tzikeh: (prisoner - clue - stupidity - incredulit)
[personal profile] tzikeh

Hey, remember SurveyFail, that perfect storm of arrogance and stupidity from a couple of pseudo-researchers who were going to use sexually explicit fanfic to prove that -- um. In their own words, "We're deeply interested in broad-based behavioral data that involves romantic or erotic cognition and evinces a clear distinction between men and women. Fan fiction matches this criteria perfectly."

In fandom's own words: FAIL. SO, SO MUCH FAIL.

Well, the book is still being published, although the title has been changed from "Rule 34: What Netporn Teaches Us about the Brain" to A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the World's Largest Experiment Reveals about Human Desire. It will be released this May, but it already has an Amazon page for preorders, of course.

And the page has had some tags added to it. A few examples: "mansplaining," "pseudoscience," "biased heterosexist and wrong," "who needs peer review?"

I think we could bump those tag numbers lots higher, don't you? Go on, you know you wanna.

(Post copied pretty much entirely from [livejournal.com profile] the_shoshanna. Please take the post, whole or in part, and post it to your lj or dw if you're of a mind to. Or you can just link people here, or to shoshanna, with an explanation if you like.)

ETA: Check out the "people who viewed this book also viewed" section, then click those books! Oh, and then go to this one. We need to add that to the display. :D

EATA: Someone posted a discussion thread at the book's main Amazon page that's chock-full of links to blogs, journals, and other websites of reputable scientists, all refuting (if not outright rolling their eyes at) the methodology and "science" in this book.

Date: 2011-02-14 07:30 pm (UTC)
ext_281: (Default)
From: [identity profile] the-shoshanna.livejournal.com
A dozen more people have tagged it "mansplaining" just since I posted!

Date: 2011-02-14 07:34 pm (UTC)

Date: 2011-02-14 07:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tzikeh.livejournal.com
there are now two pages of tags.

I added the tag "Boston University review board removed BU's imprimatur."

Date: 2011-02-14 07:52 pm (UTC)
ext_281: (Default)
From: [identity profile] the-shoshanna.livejournal.com
what, "disclaimed by boston university" too plebian for you?

*g*

(Personally, I'm fond of "the authors can't get dates".)

Date: 2011-02-14 07:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tzikeh.livejournal.com
I like the word "imprimatur." It makes me sound ALL KNOWLEDGEABLE. Just as writing a book like this would.

Can we post reviews of books on Amazon before they come out? Because they would be just as accurate (if not moreso) than the book itself.

Date: 2011-02-14 07:58 pm (UTC)
ext_281: (Default)
From: [identity profile] the-shoshanna.livejournal.com
I dunno; I've never even tagged something on Amazon before today. But there's always the related discussions page, I guess!

Date: 2011-02-14 08:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tzikeh.livejournal.com
Have you seen the product description? That's where the authors write their own blurb, basically. It's killing me.
Two maverick neuroscientists use the world's largest psychology experiment-the Internet-to study the private activities of millions of men and women around the world, unveiling a revolutionary and shocking new vision of human desire that overturns conventional thinking.


Revolutionary and shocking? Hm... here are some examples of this "revolutionary and shocking" vision:

•The male sexual brain resembles a reckless hunter, while the female sexual brain resembles a cautious detective agency.

NO! YOU DON'T SAY!

•Men and women have hardwired sexual cues analogous to our hardwired tastes-there are sexual versions of sweet, sour, salty, savory, and bitter. But men and women are wired with different sets of cues.

GET OUT OF TOWN!

•Men form their sexual interests during adolescence and rarely change. Women's sexual interests are plastic and change frequently.

#1 - SAY IT AIN'T SO!
#2 - I THINK YOU MEANT "ELASTIC," NOT "PLASTIC!"

Date: 2011-02-14 08:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mirandir.livejournal.com
Wait, they actually referred to themselves as "maverick?" Really?

