Requires Only That You Read a Ton of Words

[wshaffer]

I have not yet read this nearly novel-length critical review of Laura J. Mixon's essay on Requires Hate, but I'm leaving a link here to remind myself to come back and read it properly.

I had very mixed feelings about Mixon's essay, which was part of why I did not vote for her for the Best Fan Writer Hugo. One of the reasons I had mixed feelings about it is that it tended to conflate harassment and general crappy behavior with harsh and aggressive rhetoric in reviewing/critiquing. I think there's an interesting conversation to be had about the utility/appropriateness of harsh reviewing and conflating it with harassment muddies the waters. Édouard Brière-Allard seems at least to be trying to be careful in distinguishing between the two. (See above caveat about not having read complete essay - I may change my mind when I've had a chance to properly dig in.)

Comments

[wshaffer.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Well, I'll definitely be reading critically...assuming that I do get around to reading it at all. (I have every intention of doing so, but I've got quite a backlog of other stuff to read, much of which is likely to be more enjoyable if not more edifying.)