PC Skepticism vs. Genuine Harassment

John Scalzi, Gamma Rabbit.
John Scalzi, Gamma Rabbit.

I think one of the biggest sources of misunderstanding between conservatives and liberals is the perception of how each approaches issues dealing with minorities. My take is that everyone agrees things like sexism, racism, and homophobia exist, are bad, and should be confronted. But conservatives have a sense that liberals sometimes exaggerate the problems for political gain or just to feel good about having something to crusade against. This skepticism from conservatives–which I admit I share–causes liberals to accuse conservatives of apathy or denialism.

What’s the truth? I don’t know, but the more time I spend following issues of how geeks in particular treat women the more I’m starting to think the problem is deeper than I had realized. John Scalzi (famous sci fi author) covers this issue quite frequently, and here is his latest alarm.

Basically: a creep is cyber-stalking women using Storify, the Storify CEO not only refuses to intervene but also notifies the cyberstalker that he’s being scrutinized, apparently leading to hordes more men piling on the women who were being harassed to begin with. What’s up with this kind of nonsense?