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

[rfrancis]

I considered the value of "Please Don't Touch My Breasts, Harlan" t-shirts for congoing, and then it occurred to me that removing ", Harlan" is probably even more useful, considering cons.

[jodi-davis.livejournal.com]

Removing Please would work too... and how many jokes do you think you'd get from guys saying, OHHHH, I didn't see the *don't* and how many would take that as permission to stare?

It's kind of a crappy world out there...

[rfrancis]

You make a good point. (A sad point. But a good point.)

I guess the message could be simplified to "don't make me hurt you," but nobody ever thinks you're talking about them, do they? Particularly if they are supposed to be objects of fandom worship, perhaps...

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

The tricky thing about this whole business is it's about perception, I think. It's about certain people thinking that fandom being a safe space to be themselves includes it being a space where you can inflict the socially unacceptable on others. That it's a space where one can be entitled.

This is not true.

Or if it is, my entitlement's at least as big as theirs and we gotta share space somehow here.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and those exist. I remember seeing one with very small print across the chest that read "Nosy little fucker, aren't you?"

Apparently the market has preempted us with demand. :/

[maradydd.livejournal.com]

I think it was an Iowa SF con where I picked up my "YOU DON'T NEED TO LOOK AT MY CHEST. THESE AREN'T THE BREASTS YOU'RE LOOKING FOR. MOVE ALONG." t-shirt.

It was a big hit at Defcon last year. I've never had so many people tell me what colour my eyes were before.