Wikipedia and Rational Wiki's non outing policy on Brianna Wu (aka John Walker Flynt), and why it's stupid
First off, there is a reason this blog post is titled this way: I want to add another Google result for the truth a certain middling male to female transsexual indie game dev with a big mouth and mile long list of lies and bullshit stories is trying to suppress.
My admission of blatant trolling out of the way, now onto the actual subject.
Both Wikipedia and Rational Wiki have entire teams of people suppressing any hint of information about Brianna Wu being born John Walker Flynt, Wikipedia because of their terror of being sued/Biographies of Living Persons policy, and Rational Wiki for similar reasons, not to mention they've taken such a blatant anti-GG stance they don't care to pretend they are neutral, which means this information cannot exist in any form there.
Let me tear apart the reasons they say we should not mention Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Note: I'm primarily addressing the parties who disagree with my feelings here.
1. What a person does not mention about their private life has no business on a wiki article trying to be encyclopedic - Horseshit.
Why? Because this party is a CELEBRITY. They've been on national TV and involved in several news stories, so under US law (which applies to both Wikipedia and RationalWiki), this person's life is in the public domain for scrutiny and thus mentioning this information, especially if it can be proven via a citable source (more on that later), is merely fulfilling the public's right to know about someone who has been harping about feminism as a WOMAN, yet they were BORN MALE.
Given they have based their public persona and current work around this feminism canard, that means the public has a right to see how well this holds up to public scrutiny, and while being a transwoman does not necessarily denigrate that position, it is a fact that cannot be ignored because DNA analysis of Brianna Wu will reveal male DNA, which means Wu's white knights trying to pass Wu off as an actual woman and bury the evidence Wu was born male are peddling lies to the public.
For the record, I have no hatred of women or transexuals, but if Racheal Dolezal had her life's work roasted over the coals for cosplaying as a black woman when she was white, then Wu, being just as much a celebrity as Dolezal, should be subjected to the same scrunity for cosplaying as an actual woman instead of admitting they are a transwoman. Granted, that's obvious to anyone with a brain and eyes, but the fact Wu has tried to cover this up is still a black mark against her integrity, and if she has nothing to hide and wants to have her honesty accepted at face value, then she should come clean about this.
And for that matter, her white knights need to quit distorting information to fit a narrative. I felt this way even before officially becoming pro-Gamergate, so for those who are accusing me of ideological bias, read my earlier posts on this blog before I joined a team if you want to verify that statement.
2. You don't need to "out people" - Again, horseshit.
We already covered this sort of information is available to public commentary and scrutiny above, so don't pull that excuse.
Further, not "out people"?
I got that shit on both wikis, which is basically admitting the information is true and it's being buried on purpose.
3. This information is being suppressed because Wu has been harrassed - Yet again, horseshit.
Wu has made herself a public figure, has shown no intention of leaving the spotlight, and willingly gave up her private life when she became publicly known. Harassment, real or faked, is part of the package, and as Harry Truman said "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen."
If Wu was truly being harassed, coming clean about being a transsexual would be the least item of the list of things Wu could possibly be given grief over. Harassers would probably be better off giving Wu shit over her slipshod game (which is fucking terrible), the hypocrisy that issues from her Twitter almost daily, sometimes with one tweet contradicting the previous one, and the numerous amounts of false flagging and lies about police reports that have been officially proven to have never been filed.
In short, anyone wanting to make Wu's life hell already has several far more juicy targets than the fact Wu was born male, and under American law, it's up to the person being harassed to request protection against harassment, it's not the job of others to be their shield, at least not in a legal sense, unless you work in law enforcement, and even then that's against tangible, proven threats within their power to stop.
4. Breitbart (which broke the story on Wu being born male) is not a reliable source. - BULLSHIT!
Wikipedia still uses it as source on numerous articles or has for the longest time, except when they deem it unacceptable, and since Breitbart has gone against the anti-GG narrative of RationalWiki (enforced most strongly by Ryulong, a guy permanently banished from Wikipedia for that sort of bullshit), it can't be used as a source there either.
Thing is though, I read the article 'The Wacky World of Wu", backchecked the facts, and guess what, they check out, so viable source it is.
