If you are going to take the "moral" high ground, make sure you are not standing over a pit

[puppetmaker]

After talking to a friend about something that happened at World Con and the outrage that has followed I had a moment of clarity of something that has bugged me about fandom for years. I am frankly tired of people who were not directly affected by the situation expressing their "moral" (and I use the term loosely) outrage when the parties involved are adults and it is now a matter being sorted out between them rather than fandom as a whole. Fandom gets up on its hobby-horse of outrage at the drop of a hat and usually without all the facts other than hearsay. It is sort of like that old game of Telephone where you pass a phrase (or in the case of fandom a story) around a circle and you would be amazed what comes back to you. I have seen it happen over and over again and have been involved or at the point of origin for the story that leads to the mob pulling out its pitchforks and torches to go off on a rampage over something that is really nothing in the big scheme of things.

I am thinking about pimpin' my puppet Panel on a couple of the DragonCon boards so I might have an audience. I also found out that some good friends that I was hoping were going to make it for Dragon on managed to clear the decks so that they are definitely going to be there. I think I should convince one or both to join the puppet panel on the Costuming track considering what they do for a living. So tomorrow we are off to Atlanta. Today I finish the Doctors and fix up one doll. I don't think the other two are going to get done by tomorrow. I am getting excited about this convention.

I am grateful that I will have so many friends at DragonCon.

Comments

[norda.livejournal.com]

Thank you, thank you, Thank you, Kath.

I have never met the parties involved, nor was I present at the event. Neither were some of my dearest friends, who still have taken it upon themselves to mount this hobby horse. It frankly bemuses me, when it does not sadden me.

Until I hear fom either of the two parties directly involved, I'm not going to express an opinion one way or the other.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Well I have heard from one of the parties and haven't seen the other in years but I am really hoping that they can sort it out among themselves.

[norda.livejournal.com]

I can't be self-righteous and say that I've *never* ranted about something fandom-related without having all the facts. I have my own set of buttons that can be pushed too easily. But, as I get older, I do try to base my rants, in and outside of fandom, on empirical evidence.

Which is why I really prefer to stay on fandom's fringes, although I'm hoping to attend more cons in 2007. I'm just not in the loop the way I was in the late Eighties and early Nineties.

Are you going with Peter to Albacon in October? I am hoping to finally catch up with you both there.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

I think we are all going to be there so it will be a good time to catch up

[coffeeem.livejournal.com]

I know just the sort of thing you mean, and Oy!

But the circumstances of this incident make it significant. A well-known and respected figure in the field (and out of it) does a sexist, inappropriate thing to a woman on stage in front of a huge audience at the most important event in science fiction. If the community treats it as a private fan feud and doesn't make a fuss, the message is, "That behavior isn't something that this community objects to. We think it's normal for important men to humiliate important women in public." It does affect more than the two parties directly involved; if the fannish community doesn't step up immediately and say, "We don't do that here," any of us could be treated the same way, and expect neither support nor sympathy from the community.

The man involved has apologized publicly. That was the right thing to do. But I think the public outrage was also right; the incident was hurtful to all of us.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

I agree with that but the level that this has reached including some people declaring a Fatwa on him is where I think it crosses the line. Public outrage has its place but this is going so far over the top that it makes fandom look bad to those outside it. Sort of like what happened with the CBLDF this past summer. Also apparently according to those who know both parties this sort of banter has been going on between Harlan and Connie for years and years including a number of crotch grabs by Connie in front of the community which no one called her on.

I think one of the reasons this struck me so hard is that there was a professor at my college when I was there that was very well respected and acknowledge as tops in his field. He also had a habit of being very huggy but it was with both genders and came out of how he was raised. I never thought for a milli-second that he was trying to put the moves on me when he gave me a friendly hug on occation but someone did and filed a complaint which brought all kinds of people out of the woodwork that didn't even know this professor but had "heard things" about him which trashed his career. The woman was a perpetual filer of complaints and sue the professor and lost with all court costs going to her. The university did end up paying him a hefty sum for wrongful dismissal. He doesn't hug people anymore which is a pity since those supportive hugs helped me.

[jeff-morris.livejournal.com]

Well....let me ask you this. What were your impressions when Bush gave German Chancellor Merkel the impromptu massage? Was this also something that's really nothing in the greater scheme of things?

Just asking. I don't have an interest in either side.

JSM

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

This is one that I don't know anything about but if she said no thank you and he continued then we would have a problem. I can't count the number of times I have asked someone to not massage my shoulders at a SciFi convention.

[jeff-morris.livejournal.com]

Thing is, he didn't even ask. He walked up behind her and laid hands on shoulders, then started squeezing.

JSM

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

That's is exactly what has happened to me so I ask them to stop. Of course I am not the leader of a country so I think the stakes were a little higher. I did hear something about it and the call was that Bush was trying to make her subservent to him. I think he was being a lunkhead personally but then I don't know the history between all parties.