Like

Towleroad

  • Body
  • Daily Resist
  • POLITICS
  • Travel
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Film
  • TV
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Men
  • Marriage Equality
  • Space
  • Trans Rights
  • Books
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • TowleREAD

BREAKING: The Queens On ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Talk the Talk [RECAP and RANKING]

Alt-Right Troll Milo Yiannopoulos Helps Planned Parenthood by Attacking Provincetown Entrepreneur

PreviousPrevious StoryCeline SchwartzsCeline Dion is an Unlikely Savior of Montreal’s Classic Jewish Deli
NextNext StoryKim BurrellGospel Singer Kim Burrell: Gay People are ‘Perverted’ Sinners Who are Going to Die in 2017

by Michael Goff
December 30, 2016 | 1:31pm

Share654 Comments

Troll Milo

Over the past few weeks, while most of us have been easing into the new culture war–contemplating how, where, and when we may get to face off with the new alt-right flavor of white supremacy, our friend down the block, here in Provincetown, Rebecca Orchant, launched a new t-shirt line.2_dailyresist

She also poked the trolls, specifically, it seems, newly signed Simon & Schuster “author” and Gays-for-Trump party-thrower, homocon troll Milo Yiannopoulos who really got upset about her modest Etsy store, immodest proposal, and HuffPost blog. HIs post inadvertently helped get her message to the masses and sell truckloads of shirts.

Orchant made time to answer some of our questions…

Q: So what happened, Rebecca?

What happened was that we all spent 2016 reckoning with the fact that toxic masculinity, bullheaded (and barely even coded) misogyny, and the seemingly endless coddling of rape culture were everywhere. It felt like articulate, powerful women were standing up and calling it out more than ever before, which made me hopeful. And then, at the end of it, we voted the physical manifestation of all of those challenges into the White House.

My husband Sean and I were gutted and enraged, and we just wanted to start pitching in to causes we believe in immediately. We hoped that by printing t-shirts with a catchy and aggressive statement, we’d be able to make a bigger donation to Planned Parenthood than we’d be able to afford on our own. We wanted to stand up for women, queer folk, people of color and anyone who felt marginalized by the seething discomfort this election season produced, and we wanted to freak patriarchal dickheads the fuck out. We wanted to use the f-word a lot. Thus, Don’t Fuck the Patriarchy was born.

Q: Who is actually buying — what kind of people?

We expected to sell this mostly to women, since it largely started to support them and a cause that provides essential healthcare to millions of people every year. Those women are buying, and representing hard (#dontfuckthepatriarchy on Instagram is a pretty beautiful cross-section of gorgeous creatures), but we’ve been delighted to find that men are buying the shit out of these t-shirts!

He [milo] turned … a small-town bake sale into a thing that people are actively sharing and discussing …across the country.

Gay, straight, lesbian, trans, poly, curious, bisexual, pansexual — this message is delightfully applicable to all of us. Because really, when we say “Don’t Fuck the Patriarchy,” we are saying no to fucking people who profit off of your disenfranchisement. We’re saying we should fuck in line with our values and not reward wrongheaded assholes with our beautiful bodies.

Q: Why did Milo pick you and your project?

There are four things that enrage Yiannopoulos about this project:

  1. It speaks directly to a fear that all members of the old world patriarchy have: that the people they have been trying to disenfranchise and marginalize for years will notice, and do something about it. (Read: people might stop fucking them.)
  2. That it has nothing to do with him. (Except that people might stop fucking him.)
  3. That I am a woman with a voice and a platform to use it and that I’m using it to talk about sex. (And that it doesn’t matter to me whether he or his minions think I am fuckable.)
  4. (And probably most importantly to him,) Huffpost Queer Voices let me write about it.


Q: What’s happened since then?

He turned what was essentially a small-town bake sale into a thing that people are actively sharing and discussing with their friends across the country. We’re still a pretty small operation, but after his unprovoked trolling our sales tripled! I feel like we should send him a shirt to thank him.

troll milo

Orchant with some of the orders courtesy of her would-be alt-right detractors.


