Rhetoric 101

My google reader is a little thin today, thanks to unsubscribing from two sites that I have read regularly for a long time.

One site is a feminist blog that I used to love because they took a pretty broad-minded approach to issues, and had a much more casual tone than many (academic, boring, extreme) feminists blogs. The contributors always brought to my attention issues that were overlooked in the news, which I felt were worth knowing. And I appreciated the varying perspectives from different posters. And commenters. But, lately, it seems to me they've lost the forest for the trees. The site seems so angry. And uncompromising. And unwilling to give anyone the benefit of the doubt. I don't want to mention the site specifically, because they have a large following of younger feminists, and I think its a good way for those women to be exposed to a less academic viewpoint of feminism. But, between the recent zionist-leaning posts, racism-accusations, and general navel-gazing that's been going on over there. I. JUST. CANT. TAKE. IT. ANYMORE.

It's interesting, because right after I cancelled my RSS feed to that blog, I saw a twitter update from @marionnestle about the sniping tone that many commenters have taken on her site recently. She was talking specifically about the response from raw milk enthusiasts to her support for S. 510, a new piece of legislation which aims to regulate raw milk producers. Whether or not you think people should be allowed to drink raw milk, I think her post is worth reading, as it has more to do with the fact that impassioned people (on any side) can often derail a legitimate and productive debate by crossing the line into hate-filled, over-the-top, personal attacks. When did we forget how to debate in this country? When did everyone start taking things so seriously... and personally?

As a person who loves to debate, and who does so in a loud fashion, I am particularly aware of this. I try to never cross the line (but I am not perfect, and have been guilty of doing so), as I want my ideas to be heard. And when people start yelling, the funny thing is, other people usually stop listening. But the Tea Baggers, and the GOP supporters, and, YES, even progressives, are all guilty of shifting from political debate to crazy personal attacks. It's no longer a conversation of diverging viewpoints in this country, its seems to have become an all-out war.

And I don't know the solution. Maybe everyone should be forced to take an introductory class in rhetoric. There is a way to argue, and it can even involve impassioned speech. But there is no reason for it ever to become personal. If you disagree with my viewpoints, fine by me. I would love to understand why. I would not love you to tell me that I am going to hell for believing the things I do. That, my friends, is not productive.

The other site I unsubscribed to was for very different reasons. But, it also had to do with tone. I've had a love/hate relationship with Gawker.com for many years. It used to be a NYC-based media gossip site covering magazine publishing, newspapers, books, and the revolving doors at said publications. As someone who dreamed of becoming part of the NYC media elite but was stuck in a boring job in rural California, that site was manna from heaven. Seven years later, my world has changed, and so has Gawker's. I am no longer stuck in a dead-end job, and have found a home among the Boston publishing world, and meanwhile Gawker has become a catch-all site for celebrity gossip with a tiny amount of NYC-based publishing news thrown in for old time's sake. But the snark factor, which was always high, has soared to new heights recently. And today, the thing that set me off: a blind item calling out "which tween starlet has herpes?" WTF? This is what makes for a blog post these days? Jesus christ. I don't want to know. I don't want to know that other people want to know. Cue 107 comments from assholes in their mom's basements tossing around every tween (which, btw, means 11-13 year old) starlet name they can thing of, slagging them wrongfully in the process, let alone the poor girl that actually has it (if she even does... anonymous tips are oh, so reliable). I mean JESUS. I hope you are fucking proud of yourself Nick Denton.

The sad thing is, Gawker actually has done some rather journalisty reporting, and used to be a great source for publishing/media news. They often broke stories far sooner than traditional news outlets about closings, sales, layoffs, mergers, etc. But lately its all Jersey Shore, blind items, and hateful commenter vitriol. All things I can do without.

So, goodbye Gawker. Goodbye un-named feminist blog. A bit less hate in my life is fine with me. Maybe someday we will all learn to entertain and inform without resorting to the spiteful, base snark that seems to pass as news these days.