Will Shetterly's Blog, page 147

The liberal outlook vs liberal politics, or Why there are liberals in every political philosophy, and not all political liberals are philosophical liberals

I became aware of the problem with "liberal" when I was active with the Unitarian Universalists, who define their faith as a liberal religion. It's a religion that rejects authority and respects difference of thought. Though Unitarian Universalism attracts many politically liberal capitalists, it also attracts people to their right and left, from right-libertarians and Goldwater Republicans to left-libertarians and anarchists.

Bertrand Russell's "liberal decalogue" from “The bes...

Hit & Miss, Take 2

Just finished watching the sixth and last episode of Hit & Miss . I gave it four stars at Netflix. What Netflix doesn't let me say is that's five stars for acting, directing, photography, and small moments between the characters, but three stars for several weaknesses in the story arcs.

Doing my best to hide spoilers, here are my main complaints:

1. The Big Bad is all bad. We never have a reason to understand why his wife, son, or lover can stand to be around him.

2. The assassin varies her w...

a hard fact for anyone concerned about rape convictions and false accusations

From Convicted by Juries, Exonerated by Science: Case Studies in the Use of DNA Evidence to Establish Innocence After Trial | National Institute of Justice:

Every year since 1989, in about 25 percent of the
sexual assault cases referred to the FBI where
results could be obtained (primarily by State and
local law enforcement), the primary suspect has
been excluded by forensic DNA testing.
Specifically, FBI officials report that out of
roughly 10,000 sexual assault cases since 1989,
about 2,000 te...

Why fantasists should write about rape (a response to Why fantasists should not write about rape)

Previously: Why fantasists should not write about rape and Shetterly, you hypocrite, you wrote a story about rape!


George Carlin said,

They'll say, "you can't joke about rape. Rape's not funny." I say, "fuck you, I think it's hilarious. How do you like that?" I can prove to you that rape is funny. Picture Porky Pig raping Elmer Fudd. See, hey why do you think they call him "Porky," eh? I know what you're going to say. "Elmer was asking for it. Elmer was coming on to Porky. Porky...

Shetterly, you hypocrite, you wrote a story about rape!

"Dream Catcher", a story I wrote for Terri Windling's The Armless Maiden: And Other Tales for Childhood's Survivors, is free online.

Discussing Why fantasists should not write about rape has inspired me to write the other side, so in the next day or so, I'll share a new post titled "Why fantasists should write about rape."

Say I contradict myself, and I'll quote Walt Whitman. I'm not contradicting something I've said often: all rules in art are only suggestions.

Hit & Miss

Just saw the first episode of Hit & Miss, a smart and touching show about a pre-operative transsexual assassin. I was skeptical when I heard Chloé Sevigny was the star, but I read a little about it, saw the reviews were good, and liked this quote about Sevigny's prosthetic penis: "I cried every time they put it on me. I’ve always been very comfortable being a girl, so it was hard to wrap my head around the fact that someone could feel so uncomfortable in their own skin."

If you've known an...

the internet's best short videos about class

Additions to this list are very much welcome!

1. Educational














2. Fun

socialist Bible verse of the day: James 2:5-6

James 2.5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters:
Brother Will sez: If you're wondering what that kingdom is, it's the world.

Why fantasists should not write about rape

The woman who is raped and then becomes a hero is a fantasy cliché that many readers have hated since it became famous with Red Sonja. For decades, I've felt there was something wrong with it, but I've only recently known what it is.

Fantasists who write about rape are suffering from a failure of imagination. If you want a rape in your story, write naturalistic fiction. If you're writing fantasy, find a fantastical equivalent of rape that conveys the powerlessness and degradation of rape....

First African American on a presidential ticket in the 20th century: James W. Ford (Communist Party USA)

James W. Ford - Wikipedia. Mark Solomon notes that this was part of a broader campaign:

"In 1932 the CP ran dozens of black candidates in every region for everything from alderman and mayor to lieutenant governor and governor to member of Congress. All the Party candidates stressed the issues of unemployment insurance and racial equality. Getting elected was not a serious goal. Campaigns were 'mass actions,' political sounding boards; in Ford's...