I Originally wrote this in February 2017, and had not previously published it. But given his recent facebook spat, and the abhorrent call for violence against journalists just before the shooting in Annapolis, I decided to go ahead and publish it.
Milo Yiannopoulos, who is this guy? Since I don't follow the Alt-Right, it's probably not surprising, but he's made a lot of news lately. I frankly think groups like Black Bloc are giving him more attention than he deserves. Milo seems to feel it's very important to get his opinions correct. So here are the notes
- Wants to halt Immigration (this seems like it should have some sort of caveat).
- Does not consider himself a white nationalist.
- Says BBC conflates "culture and race."
- Cares about "values and ideas".
But he works for Breitbart, which is a white nationalist news organization. So he says one thing, but happily works for a group that is pursuing a white supremacist agenda. Here is one of his top viewed videos from his youtube channel.
"Fewer than one in five women in America describe themselves as a feminist even though 85% believe in equality among the sexes" "7% in the UK" Because "They know feminism has become something different now" - What are these sources? I only had to watch two of his videos and he quoted these numbers in as many times. He even phrases these in misleading ways He says "one in five" when stating one statistic, not 20%, then gives a percentage for the U.K. number, as if he is trying to make the numbers sound smaller than they are. Sadly, this works, because most Americans have trouble telling what numbers are bigger than others (http://mentalfloss.com/article/76144/why-no-one-wanted-aws-third-pound-burger).
I don't know what exact poll he has actually been citing since he hasn't provided that in the material I've reviewed so far. There are multiple polls performed by YouGov. One with the Huffington Post, which I somehow doubt he would use as a source. But, he just might since using it may further a narrative that a poll performed by a liberal news organization shows that Americans are rejecting feminism. If he is citing the Huff/YouGov poll, it states 20% of all Americans identify as feminist. The actual gender breakdown 23% women and 16% men. Last I checked 23 is bigger than 20, so Milo is outright lying right there (if that is the poll he is citing). Note, this data was also collected in a likert scale, which included asking if people identified as "anti-feminist," only 8% identified as such. So this would seem to counter the outright rejection of feminism that Milo claims that the American people have done, but he doesn't provide those figures since it doesn't push his narrative now does he?. There was also this Vox/Perry Undum poll, which measured the number of people identifying as feminist at 18%, but it does not split out this figure by gender so no one can use this data to reference women specifically. That poll also does phrase the question as a boolean, yes/no answer. So fewer respondents seem to be committing to label themselves as feminists, although 30% of respondents in that poll stated that feminism being talked about was a good thing, 51% being unsure and only 15% saying it was a bad thing. Here's the source document. I think this is most likely the study he is quoting since it has the 85% figure, on people supporting gender equality, which Milo uses as well.
When questions are phrased differently, these results seem quite different, This Washington Post poll. 60% identify as either "strong feminist" or just "feminist."
Info Wars even cites the data. and assume this poll is the one he using, it was written up by a right-wing group, and the data seems to marginally move in the direction that fits his narrative better. But Info Wars is also clearly driving a specific narrative, here's the source data from that poll in case you are capable of thinking for yourself.
Not that any of that matters, Sociological studies are challenging because it's really hard to establish operational definitions of any concept, and I'm saying that as a psych major. Here's an idea, maybe the term "Feminism" has multiple meanings to different people, and doesn't carry the same momentum as it did 60 years ago, where harassment in the workplace was much more common. Or perhaps more commonly dismissed? This article from PBS Newshour makes some excellent points.
"Feminism is a vindictive, spiteful, man-hating philosophy" See previous paragraph.
on BLM - It's not the answer, the answer is better schools. Believes in strong law enforcement will save black lives. Blames Bill Clinton crime bill for taking away a generation of black men/fathers. War on drugs (doesn't attribute blame). Replacing black dad with the state. -Wondering why BLM doesn't "try voting for the other guy because 40 years of this hasn't worked.
I don't have any data to back up the claim, but law enforcement is already seems strong in the U.S., and heavy handed. We are currently in a 20 year low in crime in the U.S, although the narrative from the republicans this last election cycle seems to deny this fact. I do agree with Milo that better schools is the answer, but I am confused as to why he would continue to support an administration that is actively trying to dismantle the public education system through the Betsy DeVos nomination. Logical conclusion? He doesn't really care, and it's all bluster to appear to have a middle-of-the-road opinion.
So what's the real dirt on Milo? Well, he was banned on twitter for outright harassment.
I'll say this about Milo, he is eloquent, knows where the line is, and carefully skips on it. He knows his talking points, and sticks to them. I genuinely don't think he is racist, rather is an idealist about his own culture.
2018 update: OK, He's clearly hurtled himself past the line. I think we can all learn from Milo though, Here is what I take away, 1, always look up the original source and read it for yourself if you can, don't accept someone else's interpretation.