Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: enraged
  • Music: The sound of being REALLY PISSED OFF.

Being a female in the age of the internet.

I haven't been blogging about my cats recently.

Some of you may have breathed a sigh of relief when you realized that you had entered a relatively feline-free zone. "Finally," you said. "She's going to talk about something that doesn't meow." Others may have been concerned. (I've heard from the concerned contingent, not from the relieved, but I have no trouble with the idea that both sides exist. Honestly, I don't demand that anyone be interested in everything I have to say, and that includes my cats, machete collection, horror movies, the X-Men, and candy corn.) Even more of you may well have been confused, given how focal cats have traditionally been around here. But I haven't been blogging about my cats.

John Scalzi has just made a lengthy post about the shit female bloggers get that he doesn't get. Go and read it. I'll be honest: after more than a decade on the internet, I find his experiences to be pretty spot-on. I make a controversial comment, I get death threats, comments about my weight, accusations of bitchiness, comments about my weight, offers to "fuck the stupid" out of me, comments about my weight, insults, comments about my weight, and, best of all, people swearing up, down, and sideways that I deserve whatever I get. It's been a few years since I've had a really bad troll problem, but when I had one, it was...

It was bad. It was "Kate monitored my journal and deleted comments before I could see them" bad, with a side order of feeling sick every time I considered getting online. I didn't sleep, I didn't eat, and I was scared all the time. It's invasive, and it's scary. Cracks about my weight aside, I'm not that big, and if someone wanted to fuck me up, they could. Easily. (Is this a motivator for my large and oft-discussed machete collection? Possible! Anybody comes to my house with the intent of doing me a mischief in the woods, they will not be thrilled by the results.)

And I haven't been blogging about my cats recently.

I'll be honest: I understand people being dicks for the sake of being dicks. We're all a little mean when we've had a bad day. My mother used to snap at me, even though she loved me. Sometimes I pick fights with my friends, or snarl at my co-workers. Human nature sometimes trends toward asshole, and no matter how hard we work to control it, it's going to happen. What I don't understand is why being a dick towards a woman on the internet so often turns into a) threats of violence, b) sexual insults, c) threats of sexual violence, or d) comments about perceived attractiveness/weight. Or violence toward the things that woman loves.

I haven't been blogging about my cats recently, because someone has been sending me email, from dummy accounts, threatening to kill my cats. In graphic detail. They know what my cats look like, thanks to the amount of blogging I have done in the past, and they've been able to get really, really specific in what they're going to do. Why? Because I got my cats from a breeder, and not from a shelter, and that means I need to suffer in order to understand the suffering of the cats waiting for adoption. "Bitch," "cunt," and "whore" feature heavily in these emails, which is always a nice seasoning for my rage and terror stew. It's all very gender-specific.

And they're threatening to kill my cats.

So no, I'm not going to talk about them right now; not until this email stops, not until the trolls find something else to chew on. And yes, I realize that making this post may reawaken some of my old trolls (and oh, Great Pumpkin, I hate it so much that I even have to take that into consideration), so I'm going to be watching comments carefully. Anything insulting will be deleted. Anything malicious will result in an immediate banning. I mean that. I am not going to let that shit stand.

We need to stop acting this way toward one another. We need to remember that there are humans on the other side of all those keyboards. We need to be decent human beings, because otherwise, everything is going to fall apart.

And none of this changes the fact that if the fucker who's been telling me what he's going to do to my babies comes anywhere near them, I will probably be going to prison for assault.

Some days I hate being a girl.
Tags: cats, cranky blonde is cranky, don't be dumb, freaking out, hysteria, oh the humanity, state of the blonde, things go boom
  • Post a new comment

    Error

    Anonymous comments are disabled in this journal

    switch
    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    Your IP address will be recorded 

    Help
  • 295 comments
Previous
← Ctrl ← Alt
Next
Ctrl → Alt →

beccastareyes

August 31 2011, 19:22:15 UTC 5 years ago

What the fuck is wrong with people?

Seriously, threatening animals because they belong to someone they disagree with over animal adoption...

seanan_mcguire

August 31 2011, 19:25:24 UTC 5 years ago

I do not know. I wish I did. Because then maybe, it could be fixed.

lapislaz

August 31 2011, 19:22:16 UTC 5 years ago

Oh no. If they come after you for assault, they'll have to get through all of US before they come anywhere NEAR you. And some of us ARE big and mean and deadly.

seanan_mcguire

August 31 2011, 19:25:34 UTC 5 years ago

Thankfully. <3 <3 <3

pyre006

5 years ago

  • New comment
More Expand

evaleastaristev

August 31 2011, 19:23:38 UTC 5 years ago

I am quite willing to be a live in cat protector. Yes, I'm a activist for kitty shelters. That doesn't mean that breeder cats don't deserve love. And yours are just adorable.

