It Starts With A Putter, It Ends With Death - Did A Journalist Cross The Line?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ม.ค. 2014
- "Every journalist has worked on a story that started out being about one thing and ended up as something else entirely. That's what happened to Caleb Hannan, who got curious about a weird-looking golf club he found on TH-cam and started quizzing the inventor about her far-out scientific theories. Hannan's essay for Grantland, "Dr. V's Magical Putter," documents the writer's eight-month journey to unravel the truth about Dr. Essay Anne Vanderbilt. In the end, as the piece twisted to a horrific conclusion, Hannan never quite figured out what his story was about.
If you haven't read Hannan's story yet, you should-I'll be here when you're done. In brief, the writer discovered that "Dr. V" was a con artist. She lied about her educational and professional credentials to Hannan and to a man who gave her $60,000-cash that investor never saw again. In the course of his reporting, Hannan also learned that Dr. Essay Anne Vanderbilt "was born a boy.""* The Young Turks hosts Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian break it down.
*Read more here from Josh Levin / Slate:
www.slate.com/articles/life/cu...
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3:29 My Main question is... what the fuck does their sex have to do with a fucking putter?
It doesn't sound like you think there could ever possibly be any legitimate answer to your question, but there is. It explains why the reporter could find no trace of her existence under her current name prior to the early 2000s. It is discussed in that context in his article.
Exactly. "Out" her on her credentials, but leave her gender issues alone; they are irrelevant.
It was an attempt to build a case that she was a consummate liar, however in this particular instance he focused on something he shouldn't have. Yes, she did lie about her credentials, and should have be outed in that regard, but going after the transgendered issue only served to hurt his case, not help.
K1productions If she wasn't angry and outraging and instead said "Look I used to be a man when I got my credentials, it's under this name and I can verify I used to be him."
Then who knows how much of this could be avoided. If you're going by doctor but you changed your name, of course it's going to cause issues. Getting angry when someone is just doing their fucking job and fact checking, isn't a constructive way to handle things.
Then committing suicide? For what purpose? Why was she ashamed of her past? She made this a big issue and a big drama by not embracing herself. A Navy Seal from team 6 got a gender change and is very honest about it.
Hiding in the closet once you get your surgery only hurts everyone. If her husband didn't know then that's fucked up. Your spouse should know just about everything otherwise how can you really say you love each other?
***** Men have a driver and 2 balls, women have a hole.
Golf without holes is just a driving range. Sure men like to play with themselves alone too, but it's not complete Golf experience without the holes.
Don't get me started with miniature golf.
Also it was very clear in his article by the language he used he no longer gave a shit about the golf club at all, and centered COMPLETELY around her being trans. It was disgusting.
I was waiting to see what the hell was up with the putter and how it would lead to death...
... damn. I didn't expect such a fucked up story.
Keval Patel I was expecting someone to misuse it and kill themselves in the process.
To hell with right or wrong. A journalist is not obligated to protect someones legacy.
Anyone who knows anything about professional journalism knows that there ethical guidelines journalists are supposed to abide by. So while a journalist is not obligated to "protect someones legacy," they are indeed obligated to treat that person ethically.
GuyCable But *what* is ... "ethical" "treatment" ?
If you simply google "journalism ethics," the very first link states the following:
"Minimize Harm
Ethical journalists treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect.
Journalists should:
- Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by news coverage. Use special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects.
- Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.
- Recognize that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance.
- Recognize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than do public officials and others who seek power, influence or attention. Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone’s privacy.
- Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity."
So there you have it.
Well i think the guidelines are bullshit
besides they're a suggestion not law
Was the putter actually good?
I think they should stop puttering around and follow through to the heart of this - was the putter any good? It's par for the course to fib a bit to get investors invested but it doesn't take a lot of foresight to realize that if the putter can putt there's no need to tee people off by slicing up the inventor's credentials and needlessly driving a wedge between the golfing community
Nice puns, I like that.
no, a fib feels like a tsunami crashing against your chest.
As a person who played golf during the summers during her teen years, I got the puns flowing off your keyboard like a smooth tequila.
Are you a regular Slate reader? That sounded very much like something Emily Yoffe would write in her Dear Prudence column.
fordhouse8b never heard of slate
He did right about exposing her credentials, but including her transgender background was a step over the line. Most people aren't going to take kindly to having their personal life aired needlessly for any reason.
