Neil Gaiman accused of sexual assault

[WandsOut]

www.yahoo.com/entertainment/sandman-writer-neil-gaiman-denies-142813982.html

Story still unfolding in the news

I saw a clip of Ed Sheeran saying, "If I wasn't a musician, I'd be a virgin." I don't think he's a creep at all, but it's a good example of how a lot of men seem to think - being rich or famous will "get them girls". Obviously there's a wide range there of guys who are hoping to meet one lovely person and think that being able to play guitar will do that, and men who see access to women and girls as part of their salary and bonuses.

The thing is they're not wrong. And once they get to a certain level of fame and fortune people will, er, supply them with companions to curry favor.

Well there's an element of truth to it, too. I mean, it is attractive when people have talents and most of us would rather have a solvent partner than a cocklodger. So I get that is powerful motivation for young men to make something of themselves. But at the other extreme you have the creeps like gaiman who use their talents and their fame to abuse others. And you're right, it's part of the "system" and it's not at all uncommon.

I think if you think of humans as amazing minds in monkey bodies this makes sense.

the monkey body wants fertile young people to have sex with.

in some humans the mind is thinking about whether the other person actually wants to have sex with you, considering the future, will this person actually be interesting to talk to, how will they feel afterwards etc.

I like to think that listening to what your mind (Terry Pratchett called it 'second thoughts') and your conscience are telling you is important. Men (and it is mostly men I think) who behave like Gaiman do not I suppose.

Humans are a great ape species like chimps, bonobos, orangs and gorillas. They are not a monkey species.

fair enough. chimp body then, or animal body. it was a metaphor. I am not actually suggesting that you are hairy and have a tail, for the full avoidance of doubt.

Well I don’t have a tail….
Hair is getting a bit out of hand though. Hairdresser is very much on the to do list - and I have no idea what’s going on with my chin!

I think Gaiman listened to his second thoughts. He knew what he was doing was wrong otherwise he wouldn’t have picked on women who he had power over. Those thoughts and how he was getting away with it was what was so exciting to him.

Yeah, I don't think it was the chimp brain at work here. Heterosexual men have to work to attract women (which is why they're often jealous of the gay male hookup culture) and will use whatever marginal advantage they might have to get laid - be it looks, money, fame, good comic timing.

There's no point complaining about this. It's how the game is played.

Someone like Gaiman who's got lots of advantages and could easily attract women, but who deliberately goes after much younger women with vulnerabilities - that's quite different. And we know the type.

Agreed.

Gaiman’s Wikipedia page now includes this:

In 2024, five women accused Gaiman of sexual assault and abuse, with one accusation dating back to 1986. He has denied all the accusations.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Gaiman

I call it the northern migration of hair post-menopause.

And still...

Chimps eat their own shit and cannibalise their own children. Most men manage not to do that. There's no reason why they can't manage not to rape. It's not some deeply-rooted, instinctive urge. They choose to. They know exactly what they're doing.

Hell and damnation, I'm reading an urban fantasy novel series at the moment, (it's been ok up till now although lacking the humour I was promised), guess who's just popped up as a mild-mannered, likeable character? On closer inspection the books' author has written for Doctor Who.

FFS. British fantasy is so bloody incestuous. No wonder everything's gone quiet, they're all his chums.

Can you say the book titles and authors' names, please?

The Shadow Police series by Paul Cornell. The first one, London Falling, was ok but some themes that I'm not particularly comfortable with. The second one is The Severed Streets, that's where NG pops up. Quite an unwelcome surprise.

Sorry, wasn't sure if anyone would be interested, the books are really only ok IMO.

Oh, Paul Cornell! Definitely an incestuous crowd.

I do like a bit of urban fantasy, but most of my favourite authors in the genre are North American women. I find that with British male authors, they're invariably big mates with Russell T Davies, and usually Neil Gaiman as well.

Did my first real 'overt' act today in a publisher meeting... Made it clear that we would no longer be stocking, promoting or supporting any of his books in any of our events. It was received pretty well. I suspect everyone knows he's no longer the money train he once was...

Agree with this - certainly not for this moderator to say. Also to be 'critical' of how Tortoise presented the story shows the difference between old and new media for sure. Critical of what, the corroborated first hand accounts, thorough investigation passed through a legal team, understanding of media law and endless right to reply offered to NG and AP through multiple channels... or does the mod mean he doesn't like it because terf, Boris, hurty feels etc etc?

I think they got pulled up on that later somewhere, and there's certainly another thread on there where they strongly disagreed with that whole moderation issue and are collecting evidence and keeping the record of his abuses going. (Although it does make me laugh that they stipulate "no sexism" and then "no TERFs" which is... yeah, well. Not-quite-getting-it Redditors for you.)

But am heartened to see that actually so many on there, addled as they may be by other abuse-adjacent ideologies, are NOT remotely prepared to let Gaiman get away with it. And that has to be a good thing.

that is brilliant. I suspect that it was a relief for many - no one seems to know quite what to do with this one in the current environment and someone saying THIS is what we're doing would have snapped everyone out of their dithering. Because it's the right thing to do with an abusive writer who preys on women. If that isn't completely bloody obvious.

Good for you. I would hope more people with influence will follow suit.

@hihelenhi "abuse-adjacent ideologies" is a really helpful way to think about some of these ideas.
I was going to say, alternative culture ideas, but I don't think it's been called that since the 90s.

That's definitely encouraging hihelenhi. I suppose the mod was trying to hedge their bets on an outcome and/ or wasn't quite prepared for the complexities it has thrown up.