Member-only story
Oops... I Need to Apologize For a Medium Transgression
Yes, I was wrong.
Hey folks, this is just a quick message to let you know that Medium reached out to me and requested that I edit two recent stories that named certain male writers. They were quite kind about it and explained they weren’t asking me to take down the stories or to not tell them. They were clear that they also didn’t wish to minimize or discredit my experience. And I appreciated that.
However, they brought up a good point — that others might respond with “vigilante justice” which can harm everyone and anyone. That includes the men I named and even… me.
I understood what Medium was saying, so, I edited both stories, which have now been cleared as in compliance to Medium rules. That said, I don’t mind saying that I was wrong to name names on Medium, and that I underestimated just how much controversy the stories would gather.
When I say that, I don’t mean that I feel bad for writing those stories. Because I don’t. Nor do I feel like I was shaming certain men at all. I understand that some folks will disagree with me and that’s fine. That’s writing. But I recognize that from a Medium rules standpoint, I was wrong. I was reading the rules on a more literal (to me) level and didn’t feel that naming those writers was wrong but part of that interpretation might be my own experience of being named in criticisms as well. It happens a lot to me on Medium and I only rarely report such stories because I think there’s a difference between honest criticism and bullying or shaming. I also believe in picking my battles.
Ultimately, though, when I write on Medium’s platform, they get to decide how to interpret and enforce their rules.
Now, to be completely honest, I have not issued an apology to the men. I don’t plan to. Again, I’m only going to apologize when I mean it and in this case, I still feel they’ve largely missed the point.
Once again, telling these stories wasn’t about the money. It wasn’t about getting any of them to support me — begrudgingly or not. I want to be able to talk about fat stigma and the fact that popular male bloggers who frequently deal in self-help (unsurprisingly) can’t seem to give a damn about people like me.
Thanks for reading, folks. I wanted to quickly address the fact that I did make changes to those stories and why. I also want to apologize for missing how naming other writers could break Medium rules, and I certainly don’t want to model behavior that would get any of you in trouble.
Take care. I hope to be back soon in a happier and more productive capacity.
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