Lying about one's credentials is one thing. But if someone invents a better golf club, or anything for that matter, who cares what their credentials are
The credential is used to sell that putter so ofcouse it matter if its part of your marketing.
if that was the case, there wouldn't have been any reason to lie about it.
I agree that it shouldn't matter if the product is good, but you shouldn't fake credentials for the purpose of increasing sales. that's just wrong.
What did her gender have to do with her credentials, though?
Journalist was just doing his job, he didn't do anything wrong...OH WELL
No mention of the fact she offered to provide evidence for her qualifications (saying they were in her previous name) in exchange for an agreement that he wouldn't talk about her being trans? He refused. The lying trans woman was a better story.
Thanks for pointing this out. Always bugs me when people forget or miss key information.
Not really accurate. From the article:
"Jordan’s message said she was calling to propose a deal. When I phoned her back, Jordan explained the offer. I could fly to Arizona and meet with Dr. V at her attorney’s office, where she would show me proof of her degrees from both MIT and the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. V then got on the phone and added another detail. Once I saw the documents I would have to sign a nondisclosure agreement barring me from revealing any of the details I’d learned about Dr. V’s past. The “deal” was one I could not accept"
***** You are a bellend.
Transgender is not body dysmorphia. Gender is not black and white, go read some peer reviewed information or go look into the reality of the situation. It is not a mental disorder.
Maybe some do. Might be a percentage that have issues. Gender isn't binary. Lose the attitude.
***** You could not be more scientifically illiterate on the subject.
did the putter stop working when they found out that she wasn't a doctor?
A happy end to the story would have been: False credentials uncovered, invention still a success, and the whole story even more of a success story now because it was just an _anybody_ who invented such a great thing, a nice rags-to-riches story.
Also, if she in fact invented it, and it was as good as people were saying, what do the credentials matter? The professional attestations trump the credentials.
People also say they have been cured by homeopathy. It works if you think it works.
Dude if I ever need a reporter I am SO hiring this guy.
I just finished my aerospace engineering degree, and I can't fathom how my education could help me make a better putter. I think she chose a type of engineering at random to make her story more credible, without knowing what it involved.
No, it's not a tough issue. His main focus was her gender identity. That's all there is to it.
And also, inventing isn't about credentials. Lying about her credentials was wrong, but it has no bearing on whether the invention was any good.
> _it has no bearing on whether the invention was any good._
Great, so uncovering it should be make no difference. But seriously now, it's also about trust.
But when the "invention" was no good, then "inventing" is ALL about credentials.
There is a simple rule that all should remember: If you don't want others to find out about something, don't do it. The truth always surfaces.
TYT, thank you for treating this story properly, being aware of trans* issues and addressing this woman by the proper pronouns. It's so refreshing!
What do you do as a journalist - do you out them or not? Here's a wild thought - Why not ASK them if it's ok? Just because you found out, does not mean you have rights to disclose. It is not everyone in the worlds biz what junk you have, and it makes no difference to the facts of the story.
It was obvious that Vanderbilt wanted to hide her sexuality - like most people do and have the right to do. Hannan told her company's sole investor that she was born a man and had been a mechanic. That was incredibly reckless in a situation where the person obviously has existing mental and emotional issues.
I read an online review of Caleb Hannan's article on Wordpress or Tumblr, the blogger really focused on the outing of the gender, and completely left out that Dr. V had lied about being a scientist. Pretty big omission.
Out all the scammers. Do not scam if you do not handle the shitstorm that follows if you are busted.
Is it possible that HER credentials did not exist with those institutions but HIS credentials do?
It's easy to say he did the wrong thing regarding the gender issue in hindsight, but if she hadn't committed suicide we wouldn't be having this discussion. I'd say in a story about a lying woman, the fact that she lied about something else is a valid facet of her life to be putting in there. If she'd lied about having a kid or being married or a million other personal issues and he put that in there instead, we again wouldn't be having this discussion
Lying about being transgender is a perfectly reasonable thing since there are so many people who would hurt or kill someone for that fact alone. It's irrelevant to the rest of the story.
Seikouhime H It's not even lying, it's simply withholding information. Just because you don't tell everyone "I'm Irish" or "I'm Jewish" or "I'm gay" doesn't mean you're lying about it. Also, with gender dysmorphia, you are born feeling that you are literally living as the wrong gender, so living as the gender you identify as is living as your true self, so it's not a lie.
