kosmos: Finger pinching conspiracy theory

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

The finger pinching conspiracy theory is an antifeminist conspiracy theory that originated in South Korea. It claims that there is a deliberate plot to spread and promote misandry through symbolic hand gestures, and that radical feminist groups have propagated these hidden messages to humiliate men with small penises. The conspiracy theory first gained prominence in May 2021 when convenience store chain GS25 published an advertisement with a hand gesture, which faced accusations of allegedly disparaging penises and aggrandizing the defunct fringe group Megalia. The company retracted it and issued an apology. Since then, numerous organizations were met with similar protests from theorists an…

Evidence: 39 • authority: 62

One may argue that the men who complain about this are just pointing to misandry and not exactly sending a message about their own anatomy. Yet you would think men would be so hesitant to even give the impression that they are mobilizing around their small penises that they would avoid spreading the conspiracy theory for that reason alone. And as with arguments about military conscription, you would think there would be hesitancy to notice finger-pinching in ads for the reason that it draws into your movement those passionate about having little dicks. In other words, even if the guys who spread the finger pinching conspiracy theory are not sending messages about the size of their own manhood, there’s still something wrong with a subculture that goes out of its way to express solidarity with those who would personally be offended by the messages allegedly being sent. This is not a fringe view in Korea. The Wikipedia page on the conspiracy lists dozens of controversies in which celebrities, corporations, and government agencies have issued apologies or explanations for supposedly mocking men’s small penises, spanning from 2021 to late 2024. The hysteria makes our Summer of Floyd look like a culture of measured restraint and thoughtful discourse by comparison. Here’s the ad that started it all . The finger-pinching conspiracy theory began in 2021. This means that there are substantial numbers of Korean men out there who believe that, four years after a mid-size feminist website shut down, its followers had infiltrated all sectors of Korean government and industry for the purpose of mocking men with small penises. Corporations and bureaucrats now all tremble in fear lest they put out into the world an actor or a cartoon that contorts its fingers in the wrong way.

Evidence: 24 • authority: 72

The chemtrail conspiracy theory is the erroneous belief that long-lasting condensation trails left in the sky by high-flying aircraft are actually "chemtrails" consisting of chemical or biological agents, sprayed for nefarious purposes undisclosed to the general public. Believers in this conspiracy theory say that while normal contrails dissipate relatively quickly, contrails that linger must contain additional substances. Those who subscribe to the theory speculate that the purpose of the chemical release may be solar radiation management, weather modification, psychological manipulation, human population control, biological or chemical warfare, or testing of biological or chemical agents…

Evidence: 20 • authority: 72

"Pizzagate" is a conspiracy theory that went viral during the 2016 United States presidential election cycle, falsely claiming that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) had discovered a pedophile ring linked to members of the Democratic Party while searching through Anthony Weiner's emails. It has been extensively discredited by a wide range of organizations, including the Washington, D.C. police. The personal email account of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chair, was hacked in a spear-phishing attack in March 2016. WikiLeaks published his emails in November 2016. Proponents of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory falsely claimed the emails contained coded messages that connected…

Evidence: 0 • authority: 62

Evidence: 0 • authority: 62