Kathryn Cramer, if that is the name her parents wrote on her birth certificate, claims Aliases Are for People on Wanted Posters. (Via; via)
Or serving soldiers.
Or bastard logic.
Or perfect perverts with NSFW blogs.
Or wrecked wretched hilarious cakes.
Or cupcake spies finding the best bakeries in America!
Or, at Shakesville, Arkades, Elle, The Heretik, Misty, Mustang Bobby, Paul the Spud, Petulant, The Portly Dyke, Quixote, Shark-fu, SKM, Space Cowboy, Todd, and any of the other citizens I’ve missed.
Or a Pioneer Woman.
Or any of these philosophers, pirates, and pundits.
If I’ve never said before: I’m pleased and proud to have all of you on my blog-roll. Ms Cramer thinks we are con-men and crooks, because we don’t choose to use our real names.
What an ass.
Jesurgislac's Journal 
Some people have too much idle time on their hands, providing them with the opportunity to continually manufacture issues of trivial (if not absurd) concern.
My ‘real’ name is, alas, nothing special–really. In fact, if one googles it, one will find many who share it.
My pseudonym, my ‘con,’ as Cramer so haughtily brands it?
That’s me (as long as one remembers the 3rd goddamn ‘T’, goddammit.)
Comment by matttbastard — February 8, 2009 @ 8:30 am |
My name is entirely unique- does this moron think that I want crazed stalkers at my door? Don’t post your opinions on the internet unless you’re willing to risk kidnapping, rape and murder . . . uh, no.
This does give me the perfect opportunity to ask- what is a jesurgislac and how do I properly pronounce it?
Comment by Personal Failure — February 8, 2009 @ 1:09 pm |
Mattt: Some people have too much idle time on their hands, providing them with the opportunity to continually manufacture issues of trivial (if not absurd) concern.
Absurd is the word, I think. The tradition of adopting a pseud for purposes of public writing goes back more centuries than I can think.
Personal Failure: Don’t post your opinions on the internet unless you’re willing to risk kidnapping, rape and murder . . . uh, no.
Ah, shucks: if she can do it, so can everyone. *mocks*
This does give me the perfect opportunity to ask- what is a jesurgislac and how do I properly pronounce it?
Je Surgis Lac, which is, in bastard French, “I rise from the lake”, which is a Monty Python joke, and – if you change a couple of letters – an anagram of my real name in French, and, which was the main point, a unique handle that no one else was using or likely to.
Most people online say “Jes”. 😉
Comment by jesurgislac — February 8, 2009 @ 2:41 pm |
It’s fun to use a pseudonym. And it’s safe, as others have commented. The nature of my job makes it very awkward for me to express certain opinions publicly.
I’m willing for people to know my name, but only the ones I choose to reveal it to.
Comment by renaissanceguy — February 8, 2009 @ 8:03 pm |
I’m willing for people to know my name, but only the ones I choose to reveal it to.
Exactly. And I fail to see how adopting a pseud, and using it consistently, is somehow a sign of dishonesty. Pah to Cramer.
Comment by jesurgislac — February 8, 2009 @ 8:16 pm |
I assume she has included Samuel Clemens (AKA “Mark Twain”) in her general anathema. Also Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, if memory serves.
Perhaps someone should ask her.
Comment by dr ngo — February 8, 2009 @ 8:19 pm |
Dr Ngo: Perhaps someone should ask her.
Someone did. She claims to have responded by e-mail.
(I commented, asking her why she still had the Bitch PhD blog and Obsidian Wings on her blogroll, but she didn’t let that comment out of moderation.)
Comment by jesurgislac — February 8, 2009 @ 8:26 pm |
Count me among the masked marauders, then, with another reason for a pseudonym:
When you’re trans, attaching your real name to writing about your trans status outs you to the public and makes it that much harder to get a job or ensure your physical safety and that of your loved ones.
Oh, and if you’re working in a crap economy for an at-will employer who’s not a fan of your outspokenness about, say, racism, finding controversial writing by you on the Internet is enough for you to lose your job anyway. Because if you’re not an established professional writer (for example) or at the top of a company editing or have tenure as a professor, writing about things like feminism? It can get you axed, end of story. Or put on a no-fly list. Or end a job search.
Being able to write about any kind of controversial topics under your legal name is a huge privilege. It says you’re safe enough to write anything under your real name. Not just “honest.” Safe.
Thanks for calling it out, Jes. (I have to say I’m grateful for the explanation of your pseud, myself. I’ve been scratching my head for a couple years, now.)
Comment by little light — February 8, 2009 @ 11:27 pm |
Thanks for commenting, little light. I was just reading your Dec 29th post, schoolyard on fire and thinking that was one of the most powerful and moving pieces of writing I’d read about the Gaza conflict. (Via Feministe’s Shameless Self-promotion.) So I’m glad to see you here.
Comment by jesurgislac — February 8, 2009 @ 11:53 pm |
Thanks, Jes. I’ve heard others refer to you as “Jes”, but I dislike using nicknames I haven’t been invited to. (My real name shortens naturally to something I despise, and most everybody I meet seems to think it’s okay to nickname me against my will.)
Not to beat a deceased mammal, but today, I was looking for news on Jim Johnson, the Eagles’ defensive coordinator (cancer, poor man) and came up with dozens of other Jim Johnsons, even with adding “eagles” to the search. So, for a lot of people, even using their real name would either (a) still prove anonymous, or (b) get totally uninvolved people with the same name in trouble. Doesn’t “at will” just encourage honesty and forthrightness? 😉
Yes, the lack of face to face communication on the internet does encourage certain people to be incredibly rude/threatening, but adding real names to the mix wouldn’t help.
The anarchist in me wants to send something weird to her house as an example, but I bet I wouldn’t like jail.
Comment by Personal Failure — February 9, 2009 @ 1:59 am |
She used an alias when she edited wikipedia. Granted, her name is connected to it now, but it certainly isn’t evident just by looking at the screen name. Check her entry then look at the talk page.
Comment by Spherical Time — February 9, 2009 @ 5:23 pm |
[…] Cramer, Stupid Things People Say On the Internet Back in February, Kathryn Cramer announced (Stupid Things People Say On the Internet 4690) that all of us who use pseudonymous identities are “criminals and conmen”. I read, I […]
Pingback by Kathryn Cramer: fail, fail, and fail « Jesurgislac’s Journal — March 4, 2009 @ 12:37 am |
[…] belief seems to be based on the idea that, hey, online aliases are for criminals, and anyone who uses a “fake name” is probably up to something […]
Pingback by Next of Kynn » Blog Archive » Kathryn Cramer, criminal con-man with an alias? — March 4, 2009 @ 1:10 pm |
[…] e-mail from Kathryn Cramer (whose public writings have been referenced on this blog in Stupid Things People Say On The Internet 4960, Kathryn Cramer: fail, fail, and fail, and Verb Noire: this matters) – subject line Ordover, which […]
Pingback by Kathryn Cramer reminds me of fail « Jesurgislac’s Journal — March 13, 2009 @ 12:15 am |