heather borean <
heather.borean@gmail.com> wrote:
Keith F. Lynch wrote:
It's unfortunate. Fandom has a long tradition of inclusiveness,
in reaction to the 1939 Worldcon exclusion, which was soon widely
recognized as a serious mistake. This tradition was so strong that
the banning of a proven pedophile from the 1964 Worldcon was very
controversial. But apparently that inclusiveness is a thing of the
past now.
We are not that inclusive. White and male for the most part
especially in the written aspect. Filking has a better male female
balance. But still, white.
Fair criticism on race, especially if you're speaking of the 1930s
through the 1960s. When I was WSFA's secretary and archivist, I read
all the club's past meeting minutes, and saw that they refused club
membership to a "colored man" in 1953, because they thought their
meeting venue -- a transportation-related lobbying organization in
DC -- might object.
But archives and old photos confirm that women have always been about
half the membership of both cons and clubs, if not always half the
leadership. The first female Worldcon chair was in 1952.
I'm "attending" Balticon. There didn't seem to be any censorship,
self-censorship, or banning at the open filking. Some of the songs
were openly critical of various people and organizations.
Without a date attached thats no surprise. Some of this discussion
has needed to happen for a very long time. It was remarks I heard
about BLM that set me on this journey.
Sorry, I thought it was clear from context and the quotes around
"attending" that I was speaking of the latest virtual Balticon,
which ended yesterday.
In the con suite, I was helping several people find their way
to the Don Sakers memorial event. One woman, who has had an
unexplained grudge against me for years, publicly denounced me
for "mansplaining."
Mansplaining. So the Balticon was recent, in person.
Recent, yes; in person, no. The con suite and the memorial event were
both Zoom rooms.
Men have a hard time understanding mansplaining. Usually because
women have unexplained grudges against them. This happens when you
very kindly explain to a woman something she already knows. Usually
better than you do.
Several people in the con suite, mostly male, were having difficulty
getting to the memorial event. At least two thanked me for helping.
I\342\200\231m an ex-mormon. Life long. Having a male atheist
try and tell me about my religion, first 35 years ago when I still
believed, and then about 5 years ago after I figured out I grew up
in a cult was interesting.
I'll confess to once telling two (teenaged male) Mormon missionaries
about their religion, which I *did* understand better than they did.
Ok, paranoid women can be paranoid. I\342\200\231ve never met you.
I will say this, women are often killed by men. Not saying you are
a stalker or anything like that. Just saying that\342\200\231s a
reality we live with.
I'm glad to hear you aren't actually accusing me of stalking or
killing women. I'm 64, and have never been charged with any violent
crime or sex crime. (I was falsely charged with a non-violent
property crime 44 years ago, closer to the time of John Dillinger and
Baby Face Nelson than the present. My record is otherwise perfectly
clean before and since.) Many people in this newsgroup can vouch
for me. I've been active in fandom for over 40 years.
Even if I had been stalking her, I don't know what harm I could have
done to her in a virtual room. We don't even live in the same state.
I'll admit that I do know where she lives. That's because, at her
request, I helped her move. And because I later helped another person
move in with her. On second thought, I'm pretty sure she's moved
again since then, so I guess I don't know where she lives.
Since I don't drive, stalking would be rather difficult for me.
I pointed out to her that she could be banned for her behavior, as
her criticism was related to my gender. I was tempted to report
her, lest she report me first, but I refrained.
No, her criticism was aimed at you as an individual.
She would not have accused a woman of mansplaining, even if that
woman's behavior had been identical to mine. Similarly, if she were
to insult a woman using terms only used to insult women, that would be gender-based, and if she were to insult a person of color using terms
only used to insult people of color, that would be race-based.
Two parallels before I finish. I was in a facebook conversation and
blind dates was the conversation. A man said, so whats the worst
that can happen. A wasted two hours? Another lady in the group
said I could get raped.
Unlikely if the date was in a movie theater, restaurant, or other
crowded venue rather than at either person's home. Especially if the
date had been arranged through a trusted intermediary who knows both
people well. And especially if a web search of the man didn't show
any accusations. Do many people have a first date at home, or at any
other place with no other people around?
When we get pulled over by a policeman do we think, hands
on the dash, stay calm, I hope I don’t die? No we
don’t. For black men and indigenous men in the States
and Canada that is a very real potential end. And they are always
black, always.
It's true that blacks are disproportionately murdered by cops in the
US. But the majority of people murdered by cops in the US are white.
The group with the highest risk of being murdered by cops isn't
blacks, and isn't guilty people, it's deaf people. "He wouldn't
listen to my orders, so out of an abundance of caution I shot him in
the back five times." Also, people having medical emergencies such
as stroke, epilepsy, or low blood sugar are often tortured or killed
by cops.
In 2017, the Minneapolis police murdered Justine Damond. Nobody paid
much attention, as she was white. If they had paid attention, George
Floyd would probably still be alive today.
No one is trying to stop you from singing, ....
It turned out that woman *did* report me for harassment. Balticon
tells me it will "investigate." I haven't heard back from them yet.
I've also learned that a month ago they fired their own upcoming-con
chair for alleged harassment. I don't know if he was guilty. But
Balticon definitely felt toxic. There was plenty of self-censorship.
For instance discussion yesterday of what had happened at the last
Disclave nearly a quarter century ago, as it's impossible to fully
discuss that without implicitly criticizing the man who flooded the
hotel, and criticism of any person for any reason is strictly verboten
if the Code of Conduct is taken literally. As is criticism of any organization.
(If you're curious about the last Disclave, there are several filk
songs about it.)
--
Keith F. Lynch -
http://keithlynch.net/
Please see
http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.
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