In other not so good news
Sep. 17th, 2010 08:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amalthiaSome guy at the Mobile Read Forums is annoying me and I can't pinpoint why his statements are rubbing me the wrong way. I suck at expressing myself and the idea of tackling his latest post is daunting. I'm also not sure if I'm overreacting or he really is being somewhat trollish.
The AO3 thread was going so well too and then this guy came along and said he wanted nothing to do with the A03 because someone said that RPF fan fiction was the only real fan fiction and as a gen fan fiction writer he found it offensive and thinks the whole organization feels that way. And yet he has not cited anything.
The discussion has gone a bit downhill since, almost into wank. I don't even know what to say anymore. I should let it go or hopeelf is willing to whack him over the head with her brains. I'm sure if I write anything more I'll probably make things even worse...or give him more ammo.
Post in question
The AO3 thread was going so well too and then this guy came along and said he wanted nothing to do with the A03 because someone said that RPF fan fiction was the only real fan fiction and as a gen fan fiction writer he found it offensive and thinks the whole organization feels that way. And yet he has not cited anything.
The discussion has gone a bit downhill since, almost into wank. I don't even know what to say anymore. I should let it go or hope
elf is willing to whack him over the head with her brains. I'm sure if I write anything more I'll probably make things even worse...or give him more ammo. Post in question
no subject
Date: 2010-09-18 05:01 pm (UTC)Talk to the *lurkers* who may be listening to him. Even if you're replying to him. He's made up his mind; attempting to convince him is a waste of time & energy. (He might become convinced. It won't be from anything anyone says to him; he'd have to re-evaluate his data on his own.)
He says: AO3 is women-only and says real fanfic is slash only.
We say: No, it's women-friendly, and fanfic is lots of stuff. If someone in the AO3 said slash is the only real fanfic, that's a personal opinion, not organization policy.
Readers can figure out for themselves who to believe. Don't bother asking him for cites over and over; trust that the people at MR (and anyone who finds the thread by googling) are capable of noticing him *not* giving details of where he got this impression.
Arguing that sexism and racism even *exist* anymore is hard at MR; it's got plenty of (white, male, straight) people who believe that, since the laws demand equal rights, we now all have equal opportunities & equal protections & equal attention to our needs. Challenging that without dragging whole subforums into wankfests is touchy--I've been bringing up a point or two here & there, rather than anything all at once. (I'm waiting for when I feel ready to mention
I'm going to look for stats on female vs male authors; it's been interestingly hard to find numbers. And I think I'm gonna look for non-genre stats; we *know* that mysteries are pretty much split down the middle (with men getting more of the reviews & hardcover releases), sci-fi is male dominated, romance is female-owned (too much to just call it "dominated"), and so on. (Hm. Need stats on children's books.) But the general "literature" category, I believe is strongly male-dominated--but I have no numbers for that.
Anyway. Back to the discussion part. Once you've made your point (or you believe it has effectively been made by someone else), STOP ESCALATING. Let the thread wander off on its own; only re-engage if you have a *new* point to make. TRUST THAT THE READERS ARE NOT IDIOTS, regardless of what the person talking is doing.
(Oh, and I sent a link to the thread to the AO3 people a couple of days ago, 'cos I figured some of them might be interested. So I suspect that if it needs an *official* response, it'll get one. Other than that, it's just wank.)
no subject
Date: 2010-09-18 06:59 pm (UTC)It also irked me that some other guys were agreeing. But taking a deep breath and letting it go. I don't have any new points to bring up.
Hugs
no subject
Date: 2010-09-19 04:02 am (UTC)Am not up to scouring metafandom for evidence that women's fannish activities are ghettoized. Just not. (Am failing in this. Have failed. Is definitely time to stop talking; proving that sexism exists is OUTSIDE OUR SCOPE.)
no subject
Date: 2010-09-19 06:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-18 05:59 pm (UTC)He thinks he;s being reasonable and rational but steeped in privledge he's not getting where women in fandom are coming from and because he's being reasonable and rational he's not going to change his mind.
People like that frustrate the hell out of me. Most of the rest of the thread commenters looked pretty reasonable though, so that's hopeful.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-18 07:01 pm (UTC)