Last week for the second time in a few months I got a Facebook Messenger note telling me the ways I should pay because of this piece I wrote about how my relationship with my dog changed after I had kids. This piece is at the top of the list of stories that I get the most hate mail about, and from people who actually put in some effort to track me down, too.
I marveled about the longevity of this piece--that people have been hating it for nearly five years now--in a freelancer Facebook page I belong to. The post receivd 234 comments, most of them other writers mentioning the pieces of theirs that raised the most ire. It was cathartic to laugh about the lengths angry people will go to to tell you how much something you wrote sucked, and about the things that make people mad.
Here is a reported summary of that top rage-worthy topics that get commenters mad, in descending order, based on my informal survey/Facebook post:
- Pets / racism (tie)
- Feminism and sexism
- Circumcision
- Real estate / pop culture (tie)
- Art / Native American cultural appreciation / Judaica / low carb diets / B&Bs (tie)
And here are other topics writers reported getting hate mail on:
- Domestic violence shelters
- A spouse giving up alcohol for their alcoholic spouse
- Food stamps
- Foie gras
- The ineffectiveness of postive affirmations
- Testing for "gifted" children
- Rap music
- Keratin hair treatments
- Women in technology
- Horse domestication in Saudi Arabia
- The downsides of French kissing
- Sex toy parties
- Bees
- Marvel movies
- GMOs
- Jon Bon Jovi
- A high school culinary program
- Not spanking your kids
- Snowblading (???)
- Books
- The Seattle swingers scene
- Hunting
- Black Lives Matter
- Hillary Rodham Clinton
- Bernie Sanders
- A gay pastor
- A gay child
- Telling kids it's okay to masturbate
- Peanut butter
- MLMs
- The Duggars
- Sarah Palin
- Whether you should take children along to ultrasound appointments
- Roage rage in South Africa
- Marie Kondo
- Employment barriers post-incarceration
- Autosexuality
- A high profile rape case in India
- The UK Independence Party
- Supporting teachers by chipping in for school supplies
- Holding onto one's virginity for a long time
- Elf on the Shelf
Anyway, all that hate mail ultimately led to a very entertaining thread, so...thanks?