I've been super-busy moving, so I've only skirted the edges of the Sad Puppy controversy, but it's a hot mess, for sure. I'm volinteering at and attending CONQuest in KC this May, (G.R.R. Martin and Brandon Sanderson! Mark Oshiro, whom I hope to meet since he's a hell of a lot of fun) and I am sure I will get an earload.

I loved Goblin Emperor, but I haven't read Ancillary Justice yet, and I haven't read the others on the list.

I have to do some more poking when I have more time, because I;m curious.

What a world we live in, that Social Justice Warrior is a *pejorative*. So, fighting for social justice is BAD?

What a world we live in, that Social Justice Warrior is a *pejorative*. So, fighting for social justice is BAD?

My understanding of Social Justice Warrior as a pejorative is that it's similar to "Happy Holidays" apparently being a tool to destroy all of Christianity (i.e., we don't like that you're supporting something other than old white straight conservative men, so you are history's greatest monsters).

Social Justice Warrior as a pejorative, in my experience, is the kind of person who will take every chance to unpack a person's behavior in search of privilege and cultural exploitation and everything else, to an excessive degree. Rather like radical vegans who will not miss an opportunity to point out your exploitation of animals. All good things can be taken to a bad extreme. The point at where that extreme occurs is up for debate.

Social Justice Warrior as a pejorative, in my experience, is the kind of person who will take every chance to unpack a person's behavior in search of privilege and cultural exploitation and everything else, to an excessive degree.

Where have you encountered these people? That's not accusatory; I'm genuinely curious, because I spend way too much time on the internet, and haven't come across people who are deliberately looking for chances to bust on people for privileged opinions/behavior.

(As an example, when K.T. Bradford brought up the idea of not reading straight white cis male authors for a year, the internet lost its damn mind. To my eye, all she was saying was, hey, there are a LOT of authors who don't get the kind of exposure that straight white cis male authors get, and making it a point to seek out those authors can be pretty rewarding. But people acted as though she was saying we should go kill Neil Gaiman and Jim Butcher, and she was going to personally show up at your house and burn all your Game of Thrones and Discworld books.)

Primarily I've run across them on Facebook, piling on in comments on various stories. They seemed eager to prove their activist street cred by criticizing things like any possible use of any pattern or design that could be interpreted as Native American or the native culture of any area, even a generic pattern on a generic shirt. I think the argument was If you're not descended from them, you shouldn't wear it. I didn't make a note of them, as I don't make a point of following those stories and I moved on.

Ah. I use FB to socialize with people I already know, so I do miss all of those sorts of comments.

I don't think those are bad conversations to have, but I also don't think FB is the best place for them, because FB really isn't ideal for what ought to be a nuanced conversation. It seems to turn everything into a soapbox rather than an actual discussion.

not really here because of deadlines and family, but Charlie Stross has some interesting extracurricular reading: [link]

ALL trigger warnings apply.

Where have you encountered these people? That's not accusatory; I'm genuinely curious, because I spend way too much time on the internet, and haven't come across people who are deliberately looking for chances to bust on people for privileged opinions/behavior.

I've run into it on Scans Daily, the Backlot (formerly AfterElton) and in Teen Wolf fandom. The basic intention of being more sensitive to minority issues is good, but some people take things too far and characterize any disagreement with a particular point they make as racist/misogynistic/homophobic oppression by the PatriarchyTM.