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News & ArtsThursday, October 15, 2009
Books / The Ladies / Nerd Woman-Haters Hate Me
Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 11:59 AM
The other day, I wrote about The Spearhead, an anti-feminist website, and their tirade about how women and homosexuals are ruining science fiction.
Yesterday, The Spearhead wrote about me:
we even got written up in my local feminist gutter-mag The Stranger, which features Dan Savage, among other luminaries. Paul Constant, The Stranger blogger who wrote about our site is such a stellar example of a mangina that his denunciation should be a point of pride.
The post takes me to task for buying into the alleged fiction that women are equal to men. The homophobes and women-haters (who also, if you read the comments of any of their posts, also veer quite often into racism, too) also take two notable sci-fi figures to task along with me: Brent Spiner (who played Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation) and sci-fi writer John Scalzi (who writes novels like the very manly sounding Old Man's War.) I never thought I'd be proud to be lumped in with Data, but there you go: The internet is a profoundly weird place.
The really weird thing is that this post went live right after A. Birch Steen's Public Editor column, which mocks me for just about the same thing:
Next, the morbidly obese crossdressing Lesbian who identifies as PAUL CONSTANT composes several off-key odes to manhood in this week's edition. "He" pens a far-too-long love letter to Sherman Alexie (a writer who previously published an obscene, homoerotic paean to the Seattle SuperSonics in these very pages), then follows up with a lament for the shoddy state of men's-studies sections of bookstores. (Men, "Mr." Constant, do not read the kind of books found in "men's studies" sections.) And then, for the Triple Crown of Penis Envy, "he" basks in the imagined glow of a bebop recording artist. One can imagine this musician's alarm at being so openly and embarrassingly coveted by a cross-gendered she-beast in print, even though Constant only refers to him by his initials: J.Z.
So my question is this: Is A. Birch Steen funding The Spearhead? Or does The Spearhead consider A. Birch Steen to be a spiritual guide? The similarities are too great to be a fluke.
2
I heart John Scalzi. Now I heart you too, Paul.
I really don't see how these guys can say the word "mangina" and still take themselves seriously - unless perhaps they're discussing Buck Angel, but if they discussed Buck Angel their insecure little heads might implode.
I really don't see how these guys can say the word "mangina" and still take themselves seriously - unless perhaps they're discussing Buck Angel, but if they discussed Buck Angel their insecure little heads might implode.
3
I think the Syfy's new name sucks. As do almost all of their "original" movies. Gotta be the worst things made on TV now. Cheap production, stupid plots and abysmal acting. I don't see how they would appeal to anyone - male or female.
4
anyone who uses the word "mangina" forfeits the privilege of having sex forever after (obviously not something they're getting anyway). way to live up to the stereotype of sci-fi fans being maladjusted social rejects, guys. kudos.
and data rules.
and data rules.
5
A frightening "movement." I guess it would be easier to call it a movement if they weren't sedentary basement dwellers.
6
What I love about all these communiques from Spearhead and Steen is the middle-school-boy quality of the epithets, e.g., "mangina" and (got to love this!) "Triple Crown of Penis Envy," and (my fave rave!) "coveted by a cross-gendered she-beast in print."
Oooooh! how those words must sting! (at least in their own estimation....)
Oooooh! how those words must sting! (at least in their own estimation....)
7
if women/geighs have ruined sci-fi for the fanboys, that's ok in my book...after all, the fanboys have ruined all forms of entertainment since the Powers That Be decided that the fan
boys are the target audience for every kind of entertainment...
boys are the target audience for every kind of entertainment...
8
In your defense, Paul Constant, you DIDN'T write about it.
You posted excerpts, made a few cheesy non-committal snarky notes, and left it dangling as red meat for commenters. Your post was a lazy piece of half-assed provocation, and you didn't really take much of a stand either way.
So if you wish to pat yourself on the back for being singled out by a bunch of anonymous extremists, fine. You brave, brave, provocative, edgy, controversial guy, you.
You posted excerpts, made a few cheesy non-committal snarky notes, and left it dangling as red meat for commenters. Your post was a lazy piece of half-assed provocation, and you didn't really take much of a stand either way.
So if you wish to pat yourself on the back for being singled out by a bunch of anonymous extremists, fine. You brave, brave, provocative, edgy, controversial guy, you.
9
I love it when subcultures develop their own insults for people who aren't them, and the insults completely fail to be insulting to the people they're aimed at. I mean, the last time someone called me a "muggle" I just about giggled myself to death. I think "mangina" falls well into this category.
11
@9: Mangina isn't even part of that subculture. I've seen in RPing groups that refers to men playing female characters in other to get items from the gullible.
14
Nobody else finds it interesting that his stellar putdowns are transphobic remarks. I'm a transman and I've been called most of those, so these "basement dwellers" didn't coin the terms "mangina" or "cross-dressing lesbian". In fact, I recall only being called by such terms by gay men. Interesting, huh?
15
Can these people openly say "I hate people who are different" or have they not realized that is their stance, yet? Just curious.
17
@8 See, there's a well thought out insult. You took the facts of Constant's post and critiqued them for its content. A valid argument. The guys at the Spearhead can't even insult people properly.
Regardless, I'm with Constant. He's an adorable book-lover who gives me free books!
