{"id":1252,"date":"2021-08-07T14:09:29","date_gmt":"2021-08-07T20:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/penguinpetes.com\/wordpress\/?p=1252"},"modified":"2021-11-03T19:08:23","modified_gmt":"2021-11-04T01:08:23","slug":"belief-in-gatekeeping-is-a-paranoid-delusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/penguinpetes.com\/wordpress\/2021\/08\/07\/belief-in-gatekeeping-is-a-paranoid-delusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Belief in “Gatekeeping” is a Paranoid Delusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

So I’m a cultural muckraker, and consider it my station in life to slaughter sacred cows, shatter illusions, bring illumination to our dark world, and correct common misconceptions. My popularity in this regard varies depending on the target. I can savage organized religion, Wall Street, Republicans, Nickelback, whatever is the acceptable target, and then you all love me. Because you are the choir I preach to.<\/p>\n

I could publish a recipe for BBQ Jeff Bezos right now and probably get a ticker-tape parade for it. But then, if all I did was knock down straw men all day, I’d be fat ‘n’ lazy. Instead, I choose a more difficult topic, which will make me a lot less popular.<\/p>\n

Today, I am going to tell YOU, yes YOU READING THIS, why YOU do a bad, damaging thing on social media, and why YOU need to stop it. In fact, I am going to beat this lesson into your backside with a belt and squat you in the corner afterwards to think about what you’ve done. I do it because I love you.<\/p>\n

I’m not very popular when I do this. There will be no ticker tape parade for me for this post, but I am OK with that. Because doing things<\/strong> means more to me than validation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What is this “Gatekeeping”?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Not to single out this particular person or account or even instance, but the lesson demands a random example:<\/p>\n

\"Millennials\"<\/p>\n

This gem is a perfect example of the “gatekeeping” delusion. It hits all the woke buzzwords. And it shows a nasty mental virus that infests the “writing” community.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The irony here is that I can go up to these people and introduce myself as a writer OF BLOGS<\/strong>, and get tarred and feathered instantly. The #WritingCommunity makes no room for bloggers. That’s a sell-out! Somebody serving the corporate overlords! A greedy capitalist swine! A pay-for-play! He’s working for THE MAN!<\/p>\n

The #WritingCommunity, with a hashtag, very strictly defines writers in a tiny little box, in fact:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Must not do it for a living<\/li>\n
  • Must be dirt poor<\/li>\n
  • Must not do anything non-fiction<\/li>\n
  • Writing on keyboards is “ew,” you have to use pencil and crumpled notebook paper<\/li>\n
  • Must do this at a cafe, at a table by yourself<\/li>\n
  • Poetry preferred, prose allowed, fan fiction encouraged<\/li>\n
  • Scribbled doodles in the margins count as “writing”<\/li>\n
  • Must spend all day crying about “gatekeeping”<\/li>\n
  • Must constantly talk about depression and suicide<\/li>\n
  • Spelling, grammar, and literacy are just other people trying to hold you back!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \"wannabe-writer\"<\/p>\n

    “Writer” is actually more of a lifestyle or fashion choice with these people. With the exception of slash-smut<\/a> posted on DeviantArt or Tumblr, you need never fear encountering much of the output of these people. They cringe like a vampire encountering garlic when you use the verb, “writ-ing.” A writer is something you ARE<\/em>, always, never something you actually do<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    \"writing-hardest-ever\"<\/p>\n

    What little typing you actually do should be devoted to dramatically angsting on Twitter so everybody knows how HARD YOU ARE SUFFERING for your sacred art.<\/p>\n

    \"frantic-author-angst\"<\/p>\n

    No, honestly, nobody knows the turmoil<\/em> and angst<\/em> and drama<\/em> and sacrifice<\/em> you make to breath life into these dumb little puppet shows that nobody will care about:<\/p>\n

    \"character-empathy\"<\/p>\n

    Now that we have introduced the social media #WritingCommunity, we can translate their very tribal language:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Gatekeeping – denying somebody a title<\/li>\n
    • Imposter syndrome – what you suffer when you’re a victim of gatekeeping<\/li>\n
    • Elitist – anybody who has accomplished anything in life at all<\/li>\n
    • Condescending – how people who have learned anything talk<\/li>\n
    • Ableist – anybody who does anything that you would rather have an excuse not to be expected to do<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Quite a mouthful!<\/p>\n

      So let’s diagram the “gatekeeping” part:<\/p>\n

      I say I am a writer. That is because I press keys on my keyboard in patterns that cause checks to arrive in the mail. It has been my sole income for 20 years; in fact, I have supported an entire family this way.<\/p>\n

