Difference between revisions of "Frontman fallacy"
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The frontman fallacy is somewhat similar to the later [[Apex fallacy]]. |
The frontman fallacy is somewhat similar to the later [[Apex fallacy]]. |
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| + | == We hunted the mammoth == |
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| + | The website "tracking and mocking misogyny" [http://wehuntedthemammoth.com/2013/04/29/how-bad-ideas-get-started-the-apex-fallacy-the-frontman-fallacy-and-the-murderer-marc-lepine/ wehuntedthemammoth.com] criticised this exact passage as follows: |
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| + | ::So, in other words, if you mention that men hold the overwhelming majority of powerful positions in the worlds of politics, business, and podiatry, MRAs will shout out “frontman fallacy” and do a little victory dance. Rich and powerful dudes don’t count, because of poor and powerless dudes! |
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| + | However, there is evidence that powerful men will favour women in their decision making. Here are three examples of that: |
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| + | # [[Joe Biden]], president of the United States and thus arguably the most (formally) powerful man in the world, has a to "end violence against women" and he also wrote the [[Violence Against Women Act]] of 1994<ref>https://joebiden.com/vawa/</ref>. |
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| + | # While the CEO of YouTube is a woman (Susan Wojcicki), the CEO of the company that owns YouTube is a man (Sundar Pichai). The Google-owned video hosting website known as YouTube allowed [[Ava Brighton]] to make money with a video of a translation of a radical feminist teacher suggesting that 25 % of boys should be castrated while demonetising all other videos that were critical of feminism<ref>https://youtu.be/arur6RHH_wU?t=416</ref>. |
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| + | # The powerful man José Luis Zapatero legislated the "Gender Violence Law" in Spain with the aim of "protecting women", but with the result of any man accused by a woman of domestic violence will immediately be declared guilty<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjgBfklmYj8</ref>. |
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| + | At least in these cases the frontman fallacy is obvious. Even in the second case if you think that Susan Wojcicki is more powerful than Sundar Pichai, it will still be true to say that Susan had no interest in protecting Ava even though they're both women. On the other hand, if Sundar is more powerful than Susan, he had no interest in protecting men despite being a man himself (and Ava's demonetised videos had the motivation of protecting men). |
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| + | Of course, more examples do exist. |
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== See Also == |
== See Also == |
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Revision as of 11:31, 15 May 2021
The frontman fallacy is an informal fallacy that was proposed by Peter Zohrab during the 1990s following a discussion on Usenet, an early online discussion forum.
The frontman fallacy is the mistaken belief that people (men, specifically) who are in positions of authority in democratic systems use their power mainly to benefit the categories of people (the category of "men", in particular) that they belong to themselves.[1]
The frontman fallacy is somewhat similar to the later Apex fallacy.
We hunted the mammoth
The website "tracking and mocking misogyny" wehuntedthemammoth.com criticised this exact passage as follows:
- So, in other words, if you mention that men hold the overwhelming majority of powerful positions in the worlds of politics, business, and podiatry, MRAs will shout out “frontman fallacy” and do a little victory dance. Rich and powerful dudes don’t count, because of poor and powerless dudes!
However, there is evidence that powerful men will favour women in their decision making. Here are three examples of that:
- Joe Biden, president of the United States and thus arguably the most (formally) powerful man in the world, has a to "end violence against women" and he also wrote the Violence Against Women Act of 1994[2].
- While the CEO of YouTube is a woman (Susan Wojcicki), the CEO of the company that owns YouTube is a man (Sundar Pichai). The Google-owned video hosting website known as YouTube allowed Ava Brighton to make money with a video of a translation of a radical feminist teacher suggesting that 25 % of boys should be castrated while demonetising all other videos that were critical of feminism[3].
- The powerful man José Luis Zapatero legislated the "Gender Violence Law" in Spain with the aim of "protecting women", but with the result of any man accused by a woman of domestic violence will immediately be declared guilty[4].
At least in these cases the frontman fallacy is obvious. Even in the second case if you think that Susan Wojcicki is more powerful than Sundar Pichai, it will still be true to say that Susan had no interest in protecting Ava even though they're both women. On the other hand, if Sundar is more powerful than Susan, he had no interest in protecting men despite being a man himself (and Ava's demonetised videos had the motivation of protecting men).
Of course, more examples do exist.