Argumentative Penguin
2 min readJun 22, 2022

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I disagree - because what you've suggested is that those people who made supportive comments (themselves judgments on your work) are supportive and worth listening to - but those who have questioned your work or provided a critique are being judgmental. I think this is a contradiction and both positions are valid. If the lesson is 'no judgments are fair to make' then switch off the comments or don't ask your friends and family what they thought. You cannot curate support and praise on the one hand and ban unwelcome judgments on the other. You can either have none, or you can have both.

If you put something out into the world, whether it's personal or not, you're inviting other people to take a position on it. You have made something public either in written, verbal or physical form. If you refuse to accept this can leave you open to necessary critique and instead want to cultivate an echo chamber then I'd argue this is part of a systemic problem society has. It's certainly a systemic problem the creative arts has and particularly theatre at the moment.

And yes, that applies to the work of Rebecca Stevens too... she blocked me long ago after I had the temerity to suggest that her piece about how not being allowed to go hang-gliding in Switzerland was somewhat divorced from the race/class conversations that were necessary to reduce racism. Rebecca is an excellent writer, but that doesn't mean she's saying anything of necessary value and can therefore be challenged by anyone. Like many on Medium, she heavily curates what comments she has on her work and who is allowed to make those comments. I'm not rude, I'm not aggressive, but I do have opinions - and if people put things into the public arena, I see it as an invitation to share those opinions both positive and negative.

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Argumentative Penguin
Argumentative Penguin

Written by Argumentative Penguin

Playwright. Screenwriter. Penguin. Fan of rationalism and polite discourse. Find me causing chaos in the comments. Contact: argumentativepenguin@outlook.com

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