      You say you are a writer. But you have not earned a nickel writing, have never written anything, don’t even believe in writing, have not even a threadbare website that carries your content, have no fans, have no ideas, have no thoughts of your own in your noggin. You’re just saying this because it feels cool to say “I’m a writer.”<\/p>\n

      I say you’re full of shit.<\/p>\n

      You accuse me of “gatekeeping.”<\/p>\n

      No really, that’s how it works!<\/p>\n

      \"alleged-gate\"<\/p>\n

      Where is this alleged “Gate”?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      The concept of “gatekeeping” sprang to life right at the turn of the century mark and has since dwindled in popularity except for a certain age group<\/a> that hangs onto it like Gollum clutching the One Ring. Briefly, the “gate” is enclosing this select, exclusive group of elites, and when you try to join them, somebody slams the gate in your face.<\/p>\n

      The part where this is a delusion is the part where the #WritingCommunity attaches false value<\/em> to this label. The label, “writer.” This is all you need to know about the trophy generation. This is more expressible if we switch metaphors for a moment.<\/p>\n

      What is a descriptive noun to the rest of us is a Title to them. It is more like a king’s crown. In the gatekeeping delusion, the world is filled with regal kings and queens who sweep by with their noses in the air, while paper Burger King crowns on their heads proclaim their Important Titles: “Writer,” “Mother,” “Inventor,” “CEO,” “Doctor,” “Lawyer,” “Coach,” “Peanut Allergy Sufferer.”<\/p>\n

      Meanwhile, the gatekeeper delusion makes you feel like a little child with no crown. You hop up and down and reach for the crowns but they won’t give you one. You want a crown! You want a crown so bad that it becomes your obsession. Eventually, you dig a few used paper crowns out of the trash and wear them proudly, only to have somebody tell you that they are not yours.<\/p>\n

      What! You just finally got a crown, just put it on, and these bastards<\/em> knock it right off your head! Well you’re going to show them. You’re going to spend the rest of your life railing against this crown system. You’re going to band together with other crownless people and all make crowns for each other in a circle of caring and support. You will forever preach hate against every person in every business, government, or religion. They are all the Crown Controllers!<\/p>\n

      I like my metaphor much better, but we have to use the standard one. it’s the same deal: Society, when you have the gatekeeper delusion, is this exclusive garden party and you can’t get in without a Title. There’s a guy at the gate checking for these, behold yonder keeping of the gate. Then you spend the rest of your life with picket signs in front of the “gate.”<\/p>\n

      \"imaginary-gates\"<\/p>\n

      Here is the big secret that #WritingCommunity doesn’t want you to know:<\/p>\n

      THERE ARE NO GATES. THERE ARE NO CROWNS.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      These things are illusions that exist in your mind when you have gatekeeper delusion. Society is not running around with their noses in the air keeping these prestigious treasures to themselves.<\/p>\n

      When I call myself a writer, there is, in fact, never a ticker-tape parade. I have no throne, no prestige, no scepter, no advantage, no power. To the rest of us, most especially me, the title “writer” doesn’t mean anything more special than “plumber,” “stockbroker,” “security guard,” “well digger,” or “bum.”<\/p>\n

      In fact, as I outline in “How I Accidentally Became A Writer<\/a>,” I never aimed at doing this. I tried it out as an embarrassing juvenile, decided it wasn’t for me, went on to other career attempts, and only accidentally circled back when blogging became the backbone of eCommerce.<\/p>\n

      That part where I started out submitting short stories to magazines out of the Writer’s Market, believing that New York publishing desks was my only path, is the part where I was playing by popular culture’s rules. You’ll notice, importantly, that I gave up and walked away<\/em> and instead discovered other talents that would make me useful to the world. I didn’t stay there for the rest of my life crying about the unfair system that was gatekeeping me. Then I came back to it later in life, only to discover that either I had improved (no), or a market existed for me where none had existed before (yes).<\/p>\n

      It is the #WritingCommunity people of the world, the online clique, who formulates this “gate.” To them, denying them any title at all<\/em> is gatekeeping, no matter how outlandish. To us sane people who don’t live in a Humpty Dumpty<\/a> world where words means whatever we want, these titles are just descriptive words.<\/p>\n

      You can always tell when a gatekeepist obsesses over the social value of a title. They agonize over its definition.<\/p>\n

      \n

      When they stop asking questions like this one. https:\/\/t.co\/H1kXfztYnz<\/a><\/p>\n

      — Penguin Pete \ud83d\udc27\ud83c\udf42 \u2615\ud83c\udf41 (@Penguin_Pete) September 5, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n