Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The (Un)Official Statement To Close The Matter, I Hope...

.:Closing Off...:.

For those wondering...

Yes, a formal apology has been made to the aggrieved party.

Beyond that, no, I don't know what repercussions there are for the offending personnel.

Yes, the aggrieved party has requested an end to this discussion, and as a friend to her, I would certainly acquiesce to that wish.

But no, I can't (nor do I wish to) control anyone else who wishes to pursue anything beyond this incident for gender equality, such as, say Filipina Images.

.:Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself:.

For those who may have read my blog for the first time, I am Kel Fabie, and this is really an autobiographical blog with a slice of personal commentary on a wide range of topics from time to time. I know the controversy has attracted an unnatural share of traffic for this blog, and while I'd wish to keep those readers if only I could, I'd rather just not lead people on into thinking I'm the type of blogger who'd shoot down people who offend me or my friends willy-nilly. If you wish to read about how my day was, feel free to keep on reading. If not, since I don't make money from this blog, it's no skin off my back if what I write or how I write doesn't quite tickle your fancy.

This was an extreme case, and one that I felt strongly about, so I felt the need to act. I am especially protective of my friends, in the first place. I don't just go and cry "wolf" everytime something unfortunate happens, especially if it's within my power to resolve it privately and amicably. It's not a case of being afraid: it's a case of being prudent.

Ultimately, I also value our freedom of expression here on the internet, and justice and equality to its fullest possible extent. As an ethicist by practice, it's my personal crusade to understand and make heads or tails of what it means to do the right thing, and to choose to do it.

This incident was indeed unfortunate, but I choose to no longer pursue it as I respect the wishes of my friend. While we all could learn from her example, I hope we would allow the speculation and hearsay to die a natural death, focus on how best to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else, and respect the privacy and wishes of my friend.

Thank you very much, and I apologize if I could not provide you with the juicy dirt some of you may have perhaps wanted to find in this blog. I am, after all, first and foremost, her friend, and as such, would rather comply with her wishes at this point.

Let this be the last time I'd publicly speak about this. Truth be told, I don't even believe that I should serve as a spokesperson for her since she is her own person, but as I know that I was the one who started the fire, so to speak, I need to also be the one to put it out from my end.

Godspeed to you all and happy holidays.

No comments: