Rural
Active Member
It is a refreshing alternative to msm &the murdochtopia we have to hear the rest of the time
Urban v's the Commentariat
- Thread starter Belushi
- Start date
J Ed
Follow Back Pro Expropriation
Apparently trolls are being mean about Laurie Penny's book...
Laurie Penny characterises the criticism of the book as sexist, and a brief glance at Amazon confirms that. Clearly this sort of behaviour is totally unacceptable and needs to be dealt with.
However, the mercenary way in which Laurie Penny is happy to monetize these attacks as an opportunity is just breath taking.
This is seriously what she recommends people do in response
I wonder if Penny is going to offer to send a book for free to the wageless follower who bought it, god knows she could afford it.
Laurie Penny characterises the criticism of the book as sexist, and a brief glance at Amazon confirms that. Clearly this sort of behaviour is totally unacceptable and needs to be dealt with.
However, the mercenary way in which Laurie Penny is happy to monetize these attacks as an opportunity is just breath taking.
This is seriously what she recommends people do in response
I wonder if Penny is going to offer to send a book for free to the wageless follower who bought it, god knows she could afford it.
The Pale King
Well-Known Member
This is a nice piece of (I believe it's called) humblebrag :
I am sick of this bullshit. Criticism is one thing – and the book has received its fair share of that from writers who think it’s too personal, too politically strident, too left-wing, too queer or too dark, as well as rave reviews from critics who love it for precisely the same reasons.
Too political for 'em! They couldn't handle her pitch-black truthbombs! The squares!
I am sick of this bullshit. Criticism is one thing – and the book has received its fair share of that from writers who think it’s too personal, too politically strident, too left-wing, too queer or too dark, as well as rave reviews from critics who love it for precisely the same reasons.
Too political for 'em! They couldn't handle her pitch-black truthbombs! The squares!
rekil
to menny cranks
The spamming is pathetic, is that holborn loon behind it? It seems to be a follow on from the pasting she got for claiming to be too sick to go to the Gaza demo (but not too sick to stay in and write 'epic articles'). Mind you, loads of the 5 star 2 line 'reviews' are from blank profile people who haven't reviewed anything else.
weepiper
I fix the machines that fight climate change
Ugh. If you're actually too ill to go, then fair enough, don't go. But don't tweet about your not going in a passive-aggressive manner. Yesterday it was fucking pouring rain and I have a stinking cold and tendonitis in my shoulder but I still drove through to Glasgow to our demo and stood in the pissing rain for an hour or two to make my point. I'm not blogging about it or expecting a medal for my efforts or anything. I don't want to say she invites it because clearly no-one should get that kind of abuse just because they're female but truly she does not help herself sometimes.
rekil
to menny cranks
Being ill (or drunk
) affects judgement but no matter how unintentional, it's rather insensitive to juxtapose 'feeling a bit under the weather' with the carnage and psychological toll people are facing in Gaza.
weepiper
I fix the machines that fight climate change
Yes. Crass.Being ill (or drunk
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
And then laurie penny gets harassment like this:
And that's not even the worst of it. Yes, she may be attention seeking but really deserving of that? I think not.
Shatners Bassoon @JudysJugs 
Bakunin
I am Noodle's bitch.
Agreed, absolutely. That kind of thing is inexcusable. It's vile for the sake of being vile. That said, if you try making the point that there's a huge difference between that vileness and legitimate criticism then you may well be met with a blanket accusation of misogyny. I tried to make that point yesterday and got exactly that response. The big problem with accusing any critic or opponent of bigotry on an 'Is it because I'm (insert demographic here)', aside from being a snide and dishonest means to try and stifle even fair comment and solid points raised, is that it instantly cheapens the idea that such bigotry does actually exist and that those suffering it are less likely to be given a fair hearing because legitimate complaints are written off as trying to silence and smear critics.
The Pale King
Well-Known Member
Of course she doesn't deserve that.
MAD-T-REX
Well-Known Member
It's just a series of sad events. Best to say 'Isn't it terrible' and move quickly on to the next item.
The convo after that tweet is good btw. The journo asks a critic if they are sure they understood her tweet.