And if I lived any closer (aka even in the same state), I'd be quite willing to spend the time you are at work at your house, machete near by, guarding their little lives. And spoiling them rotten with snuggles.

Much love to all four of you.

seanan_mcguire

August 31 2011, 19:25:47 UTC 5 years ago

Thank you.

pacalissanctum

5 years ago

  • New comment

otherdeb

5 years ago

  • New comment

reedrover

August 31 2011, 19:24:14 UTC 5 years ago

Wow.

Pico hugs his koala at you.



(no reply necessary)

seanan_mcguire

August 31 2011, 19:25:58 UTC 5 years ago

That picture = AWESOME.

reedrover

5 years ago

  • New comment

wow i am so sorry

gwisteria

August 31 2011, 19:25:17 UTC 5 years ago

i am very careful now about describing my family online becasue i had a person follow my daughter on a teen site and get very personal with her and she is shyish tomboy who loves certain things, and they knew what those were because i blogged about it. You are one of my favorite authors and i am so sorry this happened to you.

Re: wow i am so sorry

seanan_mcguire

August 31 2011, 19:26:31 UTC 5 years ago

Thank you. I'm sorry, too. No one should have to deal with that sort of shit.

tuftears

August 31 2011, 19:27:24 UTC 5 years ago

Good lord. D:

That's just not right. People should be free to talk about things (and creatures and people) that meow!

Doing an injustice to someone Does Not Reduce The Amount Of Injustice In The World.

seanan_mcguire

August 31 2011, 19:28:31 UTC 5 years ago

No, it really doesn't. And killing my babies is not going to magically fill my house with shelter cats. If anything, it's going to put me in a mental institution, which means I won't be donating to the SPCA anymore, and will result in MORE cats needing care.

readingthedark

5 years ago

  • New comment

taldragon

August 31 2011, 19:28:18 UTC 5 years ago

holy crap that's vile! poor innocent kitties, and poor stressed-and-upset you.

seanan_mcguire

August 31 2011, 19:28:51 UTC 5 years ago

It's been really unpleasant. To say the least.

an_sceal

August 31 2011, 19:28:25 UTC 5 years ago

Well, that's an utterly disgusting way for anyone to behave, and I hope they find an outlet for their hate that doesn't involve anyone else. I'm very sorry that anyone would treat ANYONE that way. What a horrible, horrible thing to send to someone.

(No reply necessary, I know you're beyond busy.)

seanan_mcguire

August 31 2011, 19:29:11 UTC 5 years ago

I'm just glad my website interface doesn't allow for sending pictures.

an_sceal

5 years ago

  • New comment

seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

  • New comment

suzannemcleod

August 31 2011, 19:28:44 UTC 5 years ago

I have no words :-( {Hugs}

seanan_mcguire

August 31 2011, 19:29:16 UTC 5 years ago

Hugs.

wendigomountain

August 31 2011, 19:29:16 UTC 5 years ago

Males like that make some of us ashamed for men everywhere. But really, they are nothing. Sad, pathetic bullies who could die tomorrow and no one would shed a tear. Their inclusion in "humanity" is only made tolerable by the fact that they will never have the opportunity to reproduce and curse the world with more of their kind.

seanan_mcguire

August 31 2011, 19:30:04 UTC 5 years ago

The trouble is, many of the people who act this way online are actually pleasant in the real world. They have friends, family, and people who love them, which is why I can't actually wish them dead.

Unless they come anywhere near my cats.

wendigomountain

5 years ago

  • New comment

seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

  • New comment

the_gneech

August 31 2011, 19:30:30 UTC 5 years ago

I think it might be useful to mention the machete collection a few more times. In bold letters. Like:

DON'T MESS WITH MY CATS, SCUMBAGS. I HAVE A MACHETE.

Let us know how we can help!