Q: What’s next?

We’d love to sell out of the first run of these, and then tackle a project to raise money for the ACLU and the SPLC — they have their work cut out for them.

Q: You live in a community that voted less than 10% for Trump, that has perhaps the densest population for openly lgbt persons and has been known as a bohemian artist enclave longer than anywhere else.  How is it up there in Utopia, serving customers who respect work and food, working and playing and existing in what must be a dynamic, accepting, non-triggering, peaceful, respectful, loving, creative free community in the world?

There’s been a lot of talk about “the bubble” since the election. And you’re goddamned right I live in the bubble! I moved to the bubble on purpose! Living in Provincetown and owning a business here allows us to employ, befriend and engage with mostly queer, mostly open-minded, mostly wonderful people at a rate I’ve never experienced anywhere else.

But that’s not to say we’re immune to the darkness, even up here in LGBTQ wonderland! Thanksgiving weekend some guy called two of my friends faggots in a bar! In Provincetown! I just think that if the assholes are going to feel emboldened to say what they think, we have to respond in kind. And I for one, am going to say “fuck” A LOT.


Q: Seriously, is misogyny stronger than racism?

I’ve never found it to be useful to compare a struggle to a struggle — both of those prejudices are insidious and deeply ingrained. I do think we’ve gotten a lot better at catching and calling out coded racism than we have at misogyny. It feels like a great time for marginalized people to rally around and help other marginalized people — which isn’t their job. It’s up to those of us with any privilege to use every ounce of it to help. I’m a white, Jewish girl who lives in New England. I don’t have to personally experience racism — but I sure as shit have experienced misogyny and I know how much that hurts.

 

Maybe we have to play by their rules to actually start winning again.

 

I have (not-surprisingly) gotten some pushback from some more traditional feminists — their argument being that this form of activism, “sex-as-currency” as some of them called it, further objectifies womens’ bodies. I understand that reaction to a point, but I do think that pre-supposes that sex is something women tolerate rather than pursue, which feels an awful lot like internalized misogyny to me.

And look, the people we are up against don’t give a shit about our agency, our articulation or our intersectionality — so I purposefully made this loud, resolute, catchy and indelicate. Maybe we have to play by their rules to actually start winning again.


Q: Where do you recommend wearing (and not wearing) your t-shirt?

I basically emerged from the womb as a foul-mouthed provocateur (I think my mother will back me up on this), so I suggest holiday dinners, for starters. It might make your brother/uncle/grandpa uncomfortable, but it might also make your sister/niece/granddaughter feel more comfortable standing up for herself.

Q: What’s a good litmus test for a man to wear it?

Does he have a torso and believe in human rights? Wear it!

————-

img_5752Rebecca Orchant is a writer and co-owner of Pop+Dutch in Provincetown, MA. Orchant is a  former Editor at The Huffington Post. She still occasionally gets to do things that make people on the internet angry.  Again, buy your shirt now. And if reading about Milo Yiannopoulos has moved you, feel free to donate here.

Daily Resist is a nascent Towleroad-initiated project, in collaboration with coalition journalists and activists, to build an essential stand-alone service that inspires, explains, and involves you in the resistance.

PreviousPrevious StoryCeline SchwartzsCeline Dion is an Unlikely Savior of Montreal’s Classic Jewish Deli
NextNext StoryKim BurrellGospel Singer Kim Burrell: Gay People are ‘Perverted’ Sinners Who are Going to Die in 2017
Share654 Like654 Comments

Posted December 30, 2016 at 1:31pm ETC by Michael Goff
in 2016 Election, activism, Alt-Right, Daily Resist, Milo Yanniopoulos, misogyny, News, Patriarchy, POLITICS, Provincetown, Rebecca Orchant, t-shirt, White Supremacists



Follow Us

Like Towleroad

Towleroad

Video

trevor bell

Rudy Giuliani, Kitchen Cabinets, Robbie Turner, Tina Fey, Tumbleweeds, Rod Rosenstein, Johnny Sins: HOT LINKS

