“But was the Alt Lit community’s response to vocal non-men fundamentally different than Gamergate’s? I put the question to Sarah Certa, Jos Charles, Kat Dixon, D. Dragonetti, Kia Groom, and Alexandra Naughton, a group of editors and writers who are neck-deep (or deeper) in the war against the patriarchy. I put my question to the group: how do these two battles against the patriarchy compare? In our conversation, we explore the explicit violence of Gamergate and the implicit violence lurking behind the treatment of rape victims and perpetrators in the Alt Lit community, discuss rape culture’s silencing of victims, and bemoan the codependent relationship between capitalism and the patriarchy. And what we find is that the cost of pushing these issues into the spotlight is the emotional—and physical—safety of those who speak out.”
I know a lot of people are saying this has been an awful week for the writing community AND IT HAS in terms of the issues we’ve been discussing but for me personally I’ve never felt more sane and validated and unsurprised – like, this toxicity is what I deal with almost constantly in terms of flashbacks, processing, memories, AND private conversations with so many of my girlfriends, both in and out of the writing community, who have endured similar abuse. And it’s not because we’re obsessing or “choosing to focus on the negative.” This is reality right now. Internet breaks are healthy but this week feels more like reality surfacing than anything else. This week feels like the truest week I’ve had in a long time. Like all my private thoughts and conversations are suddenly public. It’s exhausting and exhilarating. If someone wants to come over for a dance party and/or cigarettes later that’d be cool.
Men and the Word “Feminism”
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#92052325/gettyimages.comBY GREG LETELLIER
A few months ago, I saw Junot Diaz speak at my school. I was pumped, because Diaz is like the Jimi Hendrix of fiction right now. His art is blazingly original, his stories are unforgettable, and, like Hendrix, he turns…