Amanda Ananda It would be withholding information if she'd simply not volunteered it, but he asked her and she lied. The feelings you're talking about don't usually manifest until four or five years old, the gender you are and the sex you are are two different things also.
If he asked if she was transgendered and she denied it, then that is another story and is indeed lying, you are correct.
You are also correct about the feelings not manifesting immediately. I am aware that biological sex and gender are not the same thing, however I fail to see the relevance of that fact in this discussion. If an individual identifies as one gender but has the biology of another, they are not lying by saying "I identify as X."
The correct answer to the question Anna asked is "FUCKING NO." You leave a person's gender status out of shit like this when the person asks you to. You do not out people's orientation or a person's trans status. End of story.
I don't believe you can blame her suicide on him, she could of been outed and exposed some other way, what if she did become famous from this invention and everyone started knowing about her?
She made the lie and exposed herself, I don't blame the journalist for not fore-seeing such a drastic reaction, who here could ever think that one of their actions could cause someone to take their life?
This is going to be a Hallmark channel movie. "The man who lost his Putter Became a lady and lied a lot" working title....
I met Dr. Vanderbilt at the US Senior Open through a professional golfer friend of mine. She was kind enough to send me a copy of his putter. Despite whatever issues she may have had, she was quite wonderful to me and I am so very sorry to hear what happened.
He didnt cross the line at all. The story isnt about outing her. He wrote a story about a person who lied about their credentials. It just so happened that she killed herself because she got outed in the story.
To a member of the trans community, where passing isn't so much just about presenting the way you feel but instead a safety measure for some in really conservative and unsafe areas, what Hannan did was unethical. Yes, Dr. Vanderbilt wasn't legit, but when you lump her gender identity crisis with EVERYTHING ELSE she's done according to Hannan, you make it seem like she only transitioned just to feed into that deceit, i.e. the lying trans woman. It's the Kiwi Farms approach to understanding trans people on the Internet.
Can we get this reporter to investigate the White House?
the question is not whether MIT has records of "essay anne vanderbilt" attending the school. the question is, what was her name before she changed it, and it there a record of her attending under her original male identity.
Real Journalist's goal in their job is the Find the truth and Share the truth. Not the promote human right, ethic, propaganda, they just need to tell the unbiased plain truth.
What does their gender have to do with the report?
how advanced can a piece of plastic/metal be when its entire purpose is to smack another round piece of resin for a split second
Did the reporter try and find out if the inventor got the credentials when she was a man using her male name?
somebody who behave like that has deep seated mental issues, nobody pushed "her" to the edge, "she" was already there
He did good
This story can made into a movie!
All I see here is a journalist that doesn't know how to moderate his story or worst... the journalist himself admit that the putter works, so she credentials is hardly an issue... her lack of it doesn't make it any less of a product. So did he just don't know how to edit or does he feel personally offended by her.
> _her lack of it doesn't make it any less of a product_
He could have made this the main theme of the fake credentials unraveling story, but the fake credentials were still newsworthy.
In context to the invention it self: If it helps you golf better, isn't that the most important thing? The results of the invention. Not necessarily whether someone "should've" been able to make it.
As a senior in Engineering Physics - Mechanical Systems, YES you SHOULD out people that didn't "suffer" through it.
However, gender is irrelevent in the issue. The only thing that should have been reported was her false credentials... which is the only thing that actually matters.
Sad ending. She could have just fessed up and gone on with selling this putter. Odd as it appears, if golfers love it, she could have made her fortune. The journalist did cross the line, though. Her gender change was not really any part of the story.
Cheers!
The real question in this story is why haven't we (as a species) worked out how to accept somebody regardless of their gender, skin colour, or sexual preference.
After we get that worked out, then it will become as irrelevant to the story as it should have been.....
Marco The Wizard
You don't get to choose your , gender,gender identity, or sexual preference either.
How can that be both "true" and completely contradictory??
I don't see how someones sexual preference has to do anything a story on a putter and feel the reporter seemed to have a that thing reporters have now a days to not just write the story but morally destroy a person.
"You didn't make that putter"
- Barack Obama
are you really this dumb? and late? and wrong? and conservative?
Itsme4746[Try to keep up here]: No, no, no, of course.
bobbytiger this is what we in the business call a 'rhetorical question' where you don't answer because the answer is already 'yes'. Did I lose you?
To assume that her gender identity was part of living a lie represents a continued line of misunderstanding the situation when it comes to gender identity & what it means to be trans. It further proves that there is s lot of misinformation & lack of understanding still floating around in societal understanding of gender identity.
