On Aug 13, I wrote a blog post about community responses to abuse. This quote is a good summary: When we label someone an abuser we fail to see them as people, modeling the very lack of empathy that causes abuse in the first place, furthering a vicious cycle. Should the recipient of abuse be forced to empathize with their abuser? No, of course not. But the response of the community, if it is to remain healthy, must be based in empathy. My post was harshly criticized for suggesting that having empathy towards abusers was beneficial to everyone. Three days later, on Aug 16, Zoe Quinns ex wrote a blog post detailing what he perceived as abusive behavior. The purpose of the post was to shame and discredit her, personally, professionally, and permanently. He felt entitled to do this because she was an abuser. Ironically, he apparently never considered that sharing private conversations, and publicly attacking someones professional career over personal matters was abusive on his part. Hateful members of the gamer community took his accusations as justification to harass and threaten Zoe, sparking #GamerGate. This is exactly what I was trying to get across. Responding to unacceptable behavior with shaming and othering is a great way to tear a community apart. Shifting the focus from specific behaviors to defining a person as bad creates an opportunity for further hateful actions to masquerade as justice. I hope this eventually gets through.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 04:52:22 +0000
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