This Is Why I Speak Out

[theotherbaldwin]

There are some people that rail against the idea that there might be a culture of dismissive-ness about rape, or the use of rape to silence. The following anonymous comments left on my last article are a clear example of these attitudes, and why speaking out is necessary:

Trigger warning: What following under the cut are dismissive attitudes about

Comments

[pretzelcoatl]

Ugh, that's vile.

[theotherbaldwin]

Yeah, it's like "YOU CAN'T SAY THAT! THEY DRAW A COMIC WE LIKE!"

[pretzelcoatl]

You know, that's one of the strange paradoxes of geek culture and subcultures. Geeks embrace things with strange, amazing new ideas which can bust down barriers and create new worlds. While there are plenty of people who use the things they like to inspire them into action, there are also TONS of people who get so defensive if you criticize something which most people like.

I dunno, it's always been something that's bugged me. :/ (See also: criticisms of Joss Whedon, Neil Gaiman, etc.)

[theotherbaldwin]

Furry has that same underbelly, at times, if you'll pardon the pun.

[pretzelcoatl]

By the way, did you think about posting this at inclusive_geeks? (For some reason I thought you were a part of that comm but I guess not.)

[theotherbaldwin]

I wasn't even aware of the community.

But... how should I start?

[theotherbaldwin]

Well, crap. It's a closed community. If you're a member there, you have my permission to do a writeup.