Sisterhood is powerful, but evidently not as powerful as the lure of litigation.
Feminist law professor Ann Bartow is threatening to sue Zuzu of Feministe for defamation over these two comments in a Feministe thread about online pseudonymity and "outing."
In the offending comments, Zuzu complained that Bartow has been hinting to Zuzu's co-blogger that she had figured out Zuzu's offline identity. Zuzu said she couldn't think of any other way for Bartow to know who she was except through non-public databases:
Ann’s given me crap about being anti-feminist because she disagreed with me, and she’s also let me know, through others, that she knows who I am. I don’t doubt she does, since she has access to information others don’t. But there are other people with my name in New York, two of whom are attorneys and one of whom lives in Brooklyn and, unlike me,is listed.
There's been a lot of stupidity and craziness in the feminist blogosphere lately, but this lawsuit threat takes the cake.
Update: Zuzu's taking an unplanned vacation from Feministe, thanks to Ann's threats of lawsuits and outing. I always assumed that using one's real name contributed to responsible behavior online. It appears I was wrong. Although, since I don't have a control group, I can only wonder what Ann Bartow might do with a pseud. Also, kudos to Atrios for a vigorous defense of Zuzu and the right to pseudonymity. [HT: Shakomako] Here's another excellent defense of the right to remain pseudonymous from sly civilian.
Recent Comments