That is, unless you have a ideological reason why it isn't, so yeah, I guess I can see why Wikipedia and Rational Wiki want to deny Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
In conclusion, since this is my blog and I'll be damned if some asshole with ideological chip on their shoulder censors my speech, time for a small Google Bomb:
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
And no amount of whitewashing wiki articles will ever change that.
My admission of blatant trolling out of the way, now onto the actual subject.
Both Wikipedia and Rational Wiki have entire teams of people suppressing any hint of information about Brianna Wu being born John Walker Flynt, Wikipedia because of their terror of being sued/Biographies of Living Persons policy, and Rational Wiki for similar reasons, not to mention they've taken such a blatant anti-GG stance they don't care to pretend they are neutral, which means this information cannot exist in any form there.
Let me tear apart the reasons they say we should not mention Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Note: I'm primarily addressing the parties who disagree with my feelings here.
1. What a person does not mention about their private life has no business on a wiki article trying to be encyclopedic - Horseshit.
Why? Because this party is a CELEBRITY. They've been on national TV and involved in several news stories, so under US law (which applies to both Wikipedia and RationalWiki), this person's life is in the public domain for scrutiny and thus mentioning this information, especially if it can be proven via a citable source (more on that later), is merely fulfilling the public's right to know about someone who has been harping about feminism as a WOMAN, yet they were BORN MALE.
Given they have based their public persona and current work around this feminism canard, that means the public has a right to see how well this holds up to public scrutiny, and while being a transwoman does not necessarily denigrate that position, it is a fact that cannot be ignored because DNA analysis of Brianna Wu will reveal male DNA, which means Wu's white knights trying to pass Wu off as an actual woman and bury the evidence Wu was born male are peddling lies to the public.
For the record, I have no hatred of women or transexuals, but if Racheal Dolezal had her life's work roasted over the coals for cosplaying as a black woman when she was white, then Wu, being just as much a celebrity as Dolezal, should be subjected to the same scrunity for cosplaying as an actual woman instead of admitting they are a transwoman. Granted, that's obvious to anyone with a brain and eyes, but the fact Wu has tried to cover this up is still a black mark against her integrity, and if she has nothing to hide and wants to have her honesty accepted at face value, then she should come clean about this.
And for that matter, her white knights need to quit distorting information to fit a narrative. I felt this way even before officially becoming pro-Gamergate, so for those who are accusing me of ideological bias, read my earlier posts on this blog before I joined a team if you want to verify that statement.
2. You don't need to "out people" - Again, horseshit.
We already covered this sort of information is available to public commentary and scrutiny above, so don't pull that excuse.
Further, not "out people"?
I got that shit on both wikis, which is basically admitting the information is true and it's being buried on purpose.
3. This information is being suppressed because Wu has been harrassed - Yet again, horseshit.
Wu has made herself a public figure, has shown no intention of leaving the spotlight, and willingly gave up her private life when she became publicly known. Harassment, real or faked, is part of the package, and as Harry Truman said "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen."
If Wu was truly being harassed, coming clean about being a transsexual would be the least item of the list of things Wu could possibly be given grief over. Harassers would probably be better off giving Wu shit over her slipshod game (which is fucking terrible), the hypocrisy that issues from her Twitter almost daily, sometimes with one tweet contradicting the previous one, and the numerous amounts of false flagging and lies about police reports that have been officially proven to have never been filed.
In short, anyone wanting to make Wu's life hell already has several far more juicy targets than the fact Wu was born male, and under American law, it's up to the person being harassed to request protection against harassment, it's not the job of others to be their shield, at least not in a legal sense, unless you work in law enforcement, and even then that's against tangible, proven threats within their power to stop.
4. Breitbart (which broke the story on Wu being born male) is not a reliable source. - BULLSHIT!
Wikipedia still uses it as source on numerous articles or has for the longest time, except when they deem it unacceptable, and since Breitbart has gone against the anti-GG narrative of RationalWiki (enforced most strongly by Ryulong, a guy permanently banished from Wikipedia for that sort of bullshit), it can't be used as a source there either.
Thing is though, I read the article 'The Wacky World of Wu", backchecked the facts, and guess what, they check out, so viable source it is.
That is, unless you have a ideological reason why it isn't, so yeah, I guess I can see why Wikipedia and Rational Wiki want to deny Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
In conclusion, since this is my blog and I'll be damned if some asshole with ideological chip on their shoulder censors my speech, time for a small Google Bomb:
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
Brianna Wu was born John Walker Flynt.
