If you were defending Chelsea Cain…I guess…you can stop now?

-One of the remarkable things about reading the coverage was seeing how it twisted the information in the Comics Beat story, which – despite a hysterical headline – was fairly accurate.  I guess this is what happens when stories get reported without talking to anyone involved and rely on other stories for facts.

So yeah…if you are not Comics Beat, she just gave you the finger.

-Here are the facts, from my perspective.

I quit Twitter.  I deactivated my account Thursday, after receiving several misogynist and/or jerky comments the night before.  SEVERAL.  Not dozens.  Not a deluge.  One is too many.  I was tired of wasting energy dealing with the constant low-level misogyny and meanness that pollutes a certain kind of comic fandom.

-She neglected to add “on twitter” at the end there, since she only had such issues on twitter, but let’s not start arguing over that again…the stance of “constant low-level misogyny and meanness that pollutes a certain kind of comic fandom” is a hell of a lot different than the impression she gave everyone previously, ain’t it? We are through the looking glass people, because I am about to DEFEND these web sites.  Hey Chelsea, know where they got the idea that is was a “deluge of misogyny” in one dose that drove you off of twitter?  FROM YOU  (Quoting below her words from earlier in this whole fiasco and putting key elements in bold.)

Overnight, I had lost thousands of followers.  I had gained a thousand new followers.  I had been tagged thousands of times.  Comments were coming in, fast and furious, every second.  I’d never seen anything like it.  I saw a few of them – a lot of support, a lot of people yelling at one another – a lot of people mad at me for being too quick on the block button or too critical of comic book readers or being too feminist.  A lot of them just seemed mad at women in general.” 

…I don’t think interpreting that as “a deluge of misogynistic comments” is inaccurate. Does anyone else?! and keep in mind I disagree with all these websites making that assessment without speaking to her to confirm that is her actual opinion.  It is lazy, but I can’t say they were irresponsible because there it is right in her own words.  I mean…how the fu…

-It is a strange thing to become a hashtag.  The #StandWithChelseaCain movement (or whatever) had nothing to do with me.  I couldn’t see any of those missives of support.  I’m not on Twitter.  I was incredulous at how widespread it apparently was and how everyone in my entire life seemed to know about it.

This is just one part of her claiming to not have has any role in this and claiming to not know what was going on.  Give me a break, did she throw her computer out the window?  Because that’s the only way she could have not known what was going on.  The internet does not end at twitter, I didn’t find out about this on twitter.  Does she expect us to believe no fan or friend emailed her that this was all going on in her name?  She admits she was on FB.  I and most everyone else, knows how the newsfeed algorithm works.  For her to claim that she didn’t see any stories about herself is a flat out lie.  The way the FB newsfeed algorithm works, I assure you, she saw these stories. Here’s a little inside secret…are you ready?  When someone posts something about you on FB and “tags” you…FB alerts you!  Don’t tell anyone I told you that.  SMH.

Even if I knew NOTHING about the internet at all, I could tell you she read these stories because she is clearly the type that likes to read about herself.  The entire blog is just her pontificating about what it is all like for her, paying no mind to how upset her fans were, giving not much of an opinion on the larger issue.  If you feel she’s not obligated to, that’s fine, but…that’s a weird angle for her to take on a blog that she presents as setting the record straight. I sh*t you not I laughed soda through my nose when I got toIt is a strange thing to become a hashtag.  The #StandWithChelseaCain movement (or whatever) had nothing to do with me-  What, I asked myself and ask all of you, does WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING THAT IS GOING ON?! Do you give a f*ck what she thinks of being a hashtag?  This isn’t a weekly blog where she pontificates to her fans about her life, this is a blog she puts out maybe once a month to plug her book, and she presented this one as though it was going to set the record straight. “It is a strange thing to become a hashtag”...thanks for clearing that up, that’s really giving your fans a handle on things.  AND…SHE INCLUDES THE HASHTAG!! HAHAHAHAAAAA! What a …I’m not sure how to explain why that’s bizarre, and it’s not worth explaining compared to the grand finale. 