Date: 2011-02-14 08:09 pm (UTC)
ext_281: (Default)
From: [identity profile] the-shoshanna.livejournal.com
No, um, actually, and much as it pains me to admit it in this context, "plastic" is correct there: "capable of being shaped or formed; malleable" is the word's primary meaning as an adjective.

But...

•Women enjoy writing and sharing erotic stories with other women. The fastest growing genre of erotic stories for women are stories about two heterosexual men having sex.

GET OFF MY FUCKING INTERNET, CHUMPS.

Date: 2011-02-14 08:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tzikeh.livejournal.com
I know, right?

Date: 2011-02-14 08:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tzikeh.livejournal.com
I concede plastic.

But I beg you to go to the page, and then go here, so we can add that book to the "also viewed" section full of books on bullshit. ;)

Date: 2011-02-14 08:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mirandir.livejournal.com
Can we find two Iceman neuroscientists to shoot them down and/or have sex with them?

Date: 2011-02-14 08:16 pm (UTC)
ext_281: (Default)
From: [identity profile] the-shoshanna.livejournal.com
ETA: Check out the "people who viewed this book also viewed" section, then click those books! Oh, and then go to this one. We need to add that to the display. :D

Oh, that is brilliant. *copypastes*

Date: 2011-02-14 08:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tzikeh.livejournal.com
Have you seen the latest tags, just added?

fantasies of cis het men(1)

science fiction fantasy(1)

taking credit for the internet(1)

your sample population hates you now(5)

Date: 2011-02-14 10:23 pm (UTC)
ext_6848: (Default)
From: [identity profile] klia.livejournal.com
*dies laughing at all the new tags*

Date: 2011-02-14 10:58 pm (UTC)
ext_12181: (Default)
From: [identity profile] ecaterin.livejournal.com
*bumps tags*

Date: 2011-02-14 11:29 pm (UTC)
ext_12181: (Default)
From: [identity profile] ecaterin.livejournal.com
Oh man, I have to go back and hit taking credit for the internet cause - too perfect!

Date: 2011-02-14 11:53 pm (UTC)
ext_9141: (Default)
From: [identity profile] suaine.livejournal.com
Oh, I'd been wondering what happened to that book. Why do I feel embarrassed for them and at the same time still want to punch them in the face? I think my inner scientist is just facepalming now.

Date: 2011-02-15 12:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] isabeau.livejournal.com
72 tags now. Did my bit for the greater good of humanity :D

Date: 2011-02-15 01:49 am (UTC)
luminosity: (Default)
From: [personal profile] luminosity
"Maverick" is *so* 2008.

Date: 2011-02-15 03:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jackiekjono.livejournal.com
2000 late even

Date: 2011-02-15 05:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
Taking credit for the Internet was mine. I just... my blood boils at that fucking subhead. That the biggest experiment is the actual Intertubes, and they're fucking making it sound like it's their experiment. I just.

Date: 2011-02-15 06:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] melodyunity.livejournal.com
Women enjoy writing and sharing erotic stories with other women. The fastest growing genre of erotic stories for women are stories about two heterosexual men having sex.

What is with these guys insisting that slash is about heterosexual men? I just...I don't get it.

Date: 2011-02-18 06:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] xenacryst.livejournal.com
Oygevalt, Steven Pinker thinks this shit is worthwhile? There went all my respect for the guy. Should stick to linguistics where he might have a fraction of a clue and nobody really cares if he's wrong.

What pisses me off, even more than the surveyfail methodology, really, is how utterly sexist and, well, downright incorrect their findings are. I just ... I have no words for how angry this makes me.

Date: 2011-02-18 06:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tzikeh.livejournal.com
What pisses me off, even more than the surveyfail methodology, really, is how utterly sexist and, well, downright incorrect their findings are. I just ... I have no words for how angry this makes me.

I hear you, believe me.

Date: 2011-02-18 06:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tzikeh.livejournal.com
They're stupid, prejudiced, and wrong?

Date: 2011-02-18 06:12 pm (UTC)
ext_6848: (Default)
From: [identity profile] klia.livejournal.com
Because heterosexual men arrogantly think everything is about them?

