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    AllieCat ❤️'S hats on cats-is probable weirdoJia Tolentino
    11/23/15 12:53pm

    I wonder if she’s sort of saying (poorly) that we should remember that ISIS is made up of human beings and not literal monsters? That they also have had moments of love and joy and acts of kindness in their lives (though they are acting like monsters now)?

    That isn’t to say we should feel anything but disgust for ISIS and its members, but just to say that when we decide a group of people is evil/inhuman we do so to separate ourselves, to comfort ourselves that we could never be like that because we aren’t 100 percent evil. But no one is 100 percent evil as a human being and by turning “the other” into pure evil we forget that we are all capable of acts of inhumanity and evil as well. And then we forget to guard ourselves against those tendencies in our own person and national consciousness.

    Though, maybe I’m giving her too much credit and it was just weird offensive trolling?

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      crankylittlephotonAllieCat ❤️'S hats on cats-is probable weirdo
      11/23/15 1:00pm

      The most credit I could give her for this effort was thinking, “is she fucking HIGH?”

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      Punkin SkywalkerAllieCat ❤️'S hats on cats-is probable weirdo
      11/23/15 1:01pm

      You’re not. She explains it more today. There has to be something “attractive” for ISIS to gain support and she just wants to understand what it is. If you don’t understand why they’re gaining followers, you can’t begin to understand how to defeat them or how to reduce the number of recruits they’re getting. Wanting to understand why someone would live the way they live, given it’s hardship and joylessness (the way the media is portraying it) is a real mystery. You can still feel disgust with ISIS, but want to understand why people are giving up their lives and joining.

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    LibraryanneagainJia Tolentino
    11/23/15 12:38pm

    I know about “fremdschämen”, but there needs to be an even stronger word for this.

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      JuniperLibraryanneagain
      11/23/15 12:42pm

      I finally know the word for the feelings I suffer every day! Thank you!

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      LibraryanneagainJuniper
      11/23/15 12:49pm

      I learned it here, from other commenters!

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    FeralFrigidSlutJia Tolentino
    11/23/15 12:41pm

    I’m hoping she just needs to eat a Snickers.

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      crankylittlephotonFeralFrigidSlut
      11/23/15 1:02pm

      If I might channel Randilyn here...

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      Kenny and the Llamascrankylittlephoton
      11/23/15 1:13pm

      Careful with that. I channeled Randilyn one time. Next thing I knew I was helping Moriarty’s Ringtone bust out of a prison in French Guiana.

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    kshortie16Jia Tolentino
    11/23/15 12:39pm
    GIF

    I’mma just read your awesome short stories and forget you have Twitter. That’s what I’mma do and you can’t fucking stop me.

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      PsonicPsunspotkshortie16
      11/23/15 1:41pm

      “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” remains my favorite. I know she’s one of the most prolific writers of her generation, but, if she’d stopped here, it would’ve been enough.

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      jonbenet ramsay snow eaten by tobesthewonderdogPsonicPsunspot
      11/23/15 4:31pm

      Have you read Ugly Girls by Lindsay Hunter (one of my favorite new authors)? Very reminiscent of Where Are You Going while still awesome in its own right.

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    Mitch ConnorJia Tolentino
    11/23/15 12:34pm

    Hope she’s trolling, as she was with this:

    https://twitter.com/JoyceCarolOate...

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      IrisJMitch Connor
      11/23/15 12:39pm

      Right, hasn’t she admitted that she often poses troll questions on TWTR? As you say, it’s “self-parody” or just plain parody.

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      Mitch ConnorIrisJ
      11/23/15 12:43pm

      I think she has ... she confirmed her Triceratops outrage was a joke, at the very least. However, even if she is joking here, I’m not convinced this one’s particularly funny...

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    yvanehtniojJia Tolentino
    11/23/15 12:35pm

    Cultures seem to swing between extremes of Puritanism & permissiveness; rigid order & disorder; control & “freedom.”

    Interesting use of scare quotes here.

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      Tejón FaceJia Tolentino
      11/23/15 12:32pm

      also known as the #1 self-parody account on Twitter

      and foremost provider of “wait wtf” and also “how is she even a thing”and “am I literally in a fugue state rn?” moments.

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        FortunatelyTheLemonsJia Tolentino
        11/23/15 12:33pm
        GIF
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          isner-mahutJia Tolentino
          11/23/15 3:03pm

          I have similar questions. Everything we see of ISIS is grim murder and rape. That’s not a pleasant life, and no matter how much you think religious ecstasy and moral righteousness feel good, it’s a big step for most. What is the appeal?

          Clearly people who live in ISIS-controlled territory are not necessarily choosing their circumstances, but plenty of people DO choose to join ISIS, male and female. Why?

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            WallflowerJia Tolentino
            11/23/15 12:33pm

            I loved discovering Joyce Carol Oats when I was in school but I kind of wish I never had discovered she had a Twitter account. :/

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