A right-wing commentator has sparked outrage among her audience after admitting that she finds a popular pastime among many men repulsive.
Liz Wheeler, 35, claimed to speak for women in general when she said of the hobby in a tweet: “Beyond the red flag. Like a breakup zone. Strange how so many men don’t get it.”
Additionally, she shared a meme featuring a bar graph (although the data depicted was not based on any actual study) that showed the hobby as the lowest-ranked of the “least attractive hobbies for men according to women,” with less unappealing options including figurine collecting, magic tricks, online trolling, and even gambling.
But even after acknowledging the graphic was a “joke” – and insisting she thought it was just a “meme” – Liz stood by her view that the interest was a turn-off to women and that anyone who thought otherwise was “totally wrong”.
Far-right commentator Liz Wheeler, 35, posted a fake bar graph which she later claimed still proved her “objective observation” that women don’t like men playing video games.
He also shared a bar graph meme, although the data depicted was not based on any actual study.
The hobby in question: playing video games.
“And we’re obviously not talking about Pac-Man or Tetris or the occasional arcade game,” Liz added in a later tweet, seemingly referring instead to the many more immersive and time-consuming video games that are known to eat up hours of a day.
The reaction was swift, given that an estimated 60 percent of Americans gamble regularly, according to data compiled by Statesman.
“It’s okay. We’d rather play video games than deal with modern women,” one man replied.
“But men don’t really care about your list…lol,” wrote a second.
“It’s weird how so many girls don’t understand that men don’t care what they think. Women complain about being single but all they do is complain about how perfect a man should be,” added a third.
‘The thing is, most men shouldn’t have to define their hobbies based on what women find attractive. There are plenty of things that women are obsessed with that men probably find unattractive (Taylor Swift and astrology come to mind).
“Men often go further and accept that people can like what they like,” said a fourth.
The reaction was swift, given that an estimated 60 percent of Americans play regularly, according to data compiled by Statista (file image)
Countless men responded to Liz’s original tweet, defending her love of video games as a harmless hobby, with at least one man claiming he would choose gaming over “modern women.”
In a follow-up livestream addressing the backlash to the original tweet, Liz stood her ground, though she never presented any concrete data to back up her “observation” that men who play video games are vilified by women, as she claims.
“First of all, the reason this meme is funny, and the reason it reached the public, is partly because it’s true,” Liz argued.
“This is by far the most epic ratio I’ve ever faced,” she further admitted, referring to the low number of likes her original tweet received in contrast to the negative responses.
Still, she argued, the volatility of the responses doesn’t negate her original point: that women find games unattractive.
“It was never my intention to insult me personally. Video games, even if you like them, should not be your identity,” he added.
“If you feel that I have somehow altered your identity (which I have not), that is your problem, because part of your identity is with video games,” he continued.
“It’s an observation of human nature, a cultural observation, that women just don’t like it when men play video games, we just don’t find it attractive. It’s just an objective observation,” Liz summed up her subjective opinion.
“I’m not even the one saying that this is how women should be. At that time, there was no question of whether men should play video games or not.
“It was just an observation: actually, most women feel that way and most men don’t understand why women feel that way.”
In a follow-up livestream addressing the backlash to the original tweet, Liz stood her ground, though she never presented any concrete data to back up her “observation” that men who play video games were vilified by women, as she claimed.
However, many women also spoke for themselves in the replies to the tweet, stating that they have no problem with their male partners playing games, and sometimes even join in.
However, the multiple women who spoke for themselves in response to the original tweet complicated Liz’s narrative.
“I love playing video games. I’m looking forward to the new Space Marines. I played COD Cold War Zombies the other day for nostalgia. There’s nothing wrong with video games (or any hobby in healthy doses), especially when you can play four-player family co-op,” one woman wrote.
“No, video games are great. Men have a lot of things to do and if a man takes care of everything in every other area, why the hell shouldn’t he play video games?” another agreed.
A third woman pleaded: “Gamers please ignore her. Personally, I’d rather she be in the privacy of her own home doing whatever she needs to relax after a hard day at work than out in a bar getting drunk any day of the week. And if that includes gaming, so be it.”
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