Modes of Shaming
By Choire Sicha’s review of Jon Ronson is a beautiful piece of writing. Particularly crucial:
Public shamings are often described in this book in terms of physical violence. Tweeters are “a pitchfork mob,” according to Michael Moynihan, who unmasked Lehrer; according to Ronson, they are both “the hanging judge” and “the people in the lithographs being ribald at whippings.” Enough “stabbing,” Moynihan says of the people attacking Lehrer: “HE’S DEAD.” It’s not just Lehrer, either. Twitter users have “taken a lot of scalps,” Ronson writes. “We were soldiers making war on other people’s flaws.”
It so happens that I have been ganged up on online, and I have also been beaten up by actual gangs of men on the street. The actual beating is — surprise! — exponentially worse. Eliding any difference between words and deeds may seem natural to a non-American like Ronson (many European nations have laws against hate speech), but it makes the continuing argument in this country about how to handle offensive language more challenging.
Jonah Lehrer isn’t actually annihilated, dead or even particularly injured. Not even a year after his alleged digital murder, he sold a book about love and mistakes, and while that one’s awaiting publication he has a co-authored book coming out this September. He is still only 33 years old, still represented by Andrew Wylie. Mike Daisey? Just completed a fresh run of evenings at Joe’s Pub! Jim McGreevey? Graduated from the General Theological Seminary, doin’ great. And Justine Sacco? Eh. . . .
What are the actual stakes of shaming? Lurking and somewhat underdocumented in the tales gathered here is the fact that as agonizing as these experiences are, men often survive them just fine.
Jonah Lehrer, despite being exposed as a third-rater and a fraud, keeps getting book contracts. Adria Richards, who noted some inappropriate behavior at a conference online, faces ongoing threats and had her career ruined. The distinction seems rather important.