Strikethrough 07, or Continuing Thoughts on a Difficult Situation.
Okay, first off I have a few extra links to more information on what is happening. I have been reading everything I can get my hands on so that I have a better, more informed idea of what really happened, and what is still happening.

First off is Omen1X2's journal. Omen is a child molestation survivor, and gives her opinion of the debacle.
http://omen1x2.livejournal.com/108023.html

Next is Roaring's link-heavy post. I include this since all of the links I would link here are all neatly displayed there.
http://roaring.livejournal.com/70304.html

Also. WARNING. People are reporting spyware on the WfI site. This seems to be most prevalent with Internet Explorer users.
http://community.livejournal.com/innocence_jihad/14245.html

A bazillion LJ members wank on this news post. 73 pages and counting.
http://news.livejournal.com/98960.html?page=6#comments


Okay, so now that I have provided more linkage, I would like to make my own comment. I have been having a lot of problems with my reaction to this whole debacle, and have been very hard pressed to try to articulate my feelings. I talked to Moonie on the way home from work; he was actually reading up on the whole thing after looking at my Deviant journal. We talked quite a bit about it, and he managed to say aloud what I have been trying to do since last night.

I find myself very conflicted. I HATE the idea of pedo, and incest squicks me. But as a member of fandom, and more relevantly, a member of several of the hardest-affected fandoms, I know that there are rapefics and incestfics and chan and so on and so forth. I believe in the idea that fiction is fiction, and that writing is an accepted form of dealing with the darker sides to the human condition. So I am very torn. I cannot deny either side of this their voice, and their position. I will say that Warriors for Innocence seem to me to have a wild streak of vigilantism, and that while I applaud their desire to stop such abuse, I think that extremist actions oftentimes cause more harm than good. As in this case, there were several journals that were deleted that were either discussing literary works that contain such topics (such as the Spanish discussion blog for the novel Lolita, or as in one case an actual victim support group. And I cannot entirely blame WfI, since they were really the catalyst and it was Six Apart that caved under the pressure. I do not LIKE WfI, but I support the cause.

I also support Fandom's cause, for whom in this case was set upon the burning stake and lit without recourse. Under Livejournal's ToS, the journals that were deleted were done legally. Maybe not fairly, maybe not without a heaping mound of witch-hunting, but they were done legally. Which leaves Fandom to scream and yell and wank and discuss and petition and pick themselves up to start anew. But we do so with wariness. The thing about a witch-hunt such as this, where in an attempt to get at the real criminals anyone in the damage path is swept up and staked, is that this sets a precedence. How much easier will it be to justify more strikes against anything someone feels is criminally offensive in fandom? What about just offensive? Offensive to whom?

The next few days, weeks, months, will be telling. Will the outcry make Six Apart pause? I honestly do not know. Will the fight against what is morally reprehensible continue to drag along the innocent and frighten away the confused as it dives after the next big Cause? And what about those for whom it isn't a Cause, but a reality? Are they being helped? Did this massive exercise of bad judgment actually make a difference?

The main thing I have read is that Livejournal / Six Apart simply used the pressures from WfI and other groups to blindly strike out at what is a terrible issue. The fact remains that they could have used a smaller hammer. They could have been more selective, or warned those who's journals were being deleted. They could have actually INVESTIGATED journals instead of simply pressing the delete button as fast as they can. But of course that would have taken time and money and thought and probably wouldn't have made as much press.

I very much doubt I will stop being conflicted on this issue, and I will have to think long and hard about the best way to show my support to those who have been victimized... in ALL the circles. I am older now, and wiser and more emotionally mature, and this enrages me. Fandom is making me an activist, if only so that I can exercise my right to be an activist, and to let my voice be heard, however conflicted it may be. I propose you all do the same.



x posted in Deviantart and Livejournalb