If thou gazest long into the Pit, the Pit will also gaze into thee

Stephen Packard (aka: DRBUZZ0), the "upskirt camera" guy, has posted a note on his facebook page announcing he has decided not to attend TAM 10 due to fear of harassment.

From his post:

After a great deal of consideration Ive decided not to go to TAM this year. I love TAM - it's the highlight of my year, but the recent attitudes expressed make me feel it's probably not safe for single males to attend the event. There are a lot of people trying to make a point, and who they defame or slander in the process really doesn't matter much.

Gentlemen, if you choose to go, put a lawyer on retainer before hand and be sure to be super careful.

He continues in a response to a comment:

Honestly, I'm just worried about what the hell is going to happen there. I by no means condone harassment, but I'm not sure which way things will go and I think the risk is too high. Also, as a male I am not sure I am welcome being there. There seems to be such a strong message of "WE HAVE TOO HIGH A RATIO OF MALES TO FEMALES" I feel kinda like I am part of the problem sometimes.

What was is P.Z. said? "The bullies have won"?

Well, we now know that the Baboons have successfully bullied and intimidated someone out of attending a conference.

All they need is insinuations. How those bullies must relish their illusory power. Expect more "whispers", more "blacklists", more "undocumented accusations" in a bid to cause trouble, bully people, and upset those not on the Baboon bandwagon.

I almost never go to FfTB any more, but I'm wondering if there is joy in Baboollieville tonight at this result. It wouldn't surprise me, though, if this was never even mentioned in public...

In a small way, I can sympathize with Mr. Packard. In the aftermath of the elevator incident, I was somewhat hesitant to attend Skepticon 4 since that would involve staying in the same hotel with PZ Myers, Rebecca Watson, Greta Christina, and Jen McCreight, even though I have a significant other and thus no need to attempt to flirt with anyone. I ended up going to Skepticon and discovered that my fears had no basis in reality, but it's amazing how much irrational fear that experiences with dogmatic people can inspire.

Sometimes I wonder if the femtheists would prefer to have male conference attendees more like Steve Carell's character in The 40-Year-Old Virgin:

I respect women! I love women! I respect them so much that I completely stay away from them!

Evan wrote:
Sometimes I wonder if the femtheists would prefer to have male conference attendees more like Steve Carell's character in The 40-Year-Old Virgin:

I respect women! I love women! I respect them so much that I completely stay away from them!

I large part of my ire directed to them is that anyone that has experience with "NerdCons" knows that most nerds are afraid of women.

There is even a meme to this effect:

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/hover-hand

Damn. I almost want to tell him to go anyway, and not let the FTB bullies get the best of him. I wish I would have seen this post sooner.