Getting your family and spouse to lie for you? Denying that you were ever another gender? Seems more like she was trying to hide who she was then trying to identify herself.
I wonder if the putter is actually good or if what's in a golfer's head makes a putter 'good.'
It was unfortunate that it happened. The inventor simply made a bunch of bad decisions. The reporter did the correct thing, because there is a connection to the character and mind set of the inventor. The reporter made no judgment on whether the trans-gender issue at all.
Wouldn't it be MORE impressive to have made an awesome, well engineered putter without credentials? Who's going to say "well, I was going to buy this awesome putter, but she went to some less-reputable school, so I'm gonna pass."
"I was an Aerospace Physicist" should have been the first clue she was lying...
Did she really design and develop the putter? If so, and if it works really well, then this becomes a Cinderella story? What is the problem? Did she lie to investors? Sure that's not good, but if she is the inventor and she invented it without those credentials isn't that okay?
Was the putter going to be a good investment for the investor? I think so.
You have a great point.
So she lied.
It's not like she was running for office,
The story this journalist was writing about was the invention of a new putter,
As a journalist there was no reason to reveal even the truth about her background as that lie did not hurt anyone and was not a essential part of the story.
Why cater to her? Why be concerned about her emotions? What about her investors? Did she cater to them? Did she worry about their emotions and money? I bet you the last straw was exposing her lack of credentials.
It seems like he needed to include the transgendered aspect, if for no other reason than to show how he found out some of the discrepancies in her story. Learning her background was part of that; he couldn't find out anything about her life before the early 2000s and he, it seems, has a right and need to say why. When I read it, I didn't see anything at all malicious about mentioning that, as it was just one aspect of her background. Also, if she killed herself due to the story, it has to have more to do with being outed as her being a fraud than being outed as transgendered, right? It seems more likely, at least, one might assume.
If she was a man then wouldn't it be possible that her name was different when she attended school as a male? Just saying.
What if the credentials, or SOME credentials, were received under a different gender, under a different name? Wouldn't it be very applicable information at that point?
I was wondering that, too. She very well could have gone through school and earned her degrees before she transitioned, and that's why the journalist couldn't find any info on her with her current name.
It's one thing to expect other people to treat you as a woman when you were born a man. I sort of get that. I don't agree with it, but I understand. It's another thing for you to expect people to completely warp reality and not even acknowledge you were born a different sex than you are now.
The reason he outed her is because of how 'juicy' the story would have been, the average person doesn't have the attention span or interest to read a story headlined ' Inventor of golf club lies about credentials' . Her gender has nothing to do with the story , like if i was an investor and i found out she was a transgender woman/man i wouldn't really give a shit because it doesn't effect the company .
Ach, what a tragic case...and obviously a complicated one. It's always sad when someone takes their own life.
I knew dr. V very well. We did all of her powder coating on all the putters. She was a good person who had a very troubled life. I can't imagine having to live like that. I hope she's resting in peace now . We miss you Dr V and thanks for helping my short game!
Reporter did his job.
This is more of a reflection on society. The journalist wouldnt have published this story if people wouldnt be intrested in it. And to me, not only is her gender irrelevent to her invention, but her fake credentials are also irrelevent. The putter would still work despite any flaws of its inventer.
The journalist isnt to blame for her suicide, societies perceptions of LGBT folks is.
Societies perceptions of LGBT didn't kill her, she killed herself, after also trying in the past, the whole event was probably nothing more than a trigger in it, which isn't really anyone elses responsibility.
Her credentials are irrelevent to how well the putter works, but she lied to her inverstors and they probably wouldn't have taken a risk on her without her credentials. The end doesn't justify the means.
Dude, the putter was a placebo. The inventor was a con artist. She used her past transition to commit identity fraud and scam people out of thousands of dollars. She threatened a journalist.
Keven Harvey
Know who else lied to investors? Donald Trump. When he started out, he would walk into meetings lauding his financial backing from the Trump Organization... which consisted of one guy living frugally in a studio apartment.
Now, it's one thing to lie and then run off with the money. That's a scam. It's another thing to lie for a chance to do something great and then follow through.
Death2Evil
Donald Trump is your argument ? He's successful of course but I wouldn't call him a good guy.
Did the putter work on improving peoples game? I'd guess not and the whole thing was a sham.
Actually, it did work. You can see slow motion capture showing higher stability and less side spin. And this is even linked to in the original article.
