reject the poison pill; embrace each other

on seeking an end to the gender wars

If you lurk for any amount of time in broadly right-wing online spaces, you will inevitably bump up against “the wall.” I don’t mean that feeling when your mind goes numb, having been colonized by memes. Nor do I mean the familiar moment when you realize you’re arguing with someone who has no interest in the truth. Those are real, too, and potentially even more inescapable. But no.

The concept of “the wall” is a relic of the manosphere, and it is perhaps its most potent and movement-defining meme. It is used to refer to the time in a woman’s life when her youthful beauty begins to fade. The story goes that in that change, she loses her value to men and thus her value to society. She “hits the wall” on the day she walks into her favorite bar and, suddenly, mysteriously, familiar lustful glances are being directed at other, younger women just behind her at the door.