Date: 2011-02-21 05:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rednwhiterose.livejournal.com
For the win!

Date: 2011-02-21 05:19 pm (UTC)
drunkoffthestars: (Default)
From: [personal profile] drunkoffthestars
I think the 'heterosexual' qualifier was brought up in their early discussions of slash fandom by one of their early contacts as a historical note. They completely failed to understand that it is no longer present in most fans definition of slash. I was surprised to learn that it used to be part of the slash definition, but glad we seem to have dropped it at this point.

Date: 2011-02-21 05:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tzikeh.livejournal.com
I was surprised to learn that it used to be part of the slash definition, but glad we seem to have dropped it at this point.

I take issue with your phrasing here. It didn't *used* to be part of the definition of slash; it *was* the definition of slash. It has since evolved thanks to to the changing social understanding of, and moral/ethical/legal issues regarding, homosexuality. But the origins of slash were about heterosexuality, not queerness. So, let's not go waving away the entire history and all of the women (many of whom are right here, thank you) who created and built slash fiction close to 40 years ago so that you could have your swipe at them today.

Date: 2011-02-21 05:48 pm (UTC)
ext_281: (Default)
From: [identity profile] the-shoshanna.livejournal.com
Bear in mind that at the time slash was invented, there were no canonically non-heterosexual characters on television. Nobody even envisioned such a thing. Slash was by definition about heterosexual men because television was by definition about heterosexual men. And the ur-narrative of slash was the story of two straight men discovering love and lust for each other, the story of their love and attraction overwhelming and transcending even their prior self-images and sexual orientation.

Date: 2011-02-21 05:54 pm (UTC)
drunkoffthestars: (Default)
From: [personal profile] drunkoffthestars
I'm sorry I was unclear in my phrasing. That is what I was attempting to convey in fewer words than were obviously required. Sorry!

Date: 2011-02-21 05:55 pm (UTC)
drunkoffthestars: (Default)
From: [personal profile] drunkoffthestars
yup, pretty much. It is a concept I find somewhat foreign, as I am a slash fan of a more recent vintage.

Date: 2011-02-21 06:21 pm (UTC)
ext_6848: (Default)
From: [identity profile] klia.livejournal.com
Things haven't actually changed all that much in the past 40-45 years. Thankfully, there are a number of canonically LGBT characters in the media today, but they're still not very common. Most of the popular slash fandoms still involve canonically heterosexual men, because regardless of how viewers interpret the characters' words, feelings, and actions, they're still shown (or talking about) having sex with women.

Date: 2011-02-21 06:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bkwyrm.livejournal.com
MY SEXUAL INTERESTS ARE PLASTIC.
This explains so much. Women are plasticsexual.

Date: 2011-02-21 06:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tzikeh.livejournal.com
Women are plasticsexual.

Barbie: Giant tits included. Womb sold separately (property of Mattel).

Date: 2011-02-21 07:14 pm (UTC)
ext_14783: girl underwater (Default)
From: [identity profile] lavinialavender.livejournal.com
I love this. FANDOM WILL NOT FORGET YOU. These guys are going to be trolled for the rest of their lives...

Date: 2011-02-21 08:17 pm (UTC)
drunkoffthestars: (Default)
From: [personal profile] drunkoffthestars
eh, I think it really depends on perspective and what corner of fanishness you inhabit. You are absolutely correct in that for the most part, creators intend their characters to be perceived as only heterosexual, but I think there is a lot of room for alternate interpretations that move away from the default heterosexual paradigm and authorial intent.

Date: 2011-02-22 12:59 am (UTC)
ext_6848: (Default)
From: [identity profile] klia.livejournal.com
But that's always been the definition of slash: alternate perspective, perception, and interpretation of default heterosexual paradigm/authorial intent. I think the difference now is that writers/TPTB are, for the most part, aware of slash, and while some even openly acknowledge it in canon (like SPN), very few characters are allowed to actually *be* LGBT in canon.

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