I'd be more impressed if it was some regular guy rather then an MIT graduate... Faking that shows he had zero self respect... That's why he killed himself..
More importantly, lets get this journalist to interview politicians.
Do we know if she went to university when she was a man?
From the article:
"She was born a boy on July 12, 1953, in Philadelphia. She was given the name Stephen Krol, a person who has not received degrees from MIT or the University of Pennsylvania."
cavalrycome thank you for the information
If she had revealed herself to the reporter and cooperated with him there is a chance that he could have found a way to leave it out of the story. But if you think about it, it's a pretty complicated issue to report on when you're trying to dig up credentials and find out everything you were told was an absolute lie.
Incidentally, I just realized I have a voicemail from her on my phone.
Out her as lying about her credentials. Transwomen face a lot of discrimination and violence, and her lying about her gender is perfectly justified. Outing her as transgender was worthless and harmful, and had no relevance to the putter or her as a professional.
You know that all of the content of the article was published after she died though right? The article didn't out her.
In the course of investigating her background, the reporter spoke about the transgender issue with one of her investors, which he now acknowledges he shouldn't have done, but no one knows whether that contributed to any distress or whether she even knew that this conversation had taken place.
cavalrycome
He sent her an email listing everything he had discovered, so she knew what was going to come out in the article. She also offered to show him documents confirming her credentials.
The idea that knowing that she was going to be outed DIDN'T contribute directly to her suicide is improbable, and the fact that the writer knew she had attempted suicide a few years previously,ignored that and went ahead with outing her as transgender for no reason, make this a pretty shitty example of "journalism".
She told him from the start she only wanted to be involved with an article based on the science of her putter. If she was a fraud, her work could have been ripped to shreds without breaking that agreement. But the writer was so excited at finding out she was transgender ("Cliché or not, a chill actually ran up my spine.") that he clearly intended to analyse her work only second to outing her.
Hell, by the end of the article, he just plain gives up on finding out if the putter works. He doesn't even bother to answer that question - he's got his story.
James Mathurin You're just filling in various gaps with assumptions to fit your particular view.
1. There is no reason to believe that everything that he asked her to comment on would make it into an article, and the author categorically denies that he ever threatened to out her.
2. She offered to show the author documents but only on the condition that he signed an agreement that he wouldn't publish anything about her past. He refused, and rightly so under those conditions because he wouldn't have been able to disclose any wrong-doing. He discusses this deal in the article. He also independently confirmed that no one by her birth name attended MIT or Penn. Nor are these the only lies he uncovered about her claimed achievements.
3. You are choosing to interpret the "chill up my spine" comment in one of many possible ways, and uncharitably. It is hard to argue that the focus of the article was her sexuality unless highly motivated to do so. It is mentioned in only 4 or 5 paragraphs, and not in a mocking or negative way. It's not in the headline and is first mentioned only about two thirds of the way through the article well after the all-important attention grabbing introduction.
4. Whether the putter worked wasn't the focus of the article. The character of Dr. V was.
1. He had no reason to ask her about her gender, so him even bringing it up would indicate it was going into the article. And the article did out her.
2. None of those lies required outing her as transgender, but clearly he was determined to do this.
3. There is no reason that finding someone being transgender should 'send a chill up your spine' unless you feel it signals them out as being some kind of freak. He goes on to misgender her in his article, and refers to her as "a troubled man who had invented a new life for himself," clearly equating deception with her being transgender. Her being transgender simply shouldn't be a big deal, but he makes it a huge part of the article once he finds out.
4. THe headline is "Dr. V’s Magical Putter" and he ignores the putter, which should be what's of interest to readers of a sporting magazine. THe character of Dr V was not meant to be the focus of the article, and Dr V only agreed to be part of the article on the condition that the science was the focus. If the putter had fraudulent science behind it, there;s your story, but he doesn't even bother to find out.
Looking at the putter, it looks like the one I tried out at sports authority. The hole in the middle is for the golf ball to go in between and you can slide it along if you need to position it somewhere exactly. The rest of it for the most part is not special, you wouldn't use the front or back side out of the 4 sides to hit anyways. The little metal part underneath each putting side seems to ensure that the ball rolls off smoother and stays on the putter better when rolling it in general around. Anyways this seems like it could be the idea of a middle-schooler, doesn't look like something a rocket scientist would waste her time with. But if someone claims to be one, tons of investors are likely to put their money into it.
