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James Besanvalle
Sep 29, 2020
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If men have any “self-respect”, they shouldn’t use emojis – at least according to conservative commentator Matt Walsh.
The right-wing political pundit took to Twitter on Monday to share his opinion (that nobody asked for) about emojis only being for “children and women”.
Don’t worry though, guys – gifs are OK and memes can be used on a case-by-case basis, apparently:
Every day I see more grown adult men use emojis. There is no excuse for this. Emojis are for children and women. Do… https://t.co/bBvwOMKXI6— Matt Walsh (@Matt Walsh) 1601325646
(Gifs are okay though. Memes are a case by case basis.)— Matt Walsh (@Matt Walsh) 1601325919
The tweets caused quite the stir on social media, sparking a conversation about masculinity and it’s ever-restricting nature:
Masculinity so fragile that it can't handle this: 🦄🦄🦄 https://t.co/wL1nHqfY5o— Skee-Ball Librarian (@Skee-Ball Librarian) 1601329053
Imagine thinking emojis are an affront to your masculinity. 🙄😂🙅♂️ https://t.co/LQ1TJJ0jtV— Kevin Shafer (@Kevin Shafer) 1601331023
Siri, what does fragile masculinity look like? https://t.co/euagzKujNU— emily #BLM ⚾️🏒 (@emily #BLM ⚾️🏒) 1601339062
Imagine being so insecure in your masculinity that you want to police what characters different genders can communi… https://t.co/65ZXkEDPsF— Dr Sarah Hendrica Bickerton 🏳️🌈 (@Dr Sarah Hendrica Bickerton 🏳️🌈) 1601345381
Imagine having masculinity so fragile you can't use emojis. https://t.co/h9tOv5bqb1— Bridget Stirling (@Bridget Stirling) 1601333315
Toxic masculinity is actually hilarious https://t.co/NptPdBffsX— Quinn Hunt (@Quinn Hunt) 1601339740
The backlash to the tweets caused it to trend on Twitter for a short time, prompting Walsh to respond directly:
Well all the men in these comments crying because I don’t like their little pictures have certainty not dissuaded m… https://t.co/gVVOhQThiX— Matt Walsh (@Matt Walsh) 1601329118
Fellow conservative commentator Candace Owens jumped in to Walsh’s defence:
@MattWalshBlog The men that cried hard enough to make trend over this have proven your point. Well done.— Candace Owens (@Candace Owens) 1601347455
And some agreed with Walsh’s sentiment, saying they don’t find men who use emojis attractive:
@MattWalshBlog This is a deal breaker for me in dating.— Emily Miller (@Emily Miller) 1601338305
While others rushed to the defence of emojis and brought up hieroglyphs – an ancient Egyptian writing system characterised by small pictures – saying that if it was good enough for a whole ancient civilisation, it’s probably fine for 21st century men:
The fuck were hieroglyphics??? https://t.co/h4RsjofFyN— Jay Jurden Just Jokes 3/19 (@Jay Jurden Just Jokes 3/19) 1601328475
@MattWalshBlog Wait until you hear about hieroglyphics Matt— Ashley ✨🎙 (@Ashley ✨🎙) 1601349914
@MattWalshBlog https://t.co/4OEOOQLxlI— Franklin Harris (@Franklin Harris) 1601329304
@MattWalshBlog Hi Matt, Egyptologist here. One of my fav ancient Egyptian proverbs (translated from the hieroglyphs… https://t.co/eyYRhOYWcK— Dr. Sarah Parcak (@Dr. Sarah Parcak) 1601337926
Some responded with the “fellas, is it gay” meme format:
fellas, is it gay to express one's self? https://t.co/QStJEnd4m4— alex (@alex) 1601327062
fellas is it gay to use emoji https://t.co/675FjySrVd— marcus (@marcus) 1601339484
fellas is it gay to enjoy a catalog of images? https://t.co/A39y3p373g— Alyssa Jennette is closed to queries! (@Alyssa Jennette is closed to queries!) 1601334647
fellas is it homosexual to have a face https://t.co/k4tdR3PRpg— Sabrina's Gone Fishing: only game clip posts ✡🏴 (@Sabrina's Gone Fishing: only game clip posts ✡🏴) 1601338833
And others just flooded Walsh’s replies with emojis:
@MattWalshBlog It's so 😭 that you're 😡 about emojis instead of 🤗 them and experiencing 😂 or perhaps 😏. Anyway, I 💕… https://t.co/Vqi8OBDDPZ— Michael Dowden (@Michael Dowden) 1601344350
@MattWalshBlog ✍🏼nominated✍🏼for✍🏼the✍🏼List✍🏼 https://t.co/tQ4CVlIe7A— Siraj Hashmi (@Siraj Hashmi) 1601326638
@MattWalshBlog 🧐🤔😒😣😖🤪😂🤣👆🏻— Jo (@Jo) 1601326180