the combined idiocy of the human race (yes, me included) could power a supernova. i am just saying

[edenfalling]

A PM I got on ff.net tonight:

Name: [redacted]
--------------------

Subject: Hi

Hi.

I don't suppose you would help me re-write, edit and polish my story Prom Date?

It's about a teenage boy looking for a date for the prom who has the
misfortune to encounter The Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday and gets sold a magical item that turns _him_ into the one being taken to the Prom dance i.e. a girl.

I'm sorry if i upset you by asking this.

Some of the things in Prom Date may not come across right. For example I was trying to convey the horror that a teenage boy would feel at being magically forced to put on things like a bra and spray themselves with perfume.

I'm a boy so i don't know what a girl wears to Prom or does to prepare for it so I based that part on stereotypical stories I'd heard. I could use the help of anyone

--------------------

...Is there something on my ff.net profile that makes people think I am open to random strangers asking me for advice on a story that enforces offensive ideas about stereotypical gender roles, just because I happen to be female and from America? Because ewww.

No. No, I will NOT help you rewrite, edit, or polish (in any sense of the word!) your story. No, I do not believe you are sorry for upsetting me. And for your information, bras are not, in fact, magically required for performing femininity in public, and I have never worn perfume in my entire 30 years of life as a girl and woman.

Go away and never talk to me again.

x-x-x-x-x

ETA: I sent him a very angry response, which I am now feeling embarrassed about. (Hence the edited subject line.) I could easily have been less harsh, but I've had a long week and I've been overdosing on articles about sexist media coverage of female Olympians, so I am I really not in the mood to suffer this kind of fool tonight.

...

Which just means I should have waited until tomorrow. *headdesk*

Comments

[cherokee1.livejournal.com]

Wow. That sounds like no fun.
You seem to be an awesome person, and that does come through in your writing,
but nothing on your profile or stories tells of being willing to mentor or be insulted by
(I'm guessing) a tweenie boy.
I only just clued into the inappropriate coverage of the olympics this week.
With no tv, and being flooded with images via Yahoo, I have been avoiding
the whole thing.
Would it make me angry? Cause I have no interest in that.
Hope your weekend is marvelous!
C

[edenfalling]

I dunno, I didn't watch the Olympics myself, but while websurfing for other things I kept running across articles decrying the presenters' (or random Twitter users') focus on, say, a gymnast's hair instead of her amazing floor routine, and I read the articles out of morbid curiosity and then spent a while wondering how we have had a women's rights movement since at least Seneca Falls and the Declaration of Sentiments and yet we are still drowning in this bullshit. :-(

My last weekend was kind of blehh, but this one has been much better, both in terms of my mood and my productivity!