And no amount of whitewashing wiki articles will ever change that.
QuestionableSanity from ATT here.
ReplyDelete"cosplaying as an actual woman instead of admitting they are a transwoman."
That sort of wording betrays your true feelings on the subject of transsexuality. You seem to not believe in the idea that someone can be born in the wrong body, and that a transwoman is a full, bonafide male before undergoing the series of treatments, which is incorrect; Brianna has always been a woman at heart, even though her body was originally that of a man.
Yes, reporting that Brianna has always physically been a woman is untrue, but it is actually less untrue than stating that she was born as a man. The actual truth, that she has always been a woman but was born in the wrong type of body, is far more complex, and not so easily expressed to a world that, at large, still does not fully understand the concept of transgenderism. The solution that Wikipedia and RationalWiki have adopted is by no means a perfect one, but it is better than the one that you implement.
In any case, while I can believe that you do not hate Brianna Wu for her genderqueer status, the fact remains that you clearly do have a vendetta against her. This may very well be justified, but your opinionated view on the subject shows that you're just as biased as the anti-GG crowd, and just as guilty of compromising the neutrality of reported information on the subject.
Finally, just because someone enters the limelight does not mean that they forfeit the right to be treated as a person. People have the right to have aspects of their past left unreported, so long as those aspects do not involve an unpaid debt, whether financially and to society. To give an example: how would you feel about people using the opinions voiced on this blog to smear the reputation of All The Tropes? (I know the idea certainly unsettles me.)
*whether financially OR to society.
DeleteQS, first off, I appreciate your response, and I'm going to clarify myself:
ReplyDeleteAccording to Wikipedia, Brianna Wu is presented as having been an actual woman all her life. They will not allow even a hint of anything else to be stated even though that is not obviously the case, much like Dolezal tried to suppress the truth about her being born white despite the weak shroud of pretending to be black.What galls me in Wu's case is that Wu is intent on forcing this lie in order to further a feminist agenda when being a feminist does not require it, and such hypocrisy galls me to no end, since the lie is unnecessary, If Wu did everything she did now minus this deception about being born female, I wouldn't even bring the subject of Wu being transgender up.
I don't oppose the self identification of anyone as any gender, as they could choose to identify as a piece of aluminum siding if they want IMO. I merely oppose the hypocrisy inherent in allowing them to bullshit people into believing patently untrue information from sources that should, by their own bylaws, give objective fact.
As for my feelings on trans-sexuality, on an emotional level, I entirely agree with you. On a scientific level, DNA does not lie, unless you are legitimately intersex and have both male and female genetic markers, in which case you truly do exist in a twilight state between both genders at the genetic level, otherwise, all HRT and sex reassignment surgery does is allow your body to cosmetically resemble your mental identity, which I support the right of anyone to pursue, but I'm not going to call it anything other than what it is, though as a courtesy I honor the right of a transgender person to be called by their preferred pronouns.
As for having a bias, you are correct, I chose to side with the pro-GG side, but only after a very long time of trying to remain neutral and being galled by the hypocrisy of numerous members of the anti--GG side spewing all sorts of falsehoods they wanted the public to swallow as truth. I do not deny my objectivity is in question, and I welcome your candor in telling me I may need to make sure I don't become a monster while trying to fight them, thanks for the reality check.
I entirely agree Wu has the right to be regarded as a person, I agree, but when they lie to the public, they deserve to be exposed for lying, especially since they are at a level of celebrity where their lies have influence over public opinion, and I don't apologize for that stance.
Finally, I have stated multiple times this blog is my own personal opinion, and does not reflect my views in a professional capacity, and I try very hard to keep my personal views out of my professional areas of influence, and if people want to attack me personally for what I've said here, they have at me all they wish, and I have publicly promised to recuse myself or abstain from making decisions in a professional capacity if my bias compromises my judgment, and if I do so, I ask for and expect to be called out, and to which I promise to respond appropriately.
I can understand and respect this.
DeletePersonally, I don't see the point in transsexuality. Can't people just cope with being transvestites instead of rendering their reproductive system a useless piece of constant pain?
ReplyDelete