>

I asked you to keep an open mind, I personally am halfway to the opinion that this woman, and this is completely unconnected to whatever undeserved vile treatment she got….may be an asshole who only thinks about herself.  Those people do exist, and she sure seems to be one of them.  She seems oblivious to the notion that her fans are concerned, oblivious to the notion their efforts were on her behalf, she seems to be oblivious to the notion that for many comic book publishers even a slight dip in sales means disaster, means going out of business, means a lot of people lose their jobs.  If the industry takes even a 5% hit because it gets labeled a haven for the misogynistic, there’s going to be some people out of work.  And I’m not saying that for myself, my book is for a niche market, I’m sheltered from all this type crap (which may be why I am the only one calling a spade a spade) …but what about everyone else?  AND, while I personally do not think for one single second she made any of this up or did any of this for attention, she sure is starting to eat the attention up now.

I was particularly amused by this one ” I did not read any of the coverage until yesterday.  It was Halloween, so I was looking for scares”. ( she makes note later she was reading them at night)  The woman spent Halloween night reading about herself on the internet…

She says of the hashtag with her name in it-

–  I think it’s an important statement if it means “Let’s Be Less Jerky on Twitter and Stop Normalizing Sexist Blather.”  

Okay…I will leave the answer to this question up to you ladies…that part there…did that strike you as a bit G.D. flippant about the issue of misogynistic harassment that we have been talking about? “Let’s Be Less Jerky on Twitter and Stop Normalizing Sexist Blather.” It was my understanding that the hashtag stood for quite a bit more. Or is it just me, because I’m annoyed that the industry in which I earn a living has been in a fist fight for a week because of some irresponsible child that doesn’t seem to really give a sh*t or have a grown up understanding of the issue the rest of us are hashing out. Nor has even the basset empathy for her fans to give a single sentence about why she is shutting down a twitter page that thousands of them comment to, and follow her on.

Yesterday as I was sitting here still reeling from the bizarre coverage I had just read with its made-up facts, pictures culled from my Instagram account, and comment sections filled with New People Who Hate Me, I saw someone post a question on my Facebook feed. (I’m paraphrasing.) 

“Is the whole Chelsea Cain thing really about the feminist tee-shirt on the cover?” 

I wanted to respond.  But I didn’t know the answer.  What “whole Chelsea Cain thing” was he referring to?  

This is f*cking rediculous. SHE JUST SAID SHE WAS READING THE STORIES.  then she goes “What “whole Chelsea Cain thing” was he referring to?”  uhm…the Chelsea Cain thing YOU WERE JUST READING ABOUT. …this is the woman we’ve all been arguing over. And this is one of several instances where she mentions “inaccuracies” and things being “made up” but DOESN’T SAY WHAT THEY WERE….?   Okay, that leaves your fans right back at square one…left guessing what is going on.

-I also saw, yesterday in the comments under a made-up story I read about myself, some people accusing me of making this whole thing up. 

ME?

HA!

I have not given a single interview about this.  I’m probably the worst person to ask about the “whole Chelsea Cain thing” because I’m so out of the loop.  

Clearly this story touched a cultural nerve.  It’s an important conversation to have.  But it also revealed, to me, how misinformation and hysteria can spread so swiftly and convincingly as the media chases after whatever is trending and tries to find something to say as click bait.

More faking ignorance..more I’m not involved. More giving the finger to the news-sites that were sticking up for her, more giving the fans the finger “misinformation and hysteria can spread so swiftly”.  Don’t get me wrong.  I thought the news sites and fans who were making the specific claims about misogyny had their heads up there asses,  or were voicing an opinion based on “misinformation and hysteria” as she puts it but in their defense they were working with the ONLY clues she dropped before pulling her twitter account, and STICKING UP FOR HER.  Like…what f*ck lady, you need some people skills, because there are better ways to word that when you are speaking about people who gave enough of a damn to raise hell for you.

Other public figures, in the past, when becoming the center of controversy, have sought out the largest venue to be interviewed, or voice their opinion on so that as many people can get the facts and their thoughts on the matter, as possible, all at once and tensions can be eased.  I’m just sayin’…responsible public figures have gone that route.

And by the way, in my personal experience when someone says “It’s an important conversation to have. ” it means someone else can have it, when I’m not around.

