Moving Dudeism Forwards

[jgiffin]

Most of the people I know may or may not have heard of The Big Lebowski, and the majority of those who have heard of it haven't seen it, so they have no frame of reference with regards to the term "Dudeist".  Tell them it started with a movie, and the "doors of acceptance" in their minds will close up tighter than Fort Knox.

Have you tried showing them our fancy new ID card with the holographic thingie on it? I mean, c'mon, that's pretty official and stuff.

[jdurand]

Haven't had an opportunity to use mine yet, but it's tucked in my wallet between my explosives permit and a guild card.

[Reverend Al]

Most of the people I know may or may not have heard of The Big Lebowski, and the majority of those who have heard of it haven't seen it, so they have no frame of reference with regards to the term "Dudeist".  Tell them it started with a movie, and the "doors of acceptance" in their minds will close up tighter than Fort Knox.

Have you tried showing them our fancy new ID card with the holographic thingie on it? I mean, c'mon, that's pretty official and stuff.

I haven't had an opportunity to show it to anyone who might give a shit yet.  And among the people I mentioned in that post my ID card and a five dollar bill would get me a cup of coffee at Starbucks, but not much else.   

[The Daryl]

Okies you know I mentioned the vernacular? And the special lady thing? That was only in response to earlier comments in this thread (years old) about female Dudes...

I received my Abide Guide today... I asked my wife to check out the back cover.

Then I asked her what would she think if she read it at a bookstore... She responded put it back on the shelf. I said Never even open it? She responded Nope, it wasn't really offensive but it was patronizing (to which we then had a 10 minute convo about semantics of which is worse, etc). Then got into a multi hour conversation about Dudeism, movies, current events, and everything else while I enjoyed some bourbon.

For those that don't know the backcover says "New feminist philosophy for special ladies".

Now it's important to point out: I haven't read those chapters/parts. I have no idea what they say. The only relevant thing seems to be that's not a good choice of words to attract.

My wife loves TBL; she actually requests it on movie nights more than I do. And still finds that patronizing.... I think the idea of semantics makes sense for someone familiar with it, and is off putting for someone that isn't (and trust me, this is from a guy that called males AND females dude/man for years, until females kept saying it was offensive so I switched to "chick" and that was offensive too, and I ended up where I started with calling everyone dude/man... words can be unintended weapons).

Rather than get into semantics again, only for the sake and framework of "moving Dudeism forward" It's not intentionally off putting, but it is all the same.... Off to finish my bottle, but all the above is just my opinions of my personal experience I thought I'd share.

[jgiffin]

Interesting concepts here. Presuming that Dudeism attracts a disproportionately male demographic - which seems true subjectively but doesn't appear objectively verified - that is kinda concerning; not the least because the result is at odds with the underlying belief system. A more consistent state would be a Dudeism with complentary male/female aspects. Then again, there's a pretty strong individualist strain to Dudeism, too, but that still begs the question why these individuals are disproportionately male.

I'm no expert but women seem more proportionately represented in the eastern religions which influence Dudeism. So the substance of the thing doesn't appear to be the problem. I wonder if the phenomenon has something to do with Dudeism being, to date and at least as exhibited here, a relatively internet-centric congregation. There aren't a lot of in-person meetings, structured activities, communal efforts, etc. It's stereotyping but maybe those aspects are more attractive to the female of the species than what we have here - which is, I don't know, a bit based on pulling Dudeist related concepts from news, media, or entertainment, arguing/debating about it, and then finding something from TBL to ground home some final salient point or prompt a smile.

Then again, the forum (and any religion/belief-system/etc) is what you make it. So it would ostensibly change with a larger influx of women. But since they're not here in significant numbers, it doesn't. Kind of a variant of the anthropic principle. 

[Masked Dude]

I see your points and give us a lot to ponder. One of my female friends has a lot of philosophical beliefs close to Taoism and Dudeism. However, she won't even give Dudeism a second thought because she absolutely hates the movie. She does read anything espousing feminism because (in her words) they usually are too preachy.

I think I can see the point about the wording being off-putting. The short space & time dedicated to back covers can be hard to garner attention.

All in all, I don't know, dude. It's all funky.

[High Priest Allen]

I'm no expert but women seem more proportionately represented in the eastern religions which influence Dudeism. So the substance of the thing doesn't appear to be the problem. I wonder if the phenomenon has something to do with Dudeism being, to date and at least as exhibited here, a relatively internet-centric congregation. There aren't a lot of in-person meetings, structured activities, communal efforts, etc. It's stereotyping but maybe those aspects are more attractive to the female of the species than what we have here - which is, I don't know, a bit based on pulling Dudeist related concepts from news, media, or entertainment, arguing/debating about it, and then finding something from TBL to ground home some final salient point or prompt a smile.