I do not think it matters... The biggest issues is that it adds nothing to the story, which is a waste of "space". I don't think that journalist should have mentioned that, but I don't think he should be ethically responsible for her death months later by any means.
oh what a terrible web we weave when at first we try to decieve
and this is why we don't have honest journalism. because the truth hurts and people these days can't take criticism. people are too hypersensitive and everything has to be a PR campaign.
should he have reported about her sex change? no that had nothing to do with the story. he should of stuck to the fact that she lied about her credentials. he took it too far. (proboly mad because he felt she was rude to him so he did this as a sort of payback) should be be blamed for her suicide? well given that she has a history of it I would say no. because if you have tried it before then you are prone to try again. did the story contribute to her wanting to do it? possibly but like i said if she had tried before then she would try again regardless if there was a story on her gender change or not. this is a textbook example of how one part of a story can distract people from the story as a whole. people are now so focused on the gender change thing and the suicide that they are no longer paying attention to the fact that she lied about what her education background was which pertained to the story.
The gender issue is totally relevant if for the sole reason that other people simply "didn't want to take the reporter's word for it".
I mean if I was originally a dude and went to college as a guy, but then became a woman.... If I changed my name from Darren Poe to Darlene Doe, well.... the colleges aren't going to have Darlene Doe in their records. But if you later check and see that I was originally a dude and those colleges do have Darren Poe there...that is one thing..... but you sort of have to say, I checked for Darlene Doe and Darren Poe and showed no records of her having been to those schools or having those credentials.
So in that context... I have to agree with "it mattering". Now if her credentials were good, even if they were under Darren Poe.... then I think it's a none issue and no need to out her.
You could write the whole story with out referencing gender at all. The creator of the Dr. V's Magical putter claims to be a rocket scientist and to have gone to Penn State but nobody by that name has ever attended Penn State. It also turns out "Dr. V" isn't really a doctor. I could go on but you get the idea. If you can write it with no gender you can definitely write it with out the transgender. It was totally done for shock value. Definitely write the story, but what do the parts between the persons legs have to do with it at all?
That's not entirely true. The reporter writes about his investigation into her past and the fact that no trace of her can be found before the early part of last decade and that no records of anyone with her current name exist at the institutions she claimed to have degrees from. Her sex change is discussed in the article in that context, so it is relevant for understanding why those details might be missing. It's certainly not the central subject of the article, as many are claiming here (evidently without having read it).
cavalrycome Whether or not it was the central subject of not isn't the point. It was unnecessary to the point of the article, and there for has not place in the article. She didn't have the doctorate she claimed to have before, or after the sex change. If she had got it before then maybe an argument could be made for it to be brought up in the article, but she didn't.
It was certainly relevant for explaining why no trace of anyone with her name could be found before a certain date, so it isn't just sandwiched in there without any motivation, but in principle, one could imagine leaving it out of the article if there was a compelling reason to omit it, though it is a rather key detail about the character the author was profiling.
I think the right question isn't whether it was necessary but whether it was harmful to include it.
No part of this article was published while she was still alive (the article itself didn't out her), and one could easily argue that the best way to ensure that transgenderism maintains a taboo subject is not discussing it openly. The article mentions it in 4 or 5 paragraphs and does not treat in a negative way, unless you wilfully adopt a very uncharitable interpretation. Most the angry fists raised about this article are of people who haven't read it, but have heard distorted accounts of what it says.
So people like to throw a shit-fest whenever the NSA is violating their privacy by listening in on a few phone conversations.
But the public and posthumous outing of a trans woman who had no desire to be outed is to be celebrated as an shining example of journalistic integrity.
Okay then.
Wait, so the putter was actually better than normal ones or did everyone just perceived it as such because they believed it was designed by a physicist?
That putter does nothing
He shouldn't have mentioned her gender for the same reason that reporters do not continually ask Bill Clinton about cigars and Monica Lewinsky for each and every story they do.
tough situation, very sad. I feel for both sides on this, I'm not sure what to think on this one...
How do her credentials matter in the first place if the putter is genuinely better than other putters?
Investors giving her money based on those credentials.
Gender dysphoria is part of the story. Can't deny it, I mean he might not have published that side of the story but it does reveal the type of struggle that can lead someone to act out in that way.
So where do I get the fricken putter? No I didn't miss the point!
To be fair, if you are not honest with your significant other and you choose to end your life because of it it is nobody's fault but your own.
