- Others have written about it much more elegantly.
- Others have dealt more closely with him and in my opinion are more qualified to discuss the matter.
- I've intentionally disengaged from the OSR community (in no small part because of him, incidentally, but I won't entirely blame him for some of the things that I regret about how I've engaged with the community).
- I was not quiet about the fact that I grew to hate his guts and don't think I can talk about this in a reasonable and mature way that doesn't make me look like an asshole.
- Posting this is, in at least a small way, an acknowledgement of his significance, and I don't even want to give him that.
I'm posting this only for two reasons:
- To contribute to the "Zak Sabbath is an abusive piece of shit" signal on the internet so that hopefully nobody else gets abused by him or inadvertently supports him.
- As a Jewish heterosexual cis-gender male involved in kink and BDSM as a dominant, a set of qualities I share with Zak, I think it's important that I say that I believe Mandy Morbid. I don't mean to be a white knight or anything, but I do feel that as someone with many privileges, I should publicly declare my support.
That is all. Let's take out the trash and move forward.
Regarding Point 2: There are many who would conclude that that and that alone makes you a misogynist. Just think about that.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I find it disgusting that people are now conflating Zak Smith's appalling behavior online with hsi alleged abuse of three or more women as if the former even remotely compares to the latter.
If you cannot see the sheer sanctimony going on here, then you are an imbecile.
Point 2. Anon are you Zak trolling me? This seems like the kind black and white nonsense he would say. I acknowledged that it runs the risk of being "white knight"; I am conscientious of this and what it may mean or how it may reflect on me. I'm open to self critical analysis or critical analysis from others, but if that's the level of critical analysis you're going to bring to this, then go ahead and just believe what you will. I'm sure if you go back and read my content you'll find plenty of unconscious sexism laced in my work that you can deconstruct, and I'd be glad to hear it because I would rather not have that in my work, but am inclined to think it's probably there.
DeleteAs to your other point, I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm conflating the two, but yes, I am very conscious of the fact that my personal disgust of him prior to this event biases my view and more or less acknowledged that as well.
In regards to your final point about my intelligence, I think we may be agreed in more ways than you understand.
Wait, back to Point 2 for a sec. It only just occurred to me now you might have meant the cis-gender heterosexual male part or the BDSM dominant part haha (see 'imbecile', as discussed). I dunno, I guess I'm just comfortable with those aspects of my identity (at least in this regard), and by extension I'm clearly not too worried about someone who thinks that alone makes me a misogynist. Maybe I should be more worried about it? We'll see what feedback life throws my way, I guess.
Deletealso regarding Point 2: please don't insult my intelligence with a reply about how women willingly participate or produce or view such media as well. It isn't as if there aren't mountains of theses about that trend. About women being complicit as far as misogyny is concerned. We see this on the left as much as we do on the right. And it is a cop-out non-argument comparable to "I have black/gay friends" which is notably something Smith himself was called out for.
ReplyDelete