Will Shetterly's Blog, page 140
February 17, 2014
John Scalzi punches down
A Note to Sean Fodera | Whatever. A guy thinks a forum is more private than it is. Scalzi joins in humiliating him.
ETA: My one contribution to this furor has been a tweet:
@RonHogan @SteveHuff @PowderLegend If the context misrepresents him, he may have a case. Quotes out of context are the best way to lie.
ETA 2: On twitter, I said, "Saying supporters of free speech support racism & sexism is like saying opponents of the death penalty support rape & murder."
Related: mobbing drives peopl...
ETA: My one contribution to this furor has been a tweet:
@RonHogan @SteveHuff @PowderLegend If the context misrepresents him, he may have a case. Quotes out of context are the best way to lie.
ETA 2: On twitter, I said, "Saying supporters of free speech support racism & sexism is like saying opponents of the death penalty support rape & murder."
Related: mobbing drives peopl...
February 13, 2014
The hard numbers on Twitter racism, plus the Taxi Test
Twitter users post 10,000 racist slurs every day, study finds: "Just how racist is Twitter? About .00007 percent racist. ... Demos, a UK research group, has published a new study finding that about 1 in every 15,000 tweets contains a slur. That’s over 10,000 tweets each day. The most common phrase that turned up on the study? “White boy.”"
They do give some nuance, so if you want to quibble, read the short article first.
I was recently looking at the numbers for how hard it is for a black perso...
They do give some nuance, so if you want to quibble, read the short article first.
I was recently looking at the numbers for how hard it is for a black perso...
Identitarian watch: Is Malala a role model for every little girl?
The question's asked at G I Z TO THE I B E ♪ ♡, "malala is a role model for EVERY LITTLE GIRL..
Her answer is no. Because appropriation. Full answer:
Her answer is no. Because appropriation. Full answer:
no no nono no fuck stop itit is not regardless of race and religion
she is a role model SPECIFICALLY for muslim little girls around the world. little white girls around the world have TONS of role models. everywhere. literally all over television, books, you name it. admire Malala, yes. that’s not what is being said. do not take something tha...
February 12, 2014
John Scalzi vs the ACLU and me on free speech
ETA: Thanks to a commenter, I realize I did not make my main point as simply as I could've: There are two kinds of censorship, legal censorship and illegal censorship, and therefore there are legal ways to suppress speech. Fans of suppressing speech think that so long as their actions are legal, they're not censorship and speech is still free.
I'll number Scalzi's Ten Things About Petitions and Freedom of Speech without quoting them, because I'm lazy.
1. Like all people who support li...
I'll number Scalzi's Ten Things About Petitions and Freedom of Speech without quoting them, because I'm lazy.
1. Like all people who support li...
February 11, 2014
the right to speak versus the right to silence
I've been banned at Oh Dear: SFWA Bulletin Petition — The Radish and at POLITICAL CENSORSHIP: A helpful guide to whether or not it’s happening to you | A Trick of Light. Which is appropriate and entirely unsurprising. What too many people cannot grasp is Evelyn Beatrice Hall's take on Voltaire's view: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
In the comments, the arguments constantly boil down to "If you support their right to speak, yo...
In the comments, the arguments constantly boil down to "If you support their right to speak, yo...
February 9, 2014
Emma fights patriarchy...with her hair!
I continue to be amused by Laurie Penny's claim that being a fashion slave is fighting patriarchy: Why patriarchy fears the scissors: for women, short hair is a political statement. When you try to prove your point with pictures of actresses with expensive haircuts, you should notice the patriarchy loves short hair. Really, you cannot fight patriarchy with consumerism.
But I feel a bit sorry for her after reading Sorry Laurie Penny, but the patriarchy likes short hair. I hadn't reali...
But I feel a bit sorry for her after reading Sorry Laurie Penny, but the patriarchy likes short hair. I hadn't reali...
February 5, 2014
Unpacking “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack", part 3
(Previously: Unpacking “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack", part 1, Unpacking “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack", part 2)
After she lists her 50 white privileges, McIntosh says, "For me white privilege has turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject. The pressure to avoid it is great, for in facing it I must give up the myth of meritocracy."
The myth of meritocracy was never accepted by people who care about class. We see the people of all hues who have less privilege than Peggy M...
After she lists her 50 white privileges, McIntosh says, "For me white privilege has turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject. The pressure to avoid it is great, for in facing it I must give up the myth of meritocracy."
The myth of meritocracy was never accepted by people who care about class. We see the people of all hues who have less privilege than Peggy M...
February 3, 2014
Unpacking “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack", part 2
(Previously: Unpacking “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack", part 1)
In my first attempt to write this, I commented on each “invisible” item in the order McIntosh listed them, and I quickly became frustrated with the lack of order: she wrote down her thougths as they came to her and never tried to organize them.
Then I found “McIntosh as Synecdoche: How Teacher Education’s Focus on White Privilege Undermines Antiracism” by the Midwest Critical Whiteness Collective (Timothy J. Lensmire, Shann...
In my first attempt to write this, I commented on each “invisible” item in the order McIntosh listed them, and I quickly became frustrated with the lack of order: she wrote down her thougths as they came to her and never tried to organize them.
Then I found “McIntosh as Synecdoche: How Teacher Education’s Focus on White Privilege Undermines Antiracism” by the Midwest Critical Whiteness Collective (Timothy J. Lensmire, Shann...
January 31, 2014
Unpacking “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack"
(Note: I've revised this post, so some of the older comments on it may no longer apply.)
When I began unpacking “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”, I thought I would be unpacking whiteness theory. To my surprise, I also began unpacking middle-class niceness. I found a clip on Youtube where Peggy McIntosh talks about writing “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”. As soon as I saw her, I thought, “That’s a nice middle-class white woman.” Almost as soon as I thought it, I heard her use the word “nic...
When I began unpacking “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”, I thought I would be unpacking whiteness theory. To my surprise, I also began unpacking middle-class niceness. I found a clip on Youtube where Peggy McIntosh talks about writing “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”. As soon as I saw her, I thought, “That’s a nice middle-class white woman.” Almost as soon as I thought it, I heard her use the word “nic...
Unpacking “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack", part 1
When I began unpacking “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”, I thought I would be unpacking whiteness theory. To my surprise, I also began unpacking middle-class niceness.
I found a clip on Youtube where Peggy McIntosh talks about writing “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”. As soon as I saw her, I thought, “That’s a nice middle-class white woman.” Almost as soon as I thought it, I heard her say, “In 1980, I had read two essays by black women who had lined it out just like a given: white women ar...
I found a clip on Youtube where Peggy McIntosh talks about writing “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”. As soon as I saw her, I thought, “That’s a nice middle-class white woman.” Almost as soon as I thought it, I heard her say, “In 1980, I had read two essays by black women who had lined it out just like a given: white women ar...
