Statement from Bojojoti: Pushed into the Sad Puppy Doghouse
Bojojoti, known to regular readers here as a regular commenter, has looked into the controversy and had her eyes opened. This is her comment over on the Arhyelon blog: http://arhyalon.livejournal.com/379546.html?thread=3271578#t3271578
I knew absolutely nothing about the Sad Puppies until this year. I knew of the Hugos but little about them, either. I’d followed George R.R. Martin’s Not a Blog for years, and I remember him encouraging people to vote because the Hugos were their award (except now, they aren’t). But, back then, I had a house full of kids which meant less time for reading and fewer dollars for sure! Now, the kids are gone, and I have more of both of the aforementioned. When I discovered that WorldCon would be held in the Midwest in 2016, I was excited and decided to get a supporting membership for this year and attend the next.
I didn’t realize all the turmoil about Sad Puppies until after the nominations were announced. I came to the situation too late to nominate and unaware that my membership would be an affront to the TrueFans. I just wanted to participate in and give back to a genre that has been integral to my life. Instead, I find that I’m not welcome at the cool kids’ table, which is ironically hilarious, because my science fiction ways were unpopular to the non-science fiction crowd of my youth.
As is my researching way, I took to the Internet to look at all sides. I went all the way back to the inception of Sad Puppies. I read “Making Light.” I Googled, read, and digested from a wide spectrum from news sources (most very biased and inaccurate), authors’ websites, Twitter, and Facebook.
I think what the TrueFans and Sad Puppies don’t realize is that they are being watched by the great unwashed masses, hoi polloi, the little people of science fiction. Some of the behavior and rhetoric is so hateful and venomous that I regret my membership. Authors were saying that the new members didn’t love science fiction; they were claiming that they didn’t even read! Some were even saying stupid things like the Koch brothers bought my membership. TrueFans were disgusted by the thought of new members. They like the WorldCon being small and are actively against new members.
I’m rethinking attending WorldCon 2016. I’ll wait to see what happens at Sasquan before I decide. If people are going to act crazy like a frenetic bag of cut snakes, I want no part of that fandom (or Fandom). I don’t need to spend money to be ostracized, belittled, and hated. I’m sure I can get that for free, elsewhere!
The TrueFans are pushing the new members right into the Sad Puppies’ doghouse. I wasn’t a Sad Puppy, but if the TrueFans don’t want me, they have proven the Sad Puppies’ charge of insular exclusivity. When the TrueFans band together and decide as a bloc NOT to read the works and agree to vote No Award to Sad Puppy nominations, they’ve lost any respect or sympathy I had for them. When people advocate putting the Puppies “down,” I’m horrified. When people write “basically if the “hero” isn’t white and male, the Puppies will get all Sad at you and threaten to rape you to death. Like the good, tolerant humans they are, natch,” I’m sickened. When an author opines the correct way to treat the Sad Puppies is “Well, we make fun of them. We refuse to play with them. We refuse to share our resources with them,” I flash back to the petty games of the middle school mean girls’ cliques.
And, again, from http://arhyalon.livejournal.com/379546.html?thread=3271834#t3271834
Another thing that distresses me is how I feel about some authors now. I’ve always read anybody. I never picked books by genitalia, politics, or race. If I liked a book, I took note of the name of the author so that I could read more; if I didn’t like the story, I avoided that author unless a friend tempted me to another written by him/her. Sadly, after reading some of the hateful comments, dripping with condescension and sneering with superiority, from some authors whose works sit on my bookshelves, I won’t be able to enjoy their work in the near future. Perhaps, if the Hugos become more welcoming and less abrasive, I’ll feel differently about those authors. I hate that, but I’m human, and when someone is toxic, my reaction is to avoid them.
On the other hand, there are authors with whom I was unfamiliar who have calmly and politely stated their viewpoints. I’m going to be looking for their books. I also respect authors who have stayed out of the fray.
That’s my outsider take on the whole Hugo brouhaha. No matter what happens–whether the TrueFans decide to drop their animosity and embrace the new members or continue to vilify us–I’ll still be reading and loving the genre.
About John C Wright
John C. Wright is a practicing philosopher, a retired attorney, newspaperman, and newspaper editor, and a published author of science fiction. Once a Houyhnhnm, he was expelled from the august ranks of purely rational beings when he fell in love; but retains an honorary title.
