Gay Girl in Damascus Confirmed Hoax

[Guest Anonymous]

It was written by a man.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/1 ... ?ir=Canada

[failsafe]

I think it is straight up hysterical about how a guy named Tom MacMaster set up a fake blog about an Arab woman and is claiming it was all a statement on "Liberal Orientalism."

The irony. The mind boggles.

[LynnKaboom]

It makes me wonder now- how many of our fundies are sock-puppets? What if some of them are really just some guy in a basement somewhere having a laugh? :confusion-shrug:

[xDreamerx]

Unless he meant "Orientalism" like the Said book? But even then...

[failsafe]

Unless he meant "Orientalism" like the Said book? But even then...

I think he *did*. That is the craziest part about it. Like Westerners fetishizing and minimizing the plight of the East.... exactly as he was doing.

[Effie]

Oh. "She" was my new role-model... It sucks that she didn't exist at all. :cry:

Is everyone sure that the blog isn't hacked?

[themadapple]

I may be just jaded, but I wasn't particularly surprised it was a Western guy...

I don't think the blog was hacked. The whole shebang was starting to get pretty suspicious. At first I thought that this Amina had used a pseudonym and a proxy IP (understandable given the situation). But then came the story of the stolen photos, contacts, including the online girlfriend, who had never managed to actually speak to her, and so on.

I'm not entirely sure if this Tom MacMaster's intentions were genuine or not. He may have been sincere or he may have just wanted to try out his literary talents, there. He certainly made a splash, considering that even the US Embassy was trying to find this woman. If his work at least had the effect of alerting others as to the situation of the LGBT community in Syria, that's great. Nonetheless, I can only imagine that it may cast suspicion on genuine Syrian activist bloggers who need to protect their identities. Not to mention the current regime could try and use this to their own benefit. It's just a shame all around.

[Alecto]

I feel horribly for the "girlfriend" in the situation. Finding out someone you love is not real has to be incredibly traumatic.

That being said, I am glad they got to the bottom of this.

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

Oh, fuck. Sorry if anyone else wrote a pointless letter to the Syrian embassy...

[Shirley MacLaine]

I'm always skeptical when someone begins posting on another person's blog and giving updates. I dunno. Something about it just screams SKETCH!!! to me.

On the one hand, I'm glad that there is no kidnapped girl (or no this particular kidnapped girl). If that isn't happening to someone, great.

On the other, it's so unfortunate when things like this happen to cast even more doubt on 'real' bloggers.

[hoipolloi]

I saw this too. Yikes!

His "justification" for it was so, so lame.

[themadapple]

Hm, if anyone hasn't seen it, I've just noticed that the guy wrote an extended explanation and apology on the blog (in addition to his first apology). I must admit, it's amazing how long he's been playing this character online and in many different ways.

[Rhetorica]

Reminds me of Norma Khouri's Honor Lost and the related expose: Forbidden Lie$.

[UmmSqueakster]

Pisses me off to no end, especially when there are so many *real* deserving voices of the Middle East who *really* risk their lives for voicing them.

What I posted today on my blog (and I'm not arab, fwiw, but do have connections to the region and a stake in it's future):

please be assured...

…I am many things.

However, I am not a middle aged, male, liberal orientalist graduate student masquerading as a muslim, crazy cat lady, wannabe vegetarian, cheesehead exiled to Minnesota, on again off again exerciser, wife of an Egyptian, public radio fan, amateur chef, blogger, aspirant world traveler, book hoarder, tree hugger, lover of all things cute, star wars fan girl, etc etc etc.

Just in case you were worried.

[hoipolloi]

Read the guy's lengthier "explanation" and am even more disgusted & squicked out.

I took the mention of Orientalism to refer to Said's work. On how many levels is that ironic?

[themadapple]

Mm, yeah, the explanation does come off as pretty self-serving and self-pitying. My boyfriend also heard an interview and it really didn't do much in his favor. As if he wants to, under it all, show off to the world how clever he supposedly is.

I'm not for his entire life being ruined over this, but he does deserve all the outrage he's getting.

[MuseMama]

Yeah, faking something like that doesn't make you a hero. It makes you a jackass.

Like the woman who MckMama was supporting who faked her baby's death. WTF is wrong with people?

[Dinorah]

I hadn't been reading this blog, though I'd heard about it, and I find this really tasteless and foolish. If anything, it gives fuel to regimes in Syria and elsewhere that if people get really tortured/kidnapped/murdered then it's really a "hoax" done by Westerners.

[Alecto]

Here is the kicker - the guy who outed GGiD as being a fake is ALSO a fake internet lesbian.

[Shirley MacLaine]

Here is the kicker - the guy who outed GGiD as being a fake is ALSO a fake internet lesbian.

Mind... blown.

[treemom]

The internet...where the crazies live.

[LynnKaboom]

It's like a sock-puppet traffic collision! :lol:

[nimerha]

Well. As a lesbian whose relationship (lasting five years now, and engaged) started as email correspondence and an internet romance, I am absolutely gutted for the "girlfriend". Talk about things hitting too close to home.

However, seeing that people literally risked their lives and safety and this moron didn't think twice of it? No, I don't think it should ruin his life. It should in my opinion, however, end his academic career. This is exactly why universities have ethics boards.