LOG IN   JOIN   BLOG SEARCH   ALL DIARIES

Website Blog
Blog
Issues
Take Action
Videos
Donate
About
Youth Resources
My Sistahs
Advocates For Youth
 
Blog - Amplify your voice

by:  Leah627
Monday, January 4, 2010 at 8:45:00 PM EST

 When I was little, my mom had a few signature phrases. She served us foods that were “good and good for you,” she relished hearing “you were right and I was wrong” when we realized that, yes, Mother does know best, and she reprimanded my brother and me for roughhousing, because “it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.” This last warning may well have stopped the facebook fan page for “The D.E.N.N.I.S. System” before it spiraled out of control; before a memorable element from a so-so episode of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” became a potpourri of frightening, violent, and misogynistic acronyms posing as “jokes.”



Yes, I know, the page is meant as an Internet troll—an empty provocation meant to amuse its 85,000 fans, and provoke gullible Internet roamers. One of the group’s photos pictures a sign labeled “Don’t Feed the Trolls!” and maybe my reaction is the one they were hoping to elicit.
 
But, even if it started out as “fun and games” as my mother would say, its disgustingly threatening wall posts reveal that the troll has surpassed any reasonable level and merits concern.   The original D.E.N.N.I.S. system outlines a “tried and true” method for men who want to take advantage of as many women as possible. It instructs men to Demonstrate value, Engage physically, Nurture dependence, Neglect Emotionally, Inspire hope, and then Separate entirely. While this system may bother, offend, or annoy many women (including myself, to be honest), it’s a fairly pedestrian, if idiotic, method that many men seem to employ, whether consciously as a “system” or otherwise. It may be misogynistic, but not necessarily a cause for outrage—Dennis, the character from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” and the creator of the D.E.N.N.I.S. system is just that: a character, and, whether for good or for bad, a pretty realistic one.


The acronyms littering the wall of the D.E.N.N.I.S. system fan page, however, paint violent images of date rape, sexual and emotional violence, and physical threats. Let’s take a look:
 
(TRIGGER WARNING: The following relay violent images that may upset some.)

 
The BRIAN System
Buy her a drink
Roofie the drink
Initiate Sex
Alight from the scene
Never go back
 
The DAVID System
Dick her hard, very hard
Act like an asshole
Violet [sic] every orifice on her body
Ignore her
Dick her best friend
 
It gets worse. 
 
The FOURNIE Method
F*ck her til she cums
Order some Chinese take out
Use the chopsticks on the bitch’s pussy
Rip it open wide
Nail-gun her ass to the bed so she doesn’t run away
Insert the Chinese food into the void you’ve created
Enjoy
 
The fact that so many people (85,222, to be exact), consider these acronym-based “systems” and “methods” acceptable forms of internet debauchery and amusement both frightens and infuriates me. And although I can’t guarantee it, with so many members, I can bet that you have at least one friend in this group, whether as a troll or as a devout fan of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” Whatever their excuse, a message needs to be understood: sexual violence is not funny. 
 
Talk to your friends and encourage them to remove the D.E.N.N.I.S. System fan page from their profile, or just repost this blog on facebook.  

Share this entry:  del.icio.us | Facebook |  MySpace | Digg It! | Tweet This
Comments
 Yeah...Thats pretty creepy, disgusting, and upsetting. I can't imaging any of my friends, even ones (like me self) who have a very sarcastic and sometimes over the edge sense of humor, finding this even remotely funny.  Thanks for sharing this, great post :)
# Posted By  dandaman6007 | 1/4/10 09:42 PM | Report | Reply
I agree wholeheartedly with this post, and that people have been taking things to the extreme with the whole "D.E.N.N.I.S System." I am, however, also a big fan of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, mainly because of what terrible people all of the characters are. The whole point ot the show is to make fun of hypermasculinity by featuring five complete idiots who constantly get into serious and unenviable trouble because of it. At least, that's the message I get out of it. Apparently, some 85,000 people have been getting the wrong idea.
# Posted By HalogenNil | 1/4/10 10:10 PM | Report | Reply
GROSS!  UGH! 

# Posted By  AFY_EmilyB | 1/5/10 08:29 AM | Report | Reply
That's absolutely awful.  I watched the D.E.N.N.I.S. episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and didn't really think anything of it.  It's disheartening that so many people would take something that's relatively innocent (although there are obviously problems with it...) and take it to that extreme.  I'm always astounded by what people do on facebook and really, all over the internet.  If it's on the internet, people seem to think that it doesn't matter and that it's okay to say things of that nature.  I recently deleted my facebook because I honestly think it has made life worse in general...as one of many reasons why I don't like it, there should not be a utility where people can say things like "The FOURNIE Method" and get away with it or even be commended for it.  I'd be interested in seeing responses to what these people are saying, and I'd even go a step further and encourage you to speak out against them.

# Posted By cmartin626 | 1/5/10 09:13 AM | Report | Reply
WOW are you kidding me? especially that last one... how does that even qualify as a sense of humor?
# Posted By  kathleenmysistahs | 1/5/10 06:27 PM | Report | Reply