I understand what you’re saying, and I suppose my opinion on whether or not a writer must reveal her identity falls somewhere between yours and Julie’s. If a writer so chooses not to reveal, that is her choice. I will support that, but it will also take away from the credibility of what she says. Without a name and face, I have no way of evaluating whether that writer has experience to say what she is saying. It might be good writing, but then it will be more fiction than factual reporting.

What I mainly disagree with is the idea that we should hide ourselves because of what might happen, particularly when the likelihood of that danger occurring is relatively low. Yes, Kathy Sierra had a real problem, but how many of us don’t? Are we more or less likely to be in a deadly car accident, airplane crash, eat something bad and die of food poisoning?

Yes, some things are truly dangerous. Being the leader of any nation in this world. Trekking through the jungles of Colombia and reporting on FARC. A woman refusing to cover her hair in Iran.

I would never tell anyone what they MUST do based on these dangers, but once we start living our lives based on every danger imaginable, we run the risk of living in a very small world indeed.

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I did hear from James and rather quickly, I might add, but I wanted to take some time and think about her responses before writing about them. At first, I considered posting a follow up interview with her based on what she said, but as of nowe, I have decided not.

After everything, I still feel that this coming-out was more of a carefully orchestrated bid for attention. James’ comments from her first article, to the follow up articles appearing on her website to the e-mails she sent me to her comments on this article all seem to be missing something. Nothing quite adds up and all leave me feeling similarly to how I felt when I first wrote the article.

Of course, when I first wrote I was aggravated and thus the obnoxious tone. I was mainly annoyed that James and her drama took up so much of my time. I feel similarly about the Salahi’s crashing the White House or the piles of reporting on Tiger Woods’ private life. None of this is newsworthy in my opinion, and it distracts from other events and ideas are far more important.

I also wanted to make note that you are the only male to comment in this long discussion. Perhaps that’s the nature of things when the word “feminist” is mentioned, particularly in what has also been called a rant. and I applaud you for being “brave” enough to take part.

Truthfully, men should be part of the debate, because they are clearly part of the way feminism plays out in real life. Just because men haven’t experienced the exact sort of discrimination women do, doesn’t mean they should be silenced.

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Doesn’t bother me at all if folks don’t want to reveal their true names in any media… initially or ever. I read Dr. Seuss (we know his name now, but it wasn’t always that way), I read Primary Colors before Anonymous was revealed, and in newspapers, sources names are often withheld for their protection. (Deep Throat…)

These days, there are many bloggers using pen names to protect their job or their privacy—sometimes obvious because the name is goofy, sometimes not. If their content is superb I’m happy to read them. What kind of accountability should there be for someone who gives me and thousands of readers professional tips and advice for years—and for free? I guess results—and with how many people have improved their business with James’ help… the results are there.

You’re right. We see the subject of keeping one’s name to oneself differently. Thanks for taking a minute to discuss it, though.

Until later,

Kelly

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Thanks for sharing your opinion. We’ll have to agree to disagree. I simply believe that words are too important to not be accountable for… and I believe that whether they’re in a newspaper, in a magazine, in a book, or on a blog. Would you make the same argument you forward here about a newspaper article? There are journalists putting their lives on the line every day–some because of the nature of the issues they’re reporting about, and some because there are “crazy” people who want to silence them. Mexican and Russian journalists, in particular, are frequent victims to this latter category.

Do I think that’s right? ABSOLUTELY, unequivocally not.

I don’t expect the Internet to be a utopia. I don’t believe that such a thing exists.
But I do expect people to be accountable for their words and their opinions. And why we should hold people who write on blogs to any lower standard is beyond me.

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I did read your “reason” for coming out in the original article, but I really don’t understand it… it remains unclear to me what exactly happened and why you felt the need to come out. Was it as some sort of preemptive strike against whatever this other person might disclose about you?

I’m not of the opinion or belief that writing a blog is fundamentally different than any other kind of writing, and yes, I DO believe that writers have a responsibility to back up what they write–what they purport to believe–by being brave enough to attach their name to it.

Of course there’s a risk–though incredibly remote, in my opinion–that some mentally unstable person could track you down (though, not having ever read anything you’ve written before yesterday, I don’t know why anyone dispensing the kind of advice you say you’re sharing would be vulnerable). But I also believe that you, as a writer, have the responsibility to be boundaried enough in the disclosure of your personal information to protect yourself accordingly.

I have a three month old daughter. I write frequently about controversial issues: Americans traveling to Cuba illegally, big oil perpetrating major damage in indigenous communities, that kind of thing. And I would never hide my opinion under a pseudonym because I just feel like there’s something utterly disingenuous about that. Do I want to put myself, my husband, or my daughter at risk? NO. But I also don’t want to teach our daughter that it’s okay to hide what you believe behind a false identity. If you have to do that, then it’s best to keep your opinions to yourself.

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Now, if we’re going to talk trust and transparency, it’s a much stickier issue. I wasn’t saying that James living like this was good – at least I hope I didn’t say that. I was saying I have no idea what it’s like to be in that position. I was saying I know the intention was not to deceive, but to do what needed to be done for the sake of the family. I was saying I’m grateful to not have ever been in that position myself.

I don’t condone deception as a rule, because (as we’ve seen) it can indeed undermine your credibility terribly, even if you deceived in an area that is completely unrelated to the thing that you are credible for (which is to say, she deceived about her gender, a topic that is completely unrelated to her ability to write, which is what she has gained credibility on the web for knowing about).

I’m simply saying that for all the people out there saying she should have done this, she should have done that – well, until you’re in that position, you really just don’t bloody know. Saying “you should” do this is ridiculous. None of us have any idea what “should” happen.

You can absolutely say that you disagree with the choice. That you would make a different one. And that her choice made you think less of her as a person.

But that all women, or even just this one woman, should do what you think she should do? No. I really don’t think so. I think we’re all wise enough to know what we don’t know, and to leave judgment aside.

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or, frankly, anywhere you’d care to google. Her wonderful work was lost to us (I was a faithful fan) because sometimes, the online world is a crazy place.
Literally.

Nobody should have the right to make that choice for James, or the thousands and thousands of men and women who blog under partial names, pen names, or goofy descriptors. Our privacy can sometimes be life-or-death even in the utopia that we wish the Internet would be.

Regards,

Kelly

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I do, however, wholeheartedly agree that the questions you raise, that have been raised here and there earlier in the discussion are interesting and worth exploration.

You interested in writing about it?

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