When a white man encounters racism and fights back

[pyraxis]

or, What not to do when crossing the fourth wall.

Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari, the author of the popular activism blog "A Gay Girl in Damascus", has just admitted that she is really Tom MacMaster, a 40-year-old student in Edinburgh.

The blog recently got major media attention when a family member of Amina reported that her cousin had disappeared near the Abbasid bus station, seized by three young men who were probably members of the Baath Party militia. Gay activists in Syria have been investigating her arrest and attempting to contact her at personal risk to themselves.

"Ever since I was a child, I’ve wanted to write fiction but, when my first attempts met with universal rejection, I took a more serious look at my own work and I realized that I could not write conversation in a natural way nor could I convincingly write characters who weren’t me." Tom wrote in his apology today. "I was involved with numerous online science-fiction/alternate-history discussion lists and, as a part of that process, I saw lots of incredibly ignorant and stupid positions repeated on the Middle East. I noticed that when I, a person with a distinctly Anglo name, made comments on the Middle East, the facts I might present were ignored and I found myself accused of hating America, Jews, etc."

When he was unable to improve his writing using conventional exercises, he invented the Amina persona, who began commenting on the same blogs and mailing lists that Tom was already a part of. Almost immediately, he discovered that Amina's posts provoked friendly reactions, where his own had only provoked hostility. The momentum grew - he created a Facebook page for her, found photos online of a woman who looked like her, created her blog. Amina started getting requests to write articles, which she delivered. She exchanged hundreds of emails with a Canadian woman, developing a romantic relationship. She posted a story about her father's love and protection and it went viral. (A timeline of the events)

Now, Tom MacMaster is frantically and humbly backpedaling, while the pageviews of his blog approach 900,000. Sami Hamwi, the editor of GayMiddleEast.com, wrote, "To Mr. MacMaster, I say shame on you!!! We have to deal with too many difficulties than you can imagine. What you have done has harmed many, put us all in danger, and made us worry about our LGBT activism. Add to that, that it might have caused doubts about the authenticity of our blogs, stories, and us. Your apology is not accepted, since I have myself started to investigate Amina’s arrest. I could have put myself in a grave danger inquiring about a fictitious figure."

I am struck by how similar his story might be to the experience of a member of a multiple system who fought for equal treatment and didn't compromise on their own personality, opinions, and background.

What would the media response have been if, instead of saying "I made it all up," Tom had said, "Yes, I am multiple; Amina is a member of my system"?

It also hilights just now pervasive is the new disenfrancisement that white males believe they face in a world where minority groups are rapidly gaining control of social discourse. "I didn’t mean to hurt the causes which I myself believe in," Tom said. "I only wanted to set forth real information through the use of artfully crafted fiction."

Comments

[myorp.livejournal.com]

see, and the reason it occurred to me first is because we feel very strongly about not hiding who we are from anyone we're interested in romantically. the idea of the girl in damascus being in a relationship with someone is fine, as long as she was open about who she actually was(a "character" made up by the guy in scotland).

for me the definition of "fictional" is a fluid one, and sometimes fiction can be more "real" than things that are called "fact". i think that's ok, and if this fictional person becoming "real" to everyone had been beneficial then it would be a completely different story.

i wonder if part of the reason why people are having such an emotional reaction to this story is because the border between "fact" and "fiction" is being blurred and it makes them uncomfortable. for the activists and people who cared deeply about the issues personally it makes sense, but this story wouldn't have the impact it seems to be having on less-involved people if it didn't strike some basic chord that makes it worth talking about.

~kat

[tigerweave.livejournal.com]

I think you are right about the striking a basic chord in people. To be honest, it just mostly puzzles me, but what I have seen/heard elsewhere suggests people have reacted very strongly negative.

Having written a book or two and edited other people's fiction, I too find that line between fact and fiction very fluid, and indeed I presumed it was true of most writers. As a piece of fiction sounds like his work was outstanding, and doing what we as a society pretty much require of our fiction - it drew people in, opened their eyes, inspired them, made them care about the characters.

[myorp.livejournal.com]

yeah, we actually played with writing a horor-blog in a similar vein. the problem is that it is considered unethical to present fiction as fact unless it is done in a literary style that makes it obvious that it is still fiction like in say dinotopia or dracula or house of leaves.

lots of people are uncomfortable with the idea of fiction and reality overlapping, and i think it's probably mostly from people being very hung-up on the idea of "truth" being a fundamental part of reality that is universal and doesn't vary between people. even people who say "truth is relative" really usually just mean that other people's truths are relative but that theirs is still absolute. i even do that sometimes and i really really know better! i think it's sorta built into the psyche of moder humans and has to do with wanting a solid grounding of reality. until books and "civilization" people didn't have that much at all, and on some level it ties into the "fear of the unknown" that is behind most human fears.

i think writers of fiction and other storytellers(actors, artists, poets, etc.) are the main people who actually try to make use of the fluid nature of reality to benefit humanity, while scientists and other philosophers try to fit reality into boxes so we don't have to be afraid of it. i don't have a problem with science and philosophy, i just think that "modern" society is a bit too caught up in these things and that's why the slightest instability in "truth" often makes people freak-out. at least for some people.

~kat

[tigerweave.livejournal.com]

Interesting thoughts about "truth" and the tolerance for an unstable basis for your reality to be built upon. Coming from a scientific background, the best science historically have come from people who could accept the basis of reality they were taught was Truth, just might not be so.

I think the being too caught up in it is not so much science per se (I know nothing about philosophy so I will take your word on it :-) but about society, and perhaps the interplay of media, science (historically a discipline with very little wider-media savvy) and the general populace who DO tend to think our basis for reality IS stable.

No idea why they feel that way. Or why the interpretation of science generally has led to that belief. Maybe it is how science was taught for a long time - that of "We know everything".

But the best teachers in science I have emphasise the body of knowledge and understanding of the world is always growing and changing, being challenged and disproved or unable to be disproved.

They reveal it to be an exciting and dynamic area of study, not staid and boring and ... kinda finished off. Passe. Nothing else needed to be understood. (BORING!!!)

Your comment " even people who say "truth is relative" really usually just mean that other people's truths are relative but that theirs is still absolute. "
Really cracked me up. So true!!!

What you say about "fear of the unknown" it is kinda the diametric opposite to science as I know it. I remember some dude saying to me "The trick is to learn to be comfortable in your lack of certainty"
So it is really quite ironic that science has come to symbolise a rigid truth of reality.

Regarding writing the horror blog, I think that is why I was drawn to writing fantasy, myself. It is so obviously "fiction" that within it there is a LOT of scope to write truths, and even truths that conflict so long as you can convince the reader to swallow it. That isn't so hard in fantasy or sci-fi because part of the reader "contract" is. "I will suspend belief for this story".

I don't really know enough about horror to intelligently discuss the pros and cons of that style of storytelling, but I do know what you mean about "unethical" to present fiction as fact.