-The Gneech

seanan_mcguire

August 31 2011, 19:32:31 UTC 5 years ago

Actually, I have sixteen machetes at last count, and they're all quite sharp and lovely. I keep one by my computer, one under the bed, and one by the door. (Did I mention that I live in rattlesnake country and watch a lot of horror movies?)

the_gneech

5 years ago

  • New comment

janetmiles

August 31 2011, 19:31:41 UTC 5 years ago

I am dismayed and horrified that someone would threaten to harm your pets because they disagree with you. That's vile.

seanan_mcguire

August 31 2011, 19:32:38 UTC 5 years ago

Yeah. :(

caersidi

August 31 2011, 19:32:22 UTC 5 years ago

I'd probably be up for manslaugter if anyone touched my cats so I do appreciate how you feel.

Keep them safe and are you able to report him to anyone? Aren't internet threats like this come under stalker laws?

seanan_mcguire

August 31 2011, 19:32:59 UTC 5 years ago

If you have a name. He's been sending letters from fake email addresses through my website, so I have nothing to go on.

geojlc

5 years ago

  • New comment

kyburg

5 years ago

  • New comment

mrs_norris_mous

5 years ago

  • New comment

stormerider

5 years ago

  • New comment

inkgrrl

5 years ago

  • New comment

Deleted comment

archangelbeth

5 years ago

  • New comment

wmilliken

5 years ago

  • New comment

scamis

5 years ago

  • New comment

Deleted comment

seanan_mcguire

August 31 2011, 19:34:45 UTC 5 years ago

I find it fascinating, in a horrible way, that this person claims to love cats so much that they would kill mine just to punish me. Their logic is not like our earth logic.

Deleted comment

judifilksign

5 years ago

  • New comment

hoppytoad79

5 years ago

  • New comment
More Expand

gwynnega

August 31 2011, 19:34:20 UTC 5 years ago

That is jaw-droppingly disgusting, and I hope it stops immediately. Gah, what is the matter with people?!?

seanan_mcguire

August 31 2011, 19:34:55 UTC 5 years ago

I do not know.

priscellie

August 31 2011, 19:38:20 UTC 5 years ago

Wait. They're trying to stop animal cruelty by threatening cruelty to animals? Not only are they evil-minded assholes, they also make NO FREAKING SENSE.

I offer you and all your kitties hugs and grenade launchers.

sihaya09

September 3 2011, 05:12:52 UTC 5 years ago

This was my exact thought.

Seanan, so sorry you are dealing with this. There's something about the relative anonymity of the internet that allows people to release the most disgusting parts of their personality on people just because they can, and it's absolutely despicable.

vulpine137

August 31 2011, 19:38:51 UTC 5 years ago

Gah, I'm sorry you have to go though this. I can't understand why people can ask so, for lack of a better word, evil.

And personally, count me in the group who really likes the cat posts.

sheistheweather

August 31 2011, 19:39:36 UTC 5 years ago

Everyone should watch this video and take its message to heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfwwHa-7Ux8

I am unspeakably horrified at this trend, and this is yet another example of a Thing That Needs Changed.

I hear you. I'm trying to do my personal best to get the truth out there, that we are all real human beings beyond this thing called "the internet".

Keeping you and the cats in my thoughts.

gipsieee

September 1 2011, 03:15:17 UTC 5 years ago

While I agree wholeheartedly with the customer service example in the video (and wish my in person customers would take the message to heart), deleting an introduction unanswered is **not** abuse.

Responding to them and tearing them to shreds would be abuse. Posting on Gizmodo that everyone should disclose all their hobbies lest they be humiliatingly profiled on Gizmodo is abuse. Ignoring them is perhaps rude, perhaps not the point, but it is not abuse.

If for whatever reason the introduction did not connect, maybe saying "not interested" would be better, but that could also feed a "nice guy troll" much more than simply ignoring it. It's up to the recipient to decide what, if any, response is warranted.

sheistheweather

5 years ago

  • New comment

ladymondegreen

August 31 2011, 19:39:43 UTC 5 years ago

I find it ironic and sad that this would be happening to you, of all people, since you've done more to protect and rescue animals than any other thousand people I could name. You love pretty much every animal there is, and have at one point or another worked with lots of them or rehabilitated them in your home.

It terrifies me that someone might harm you or the cats, but moreover I am sick and sad over the mental harm that this does to you and to your desire to be out in public.

Seriously people, get over it and get sane. You're not helping your cause.

Deleted comment

lilrongal

August 31 2011, 19:40:54 UTC 5 years ago

So.... this person is unhappy you got cats from a breeder, and this person, who is trying to be morally superior and whatnot, is threatening to KILL cats that are alive and loved and being taken care of? This person is hiding behind fake accounts and threatening an innocent woman. And yet, they are so superior?

