In which we talk about harassment and the culture that facilitates it

[industrialistDragon]

 

I know @kais, @neongrey and I write often about the pervasiveness of harmful stereotypes and the erasure of marginalized voices, and how important it is to listen and believe when those voices do speak up. It can seem like we're nitpicking or harping on the same things ad nauseum, but it matters.  Even the little things that "don't seem like much" or "aren't a big deal" because "it's just the way things are" are so important. It matters because the little things we talk about add up, and then you get clusterbombs like this thing with OdysseyCon, and the staff that still seems clueless about it.

 

In case you don't follow writer!twitter or author blogs, a quick summary: a known serial harasser was a liaison (part of the convention committee, or concom) for a guest of honor, who in turn did not feel safe interacting with the man. The guest requested a different liaison, which she received. When the guest of honor learned that she would still have to interact with the harasser at the convention itself, she withdrew as a guest rather than put herself in an unsafe situation. Instead of behaving professionally, the convention dismissed her concerns, and otherwise acted in generally awful manner. They are still behaving in a generally awful manner, even after being roundly criticized for their atrocious behavior. 

 

It's the little things that allow for big things like this, just like it's the little details that make a made-up world seem real. Here are some links to essays about, summaries of, and commentaries on the incident (for accounts of the individual's history as a serial harasser, see Natalie Luhrs', K Tempest Bradford's, and Jim Hines' posts):

 

 

The GoH, Monica Valentinelli's statement announcing her withdrawal from Odysseycon 

Natalie Luhrs' summary and timeline of events with screencaps of posts the convention has since deleted

File 770's summary with quotes from various sources

 

Authors weighing in

Mary Robinette Kowal

Jim C Hines

K Tempest Bradford 

Seanan McGuire (twitter thread)

Jessica Price  (twitter thread)

Catherine Lundoff (start at the bottom for chronological order) 

Chuck Wendig  (twitter thread)

Melissa F Olson

[kais]

Thank you for posting this! 

[Hobbit]

Looks like the editor was fired from Tor? Thank you, Tor! 

[neongrey]

Yeah, Jim Frenkel (the known harasser) was fired a couple years back-- this is a little bit dicey because his behaviour was well known long before he actually got canned. I mean, they did the right thing eventually, which was good, but yeah.