Moon v. Wiscon Follow-up

[jimhines]

I’m still sorting through my feelings on Wiscon rescinding Elizabeth Moon’s Guest of Honor invitation.

It’s not the first time something like this has happened.  William Sanders’ GoH invitation to ICFA in 2008 was rescinded after his “sheet head” rejection letter, for example.  (Thanks to Nick Mamatas for that historical pointer.)

Basically, I think the situation sucks.  There’s been a great deal of conflict among the Wiscon decision-makers, among those who attend and love the con, among SF/F fandom in general, and among the wankers who aren’t involved/informed in any way but still want to wave their opinions about.

As far as I’ve seen, the only public follow-up Moon has given since her initial post was in this 10/23 piece for a Texas newspaper: Texas Author Uninvited as Convention Guest of Honor Over Remarks on Islam.

I don’t believe Moon is the devil incarnate.  I do believe she screwed up, and based on the follow-up, I don’t get the sense that she understands why people were upset by her words.

Was this the right call on Wiscon’s part?  There was going to be backlash either way, and no answer would make everyone happy.  In my opinion, their obligation was not to try to make everyone happy, but to first and foremost do what was best for Wiscon and its mission.

Some people I greatly respect have expressed their discomfort and disagreement with Wiscon’s decision.  Others I greatly respect have expressed approval.  I’m trying to weigh both as I refine my own conclusions.

But as I continue to read responses to Wiscon’s decision, I’ve given myself permission to ignore certain voices.  Specifically…

• If you use any of the following terms, I’m not going to bother reading further: feminazi, PC Police, FAIL Fandom, fascist, jihadist, thought police.  (I reserve the right to add to this list.)
• If you describe a decision which came after roughly six weeks of intense internal and external debate as “knee jerk,” I’m not going to bother reading further.
• If you dismiss everyone who disagreed with Moon’s post as mean old PC bullies/cowards, I’m not going to bother reading further.
• If you equate the decision to rescind an invitation to be Guest of Honor with burning Moon’s books/burning Moon in effigy, I’m not going to bother reading further.
• If you label everyone who questions Wiscon’s decision “disgusting bigots,” I’m not going to bother reading further.

It’s not about tone.  It’s because those responses tell me you’re not interested in participating in a discussion, or even in understanding the discussion.  It’s because, like Saladin Ahmed said, not every conversation is worth having.  And it’s because there just aren’t enough sporks.

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

Comments

[georgmi]

I think WisCon had to do what they did. Moon's post, and particularly her subsequent actions around that post, were exclusionary, dismissive of (or actively hostile to) dissenting discussion, and destructive to a safe environment for non-white, non-Christian people, all things that are directly opposed to WisCon's charter.

Additionally, if Moon had continued to be the GoH, the entire focus of WisCon this year would have been Moon and her opinions. With this, there will certainly still be more attention on and discussion of Moon than there should be, but other topics will at least have a chance of getting some space.

[jimhines]

Sorry I didn't respond to this sooner. I've been riding herd on close to 300 comments now over on LJ, including a few rather irksome trolls.

And unfortunately, at this point I'm starting to hit burnout, meaning I've got nothing more productive to say beyond acknowledging that your comment makes sense to me.

Thanks. And yeah, I think I need to unplug soon...

[georgmi]

Yeah, I saw that you were pretty busy over on LJ. There was only one blatant troll over there when I stopped paying attention, and I posted over here specifically because traffic is lighter.

Un your plug and enjoy the break, says I. :)

[jimhines]

One blatant troll. One well-known troll whose comment was ignored by absolutely everyone, which amuses me. A few folks who I don't classify as trolls, though their comments are stirring things up. (I'm okay with the stirring and the arguments.)

So yeah, clumsy phrasing on my part. Only one actual troll who requires troll-herding. But when I blow things up on my little corner of the Internet, I also feel obligated to keep an eye on it and make sure things don't get too out of hand. It's annoying :-P

[georgmi]

Hey, what with the regeneration and all, one troll can certainly seem like an army.

(Do I sound bitter? Frakkin' troll killed my paladin before the rest of the party could even engage. Stupid Rend rule.)

[ashenmote]

Hi. Just commenting to say I friended you. Mostly because whenever your name showed up on a link in metafandom or in some journalfen community posts, I found something worth a look behind that link.
But I also read The Stepsister Scheme and loved it and now I'm kind of stuck in the middle of The Mermaid's Madness because I only get to read on whenever I'm sitting the owner's cats.

I saw what you have on your hands on LJ, so you're absolved of replying. :D