A reader writes:
I have two quick thoughts on the Tom MacMaster hoax:
1. The reader who scoffed at the notion "that the blogger himself was somehow sexually aroused by his the ability to act this persona, in the same way that men on chatrooms pretend to be female in order to exchange pictures or talk dirty" is only considering MacMaster's blog postings (which have much more to do with politics than sexuality) and not his other efforts to maintain the fiction of Amina's existence. There is a young woman in Canada who believed that she was Amina's girlfriend! How can he possibly claim that he wasn't hurting anyone?
In his video interview with The Guardian, MacMaster is visibly embarrassed by a question about the sexual content of his conversations with that girl, insisting that they were merely flirtatious. I honestly can't decide which option is more morally reprehensible – to lie to this woman in order to live out some forbidden sexual fantasy or to lie to this woman in order to support a political agenda. At least in the former, MacMaster may have felt some emotional attachment to the woman, in spite of his deception. If the latter option is true – as MacMaster himself alleges – it is indeed hard to imagine a crueler emotional betrayal.
2. A comment at Electronic Intifada quotes the following from a Facebook post by MacMaster offering advice to Palestinian activists: "Related to this was allowing a number of aggressively anti-Islamic people (primarily people of Christian Arab origin) to set a tone of open hostility to modest dress and people who didn?t drink while attempting to hijack the organization for their own feminist, gay rights, and anti-Islamic agendas. These actions further drove off many."
Taken in conjunction with MacMaster's attack on "liberal Orientalism" in his "apology"
post, MacMaster's professed intention of shedding light on human rights abuses (particularly those affecting the gay and lesbian communities) rings hollow. As'ad Abu-Khalil (aka Angry Arab) pointed out that one of Amina's posts mentioned a desire to serve as ambassador to Israel, which also seems strange given MacMaster's pointed critiques of Israel. It seems possible to me that Amina was not created by MacMaster as a protagonist for the Syrian struggle but rather an antagonist in the struggle against Orientalism and Islamophobia. I think that perhaps his point was to draw media attention to Amina and then point to the superficial and hypocritical nature of a "liberal Orientalism" that requires an attractive gay woman as a hero while turning a blind eye to the suffering of so many others in Syria and Palestine.
If I am correct here, this is so incredibly offensive to everyone involved – a cynical manipulation of the gay and lesbian communities of the Arab world and those of us in the U.S. who sympathize with their plight, a betrayal of the anti-imperialist left that has no desire to see gay, feminist, and secular ideas and struggles separated from the types of anti-imperial causes that MacMaster supports, and of course the Syrian people, who now must face renewed skepticism of the very real stories of their plight.
What an shallow, ignorant, and pathetic man.
Another:
When one of the most bilious tactics that these dictatorial governments have been using to delegitimize dissent has been blatant misinformation, it strikes me as unwise to try to use the same tactics when your oppressors have a media monopoly. Won't this now play directly into the hands of the propagandists as a means of assigning nefarious undertones to the Syrian protesters?
Indeed, that fear was played out yesterday. Another:
I'd just like to mention that it's not just men who get off pretending to be lesbians online. The entire allure of the online experience is being able to manufacture an experience under the blanket of anonymity that enables one to live out (at least mentally) an alternative vision of themselves that contradicts reality. The 30 year old can be 18 again, and the 15 year old 24. Although lying about one's age is the easiest misrepresentation online, it's not the only one. Just as some men troll lesbian forms, some women troll gay sites.
I know because I am one of them. I enjoy the easy banter, the sexuality (overt, yet not demeaning) and yes, eventually I'll be the "man" that builds up great rapport only to flake when it's time to meet up. And sometimes, just sometimes, I wonder how many of the "men" I click with are actually just other women: posers like me.
I don't mean to defend MacMaster, because obviously it's a shitty thing to do. I just want to say I understand.
MacMaster posts another, lengthier apology. Amira Al Hussaini rounds up more reax. One more reader:
So now that “Gay Girl in Damascus” has been unveiled as a fraud, my faith in the authenticity of all bloggers has been irrevocably shaken. Is it only a matter of time, “Andrew,” before we learn that you are actually an 80-year-old, straight, liberal, unmarried black woman from Alabama, who not only does not have a beard, but thinks that the “Pet Shop Boys” are those nice fellows who help her carry her cat food to the car? (Yes, cats. Even the beagles are a fraud, aren’t they?)
Well, just one of the beagles.
(Images via NPR's Eyder Peralta and Andy Carvin, who caption the photo: "Tom MacMaster and his wife Britta Froelicher. This picture was in a Picasa album titled "Syria/It's THE BEST!" This picture was is in the same album that contained the nine pictures Amina Araf sent to a friend." The illustration was distributed via Facebook on "Amina's" behalf. By the way, Carvin was one of the chief skeptics that led to MacMaster's unraveling.)
The Dish 