Read on Twitter
I don’t know who/what this subtweet is about but it’s really bad advice.
Of course attacking people because you don’t like them is not brave or laudable, but there’s a difference between not liking someone and calling out bad behavior.
Like, idk, misinformation and harassment.
Of course attacking people because you don’t like them is not brave or laudable, but there’s a difference between not liking someone and calling out bad behavior.
Like, idk, misinformation and harassment.
Reporting or publicly disclosing harmful misconduct is important. If people don’t know about it, the perpetrator will continue the behavior, thus hurting other people. It’s neither engaging nor taunting to stand up to bad actors, describe your experiences, or parody them.
It’s not “poking the bear” to openly discuss misconduct, nor is it “crying victim” if the person bringing awareness to the bad behavior is then targeted for retaliation. And retaliation isn’t excused because the retaliator was “backed in the corner.”
This is victim blaming.
This is victim blaming.
If someone is sexually assaulted at a party, did they “poke the bear” by dressing a certain way or drinking? If they report the assault are they “crying victim,” when they left their assaulter no choice BUT to assault them because they were “backed in the corner”?
And yes, I am faculty and a parent. I wouldn’t approve of my trainees or my kids gratuitously attacking someone in any forum. But I applaud and support them for standing up against harassment, misconduct, abuse, and the truth. I also can use my platform to amplify the message.
There is a major problem right now with people exploiting a pandemic and the general collective sense of existential dread to acquire followers and clout, and abusing or harassing those who speak up in protest.
It’s really quite awful.
It’s really quite awful.
Shaming the people who are targets of this behavior is deeply harmful. It not only hurts the person speaking up, but it has a chilling effect on everyone else who might have a similar story to tell. It enables abusers to hurt others and spread their misinformation far and wide.
In a pandemic that has killed 160,000 people in this country, misinformation can be literally deadly. If the tone police are going to tell people not to engage or provoke someone actively causing harm, and then not to “cry victim” if they are retaliated against, it’s complicity.
