Are you sure you aren't confusing "white knight" for "person who doesn't appreciate seeing other people treated like shit"? I originally thought that phrase meant something like "Claiming to represent someone's position or speak for them when they can very well speak for themselves." But assuming that http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/white-knight is a credible source, that phrase actually refers to dudes who argue against misogyny because they want to get laid. I hope that isn't the sense in which you're using it because there are some gaping flaws in that concept:
- Unless you're all using your real names and on the same campus or convention floor, how does that even work, logistically?
- Treating people with basic levels of respect does not magically make them attracted to you, though it will make them more comfortable hanging around you.
- If the only (or even the most notable) reason someone can think of for trying to argue against misogyny or other flavors of assholiery is to get laid, that person needs to go home and rethink their fundamental values in life. Implying this is true of men generally is pretty misadrist.
I suspect you aren't actually using knowyourmeme's definition, so could you clarify the behavior you're referring to when you say "white-knighting"?
Since when have gaping flaws in a concept been a deterrent against people trying to implement it?
Your typical Internet White Knight is most likely not explicitly aiming to get laid, but simply following the classical role model they've absorbed via Hollywood: women are weak and need to be defended, good men defend them (and get the girl in the end).
It can get a bit comical but the real problem is that it takes the form of personal defense in specific cases, and is focused on women. So males getting treated like shit are unlikely to get any help or even sympathy from a White Knight, and they're unlikely to spend any effort on actual solutions to a toxic atmosphere.
There ARE men who jump on others in a showy way for strictly imagined offenses against women. Sometimes (as in perhaps most cases of men fighting in public) the motivation IS at least partly sexual, e.g. to seem attractive, or at least part of an anachronistic image of the chivalrous savior. But the sexual part isn't defining.
This doesn't mean that it is wrong to argue against misogyny.
It just points to a real phenomenon among men, where they are trying to look like they are calling out an asshole when what is really going on is logically much more similar to acting holy in a bar fight over a woman.
If you think observing actual idiotic behavior which occurs sometimes among men is misandrist then I am happy to be a "misandrist" in your perception. I think the condition of men in our society can withstand a small amount of anthropological observation.
I have only seen it happen once or twice in-person, but I've run across it multiple times online. Had one guy, known for being awkwardly friendly (as in, had a motive) with the women in the group, even try to invite himself to stay with me multiple times while he would "be in town" and even when others would say "Dude, please stop," he would retort with "Once she meets me, she can decide!" Wouldn't let up on it, even after personally shooting him down.
Found out later he was doing this same thing with other girls, too, and was kicked out of the group.
Can I get a clarification on the downvote, given that the parent asked for examples and I provided one? I've elaborated on the specific situation.
I think they were asking for examples of white-knighting, which is not what your story was about. Not that it wasn't worth sharing, it just didn't answer knowtheory's question.
I think the point he's trying to make with regards to the white knighting going on, is that when a nude of Gabe Newell or Sergey Brin is made it doesn't hit the front page of HN. We respond differently when it's done to a woman.
- Unless you're all using your real names and on the same campus or convention floor, how does that even work, logistically?
- Treating people with basic levels of respect does not magically make them attracted to you, though it will make them more comfortable hanging around you.
- If the only (or even the most notable) reason someone can think of for trying to argue against misogyny or other flavors of assholiery is to get laid, that person needs to go home and rethink their fundamental values in life. Implying this is true of men generally is pretty misadrist.
I suspect you aren't actually using knowyourmeme's definition, so could you clarify the behavior you're referring to when you say "white-knighting"?