So, should we have those sort of things in order to attract more?

[The Daryl]

These responses are great...

I mean process, in a lot of ways is better than product.... I guess that sounds stupid but I don't know how else to put it; Discussion of Dudeism? Oh ya. Lotta ins, lotta outs...

[BikerDude]

[His Dudeliness, Chase]

I'm no expert but women seem more proportionately represented in the eastern religions which influence Dudeism. So the substance of the thing doesn't appear to be the problem. I wonder if the phenomenon has something to do with Dudeism being, to date and at least as exhibited here, a relatively internet-centric congregation. There aren't a lot of in-person meetings, structured activities, communal efforts, etc. It's stereotyping but maybe those aspects are more attractive to the female of the species than what we have here - which is, I don't know, a bit based on pulling Dudeist related concepts from news, media, or entertainment, arguing/debating about it, and then finding something from TBL to ground home some final salient point or prompt a smile.

So, should we have those sort of things in order to attract more?

In regards to attracting ladies, I think we face the inherent issue of nomenclature. Without any description of belief system or practices, "Dudeism" comes off as being masculine. I know we all profess that being Dude is gender neutral, yet we have societal connotations that are projected onto the term. Our best bet is to champion our fellow female Dudeists as a spotlight for females in the community.

More in-person gatherings could be fantastic, but I think in so doing we face a sort of paradigm shift in our philosophy. We strive to Take 'er easy, but if we start encouraging congregation, aren't we walking on a slippery slope towards organized religion?

As always, these are just like, my opinions, man.

[Hominid]

aren't we walking on a slippery slope towards organized religion

This may not relate, but in light of the latest middle eastern bullshit (ISIS and all that), I think that the worst thing Dudeism could ever transform into would be jihadist pot smokers who tell everyone to, like, take it easy.

Peace everyone.

[The Daryl]

I admit - I'm confused/unsure where that last series of thoughts/statements come from, Chase.

I don't know how encouraging congregation is any kind of slippery slope. How is a group of like minded folks coming together a bad thing?

I guess, to my perspective, it doesn't involve any shift of philosophy. I mean, hell, this message board is an expression of that; A kind of virtual community of like minded folks coming together to share thoughts, ideas, a few laughs... In person would just be adding some beers, and maybe some burgers (veggie for some us) to the equation.

I tend to agree with Hominid's sentiment... When you think about it, the worse case for Dudeism evolving and becoming more "organized" is better than best case for many other groups.

All the above, just, like my opinions, man 

[BikerDude]

I admit - I'm confused/unsure where that last series of thoughts/statements come from, Chase.

I don't know how encouraging congregation is any kind of slippery slope. How is a group of like minded folks coming together a bad thing?

I guess, to my perspective, it doesn't involve any shift of philosophy. I mean, hell, this message board is an expression of that; A kind of virtual community of like minded folks coming together to share thoughts, ideas, a few laughs... In person would just be adding some beers, and maybe some burgers (veggie for some us) to the equation.

I tend to agree with Hominid's sentiment... When you think about it, the worse case for Dudeism evolving and becoming more "organized" is better than best case for many other groups.

All the above, just, like my opinions, man 

I think it's subtle.
One thing is riding in the cart while enjoying a tasty beverage.
The other is getting out and pushing the card around town with a big banner on the side ringing a bell and selling subscriptions.
I stand by my statement.

[Red Back Dragon Dude]

Most of the people I know may or may not have heard of The Big Lebowski, and the majority of those who have heard of it haven't seen it, so they have no frame of reference with regards to the term "Dudeist".  Tell them it started with a movie, and the "doors of acceptance" in their minds will close up tighter than Fort Knox.

Have you tried showing them our fancy new ID card with the holographic thingie on it? I mean, c'mon, that's pretty official and stuff.

Here in Australia everybody i talk too seems to love Dudeisim when i talk about it, must be the flora and fauna trying to kill you all the time that gives people a Dudely outlook or sompthing.

[jgiffin]

The other is getting out and pushing the card around town with a big banner on the side ringing a bell and selling subscriptions.

Just don't go peddling your blaspheming subscriptions on the west side of town, Bikerdude! That's "reformed dudeist orthodox" turf. And we rep our shit, yo.