Imagine being triggered by being told you aren’t as clever and funny as you think. Imagine being triggered by somebody you think is funny and clever isn’t as clever and funny as you think.
Noooo…that’s not what’s happening.
I reported one of these disclaimers myself–I think it was the cupcake thread that started off by talking about how little rape and torture there’d be in the thread about cupcakes. I don’t particularly want to open a thread about goddamned cupcakes and find that it starts by talking about rape and torture, even if it’s done in the context of saying it’s not talked about.
There’s even a schmancy literary term for this: Apophasis, “wherein the speaker or writer brings up a subject by either denying it, or denying that it should be brought up.” The entire point of apophasis is that you get to talk about something while pretending not to talk about it.
I think it’s 100% correct to ask posters not to use apophasis to skirt rules.
No analogy is perfect. A better one would be Piers Anthony and his obsessive need to put some jailbait nymphet into most every one of his stories.
Those who continue to defend him-you realize he knew that his most recent action would spark a huge kerfluffle (again), disrupting the board (again)–IMNSHO he has to own the consequences of that decision, as do his fanboys who keep saying “Move on, nothing to see here”…
I probably do hate 50% of all humans, but the vast majority are men.
Rock on, ladies!
Huh. So, I don’t think so. Piers Anthony is a terrible human being, and there’s absolutely no question about whether his writing is sexually explicit in a terrible way. I’m not going to dig up some of his passages, because reading them makes me want to shower with Clorox. I read some of his short stories as a child and was kind of scarred by them.
King’s stuff is still graphic, but not even in the same league as Anthony’s worst stuff.
Skald’s stuff isn’t even in the same league as King, IMO. This isn’t to say it’s fine, nor that people should react to it in any particular way–but in terms of sheer explicitness compare this to something from Misery, or his other books (disclaimer, it’s been years since I’ve read King–swap in a different author of thrillers, like the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo author, if necessary).
Absolutely agreed. I’m not a fanboy of Skald in any way–as I’ve said, I’ve rarely participated in his hypotheticals, and felt the same mild positive feelings toward him as I have toward the majority of posters on the board. His behavior since the ruling has not been great.
You mean aside from this post of mine from like a week and a half ago? Pretty sure there were others, too. You might want to dial back the smug.
good morning folks! I’m extremely surprised this thread is still open 
- and now I find myself* not* hating a post by Drunky Smurf. WTF?!
Doesn’t that beat having us act arbitrarily and capriciously? We’re a patient bunch. Better to move slowly and with discussion than otherwise.
That’s a fair comment, albeit spam is a different issue that the ignore function would not deal well with. But trolling is in the eye of the beholder, to some extent. Some people seem to enjoy engaging with trolling. And the bar is set pretty high (or low, depending on how you look at it) on this board in terms of banning people for trolling.
FWIW I have never used the ignore function and I’m not a Skald fan boy (I don’t usually bother to open his threads and for those I do, some are interesting and some are irritating). The reason I posted was to support the viewpoint stated by others that the ‘problem’ here lies on both sides to some degree. I don’t think that’s blaming the victims, for the reasons I stated earlier.
I really had no idea what women meant by being victimized twice by this. How can they possibly feel victimized by being exposed to surprise smut? How can they possibly not like all the attention they get when their concerns are mocked and belittled by about 7 men herein. This is all their fault, they could just look the other way. How dare women express dissatisfaction at this development?
Haven’t read IT in a while, eh?
Hate to feed the digression but here I go. Gary Jennings. Brilliant historical novelist, good storyteller. But he managed to work a child sex scene into every book, and there was only one where anyone batted an eyelash. Maybe that’s true historically but it felt like he was trying do more than expose the ugly realities of the past. I still read all of his books when I was in my 20s, I probably wouldn’t read them now in a middle-aged state of deepened empathy.
I agree with Drunky on this. A lot of times I find the reaction to being told something is objectionable to be more offensive and expose one’s true character than the original offense. EG any school/college mascot. Fine, you didn’t mean it to be offensive, but dismissing anyone who does find it offensive, to claim as an outsider to the maligned group that you know how they should feel about it, to belittle and abuse them, shows that while you didn’t mean that mascot to be offensive, you simultaneously/coincidentally do have a low opinion of the maligned group.
Maybe it’s because you’re still dreaming… still dreaming… still dreaming… <wavy transition>
It’s always kind of entertaining to have someone say “no that’s not what’s happening” followed by a detailed explanation that shows that that’s what’s happening.
Your post contains references to rape and torture. No one (I assume) was triggered by it. Therefore it isn’t the mere mention - it’s the fact that there was a disclaimer saying that there was no rape or torture. You are being triggered by exactly what I said you were being triggered by - the disclaimer.
You are being offended by being told that you won’t be offended.
They can feel victimized by being exposed to surprise smut. That’s the first offense, and it is no longer happening. The second victimization is by being exposed to warnings that they will not be exposed to surprise smut.
The mods have already ruled on the first case. We are talking about the second.
Regards,
Shodan
I’m not registering a complaint or saying that you need to change, just shaking my head at the people complaining that they think you are acting arbitrarily and capriciously. People who think Skald is the wronged party here are pretty… amazing.
So was I when I pointed out the second act of victimization. That is, mocking women for having an opinion. In his latest tread he was stepping up the humiliation by adding a little “smack on the ass and a wink” to all the women who complained about lack of warnings in his threads.
Look, it’s like a guy who tells all the sexist/racist jokes at work being told by management to cut it out inside work hours. Well, he takes it hard and stomps through the office, poking his head into the cubicles of various people he knows or suspected told on him, and says “don’t worry! I won’t tell any sexist jokes so don’t get your panties in a bunch!” Not an exact analogy, but if you hear this and say “what’s the big deal, he’s not telling the joke?” you are being willfully obtuse. There’s no way Shodan and the rest of you don’t know exactly why Skald’s theatrics are a jerk move, but you have to pretend you’re confused because it’s a good way to telegraph your contempt for the people who dare be offended or say so in the first place. And behind that is the contempt for any woman to ever be offended by anything.
twitch. No, no I haven’t. I read it when I was thirteen, and thought that was the best thing ever. That single scene has kept me from rereading the book. Fair point–I can’t believe I forgot about that.
I hate to rob you of the entertainment you gain by not reading carefully, but I’m afraid if you do read more carefully, you’ll be disappointed.
Are you clear on what apophasis is, and why it’s an irritating rhetorical/literary device? There’s no way you can say I was engaging in apophasis.
We will speak no further about apophasis.
In my view this isn’t a female or male issue. This is about how we are as people and what types of behavior we want to encourage or discourage. To clarify - if the situation were changed and 100% of the people raising the issue were male, my reaction and approach would be unchanged.
Including the non-disclaimers may be a continuing dig at the detractors, but it first and foremost shows a disregard for mod instructions and that will end.