Regardless, I'm with Constant. He's an adorable book-lover who gives me free books!
18
An actual discussion of this topic by someone writing like an adult:
http://io9.com/5381793/is-science-fictio…
http://io9.com/5381793/is-science-fictio…
19
Data gets more sex in a week than any of those pasty-faced 14-year-olds manage to dream of in a year.
20
The only grasp those little pimple face dweebs have on manhood is when they masturbate to pictures of their older sister.
21
Sooooo. I have to jump in here. Obviously the Spearhead people are misogynistic, and veering on the edge of racist. But I've been seeing a lot of these 'basement dweller', '14 year olds' comments that I have to note a recent survey that revealed the average age of the SF male reader is 35-40.
In the SF industry this statistic is troubling, as it indicates a severe disconnect with the up-and-coming generation of readers (male or female).
So when you think about these Spearhead people, don't think of them as boys (they are emotionally stunted, for certain); they probably don't live with their parents; they may actually be married, own their own house; they might hang out at the same bars you do.
I've been to conventions, & run into some of these Spearhead types. I always walk away 'cause they annoy the shit out of me.
In the SF industry this statistic is troubling, as it indicates a severe disconnect with the up-and-coming generation of readers (male or female).
So when you think about these Spearhead people, don't think of them as boys (they are emotionally stunted, for certain); they probably don't live with their parents; they may actually be married, own their own house; they might hang out at the same bars you do.
I've been to conventions, & run into some of these Spearhead types. I always walk away 'cause they annoy the shit out of me.
22
Oh, and while we're at it, maybe those Spearhead people would like to explain why, when the first modern SF novel FRANKENSTEIN, was written by a woman, SF didn't die there and then...
The main issue is that SF and SF 'culture' are two separate ideas; one is a technique of storytelling, the other a communal celebration of the aforementioned technique. Genre is essentially a marketing tool for publishers, and once we--readers, viewers, producers, directors, writers-- recognize that, then SF 'culture' will broaden.
The Spearhead people are afraid that the 'feminization' of SF means this secret club-house is exploding in directions their maturity can't handle.
It's interesting though: the most productive & vital era of SF literature happened in the 60s & 70s with the New Wave writers (when many more female writers burst into the field, while many of the male writers of the period experimented with sexual, social, & postmodern themes and techniques). Those Spearhead boys probably conveniently skipped that whole chunk of SF literature.
The main issue is that SF and SF 'culture' are two separate ideas; one is a technique of storytelling, the other a communal celebration of the aforementioned technique. Genre is essentially a marketing tool for publishers, and once we--readers, viewers, producers, directors, writers-- recognize that, then SF 'culture' will broaden.
The Spearhead people are afraid that the 'feminization' of SF means this secret club-house is exploding in directions their maturity can't handle.
It's interesting though: the most productive & vital era of SF literature happened in the 60s & 70s with the New Wave writers (when many more female writers burst into the field, while many of the male writers of the period experimented with sexual, social, & postmodern themes and techniques). Those Spearhead boys probably conveniently skipped that whole chunk of SF literature.
26
@Ackham: This will probably sound like a cop-out to you, but every Slog post simply doesn't need to be an article. I knew that the sci-fi savvy Slog commenters would have more fun, and do a better job, calling bullshit on Spearhead when I posted the original piece than I could do on a busy Monday when we're putting the print edition to bed. And if you go back and look at that initial post, that was a correct assumption. Commenters gleefully and skillfully ripped Spearhead a new one, and a good time was had by all.
I understand that the line between Slog and the paper can appear blurry from the outside, but here's the thing: a lot of my job on Slog is fast-moving internet observation. Of course, Dominic and Eli have a different job on Slog, one that requires more research and interviewing, and they do their job really well. And nobody does commentary like Dan. But I consider my zipping to and fro to be an extension of my duties as book editor: You still mostly read the internet, after all.
So, basically: Commenters didn't need me to tell them that Spearhead is full of wrong-headed dicks. And we certainly didn't need a well-researched article in the print edition about Spearhead. That would be ridiculous. But you're right about one thing that I should have clarified: We are all manginas here. I am proud of every one of us. And Brent Spiner, too.
I understand that the line between Slog and the paper can appear blurry from the outside, but here's the thing: a lot of my job on Slog is fast-moving internet observation. Of course, Dominic and Eli have a different job on Slog, one that requires more research and interviewing, and they do their job really well. And nobody does commentary like Dan. But I consider my zipping to and fro to be an extension of my duties as book editor: You still mostly read the internet, after all.
So, basically: Commenters didn't need me to tell them that Spearhead is full of wrong-headed dicks. And we certainly didn't need a well-researched article in the print edition about Spearhead. That would be ridiculous. But you're right about one thing that I should have clarified: We are all manginas here. I am proud of every one of us. And Brent Spiner, too.
27
1. Brent Spiner is the shit.
2. New Battlestar Galactica > Old Battlestar Galactica.
3. Better tell everyone who thinks Dan Savage (and by extension, The Stranger) is anti-woman that you are actually a feminist-gutter mag.
2. New Battlestar Galactica > Old Battlestar Galactica.
3. Better tell everyone who thinks Dan Savage (and by extension, The Stranger) is anti-woman that you are actually a feminist-gutter mag.
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