Some things never change. They just escalate.
Take for example the bullying that the SSers (super
shippers) continue to heap on anyone in the Outlander fandom who disagree or
disprove the Ship. The hubris of these women! I know they like to think they
are the center of the Outlander fandom universe and make up the majority of it,
but they are far from it. They have gone
after countless fans, many reporters, Meril, Matt, Terry, Ron, Diana, Graham,
Steven, Paul Camuso, Grant, even Sam and Cait themselves, and anyone that Sam
or Cait has been photographed with of the opposite sex who is not Sam or Cait.
Awhile back these SSers decided to take on William
Shatner. He was defending his friend, Sam, and not letting them get away with
their pack of lies. Which, of course, infuriated them, because nothing upsets a
bully more than to be called out on his or her actions, and they decsended on
his twitter page en masse like a
swarm of shrieking eels. Not to worry, however, as Mr. Shatner can say in only
140 characters more than I can in two pages of writing. Now remember, the SSers
were the ones to start the battle (with one of the leaders even telling him to
shut up), but true to bully form, they all claimed they were horribly bullied by
a misogynistic has-been. There were those not of the SSers' group who disagreed
with how Shatner went about smacking these women down. And that's certainly
fair enough. But Mr. Shatner refuted all their lies about the ship and brought
to light the problem the fandom has with this group of bullies.
The SSers are a bigger group of misogynistic women I have
not seen. Psychology Today states:
A recent study finds that women
are more likely to be misogynists than men—at least on social media. The
study, which was conducted by a social intelligence company called Brandwatch … found that 52 percent of
misogynistic hate speech tweets came from women, versus 48 percent from men. … half of misogynistic tweets (which
contained the word “whore” or “slut”) came from women. … the tweets in
question, are still social media—or as I like to call it: Disneyland
for trolls, where bullying and cruelty are its main attractions. (Emphasis added) (October 25,
2016)
Sound familiar? The current favorite to bully online is
Mackenzie Mauzy. They want her to die. They slut shame; date shame; body shame;
photo shame; work shame her. They mock her photos, her poses, her life. But
guess whose fault this is? Why Mackenzie's of course! She didn't disable the
comments on her IG posts! This is classic bully behavior - it is never the bully's fault that they bully.
The victim has somehow done something to allow it or cause it. Then if the
bullies are called out or receive flak for their terrible deeds, they firmly
believe they did nothing to deserve
such treatment and are themselves being bullied (a/k/a William Shatner and
"the entire fandom").
So after bullying cast and crew,
friends, SOs, and others in the fandom, the last thing left to do is to turn on
the ones they profess to love - Sam and Cait. "Cait had to demean herself"
by posting the picture for Sam who was "abdicating his
responsibility" for not coming out and telling everyone every detail about
his personal life. They were betrayed!
It doesn't make sense! Why are they doing this to meeeeee?!!!!
For nearly
a year and a half Sam and Cait have definitely been leaving everyone
breadcrumbs - in the form of the "We are NOT together" video
interview. "We aren't together" articles in proper magazines, newspapers and online news sites. The fact that
you blatantly chose to ignore ALL OF THIS is your own fault. Not Cait's; not
Sam's. They have not manipulated you or played any games. Their significant
others do not stir the pot, cause controversy, or taunt the fandom. Sam isn't a coward for not sharing his
private life with you. He's not afraid to claim his girlfriend ("so his
costar does it for" him). They don't leave shippery breadcrumbs. Sam
doesn't need "to be seen dating her in public." For God's sake,
neither Sam nor Cait owe you anything regarding their personal lives. They owe
us all a great performance as Jamie and Claire and that is all. (Which they
deliver in spades.) (And regarding Sam and Mack being seen in public - he attended
a wedding with her where a video went around showing them looking pretty cozy.
Also, don't forget the photo of them at a winery(?) where they were facing each
other, mirroring each other, and the look Mack was getting from Sam was so hot
it nearly set my monitor on fire.
One more
thing about Mackenzie - one of the SSers on the top of the food chain stated
that it's "been a year of solid bullshit. Mackenzie has done nothing to
earn my respect, and, quite frankly, is partially responsible for a lot of the
bullshit fighting in this fandom. I don't feel the need to be nice to her just
because she's associated with Sam and
Cait. …so I'm not going to apologize for
what I've said today and I don't expect anyone else to either. I'm sick of
being told who I have to be nice to…" (Well for heavens sake, by all means
DON'T APOLOGIZE for crappy things you say! Dear god! The horror!) No one
expects you or anyone else to have to like or respect someone simply because of
who they are dating. I think the majority of this fandom expects people to be nice. It won't kill anyone to be nice on
social media. Mackenzie in no way is responsible for any fighting. That is
bully mentality blaming the victim. Nobody has to like her, but everybody
should be kind to her. Not because of who she is, but because she's a human
being. Take your misogynistic, bully hats off and if you can't be kind, be
silent. Leave her alone. The world does not revolve around you, SSers. She
won't miss you a bit if you leave her alone.
The SSers
claim that they've been misled all this time because of how Sam and Cait act
around each other when doing promos for the show. (See how it is never the
SSers' fault?) I feel sad for the lot of you because you obviously haven't
experienced a close friendship with a member of the opposite sex that doesn't
actually include sex. As friends you will admire what the other is wearing, you
will look at them with a smile for a secret joke, you are touchy/feeling (some
people more so than others). You know things about each other and tease each
other about it. You are comfortable around each other. You hug. You kiss on the
cheek (sometimes on the lips). But it doesn't mean you are in love with each
other past the point of genuine friendship. It doesn't mean "So
Married!" Add to it that Sam and Cait are going through this newfound fame
as actors together, on a new show, with intense love scenes, and intense
emotional scenes together. All while working in tough conditions, probably 18
hours days, far from friends and family. You are bound to become close and
learn things about each other. There is no denying that Sam and Cait together
are adorable, funny and sexy. Who
doesn't want those people to be
together? However, they are not being disingenuous. It's a part of their job,
and fortunately they actually are good friends so they can have a good time
whilst doing the promos and the cons and the interviews, etc. But the real life
Sam and Cait have their own interests and lives. Which is to be expected.
Regarding the
photo Cait posted about Sam beating her up (again) on set while filming. The SSers took this as a breadcrumb from Cait
that Sam had given her a hickey on her thigh. Yes, that makes so much sense.
Cait, who gives nothing of her personal life away, gladly posted a photo of
herself with a hickey given to her by her super secret husband. ("So
Married!") There was even an expert on the whole shot giving who said that
Claire would never give herself a shot in the thigh because that's not how it's
done. (She clearly hasn't read the book.) Claire does indeed give the shot in
her thigh because Jamie is too concerned about hurting her with the needle.
Also, for everyone who has ever given or gotten a hickey, we are aware it does
not leave behind two pinpoint marks in the bruise. (Well, maybe - if you were making
out with Dracula or Kaa.)