Share34 Like34

Avicii

EDM Star Avicii Dead at 28

Share74 Like74

trump lies

On New Tape, Trump Lies About His Wealth to Get on List of ‘Forbes’ Richest People: LISTEN

Share46 Like46

theta tau

Syracuse Frat Bros Suspended for Racist, Homophobic, Anti-Semitic Video Apologize for ‘Satirical Sketch’

Share33 Like33

kylie stop me from falling

Kylie Minogue Adds Some Cuban Heat to Her Country-Tinged Single ‘Stop Me From Falling’ – WATCH

Share85 Like85

Ariana Grande no tears left to cry

Ariana Grande Picks Herself Up from Manchester Heartbreak in New Single ‘No Tears Left To Cry’ – WATCH

Share22 Like22

Hunk of the Day

dan reynolds gay

Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds Strips Down with Rainbow Flag: ‘Embrace Our Sexual Diversity’

Share771 Like771

Columns

  • Recap The Queens On ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Talk the Talk [RECAP and RANKING]
  • Theatre Review Time’s Up? Not So Fast: ‘Carousel’ Is Back on Broadway: REVIEW
  • Theatre Review In ‘This Flat Earth,’ Growing Up in the Shadow of a School Shooting
  • Recap ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Queens Get App Happy and Flocked Up on the Runway [RECAP and RANKING]
  • Theatre Review In ‘Three Tall Women’ and ‘Yerma,’ Stunning Portraits of Women on the Verge: REVIEW
  • Theatre Review Chris Evans and Michael Cera Are Men in Uniform in Kenneth Lonergan’s Superb ‘Lobby Hero’: REVIEW
  • Theatre Review Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane Star in Electrifying ‘Angels in America’: REVIEW
  • Theatre Review A Slushy ‘Frozen’ Opens on Broadway: REVIEW
  • Recap It All Comes To An End On ‘Versace: American Crime Story’ Finale: RECAP
  • Film Review Weekend Movie Review: ‘Love, Simon’ is a Must-See

Latest Posts

  • trevor bellRudy Giuliani, Kitchen Cabinets, Robbie Turner, Tina Fey, Tumbleweeds, Rod Rosenstein, Johnny Sins: HOT LINKS7 hours ago
  • Montreal gay villageA Gay Couple’s Guide to 5 of Montreal’s Must-Sees8 hours ago
  • AviciiEDM Star Avicii Dead at 288 hours ago
  • rupauls drag race recapThe Queens On ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Talk the Talk [RECAP and RANKING]9 hours ago
  • second presidential debate highlightsDemocratic National Committee Sues Trump, Russia, and Wikileaks, Alleging Far-Reaching Conspiracy to Sway Election9 hours ago
  • Trump Invited Putin to White House Twice During Last Phone Call: REPORT9 hours ago
  • Rupert EverettRupert Everett’s Oscar Wilde Biopic ‘The Happy Prince’ Gets a Full UK Trailer: WATCH10 hours ago
  • amazonGay Rights an ‘Unspoken’ Factor for Amazon in Search for New HQ, According to Insiders11 hours ago
  • trump liesOn New Tape, Trump Lies About His Wealth to Get on List of ‘Forbes’ Richest People: LISTEN11 hours ago
  • This Survey Is Important Even if These Gay Stock Photos are Dumb12 hours ago
  • ‘Glee’ Actor Kevin McHale Discusses Sexual Orientation for First Time: Ariana Grande’s Song is ‘Gayer Than Me’13 hours ago
  • Trump Lashes Out: ‘Shadey James Comey Can Leak and Lie’ But ‘Michael Flynn’s Life Can Be Totally Destroyed’13 hours ago
  • theta tauSyracuse Frat Bros Suspended for Racist, Homophobic, Anti-Semitic Video Apologize for ‘Satirical Sketch’13 hours ago
  • kylie stop me from fallingKylie Minogue Adds Some Cuban Heat to Her Country-Tinged Single ‘Stop Me From Falling’ – WATCH14 hours ago
  • cynthia nixon governorMarriage Equality Advocates Call Out Cynthia Nixon for Flip-Flop in Praise for Cuomo14 hours ago
  • Ariana Grande no tears left to cryAriana Grande Picks Herself Up from Manchester Heartbreak in New Single ‘No Tears Left To Cry’ – WATCH15 hours ago
  • Taron EgertonTaron Egerton to Play Elton John in ‘Rocketman’ Biopic1 day ago
  • Ariana Grande, Ian McKellen, Deadpool 2 Trailer, Alexander McQueen, The Cure: HOT LINKS1 day ago

