Friday Links are Destroying the Joint
If like me you wondered for quite a while what the “destroying the joint” meme was all about online, surprise! It’s about sexist asshattery. Rebecca Fitzgibbon sums up some of the recent appalling public statements made about women lately, and celebrates some women who have destroyed the joint over the course of human history through their general awesomeness.
Where were you when Ustream destroyed the Hugo Ceremony? I have it on good authority that the ceremony actually continued just fine, and it’s only those several hundred of us who were glued to our screens watching from distant climes who shook their fists at the technology we didn’t pay for and wailed at missing the second half of the Neil Gaiman speech.
I’m still cranky about it.
Sarah Rees Brennan makes a convincing argument that Veronica Mars is Smarter than Everyone.
Sara Eileen Hames makes an equally compelling case that Janeway Doesn’t Deserve This Shit.
Helen Razer brings her painful personal experience to her article about Charlotte Dawson, the model and TV presenter who started out trying to raise public awareness of the online abuse she was receiving, and ended up in hospital.
Hoyden About Town talks about the silencing and bullying tactics often used against women with any kind of following online. Which is why that whole ‘don’t feed the trolls’ thing isn’t always the most helpful or constructive advice!
In other horrible harassment news, UnWinona writes a compelling account of the kind of daily harassment she experiences for simply Commuting While Female, and describes a particularly bad incident. It’s the sort of post worth bookmarking and calling attention to later when someone (there’s always someone) starts talking about ‘harmless’ harassment or women need to do more to prevent their own harassment.
Justine Larbalestier has returned to blogging with a vengeance, and it’s great to have her back! She takes on the confronting but undeniable idea that most books are basically going to have some level of racism in them, even if you work really hard to not be racist, and that writing about race is bound to hurt someone, and writers shouldn’t act like they have been punched in the face just because this is pointed out to them. In a different post, she suggests that the best way to avoid being a creeper is to cheerfully Take No For An Answer. With bonus Austen references for illustration!
Sofia Samatar Romances the Chicon. This is my favourite of the many awesome Worldcon reports I have read this week.
Meanwhile, my good friend Marianne De Pierres was reporting from the red carpet at the film premiere of Kath and Kimderella. Did anyone else know this was a thing? I had never heard this movie existed.
Never mind all that, though, let’s talk about Doctor Who!
Via Sean the Blogonaut & Tehani: this article on the iView success of the screening of Asylum of the Daleks. Hooray for iView!
My favourite review so far of Asylum of the Daleks (because it’s largely positive, obviously! I’m not ready to drop that protective huggy bubble of joy yet) comes from Teresa Jusino at Tor.com who also this week added to her essay series on Moffat’s Women with Liz 10 from “The Beast Below.”
The Mary Sue have published a series of interviews with Karen Gillan, producer Caro Skinner, and Matt Smith. Of particular note is Smith’s enthusiasm for the idea of a female Doctor… though rather less enthusiasm about the concept of anyone else ever being the Doctor anytime soon.
