Behind the Curtain: The Line Between Harassment and Public Pressure

It was perhaps two years ago now, maybe more, when an account on Twitter with a reputation for going after marginalized creators admitted - I paraphrase - that they went after marginalized "problematic" creators on purpose. They wanted them to lose their jobs, their livelihood, to be driven to the streets. They were not welcome … Continue reading Behind the Curtain: The Line Between Harassment and Public Pressure →

Behind the Curtain: I Am Not Your Villain.

I am not your villain. This happens to me a lot. Whether it's because I'm a little rough around the edges, or whether it's because I'm a person of color or Jewish, or because I'm trans, or because I'm a narcissist with borderline and bipolar and all of those other terrible things, it really stops … Continue reading Behind the Curtain: I Am Not Your Villain. →

Behind the Curtain: “Bad” Mental Illness and the Danger of Visibility

Over the last six months or so, as I write this, I've dealt with a number of attempted harassment campaigns. The majority of them, admittedly, didn't go very far. I'm lucky in that respect - I don't make a good target of outrage, I'm hard to get fired since I work for myself, and I'm … Continue reading Behind the Curtain: “Bad” Mental Illness and the Danger of Visibility →

Behind The Curtain: Metaphorical Incest, Fanfiction and Cultural Taboos

TW: As you might have gathered from the title, this column discusses incest, fanfiction policing, pedophilia, and abuse (of various kinds; child sexual abuse, relationship abuse and parental abuse all come up.) Ah, the fanfiction wars. They'll probably never end, and trying to determine when exactly they began is a matter of definition more than … Continue reading Behind The Curtain: Metaphorical Incest, Fanfiction and Cultural Taboos →

Behind The Curtain: Modern Fandom and the Scourge of Pseudo-Professionalism

Fandom is stereotyped, not that unfairly, as the pursuit of the amateur. However, increasingly, there's a push to be professional in fan spaces - which isn't always a good thing.