This woman does not seem to give a flying f*ck about anyone but herself.  The bulk of this blog is just about her reaction to stories about her.  The only real clarification she gives anyone on anything is whether or not the cover was an alternative cover and when it came out and when the book was cancelled…THEY CAN GOOGLE DATES THEMSELVES, that’s not the part of the story that you and only you can give input on.   No one needs your perspective on a FACT they can just look up. AND, I will accept the argument that she doesn’t need to clarify anything, if you understand that if she isn’t going to…than the only reason for the blog is to talk about herself, and isn’t there to do any good for anyone but herself.  She is oblivious the the damage this industry could suffer, offers no solutions, no insight, and clearly doesn’t want to be involved IN easing the ruffled feathers, that she helped create by not understanding the effect her words and actions would have on the 10,000 some odd fans, and not saying two weeks ago what she said in the blog today.

Sure, whatever lady, we’re better off without you involved anyway, because the rest of us actually give a sh*t about this industry and the reputation it has.  And clearly you are an irresponsible jackass.

Tell me why I’m wrong…I’ll happily admit it if I am. (We’re coming to the big part here) In case you missed it, she’s reading all this, seeing all this mess and fighting going on, seeing that her fans are upset, seeing that tensions are high  (her first blog about the mess was six days ago…so…she’s been seeing this all going on for 6 days AT LEAST), knowing that the only one who can shed any light on it is HER…and she does nothing.  She makes no effort to have the Comic book websites correct whatever inaccuracies there are, and don’t tell me she didn’t have time—

-“I also saw, yesterday in the comments under a made-up story I read about myself,”

-“bizarre coverage I had just read with its made-up facts, pictures culled from my Instagram account,”

-“I saw someone post a question on my Facebook feed.”

-“Then I saw that someone was typing a response.  I waited”

-“Then I started getting texts and emails”

-“I saw reported again and again.”

This woman has had to have spent hours reading about herself...she even read the f*cking comments sections, but she spends ZERO time contacting any of the sites she is reading, to inform them of inaccuracies, and ZERO time attempting to clarify anything or calm anyone down, even for the sake of her fans who are upset and confused, as an entire industry argues with itself.  How do I restate that so I am sure everyone gets it? 

…okay…PLEASE, read this and absorb it—-while the comic book internet is arguing about her situation based on “inaccuracies”, SHE is on the pages of the sites that have “inaccuracies” and instead of telling anyone running the site what the “inaccuracies” are….SHE IS READING THE ARGUMENTS ABOUT INACCURATE INFORMATION …THAT ONLY SHE HAS THE ABILITY TO CLEAR UP!

CHELSEA CAIN AND TWITTER DESERVE EACH OTHER.

The one person who could have cleared this all up is her, and instead of doing so she grabbed another paw full of popcorn and munched away while reading people argue.

Whatever she did clear up she only did so on her own blog, which hardly any percentage of the arguers read.  Instead of on the news-sites, that they do read and first got their information from, THAT SHE WAS SPENDING TIME ON ANYWAY.

She seems to be living under the impression that nothing she did had anything to do with this and nothing she could do would have any affect on it…while at the same time sitting around reading about herself and reading online arguments that she could put an end to if she so desired…AND then blogging about how uninterested and unaware she is of the whole thing. Bizarre.

What does she do when she IS interested in something, read two stories at once?  Read one story about herself with the left eye and another one with her right eye?  Don’t pass that idea along, she’ll be crossed eyed next month and I’ll get blamed.  Yep, this has nothing to do with you, it’s just about you, has your name on a hashtag, and stems from you leaving 10,000 fans ,that you cared about when you needed to sell comic books, sitting in the dark.

Sigh…What does she care right? She’ll just go play with her daughter.  Lot’s of people have daughters Cain, some of them feed their daughters with the money they make in the comic book industry. and as far as the actual issue of misogyny and online harassment and what degree of it there is and how much we should all be concerned, we’ll just “have that conversation” without you. Since we’re the ones who earn part of our living at comic-cons actually meeting face to face a large section of the public that interacts with us online…and we keep our heads on a swivel when we go to our cars…man and woman alike.

So…draw whatever conclusion you like, I’ve drawn mine.  a lot of people read my opinion the Cain controversy on this as things went on, so it is on me to also let you know what Cain’s final say was on the matter.  And that final say seems to be “meh”.

Anyhoo…Since I still have seen no one make any effort to educate anyone about how to deal with situations like this on their own social media pages, I’ll just do it-This Blog HERE has some advice on how to deal with harassment on social media.

Bookmark the permalink.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Archives