Separately, Scalzi's blog has an interesting commentary (a year ago, I didn't even recognize his name; now I can pick his name out of a line-up and quote lines from his blog. I find this funny on a variety of levels) here.
There are quite a few good commentors, a few oppressed people (I won't go through and gender everyone that annoyed me; I am not that strong), and a precious male horrified by the idea of anyone, anywhere, regulating his behavior in public. Because it's hard not to fuck or fondle someone in a public space and rights are being infringed on.
I lose sleep every night thinking about that. I also don't know what to do with that. I think stare in wonder at this miraculous place he lives--where he can do anything ANYTHING in public, and those gosh darn prudes aren't gonna change that. No sir. Not while he can stand his ground for freedom. And truth. And justice. And--public groping? Constitutionally protected, even.
Link to start, but the conversation is ongoing from beginning of the blog to end, so probably need all entries to work out what the hell.
And this, this I liked.
104. Josh Jasperon 23 Apr 2008 at 12:23 pm
#93, Bruce Baugh
One thing that does disturb is how little a lot of fannish guys actually know about how much entirely warranted fear is a part of many women’s lives.
If they thought about it, they might have to take time to consider how the day to day actions and comments they make create a supportive atmosphere at the least, and sometimes directly contribute. And worse still, if they *really* thought about it, they’d realize that women like Kate Nepveu and Sarah Monette know more about it than they do, in a way that they’ll never fully appreciate. And that unlike all women, men have the luxury of just not worrying about stuff like that.
They might have to look at their beloved F/SF and consider how it too might in many cases contribute to this atmosphere.
The option to just not think about it is really tempting, and there’s no real reward they can see for doing it. In fact, a lot of the women who think about this stuff a lot are pretty pissed off. Conversations with them can involve tripping over privileges you didn’t know you had, and pissing them off, even if that’s not your intent. Then the urge to snark back comes up, and the next thing you know, you’re agreeing with Rush Limbaugh on feminists.
--Josh Jasperson quoting and responding to Bruce Baugh
True.
ETA: Also adding The Right of Making Available by
rivkat, which hands down is one of my favorite responses yet.