The situations may be different but the widely contrasting reaction is a crystal-clear demonstration of how men benefit and profit from misogyny and how women suffer from sexism. |
Agree. The fact is that “kink shaming” has been wielded as a weapon to protect predators. |
Yes, you keep saying that. But it’s something else entirely. |
Please tell us how you are an authority, because that does not ring through with anyone I’ve talked to. |
I’m an authority because I have eyes, and have watched the successful rehabilitation of many predatory men. This is not going to remotely end his career, unfortunately. |
Are you a person that grew up reading him? That’s the difference. His fandom is not the same as your average author. This is more Cosby level stuff, core memories tainted. |
Adding. He might have some career. But he’s fallen and will never fully claw out of this. Rightly so. I hope he has to move to a ranch house with a bad roof on a public street. Would prefer jail though. |
I did not grow up reading him. But I have read several of his books and am very familiar with his fandom, both on an offline. Actually it is precisely because of who his fandom is that I think he has a very high likelihood of rehabbing his image: his fans will help him. The will crave that redemption arc and Gaiman’s approval. All of this is with the caveat that criminal charges are not brought. If criminal charges are brought, then yes, agree that is more like Cosby. But if no charges are brought, I expect he will be back in business in about ten years, with the support of his fandom. |
Totally agree and I wish that when situations like this came to light, it actually prompted introspection from the supposedly very open minded and progressive people who populate BDSM and polyamorous communities. But it never does. They just rely on the same argument you find in toxic workplaces where harassment and assault happens -- "oh those were just a few bad apples, but we got rid of them." The truth is that people with major mental health issues sometimes find ways to rationalize their violent, controlling, abusive, or self-inflicting instincts as kink. And it works! I was raped by a man in my 20s. A few months later, I revealed what had happened to a friend who was also friends with the man who raped me. She was not surprised, and told me that my rapist had told her and her husband that he fantasized about raping women, and had even had anonymous encounters with women he'd met online to "re-enact" rape fantasies. I also later found out that he had been diagnosed as bipolar, was prescribed lithium but refused to take it most of the time because he didn't like how it blunted his mania. The kicker is that even after all this came out, this friend remained friends with my rapist. I dropped out of that social circle after all this, saw a therapist regarding PTSD, moved on. Years later I reconnected with the friend and thought we could put it behind us. And then she casually mentioned my rapist, who apparently she and her husband still see regularly, something about his work. It was like it never happened. You can't make this stuff up. Our society just tolerates rapists. It goes so deep. I fully expect to see Gaiman getting book deals and having his work optioned for more film and TV shows in the future. People will act horrified for a while and then it will be like it never happened. Except for the women whose lives he totally upended, who will deal with it for the rest of their lives. |
I’m so sorry. And this mirrors my experiences, too. I agree with you about Gaiman’s future. People will pretend they care, but his fandom will be very eager to forgive him and blame his victims. That has already started. |
^^ That is an awful account and I'm sorry you lived / are living through it.
I think it will depend on the publishing industry. If his agent and publishers drop him and others don't pick him up then he is stranded, effectively. |
Are you the PP who referred to yourself earlier in the thread as an "authority" because you've seen terrible men rehabbed in the public eye? Whether or not you're that PP, you sure are confident about your assessment of his fans. Maybe check your attitude of authority. You are seriously underestimating how strongly Gaiman's female fans of all ages, but especially those in their 20s, will react to this situation. They will not forget or forgive, and nothing will rehabilitate him in their eyes; they are well aware of how the public apology crap works with men like this. And they'll be the first to speak up, loudly, if he or other parts of his fandom try to excuse his actions or claim he's truly contrite. Even years from now. The source for my "authority" on this? My DD in her 20s who was a Gaiman fan, and her many, many friends who were, too. They are wounded, but mostly they are furious. And PP, they are not stupid, naive, or forgetful. They also know how to use their voices against men like this. Even men who produced work they had loved. |
The person above who thinks that the TV and film industry will go back to producing work based on his writings is wrong. i truly don't think there will eventually be new productions of his past or future works. Producers and prodcution companies today are just too aware of the long, long shelf life of toxic accusations. Of course that's not about the goodness of such companies; it's about the money, and fear of being identified wtih someone who would draw negative attention and therefore harm the bottom line. Even years from now. Any new productions need coverage by entertainment outlets and reviewers, and that publicity would always, for the rest of time, include a mention of these allegations. No way to untangle that, and it will always be too problematic for producers to want to handle it. Even if they try the "hate the creator, love the art" approach, and even if he's never convicted of anything. |
When I think of authors who were found to be guilty of abuse, such as Alice Munro or MZB or the Eddings, it affected their fandom. But more importantly, the news only came to light after their death.
In this case, it is quite different. |
I do hope Gaiman’s over and his publishers dropped them. But about these impacted fans….good grief. What wounded them besides presumably your parenting with respect to your DD to make them into super fans of Neil Gaiman? Where this horrible but fundamentally unsurprising story of him raping and abusing and manipulating women is as real and important to them as their own romantic relationships (no doubt very troubled, for those who have ever had one) or economic prospects? Real question here. There is always something incredibly wrong with people who identify that strongly with an author’s work, where it becomes a part of their identity. They are always damaged, they have poor boundaries and that lack of sense and proportionality is something they perversely wind up cherishing. When you have standards in parenting and in education, you’re better equipped to see a charlatan and not waste your time there. |