“Small Dick Energy”

I think it’s safe to say that by now a vast portion of the world’s population that maintains an online presence is aware of the dust up that occurred between Greta Thunberg and Andrew Tate.

I’ll go on record now and say that I, for one, felt that her response was not only funny and richly deserved, but strategically sound. Yes, I am aware that the term originated as a mean-spirited insult used by men to body shame other men based upon… well, that’s obvious. And I am not a fan of body shaming in any way and will in fact concede that I have personally never thought to use the term.

Having said that.

I am a queer woman of color. I know what it is like to be the target of bullies and trolls on social media. And I can promise you that responding to them with kindness and logic and courtesy and respect gets you precisely nowhere. And I’m a very tiny fish in a very tiny pond; there is absolutely zero doubt in my mind that Greta Thunberg is the target of such attacks with great frequency.

As a young child growing up overseas I was the frequent target for bullying. And after one particularly bad ass-kicking my father sat me down and explained some harsh facts: If they attack first, with every intent to harm, they have no right to expect a fair fight from you. Strike back and strike hard, at every soft spot you can find, with the intent of winning quickly and decisively and ending the fight. It’s a tactic I taught my own child when the time came, and it seems clear that it’s one that Greta learned somewhere along the way. I hardly think she can be faulted for that.

Andrew Tate is 36 years old and he has been quite loquacious regarding his jaundiced views on women. He attempted to bully a 19 year old woman. He got less than he deserved.