You Might Also Like

  • trevor bellPOLITICS Rudy Giuliani, Kitchen Cabinets, Robbie Turner, Tina Fey, Tumbleweeds, Rod Rosenstein, Johnny Sins: HOT LINKS
  • second presidential debate highlightsPOLITICS Democratic National Committee Sues Trump, Russia, and Wikileaks, Alleging Far-Reaching Conspiracy to Sway Election
  • POLITICS Trump Invited Putin to White House Twice During Last Phone Call: REPORT
  • trump liesPOLITICS On New Tape, Trump Lies About His Wealth to Get on List of ‘Forbes’ Richest People: LISTEN
  • POLITICS Trump Lashes Out: ‘Shadey James Comey Can Leak and Lie’ But ‘Michael Flynn’s Life Can Be Totally Destroyed’
  • POLITICS Ariana Grande, Ian McKellen, Deadpool 2 Trailer, Alexander McQueen, The Cure: HOT LINKS

Latest Posts

  • Alt-Right Troll Milo Yiannopoulos Helps Planned Parenthood by Attacking Provincetown Entrepreneur

    YOU’RE HIRED. Trump hires Rudy Giuliani amid legal turmoil: “The entry of Giuliani, an experienced attorney with a combative reputation, immediately raises questions about how Trump will engage with Mueller and the leadership at Justice.…
    Read

  • Alt-Right Troll Milo Yiannopoulos Helps Planned Parenthood by Attacking Provincetown Entrepreneur

    We completely fell in love with Montreal in Quebec, Canada. We came here in the summer to celebrate the first Fierte Canada Pride, which was being hosted by Montreal. It was a blast – one of the best pride events we’ve been to, and in a very welcomin…
    Read

  • Alt-Right Troll Milo Yiannopoulos Helps Planned Parenthood by Attacking Provincetown Entrepreneur

    EDM artist, DJ and producer Avicii (aka Tim Bergling) has died at the age of 28 in Oman, according to a statement from his representative. Variety reports: ‘“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the loss of Tim Bergling, also known as Av…
    Read

  • Alt-Right Troll Milo Yiannopoulos Helps Planned Parenthood by Attacking Provincetown Entrepreneur

    Fresh off last week’s runway, Asia is furious because … well, I guess because the other girls let her help them? I get that she regrets having mismanaged her time, but, to be fair, all the girls leapt to her defense in front of the judges. Miz Cracke…
    Read

  • second presidential debate highlights

    Democratic National Committee Sues Trump, Russia, and Wikileaks, Alleging Far-Reaching Conspiracy to Sway Election

    The Democratic National Committee on Friday sued the Trump campaign, the Russian government, and Wikileaks in a multi-million dollar lawsuit claiming a vast conspiracy to sway the electorate in favor of Donald Trump. The Washington Post reports: The…
    Read

  • Trump Invited Putin to White House Twice During Last Phone Call: REPORT

    Donald Trump invited Russian president Vladimir Putin to the White House twice during a recent phone call and the Kremlin is now expecting a formal invitation, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported on Friday. Reuters reports: The news agency quote…
    Read

  • Alt-Right Troll Milo Yiannopoulos Helps Planned Parenthood by Attacking Provincetown Entrepreneur

    The Happy Prince, the Oscar Wilde biopic directed by and starring Rupert Everett, just released a full UK trailer, and it follows the iconic gay writer’s career, romance, and persecution. The film had its premiere at Sundance. Colin Firth, Emil…
    Read

