Crash Override

If you've been on Twitter any time at all you're familiar with Gamergate.  (Side note - Can we please stop naming everything -gate?  It is so annoying.)This is Zoe Quinn's story from the day that she found out that her ex boyfriend had written a manifesto against her and the death threats started.  They escalated and quickly included threatening items like pictures taken outside her apartment.  Out of her frustration at not being better able to protect herself, she founded Crash Override to help others who have found themselves in similar situations.This book is part memoir and part primer on how to better protect yourself online.  It would benefit people who worry about online security and those who think that women are overreacting to online threats.  It is a reminder of the lengths that people will go to to hurt strangers online.  She also talks to former trolls to see what the mindset is behind that behavior.Have you ever had your mother reminisce about spending time with your friends'/teammates' moms while waiting for you to get done doing sports or plays or whatever you were into?  Imagine instead of talking about what she did on the sidelines of your soccer game, she was talking about what she got up to with Kurt Cobain's mom on the Nevermind tour.  That's the spirit of this book.She interviews moms of musicians from all genres and at all stages of their careers.  Some are still performing.  Some have retired or moved into other aspects of the business.  Others are moms of musicians who didn't survive their fame.  She asks what they remember, how they nurtured their kids, and what they wished they had done differently. The book is fun because she still is enthusiastic about her son's career and always talks about it like a proud mom.  She talks about the kids getting back together when Nirvana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  She always refers to her son as "David."  She still gets starstruck like when she got to meet Paul McCartney and her friends couldn't get her to shut up about it.  This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story

I could go on at length about how much I loved this book, how I'm ordering my own personal copy as we speak, and how I want to mail all of my old sociology professors a copy as well, but I'll spare you all from that tedium.

I will say, my favorite thing about this book is how Quinn masterfully "passed the mic" to marginalized folks who have also been victims on online abuse and harassment. Whenever I read a critical nonfiction piece- whether a book or a study- I always want to know who holds the knowledge, which voices make up data, and who is getting left behind in the process of science and analysis. Throughout writing this memoir, Quinn aptly recognizes her own privilege as a white woman, but also voices that as a queer person, a sex worker, and someone working through mental health, she is in a "relatively privileged" position and not an extremely privileged one as white woman often are. By highlighting the intersections of class, race, gender, and ability, Quinn lends so much more information to this analysis and does so in the best and most honest way possible- letting people in those margins speak on their own to their own experience.

And one more favorite thing (I'm honestly really limiting myself here by ONLY talking about two favorite things so count your lucky stars, people)- Quinn's analysis of who to turn to for help. Following her amplification of marginalized experiences with online abuse and harassment, Quinn also addresses how not everyone who goes to the police or the court system for help receives help. By unpacking the intersections of the American justice system with race, gender, and privilege, Quinn helps her audience understand that beacons of justice for some are not far-reaching for all and may even do more harm than good.

I love this book. It speaks to me as another nerdy, Internet dweller who's been harassed more times than I can count simply for existing in the same space as men on the Internet, or a game store, or a video game stream. While it hurts to read about Gamergate, I feel so empowered reading Quinn's memoir and inspired by her honesty, resiliency, and power.

"Suffer us witches to live."