Sunday, September 13, 2009
Dumb Things
The Outer Alliance is highlighting a GLBTQ unfriendly decision by flash fiction online in regards to carrying an ad. Details can be found here, with further discussion at the Outer Alliance. Stupid and bigoted decision by FFO followed up with an offensive rationale for the decision, for a trifecta of dumb.
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11 comments:
a total trifecta of dumb. jeeze. my jaw was on the floor. still is.
I'm sorry, I didn't realize that Wyrdsmiths was a political blog. Guess I'll unsubscribe; I can get politics anywhere.
I read the entire response and I didn't feel like any of it was dumb. I like that we can have a civil conversation about all of this. But it's easy to see that times are changing. It wasn't that long ago that bi- racial marraiges were illegal. I think I remember reading that Obama's mother was encouraged to abort.
I think that the best way to disagree with someone is with your pocketbook. Right? Boycotts are so much more effective than screaming.
Tim, people are political, that includes writers. I don't ever see this as becoming primarily a political blog, but I don't think any of us are going to choose not to have political opinions and occasionally express them just to retain readers who aren't willing to sort the stuff they agree with from that which they disagree with.
Christy, I don't know about you but I found the implications of this: "men can love men, women can love women, even men can love little boys[*] if that’s where their emotions and desires lead." both offensive and dumb in it's juxtaposition of same sex love and pedophilia. Likewise some of Jake's other statements.
Oh, and when you say: "Boycotts are so much more effective than screaming." it suggests that someone is screaming. I'm not seeing any screaming. What I'm seeing is people pointing out something they feel is wrong and bigoted so that people can make those pocket-book decisions based on the information at hand.
Ouch, well, I get it! I'm not suppossed to play devil's advocate here, I guess.
You have to admit that the Jake was trying desperately to be polite, albeit misguided. But the post here actually is titled "Dumb Things", which I felt was pretty forceful. I guess it would have had to been in all CAPS in order to officially be considered screaming.
I know that bigotry exists, even in the gay community. Like my gay (male) friend told me the other day, "Innies don't like Outies"-- which he had to explain to me. I just like living in a country where it's okay to say all of that or none of it.
Wow. I tend to assume that people involved in creative professions will be more open-minded. This is a good reminder that even educated individuals can be homophobic and that even supposedly "thought out" positions can be deeply wrong. Thanks for pointing this out and calling it like it is.
Christy, not speaking for anyone but myself here, but I, too, am glad that we live in a country where everyone has the right to free speech.
However, freedom of speech is not freedom from criticism.
And personally, when someone explains their opinions on LGBT rights within the framework of similarities they draw between queer relationships and pedophilia? I do not think the primary concern of anyone discussing this explanation should be whether they have been polite enough.
Christy, where did I advocate for people not being able to say things? Even dumb things?
You'll have a very hard time pointing to such a place because I didn't do that.
What I said was that Jake was being a bigot and an idiot. That would be me using my rights of free speech to point out someone making an ass of themselves, not me saying they shouldn't be allowed to make an ass of themselves. Honestly, he can shout it from the rooftops if he wants to. However, when he does that he should fully expect to be called on it which is what this post is about.
As for Devil's advocate: Advocate away. If I agree with you, I'll say so and applaud. If I don't, I'll also say so and I'll challenge you on it. That's sort of the inevitable consequence of devil's advocating, actually—that you get in disagreements with people.
Oh and, "Dumb Things" is an awfully long jump in my lexicon from screaming. It's pretty much just the obverse of "Smart Things" which is the title I use when I see people saying smart things on the internet, and is in exactly same register, i.e. not terribly loud. If I wanted to project screaming, I wouldn't need all caps and you wouldn't be in any doubt about it being screaming. I write sarcastic humor fiction for a living, this post isn't even close to the harsh end of my range.
Thanks for the heads up, being a good dude, and sticking to your guns. Kelly McCullough's guns, for those who don't know, are two kickass revolvers. He calls one Reason, and the other Mr. Shooty.
Laura, Robbie, you're welcome.
tacithydra, please feel free to link to anything here that interests you.
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