  • Alt-Right Troll Milo Yiannopoulos Helps Planned Parenthood by Attacking Provincetown Entrepreneur

    Local LGBT rights laws are a factor for Amazon in its search for a new headquarters, according to insiders who spoke with the Washington Post: In the high-stakes contest to become Amazon’s new location, it may have been a shrewd move. Although the co…
    Read

  • Alt-Right Troll Milo Yiannopoulos Helps Planned Parenthood by Attacking Provincetown Entrepreneur

     Donald Trump lied (above) about his wealth to get on the Forbes 400, the business magazine’s ranking of the world’s richest people, posing as publicist ‘John Barron’ to do so. Writes Jonathan Greenberg in the Washington Post…
    Read

  • Alt-Right Troll Milo Yiannopoulos Helps Planned Parenthood by Attacking Provincetown Entrepreneur

      Longtime readers of Towleroad are familiar with the CMI annual study of LGBT consumers and we hope you can spend a few minutes on it even if these gay stock photos they sent along with it don’t even suggest anything about your life.  (An…
    Read

Most Commented

Hot Reads

  • America’s Top Crime Family: The Trumps
  • High Stakes for LGBTQ Equality in the Anti-Gay Baker Case at the Supreme Court
  • State Department ‘Deeply Disturbed’ by Reports of Detention, Torture, and Murder of Gay Men in Chechnya
  • Anti-Gay Pastor Who Said Orlando Victims ‘Got What They Deserved’ Guilty of Sexually Molesting Boy and Girl
  • Neil Gorsuch is Trump’s Terrible, No Good Nominee for the Supreme Court: An Analysis
  • 2017 Resolutions All Gay Men Should Consider
  • Comedian Eric Andre: The Gay Interview

Today's News

Jump To Day: Choose
  • Rudy Giuliani, Kitchen Cabinets, Robbie Turner, Tina Fey, Tumbleweeds, Rod Rosenstein, Johnny Sins: HOT LINKS
  • A Gay Couple’s Guide to 5 of Montreal’s Must-Sees
  • EDM Star Avicii Dead at 28
  • The Queens On ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Talk the Talk [RECAP and RANKING]
  • Democratic National Committee Sues Trump, Russia, and Wikileaks, Alleging Far-Reaching Conspiracy to Sway Election
  • Trump Invited Putin to White House Twice During Last Phone Call: REPORT
  • Rupert Everett’s Oscar Wilde Biopic ‘The Happy Prince’ Gets a Full UK Trailer: WATCH
  • Gay Rights an ‘Unspoken’ Factor for Amazon in Search for New HQ, According to Insiders
  • On New Tape, Trump Lies About His Wealth to Get on List of ‘Forbes’ Richest People: LISTEN
  • This Survey Is Important Even if These Gay Stock Photos are Dumb
  • ‘Glee’ Actor Kevin McHale Discusses Sexual Orientation for First Time: Ariana Grande’s Song is ‘Gayer Than Me’
  • Trump Lashes Out: ‘Shadey James Comey Can Leak and Lie’ But ‘Michael Flynn’s Life Can Be Totally Destroyed’
  • Syracuse Frat Bros Suspended for Racist, Homophobic, Anti-Semitic Video Apologize for ‘Satirical Sketch’
  • Kylie Minogue Adds Some Cuban Heat to Her Country-Tinged Single ‘Stop Me From Falling’ – WATCH
  • Marriage Equality Advocates Call Out Cynthia Nixon for Flip-Flop in Praise for Cuomo
  • Ariana Grande Picks Herself Up from Manchester Heartbreak in New Single ‘No Tears Left To Cry’ – WATCH

Share This

Share3.3k Like3.3k

Read

  • Politics
  • Travel
  • Film
  • Theatre
  • Television
  • Science
  • Law – LGBT Rights
  • Columns
  • Specials

About

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Contributors
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Follow Us

© 2014 Towleroad. All Rights Reserved.