fumbled it a bit. Oh well, live and learn. ^_^ Good to hear from you again, good sir.
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oh yeah, now it makes a lot more sense when you put it in that context.
"Good to hear from you again, good sir."
Naw man , I enjoy talking to you.
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It says you are a bully if you are punching down. Meaning the cat who is punching the creature. SO the little cat flipped the image so it would look as though he was punching up instead of down. Therefore finding a loophole out of being called a bully
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To you it's not funny 
To some others it is
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Oh shit. Oops lmao idk why I thought it was a rabbit XD
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I seem to be just about the only one that needs this, but I really don't comprehend this beyond the surface. Can someone explain to me just what this is trying to say?
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Hidden by Commenter
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Yeah, I got THAT far myself...
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There have been various comments on the content of the comic, but I hope I can help you nevertheless! At least, this is how I personally get it (Please bear in mind that I'm only talking about my own perception and opinion).
The comic addresses the theme of bullying by taking the phrase "The bully is the one punching down." and reversing it. The cat, the one here considered as the bully, is twisting the outside view on the situation so that it is now literally punching upwards and not 'down' anymore.
So the cat 'changes' the view on the situation, so that it cannot be identified with this phrase or as a bully anymore.
Hence, the phrase is being twisted.
Some of the commenters here (such as Cooldude104) also read the changing of view as a try of the bully to also appear as a victim, seeing the comic as addressing this issue too, besides 'simply' twisting the phrase.
Due to the happenings in Ferguson, K-Bo apologises for addressing the issue of bullying and victimhood now (because of the - I think unintentional - connection). If you don't know about Ferguson, you should do some research about it.
I hope my explanation is not as confusing as I think it might be :/
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Huh. I thought there was more to it than that. Bullies employing devious methods to not be punished? I thought everyone who even knew what a bully IS knew they did that. The phrase used here seemed *really* weird for the purpose it's ostensibly trying to serve, and I wanted to believe it was phrased that way for a bit more than just the sake of the visual trick. I guess I'm wrong--since without that phrasing, the visual trick doesn't make any sense at all.
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You could be right, there could be more to it than what I gathered so far.
Since I'm not familiar with the phrase at all in terms of cultural perspective (of course I understand it, but English is not my first language and I grew up in a non-English speaking country and we had, therefore, other phrases describing how bullies are and what they do) there might indeed be more to it than I could've decoded from it.
Maybe the comic is intended to simply state the obvious and just raise awareness or also to just lighten the artists mind. I mean, how often are you confronted with jokes that just state the obvious, but are still funny? (or in some cases unfunny?)
But that's just my thoughts on that, hope you don't mind me voicing them...
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Don't apologize. Never censor yourself for anyone.
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It's almost like this cat is..."spinning" the story. (Clever, K-Bo. Depressingly true, but...I think this is something everyone should be aware of.)
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The moral of the story: Don't punch a duck, lest you be branded a bully.
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Hey, mutual respect. I remember when they taught this in grade school and nobody remembered it past then.
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Have I told you lately that I adore your overall mindset and messages as well as your art. Knowing you exist in the world makes me very very happy. Thanks for existing and sharing your thoughts and art with us.
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This strip describes Tumblr perfectly.
Did you by any chance post it on Tumblr yourself? I need to share this over there.
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hahaha, clever, clever comic XD
and so true I can relate to that pear.
I was bullied as a kid, but I never standed my bullies and always fought them back, and sadly, that was the problem: my teachers didn't cared for me being bullied, phisically and mentally, but they didn't wanted me to stand for myself because "I had to deal with it", becuse "it looks bad a lady fighting back and made me look inmature". Same went for other victims, being plenty of them disabled people (my bullies were ableist too)
In fact, teachers and other classmates wanted ME to be more empathical with my bullies and see things from THEIR perspective, wich would be reasonable, but they didn't mind I was the one bullied for no rational reason. I don't recall them doing anything to stand the abuses. They said the felt bad for me, but they didn't act on helping me not even once.
At the end I understood why my bullies were the way they were, they simply didn't liked my precence and some of them went through some hard family problems, but the others who supported them were on their side because they thought "I deserved it" for being "too weird".They didn't abused me, but they ignored me and the other victims because they all felt we were put in our place. That gave me a good reason to never regret fighting back with words and even my own fists when nobody was there by my side. Thanks to my bullies I became a very violent person when provoked back then.
The reason why I'm not THAT violent is because I have my artwork: My love for arts is what saved me for becoming even more agressive.
Same goes for the friends I did when I leaft that school, in the right environment and with the right people
I meet my bullies some time after that and I saw they didn't regret what they did, in fact they still think they did no wrong, but...
what life did to them got me speechless. Karma is strong: all of them had miserable lives and went through way worst and painfull stuff after that, saying some of them meet poverty is the least of what hapenned to them. I was angry at them, but honestly I didn't wish them such amount of pain, but well, if there is a god up there (I'm agnostic) it was waaaay angrier than me
Sadly, back in my time, Bullying was something we had to live with, not like now that there are plenty of campaigns about it and I think my past, as well as some aspects of my personality, would be a whole different from what they are now if bully were taken seriously and same goes for my bullies, I suspect their lives would be better if they were stopped in time and knew the impact their actions had on me, on their other victims and themselves.
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THIS.
(Except for the Karma bit. Most people who beat me up are getting paid much more handsomely than I am now. Familial connections that kept them from getting into trouble, and got them a job, and all that. Oh, well.)
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