From: adolphso@mizar.usc.edu (adolphson)
Newsgroups: soc.motss
Subject: Re: Publicity
Date: 9 Sep 1992 13:21:00 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: mizar.usc.edu

In article <72209@apple.Apple.COM>
mattm@Apple.COM (Matthew Melmon) appears just
not to have understood the point I was trying
to make when I donned my big brother outfit and
gave him some advice.  I wrote:

> >Listen, Melmon, why don't you give it a rest?  You've got everyone's
> >attention already.  Relax.  Grow into your net.persona instead of
> >trying so hard.  

That was in response to Mel's repeated, forced, and only 
partially successful attempts to play the bitchy queen.  My
impression is that Mel thinks the way to launch a high profile
career on soc.motss is to come on like gangbusters from the
word go.  It really doesn't work that way, particularly when
the persona that one adopts -- when one adopts a persona, that 
is -- isn't particularly original.  

> >Quite frankly, I could do without the "Nazi war-
> >crimnal" wisecracks, and the fact that you're a Reaganista *is* 
> >awfully hard to overlook, but it's clear you've got some brains and 
> >perhaps even some taste.  If you keep going like this you're going
> >to alienate *everyone*, and then you'll just be ignored.  Is that 
> >what you want?

I mention it only because Mel seems not to have noticed, but 
it is the *tone* of his posts that I was concerned with.  Mel
thinks otherwise:

> While I would not go so far as to claim there is some sinister cabal
> out there dictating an acceptable 'Party Line' - this newsgroup *is*
> basically one big, inbred family.  Everything is so convenient.  There
> are all these *evil* people out there bent on the destruction of 
> the homosexual community, and the only thing stopping them are the
> True Faggots of soc.motss.  

For god's sake, Melmac, what are you talking about?  Soc.motss is
like a big, inbred family in that there are dozens of arguments
going on at once, with lots of hostility and long-simmering 
resentments to spare.  But we *do* circle the wagons when we're 
under attack, as most families do.  (To be honest, though, there
*are* a few motss.regulars I'd like to see tomahawked.)

> True Faggots suffer where no one asked them
> to, then turn around and expect applause from those of us who have
> somehow managed to peacefully co-exist with the Establishment.  Even
> become comfortable.  Hob-nob with the corporate elite.  Etc.  

Oy.

> If the
> applause from our sector is not loud enough, we, the False Faggots, 
> are repressed, self-hating 'homophobes' (a really stupid word - just
> what the fuck are the homophobes afraid of in the first place?).

Oy.

> True Faggots are learned in the proud histories of our community,
> know from whence the *snap*, what the flags all mean, and various
> sundry things I *don't* know, so can't very well write down.  

Some motss.regulars know *lots* of stuff like this.  Some don't.
Some care about stuff like this.  Some don't.  This is a problem?

> True
> Faggots react with shock and horror at the thought of someone *not*
> finding red lipstick, high heel pumps, sparkles in hair, curvey,
> floppy walks, screams of delight at the opening of a door, etc.
> *attractive*  Again, such a person is *obviously* a self-hating,
> internalized homophobe, and probably a raging bigot to boot.

I'm convinced that you Sargon and Big Al know very well that
this is a canard, yet you gain some perverse pleasure in repeating
it over and over.  Whether you and Sargon and Big Al find something
*attractive* or not is not the issue.  It never has been the issue.  

> Perhaps it has not occured to you that alienating the True Faggot
> community does not weigh too heavily upon my soul.  Besides, I'm
> doing you a favor.  You need nasty villains to point your fingers
> at, lest you degenerate into a bickering, in-fighting mass of
> confusion.  Or even worse, a giant support group, patting each other
> on the back, oohing and ahhhing over every little post till the
> cows come home.  The True Faggots have been remarkably unified these
> past weeks.  You should be thanking Mr. Sarver and me.

You know, doll, soc.motss was even more rancorous last year at
this time, *long* before you and Sargon jumped in to provide a 
little entertainment.  And I think you don't appreciate the fact 
that you're starting to come across as a monumentally boring pest.
Enemies are taken seriously and fought tooth and nail.  Pests are 
swatted aside.

Arne