When you deflect criticism by pointing out flaws in your opponent, specifically using the phrase "what about x?" This is an attempt to excuse you from changing you behavior by painting your opponent as a hypocrite.
Dad: Son, you haven't cleaned your room in two years. Please clean it up.
Son: Why are you always telling me to clean my room? What about YOUR room? Or what about your relation with mom? Shouldn't YOU be the one cleaning up your life?
Dad: Quit your whataboutism and clean your damn room. I'm tired of seeing that dead rat over there in the corner.
Son: Why are you always telling me to clean my room? What about YOUR room? Or what about your relation with mom? Shouldn't YOU be the one cleaning up your life?
Dad: Quit your whataboutism and clean your damn room. I'm tired of seeing that dead rat over there in the corner.
by JohnW22 May 6, 2016
The technique of refusing to address a criticism and instead making a counter accusation often unrelated to the original statement. This technique may have attained its most popular usage in late Cold War Russia, but has been used in many different situations and many different places. Deflection, evasion, false balance, and ad hominem are related if not integral techniques.
Whataboutism in 1983:
Person 1: "Don't you feel that Brezhnev oppressed the people of eastern Europe?"
Person 2: "Well, what did the British empire do to its subjects?"
2003:
Person 1: "Do you really believe the second invasion of Iraq was justified?"
Person 2: "What about Mobutu? What about the things he's done?"
2023:
Person 1: "Don't you think that Trump's attempt to overturn the election was harmful to democracy?"
Person 2: "But what do you have to say about Hunter Biden's laptop?"
Person 1: "Don't you feel that Brezhnev oppressed the people of eastern Europe?"
Person 2: "Well, what did the British empire do to its subjects?"
2003:
Person 1: "Do you really believe the second invasion of Iraq was justified?"
Person 2: "What about Mobutu? What about the things he's done?"
2023:
Person 1: "Don't you think that Trump's attempt to overturn the election was harmful to democracy?"
Person 2: "But what do you have to say about Hunter Biden's laptop?"
by W Maximus June 10, 2023
A lazy, cowardly deflection tactic that is often employed to end any argument with another person instead of actually debating them head-to-head. It is often used when one person points out a flaw in another's argument that is non-defensible by any standards, so the other person simply calls it a "Whataboutism" and, thus, renders the comparison non-debatable no matter how correct one side may be.
Pete: "Humans are monsters! They kill innocent animals and eat them! They enslave dogs and cats, too! They make elephants dance in circuses for entertainment! PETA is the best because they're against the bad humans!" >:L
Mike: "Hold on. Doesn't PETA kill most of the animals they receive in their shelters? And didn't PETA also make a tasteless AD benefiting from the tragedy of a mangled shark attack survivor to further their own agenda?"
Pete: "Wooow! What a lazy /whataboutism/ Mike!"
Mike: "Hold on. Doesn't PETA kill most of the animals they receive in their shelters? And didn't PETA also make a tasteless AD benefiting from the tragedy of a mangled shark attack survivor to further their own agenda?"
Pete: "Wooow! What a lazy /whataboutism/ Mike!"
by Fire Tongue January 22, 2021
A rhetorical term used by Americans to dismiss criticism of their own hypocrisy. Originated when the Soviet Union would respond to American criticisms of Soviet human rights by pointing out, for example, that if America was so concerned with human rights, it should repeal its Jim Crow segregation and address its own white supremacist violence. Americans, believing their country was, by definition, "the home of the free" and above such criticism, accused Soviets of "whataboutism."
American: "Cuba is a brutal, authoritarian dictatorship which suppresses political dissent."
Cuban: "You know the one place in Cuba where political prisoners are detained indefinitely without charge? Fucking Guantanamo Bay."
American: "Waaaah! That's whataboutism! "
Cuban: "You know the one place in Cuba where political prisoners are detained indefinitely without charge? Fucking Guantanamo Bay."
American: "Waaaah! That's whataboutism! "
by Thorstein Shiver February 21, 2018
A pejorative term for calling out hypocrisy, used by people who believe their own actions should be immune to criticism. Chiefly (though not exclusively) used by Americans to stave off criticism of their country's domestic human or civil rights abuses, or aggression against other countries.
American: Russia must be severely punished for its crimes against Ukraine.
Russian: why should Russia be punished when America has been doing far worse in Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria with impunity for decades?
American: That's whataboutism!
Russian: why should Russia be punished when America has been doing far worse in Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria with impunity for decades?
American: That's whataboutism!
by Thorstein Shiver March 9, 2022
A term created by hypocrites in a pathetic attempt to dismiss/ discredit anyone who calls them out for their bullshit.
US Government: The actions of the Russian military in Ukraine are despicable and in violation of international law and basic human rights!
Rational person: But these are the same war crimes that the US military has been committing in the middle east for the last 30 years. Why didn't you care about international law and basic human rights when Uncle Sam was killing 380, 000 civilians during his war on terror?
US Government: That's whataboutism!
Rational person: But these are the same war crimes that the US military has been committing in the middle east for the last 30 years. Why didn't you care about international law and basic human rights when Uncle Sam was killing 380, 000 civilians during his war on terror?
US Government: That's whataboutism!
by Plonker69 August 10, 2022
Intelligent person: "Why do black people get away with racism and white people don't?, The media goes on a tizzy whenever a white person is racist to a black person, but not vise versa?"
Libtard- Nice whataboutism
Intelligent person: Why do women get away with hitting men, but when men hit women, the media and the public go crazy?"
Libtard: Very nice whataboutism.
Libtard- Nice whataboutism
Intelligent person: Why do women get away with hitting men, but when men hit women, the media and the public go crazy?"
Libtard: Very nice whataboutism.
by Rotten Turkey March 8, 2021