Harlan Ellison and his little personal space problem

[leahbobet]

(ETA: Followup post here.)


So, when I got in this afternoon I was shocked to discover that Harlan Ellison groped Connie Willis during the Hugo presentations on Saturday. On the same page in my friendslist, up comes Rachel Manija Brown's own account of her Harlan encounter this weekend.

And y'know, I'm tired of this inappropriate bullshit. Really, really tired. So this can only be resolved in one fashion:

Fatwa.

We will now address common objections to the Fatwa in our Fatwa on Asshats Questions section (FAQ):

But Leah, Connie Willis is reported to have said she can handle him and he's done worse? Why are we involved?

Because I sincerely doubt otherwise honest persons wake up one morning and say you know what? I would like to grope Connie Willis and then one other woman I don't know and then I will retire from my asshat ways and take up meditation in the mountains. Because there are already a few people I know who are referred to as "thinking they're Harlan Ellison" and you know what? If he gets away with it, they feel they can too. They think it's cute to be an asshat. I don't think it's cute to be an asshat.

Because things that are just plain wrong deserve to get called on the carpet.

commodorified adds: "Because the fact that Connie Willis chose not to make a loud public scene in the middle of a Hugo ceremony and had the presence of mind to pass it off quietly does not mean she wasn't gravely insulted, and she doesn't deserve to be repaid for that with indifference?"

But Leah, why must we go to war? Why not just a little skirmish?

Fandom prides itself on conventions being "safe space" for all comers: it doesn't matter if you're gay, straight, poly, black, Asian, Middle Eastern, white, Wiccan, Pagan, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, hard of hearing, vision-impaired, mobility-impaired, a goth or dressed as an anime character or any of these things.

But apparently it matters if you have tits.

That is bullshit.

But Leah, it is not worth declaring Fatwa on Harlan Ellison. He is old and will die soon.

Old men will be old men is just another variation on boys will be boys, and they damn well will be boys until you tell them it's not appropriate. If the behaviour makes you uncomfortable, annoyed, angry, outraged -- if you think about it being applied to you and you are any of the above, it is worthwhile to state that it is inappropriate, illegal, and should not be swept under the rug.

But Leah, Harlan Ellison is just one man!

Yup. And the guy who, when I was twenty, told me at a convention that I could have a beer when my top came off was just one man. And the individual who groped divalea at Comicon was just one, too. And the guy who was making creepy leers at katallen in Boston two years back was just one too.

Y'know, eventually this shit adds up to a lot. Eventually it adds up to a systemic issue.


ETA:Okay, apparently you can't close polls anymore, and I don't want to make this entry private, so...

So:

[Poll #808886]

Vote early, vote often.

...and forward yourself to the tricky bit of the program.


ETA: Link roundup thus far. Gwenda Bond -- Catherine Morrison (and her part two) -- Gavin Grant -- Graham Sleight -- Edward Champion -- Alan DeNiro -- Elizabeth Bear -- Jim C. Hines -- Steve Nagy -- Lea Hernandez -- Meredith L. Patterson -- Kate (juliansinger) -- Lis Riba part one part two part three --

Comments

[jodi-davis.livejournal.com]

I say that because I don't believe that the personal space of someone should be invaded by violence or sexual harrasment. It's not right. Not when Ellison does it nor if one of us do it to him.

I voted yes for every other punishment that doesn't involve touching him in some way.

[maradydd.livejournal.com]

I have a lot of respect for pacifism, and I am generally pretty live-and-let-live myself, but I believe that there is such a thing as self-defence, and sometimes that must take the form of violence in order to defend oneself from immediate physical violence. And make no mistake, sexual assault is physical violence.

I wouldn't vote for physical retribution against Harlan this far after the fact, but I think Connie would have been totally justified in blackening his eye at the time.

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

I will stand over here and quietly cheer every sentiment expressed in this post, not least the tag.

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

I was thinking more retaliate in kind, with groping. I like your approach a lot.

[jodi-davis.livejournal.com]

I never said I was against self defense - some of the items of the poll are attacking him physically after wards...

[maradydd.livejournal.com]

Gropers don't seem to realise that groping is assault, but pretty much everyone realises that a punch in the face is a suitable response to assault. And when everyone around says "well, that jerk got what they deserved," then assuming Pavlov is right, eventually the jerk will figure out that groping == punch and cut it out.

[maradydd.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay. Crossed wires, then. Carry on. :)

[jodi-davis.livejournal.com]

LOL - no problem.

[budclare.livejournal.com]

'Cause the taser is way more gentle than the large angry husband will be...

Depends on where you stick the tazer. :)

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

...bwahahaha. :D

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Clearly we need "Meredith Teaches Us Kung Fu" on every convention schedule until asshattery ceases.

[doodlesthegreat.livejournal.com]

Other: a quick dump of Liquid Heet in the moron's junk.

[divalea.livejournal.com]

I have, by the way, linked to you and PNH is this here post.

I have declared today to be the beginning of I WILL FUCK YOUR SHIT UP. (http://divalea.livejournal.com/372710.html)

[maradydd.livejournal.com]

Heh. It's not so much kung fu as improvised-weapon fu and the Strength of Righteous Indignation. (I would have laughed mightily to see Connie garotte him with a microphone cord, or knock the podium over onto him.) But really, everyone should know how to throw a good right cross, and sure, I'd be happy to teach that fine art. :)

[haruhiko.livejournal.com]

I would say that you could always grope Harlan Ellison's boobs as retaliation, but it would only be retaliation if you attached live piranhas to the nipples.

[sarcasm-hime.livejournal.com]

LOL and AMEN.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Now, because I am a nerd, I want the Armor of Righteous Indignation +5.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Wow. Ow.

Hello, and I shall never offend you. :)

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Woo! Today is a good day to Stop Taking Shit. Period. Full stop.

[doodlesthegreat.livejournal.com]

But... that would require that you have to touch the man.

[sesquipedeviant.livejournal.com]

"So Harlan, why do you think it's okay to grab women's boobs?" is now the only question I want to ask him at panels.

Thank goodness you are filing charges.

[sesquipedeviant.livejournal.com]

Thank goodness, thank goodness, thank goodness. People who do that shit MUST BE FORCED TO UNDERSTAND IT IS ILLEGAL.

[sesquipedeviant.livejournal.com]

Will he be charged if someone who saw it happen makes a complaint? Or does Connie have to make it?

[avirr.livejournal.com]

In defense of Harlan I feel madly in love with him when I was a teenager in LA in the early 70s, and kinda fangirled outside his house and at cons. And he was really sweet to me and my friends and didn't take advantage in any way.

OTOH, Robert Silverberg spent an entire ten minutes talking to my bosom. Granted, it was a fairly revealing dress, but still!

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Hi there. :)

I should probably make clear that I am not one of those people who think one or two or five bad deeds makes someone EVILE!!!11 and so forth. It doesn't taint the good things they do. People are complex systems. The man has done some deeply admirable things too, and some things that don't look like much but mean a lot to someone, as it sounds like the above did to you.

I just think this particular bad thing is really bad for the attitudes it seems to come out of -- and more importantly, I think it reflects a Really Bad Systemic Thing that goes on in SF. For the sake of the Really Bad Systemic Thing, I think this shouldn't be let go quietly but addressed in a lasting, serious way.

And I hope you told him that you were up a little higher, thanks. *g*