deadlydinos:

Clarification and reply to follow.

Clarification:

The John Green tweets going around are legit, and date to February 2014. According to Google, this post was a reply to that.

Reply:

Here’s what I have to say:

John, you were wrong. Deeply wrong, and that’s why this is becoming an issue again. People are HORRIFIED at how incredibly wrong you were, myself included.

The tweet that seems to disturb us all most is this one:

fishingboatproceeds: I hope I can be clear about this, but my thoughts all day have been a bit muddled, so I apologize if I express myself poorly or come off as defensive or anything. 1. There are deeply problematic relationship dynamics glorified in Twilight. 2. Criticizing misogyny in art is good and important. 3. My concern is that popular work by women receives far more vitriolic criticism from the public (like, in terms of number of demeaning jokes made by Jay Leno*) than popular work created by men. 4. So I think we’re talking about two different kinds of criticism: The totally legitimate criticism we see in literary journals and feminist web sites about misogyny, and the demeaning and dismissive this-sucks-because-teen-girls-like-it-and-everyone-knows-that-teen-girls-are-not-fully-human criticism we see in popular culture. 5. Also, I would like to see equal attention given to the sexism in popular work by men, from Nicholas Sparks to for instance J. D. Salinger. Catcher in the Rye—although I like it very much—is profoundly and disturbingly misogynistic and yet seems to get a critical pass both online and off. This happens a lot, I think, with books by men, and I don’t want male writers (including me!) to get that pass. 6. I might be wrong about any/all of this. I’m wrong a lot, and always trying to learn. *EDIT: Apparently Jay Leno has retired. You learn something new every day. “Yes, you can read misogynistic gender dynamics into the stories, but tens of millions of people have also proven you don’t HAVE to."

What you said in your Tumblr post is pretty straightforward. But this tweet COMPLETELY contradicts the post. Your tweet attacks people who call out misogynistic gender dynamics in Twilight. It claims that the misogyny in Twilight isn’t real and is imagined in the minds of feminists looking for something to be mad about - this is known as gaslighting, and is an abusive technique.

Yes, you HAVE to read misogynistic gender dynamics into Twilight. If you don’t, you’re missing what is absolutely, indisputably there. It’s integral to the story and inextricably woven into every aspect of the novels. They are disgustingly sexist. So are the people who defend the books and movies.

As a male writer, you should absolutely be calling your fellow men out on their sexism. That’s important and appreciated. But this tweet is directly aimed at women who are calling out sexism in incredibly sexist books.

You were wrong, and you never apologized to the women you took shots at. People are mad, and have every right to be mad. You don’t get to shrug your shoulders and say “well, I was wrong”. This deserves an unequivocal apology.

You’re right that you have a lot to learn. Try to not actively attack women while learning about sexism. It helps.