If she died in October, how could his article possibly have made her to commit suicide if it was published 4 or so months later?
The journalist outed her to people she personally knew while he was writing the article. The Young Turks neglected to mention that in this video, I believe.
GuyCable Having skipped through it it seems more like people she personally knew outed her to the journalist, not the other way around.
From what I read I was under the impression that someone she previously worked with outed her to the journalist who then outed her to other people he interviewed who knew her.
GuyCable Something like that. But the journalist telling other people that she was a transgender doesn't seem to me like the reason she ultimately killed herself
Why? As a stealth transgender person myself, I would definitely commit suicide if I was outed to people I know. While, true, she could have killed herself for any number of reasons, I think it would be ridiculous to rule that out completely.
What a bizarre story.
I was hoping for a review of the putter.
It looks like a goddamned portable toilet!
I find it shocking that several people have left comments to the effect that it's no big deal to fake credentials. It says a lot about you if you think that.
Cenk pretty much summed it up perfectly in the end. He thought she was living a lie & being trans was part of that. I've been a victim of that type of thinking as well (only in my case it was an irl "friend" anonymously outing me as ftm to large numbers of my friends & readers online, with no reason behind it). I don't think people understand the very real physical danger they put trans people in when doing things like this. It might not have led to her suicude, but that doesn't make it okay.
I was thinking the new putter malfunctioned some how and killed the journalist.
She committed suicide. You can't be held responsible for what someone else does. It's part of the salacious rabbit hole she created.
The gender of birth was relevant because it made the entire investigation on the person to be much more difficult. Similarly, if someone legally changes their name without a sex change, and then becomes a con artist, the same thing could happen, and the name change would thus be relevant to the overall story.
If she didn't want to be outed why did she lie to someone who could possibly do his research? The credentials she made up were pretty huge, and she could have just confessed she used the creds to get it to sell, then it'd make her look pretty decent too since she was able to make such an invention without any real degree like that.
What? Her credentials and her personal life are two different things.... You should not be outing people to make a fucking story for a flipping paper. Who cares if she made some golf shit and had a fake degree?? Does this matter in the long run? Does this affect someone's life?? More than suicide??
Yes you out her! When you construct a fake persona in order to con people out of money, and then someone goes digging into your background, you don't get to call foul when they find details you don't like.
I don't know whether it should or shouldn't have been part of the story but maybe it was added because they thought it played into the depression and suicide part of the story, I have no clue just a guess.
My question is... Can I see that putter again?......
Even if he only reported the fraudulent credentials, I believe in the end, her gender identity would have been found out by unscrupulous reporters or by business rivals, etc..
I think what matter is,WAS THE FUCKING PUTTER GOOD?
Why does her credentials matter if she supposedly made a better puter? And why would golfers use something just because a rocket scientist made it
Did the putter work as advertised? Did she actually do the design work on it? If these things are both true, then the credentials aren't really all that important. Are they?
If she didn't want people to know that she used to be a man but got surgery... that's lying. You can use that as evidence that someone is a liar.
Now if they got the surgery and they openly admit that, that's fine. Your birth records versus who you are now, shouldn't be such a closeted matter. Yes it was a bad time in your life, but you should be able to get past that at some point and be content with how lucky you were that you could change it, giving strength for other people to change themselves as well if need be.
she was lying because of our stupid culture
"If she didn't want people to know that she used to be a man but got surgery... that's lying." so what? as long as she's not hiding that fact from her s.o., it's nobody's business. we are entitled to some lies.
Not everyone has to share intimate details about themselves with every person they meet, and that's their decision. Gay people do not need to advertise their sexuality, and trans* people do not need to advertise their past, especially if they are trying to focus on living in the present. In addition, gay and ESPECIALLY trans people face far more discrimination and violence, face more hate crimes, and the death toll among trans people is especially high. One in twelve trans women are murdered, and one in eight if she's a woman of colour. Trans people have good reason to stay covert.
The issue is not as simple as you might think, so please do some research.
The history of my genitals aren't your buisness. Especially when being open about my history almost got me killed.
iseeicyicetea She's a public figure putting herself out there though. You can't hide your originating name if you changed it when you changed your originating genitalia.
Sorry but a man going to a college is important if we're trying to figure out if a woman by that same name went to college. If you want to hide your gender change but put your name out there you can't have it both ways.
There are times that me and TYT and not on the same page but I respect you guys and love the show.