Rural
Active Member
QUOTE="equationgirl, post: 13283586, member: 17853"]And then laurie penny gets harassment like this:
And that's not even the worst of it. Yes, she may be attention seeking but really deserving of that? I think not.[/QUOTE]
That abuse is vile. Many women get worse tho, esp Black women who have a much smaller platform & less supporters than lp. Yet I don't see the outrage when abuse is directed at non-media fems. All abuse like that is bad yet some ppl know that they can call the police, get their abusers arrested (like Caroline criado-perez) while others are not taken seriously/told they provoked it etc
And that's not even the worst of it. Yes, she may be attention seeking but really deserving of that? I think not.[/QUOTE]
That abuse is vile. Many women get worse tho, esp Black women who have a much smaller platform & less supporters than lp. Yet I don't see the outrage when abuse is directed at non-media fems. All abuse like that is bad yet some ppl know that they can call the police, get their abusers arrested (like Caroline criado-perez) while others are not taken seriously/told they provoked it etc
Theisticle
Well-Known Member
Old Holborn is a nasty and vile prick. Feel sorry for Laurie, she does not deserve this misogynistic harassment. However, it's not fair to ask people to simply buy your book to spite the trolls. Why not simply write positive reviews instead? After all, I'm a little cynical that publishers care that much about one site for reviews, arguably, sales matter more? Hopefully Amazon will remove some of those reviews. People are still spamming the 1-star section.
Bakunin
I am Noodle's bitch.
Old Holborn is a pretty nasty piece of work, I don't think any objective observer could deny that. Nor is the blatant vileness justifiable. That said, there's an issue of perception about this appeal for positive reviews and trying to drum up book sales. It wouldn't be fair to say that this is either a pre-planned marketing stunt or an opportunistic cash-in trying to monetise the fuss and bother. That said, it could be perceived as being that. The intent may not be cynical, but it could be looked at in that way.
Complaining about blatant harassment is fine, no problems with that at all. But complaining about harassment and then taking on 'By the way, I've got a new book out and will everybody please buy a copy' rather clouds the issue somewhat. Especially when you have somebody of a professed left-wing position using Amazon, with Amazon's considerable reputation for tax dodging and doing their best to eliminate competition by fair means or foul while also treating their own authors all that well.
Theisticle
Well-Known Member
Her book shot up in the Amazon sales, mission accomplished.
rekil
to menny cranks
Free publicity anyhoo
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/p...-antisemitic-abuse-over-her-book-9617744.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/p...-antisemitic-abuse-over-her-book-9617744.html
Theisticle
Well-Known Member
The abuse is unjustified and unpleasant but her response makes me a little less sympathetic when the intention was book sales.
Rural
Active Member
I find it disingenuous how lp conflates buying her book with fighting sexist trolls. Then goes on to say buying her book will help all other women writers (what even the ones u've marginalised?) stand up to trolls. Buying THEIR books might help them. Buying LP's is only gonna add to LP's wealth.
DaveCinzano
WATCH OUT, GEORGE, HE'S GOT A SCREWDRIVER!
It doesn't even make sense - surely the true nonconformist couldn't give a shit about exile from the establishment, let alone be pained by it?
DaveCinzano
WATCH OUT, GEORGE, HE'S GOT A SCREWDRIVER!
Basically Guantanamo Bay for commentarians
rekil
to menny cranks
Thank you Bennster for reminding me that I've got Carmen Aguirre's Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter on my book pile and it needs reading.
Bakunin
I am Noodle's bitch.
It comes across as trying to run with the fox and hunt with the hounds. It's one thing to oppose something you regard as being A Bad Thing, whatever that cause happens to be. It's quite another to decry something you regard as bad while using it to feather your nest at the same time. Ardent pacifists, for example, are pretty unlikely to own shares in Vickers or British Aerospace, while I'm not keen on the Catholic Church's attitude to birth control, I shouldn't think the Pope decries the evils of contraception while getting a share dividend form Durex, either. There's an irreconcilable contradiction between wanting to see an end to something while still raking in the cash from that same thing.
It could also be looked at as wither a pre-planned marketing stunt or an opportunistic way to say 'Yes, this isn't a very nice thing that's happening, but if you all send me fourteen pounds then it'll all seem so much less awful.' At best it looks clumsy and opportunistic. At worst it looks cynical, hypocritical and mercenary.
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
isn't she trying again to become the 5th generation of House Benn to sit in Her Majesties Parliament?
Outside of society! there waitin for me!
BigTom
Well-Known Member
'Spirited outsiders??'
Insider = actual aristocracy, private school, oxbridge.
Outsider = went to a minor private school and oxbridge. Perhaps the LSE or St Andrews.
I reckon. Not sure where that leaves any of us like.
J Ed
Follow Back Pro Expropriation
We are sexists, racists, trolls, dole scum ("I have to work for a living you know") and consumers to market her 'personal ethical brand' to.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
When they say outsider, they mean someone who's outside the privy chamber waiting for a audience. We take outsider to mean someone outside the locked palace gates.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
Cue some hasty backpeddling after she found out many of us worked more for a living than she did. Good times.
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