Animal rights? Yeah, they wouldn't be trying to kill living, sentient cats if they were all about animal rights.

What a hypocrite.

Is this person who is emailing you going out and adopting all the cats from the shelters? I doubt it. They're too busy harassing you.

I don't even know what to say. I really don't.

[I hate trolls. I used to get trolled very heavily in the early part of 2000 when my site first became really popular. (It's not popular anymore, LOL, which is a blessing and a curse.) I know it's not the same, but try being a mom on the Internet and posting something controversial. Then you get "YOU NEED TO GET OFF THE COMPUTER AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR CHILD." Right because all children need 24/7 care and mom's not allowed ANY time to herself.]

I am so sorry this is happening to you. This is scary and really, really mean. No one deserves that.

tiferet

August 31 2011, 20:58:54 UTC 5 years ago

Animal rights? Yeah, they wouldn't be trying to kill living, sentient cats if they were all about animal rights.

I've been working in and around medical research facilities for a long time. Animal rights fanatics break into labs and turn all the animals loose. Lab staff have come in and found dead animals that killed each other trying to get out. Once an admin assistant's terrarium lizards were also "liberated" and were killed by lab rats. They don't care if the animals are infected with anything. Dr Stanley Prusiner, who worked on CJD and discovered the prion vector of infection, has had animals taken and "released" into the wild.

In a Penn & Teller expose on PeTA, one of the things that came up is that they actually have killed a surprisingly large number of animals, some of whom could have been rehabilitated, because they didn't want to turn them back over to humans.

These people do not want you to call your animals "pets" - they think that pet ownership is equivalent to slavery. They'll accept the words "companion animal" for now but what they really want is for humans to stop breeding animals. All domestic animals should be, in their opinion, cared for until death and not allowed to reproduce, or alternatively killed. They don't think people should mess with animals AT ALL. (Not every PeTA member--but the ones who run the organisation.)

So while the graphic descriptions of cat torture are at odds with this philosophy and truly the product of a sick fucking mind, the rest of it doesn't surprise me, sadly.

I have no really adequate words for how much I loathe the animal rights (not animal welfare, not SPCA) movement. None.

slothman

August 31 2011, 19:43:20 UTC 5 years ago

Ugh. I hope this idiot gets careless enough to leave a clue that will lead to them getting locked up where they can’t do anyone harm.

dragonsblog

August 31 2011, 19:44:25 UTC 5 years ago

I will continue to be unable to understand what makes people be horrible on the Internet. Threatening people, their animals, their way of life...I simply don't understand. Occasionally I wonder who these angry disturbed people are and why they think that is acceptable behavior. I'm terribly sorry about all that, and I understand the urge to go away from the Internet. Thanks for sticking around.

Unable to understand

hvideo

September 1 2011, 05:39:00 UTC 5 years ago

I believe it was John Campbell (in one of his Amazing/Analog editorials back in the 1950s) who took issue with the saying "Power corrupts - Absolute Power corrupts absolutely." He said that the correct form was "Immunity corrupts - Absolute Immunity corrupts absolutely."

This was decades before the Internet - but I think he hit the nail on the head with that one. The person sending the emails probably has very, very little actual power. It is the immunity of annonymity that leads him (or her) to behavior of this type. I suppose some who do this sort of thing really are misguided fanatics, while others might have no real agenda about animals and would do this with the sole intention of scaring people like Seanan. They would choose whatever it was that she held dear and attack it - it just happened this time to be her cats.

ceosanna

August 31 2011, 19:46:52 UTC 5 years ago

I'm in the like to read about your cats camp, and I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes on your behalf. Like others, I can't imagine how someone who seems to advocate cats can even make such a vile threat, and I can't begin to imagine what it's been like to be on the receiving end of their vitrol.

Big hugs to you and your cats.

catalana

August 31 2011, 19:47:22 UTC 5 years ago

My logical philosopher brain is going to explode here from threatening your cats because...they're not from the right place? Even supposing they're right that you're horrible for having cats from a breeder (which I don't believe), why would they take it out on the cats, who have no say in the whole thing? This is insane.

judifilksign

August 31 2011, 20:32:05 UTC 5 years ago

Yes, THIS.

catsittingstill

5 years ago

  • New comment

batyatoon

5 years ago

  • New comment
Previous
← Ctrl ← Alt
Next
Ctrl → Alt →