An Apology to Jon Finkel

Susan Arendt

Nerd Queen
Jan 9, 2007
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An Apology to Jon Finkel

By now, you've probably heard all about Jon Finkel's mocking him on Gizmodo [http://gizmodo.com/5833787/my-brief-okcupid-affair-with-a-world-champion-magic-the-gathering-player]. Not because he was a jerk, or rude, or creepy, but rather because he played Magic: The Gathering, which clearly rendered him undateable.

Now, Alyssa is perfectly entitled to date men based on whatever criteria she likes. Some of us would be impressed by Finkel's vast success in MTG competitions - he was, at one point, World Champion - and being the best in the world at something is pretty damn impressive. But it's ok if Alyssa thinks playing card games is a waste of time; again, it's her love life, and she can conduct it however she likes.

Except.

Except humiliating someone by name online to make yourself seem cool is disgusting, unfair, and mean. To do it for fun and profit, as the original closing line of her article suggests [http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/08/my-okcupid-affair-with-a-world-champion-magic-the-gathering-player], is worse. And to do it simply because your date - who, according to your own words is otherwise a perfectly decent person - committed a crime no greater than being passionate about something you don't personally give a damn about, is unforgivable.

By all accounts, Finkel is handling the entire affair with grace and poise, laughing off Berenzak's poorly-written blog post and generally getting on with his life. And Gawker is certainly no stranger to "nerd baiting," [http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2011/08/30/the-science-of-gawkers-nerd-baiting/] the practice of writing purposefully inflammatory posts simply to get web traffic, so Bereznak likely sees this entire uproar as a boon. Finkel will get plenty of attention, all positive, Bereznak will go on to write other, equally pointless posts, and the world will continue spinning on its axis. So why make any more of a fuss about it?

Because if the positions had been reversed, and a man had written a similarly snarky post claiming that a woman should put a "fondness for knitting" on her profile to prevent accidentally going out with her, the female community would be in an uproar - and rightly so. But if we're going to point out when men behave like jerks, it behooves us to do the same when women do it.

Alyssa Bereznak is a jerk. I don't care if you're trying to earn a living, I don't care if you get paid based on traffic, and I don't care if the thought of tapping land makes you wake up screaming in the middle of the night. There are some things that you simply don't do as a decent human being.

So on behalf of women everywhere, we Ladies of Nerdland would like to apologize to Jon Finkel for Alyssa's bad behavior. Hers is exactly the kind of behavior we despise, the kind that lives up to the mean girl stereotype. She probably won't have enough class to be ashamed of how shabbily she treated you, so we will be ashamed for her. And, also, of her.

Sincerely (names collected via Twitter),

@SusanArendt, @CrowChick, @inkycats, @trixie360, @sarahthebeef, @Hertzey, @Kathleen_Lrr, @kweenie, @RaeBeta, @Stephanieschopp, @Joygirl007, @Stefaniefogel, @nosolemoo, @HMarieYoung, @kjaphet, @EeveeHearts, @SigmaMorrigan, @s0osleepie, @lkhiggi, @ouroboring, @yuki_hime, @TallysTreasury, @caeliat, @Kitty11Chan, @conventioneerin, @AngelBlackChaos, @april_marie, @cavaticat, @Phantomess, @safaiagem, @Yureina

[Update: Added artwork from @CrowChick]

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Baby Tea

Just Ask Frankie
Sep 18, 2008
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HEAR HEAR, SUSAN!
Fight both the jerks, and the double standards in one fantastic, classy post!
I love you Susan. You're fantastic.
 

Fiz_The_Toaster

books, Books, BOOKS
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Jan 19, 2011
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Seriously, a huge apology to Mr. Finkel because what that woman did was not only rude, but dirty.

Way to make all of us women look bad there lady, hope ya feel proud of yourself.

I'm glad that he's laughing this all off and not taking it too personally, shows you who the better person is, doesn't it?
 

Halcyone3

New member
Mar 4, 2011
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Mature responses to immaturity.... in the internet

mind = blown

Good job girls, it's always refreshing to see things like this.
 

The Rogue Wolf

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It's nice of you to apologize, but in all honesty... why should you have to? By now it's plainly obvious to all what sort of woman Alyssa Bereznak is, and this fine demonstration of her (sorely lacking) class and style have ensured that the future will bring her "men" as shallow and self-serving as she is. The universe has this funny way of evening things out.

[small]Besides, nerd girls rock.[/small]
 

Tzekelkan

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Dec 27, 2009
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She should consider herself lucky if the guy even lets her make him a sammich.

Wait, what? You're saying I completely missed the point of the article which was that we all need to treat each other fairly and with respect? Nah, couldn't be.

Seriously though, I was promised a "horror" story at the beginning the unspellable name chick's blog about her dating experience, similar to something like the worst DM ever, but no. All I got was some lame-written post about how some people like different things than us and they should immediately mention this lest we diversify our entourage.
 

Simalacrum

Resident Juggler
Apr 17, 2008
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I may not be a woman but, as a slightly feminine man (or, at least according to all my friends), I would also like to add my name to the list of apologies.
 

Nimcha

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Dec 6, 2010
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Sheesh, way to overreact. People publicy humiliate each other over internet all the time, why did this go viral?
 

EeveeElectro

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Aug 3, 2008
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Poor guy.
Not all of us are like this, fellas. I don't care that my boyfriend plays Yugioh and the rest and I never will.
I Googled him to find out more about this and you know what? I think he's a good looking chap. He seems nice too, and the fact he actually left the house tells me he isn't a complete hermit who devotes his life to MTG.
Sucks to be her, to be honest. I'd hate to be as shallow, I don't know how I'd live with myself o_o;
 

SonOfVoorhees

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Aug 3, 2011
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His good to be shot of her, after all her true colours are shining through now. An maybe other men will notice that name and dismiss her as a blog writing hack. Can only hope.

Also, i love nerd girls, nothing will change that. One bad apple and all that. :)
 

Simalacrum

Resident Juggler
Apr 17, 2008
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Nimcha said:
Sheesh, way to overreact. People publicy humiliate each other over internet all the time, why did this go viral?
Probably because, unlike the myriad of trolls out there, web journalists and the like are meant to be professional about such things; that article, from a well-reknown website known for being professional about its work, isn't just a regular troll's piece of writing.
 

Kwatsu

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Feb 21, 2007
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I met my current boyfriend (a tournament-level Magic player) via OKCupid. Three happy years and counting. :)

The thing that bothers me is that I knew nothing about this kerfuffle until I saw this article, and I had to read the original Gawker article to get caught up, thus adding to their pageviews. Boo.
 

Brutal Peanut

This is so freakin aweso-BLARGH!
Oct 15, 2010
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Her article did upset me. It was entirely uncalled for and just down right bitchy, and makes a lot of us look bad.

I am glad he is taking it in stride and being the bigger person in this situation.