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The Age
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Tech bros, incels, dating apps: is this the literary equivalent of doomscrolling?
SHORT STORIES Rejection Tony Tulathimutte Fourth Estate, $36.99 At some point during her reclusive life, Emily Dickinson began a poem on a scrap of notepaper: 'I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too?' The poet herself would remain a literary nobody until years after her death. Perhaps now, as the internet teems with anonymous accounts and inconsequential text, her words will be recognised for what they are: the credo of our over-engaged and under-loved age, the inner song of YouTube comments and unopened Snapchats. Otherwise, if the world still isn't ready, the American writer Tony Tulathimutte is here to take on that mantel on behalf of all the lonely souls online. His new book, Rejection, is set mostly on the internet – on message boards, dating apps, timelines, where the author realises his characters with such artful and painful exactness that his reader will want to trade their iPhone for a Nokia brick. The first story, The Feminist, which went viral when it was published in literary magazine n+1 in 2019, chronicles the decline and fall of a man who imbibes all the tenets of 2010s online progressivism, only to find that, while he has done 'the intellectual labor to empathise with the broadest spectrum of female perspectives', he is still left '[d]ragging his virginity like a body bag into his mid-twenties'. With a cool irony, Tulathimutte shows a man's mind shift from gender positivity and resentment of the patriarchy to the warped victimisation of men's rights accounts and incel forums, like a miniature dramatisation of the transformation of Twitter into X. Other scenarios in the collection revolve around similar young men whose lives do not extend far from their screens. Our Dope Future is narrated by a tech bro whose startups include a 'sexual consent on the blockchain' app and a 'meal-replacement shake called Döpesauce'. The story takes the form of an extended blog post written by this Elon Musk-ite, in which he describes wooing a woman with his 'algorizzim' and subsequently imprisoning and surveilling her to help her achieve her 'life goals'. In another story, a man comes out as gay but is unable to reconcile the openness and liberality of contemporary society – including queer and kink-friendly dating apps – with his own sadistic fetishes. Another is simply a series of metaphors for the humiliating state of being a rejected man: 'Passing your neighbor's house, you catch a glimpse of someone through his living room window, lit up by the television he's watching alone in the dark, and think, What a loser ... on your way home to do the exact same thing.'
Sydney Morning Herald
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Tech bros, incels, dating apps: is this the literary equivalent of doomscrolling?
SHORT STORIES Rejection Tony Tulathimutte Fourth Estate, $36.99 At some point during her reclusive life, Emily Dickinson began a poem on a scrap of notepaper: 'I'm nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody, too?' The poet herself would remain a literary nobody until years after her death. Perhaps now, as the internet teems with anonymous accounts and inconsequential text, her words will be recognised for what they are: the credo of our over-engaged and under-loved age, the inner song of YouTube comments and unopened Snapchats. Otherwise, if the world still isn't ready, the American writer Tony Tulathimutte is here to take on that mantel on behalf of all the lonely souls online. His new book, Rejection, is set mostly on the internet – on message boards, dating apps, timelines, where the author realises his characters with such artful and painful exactness that his reader will want to trade their iPhone for a Nokia brick. The first story, The Feminist, which went viral when it was published in literary magazine n+1 in 2019, chronicles the decline and fall of a man who imbibes all the tenets of 2010s online progressivism, only to find that, while he has done 'the intellectual labor to empathise with the broadest spectrum of female perspectives', he is still left '[d]ragging his virginity like a body bag into his mid-twenties'. With a cool irony, Tulathimutte shows a man's mind shift from gender positivity and resentment of the patriarchy to the warped victimisation of men's rights accounts and incel forums, like a miniature dramatisation of the transformation of Twitter into X. Other scenarios in the collection revolve around similar young men whose lives do not extend far from their screens. Our Dope Future is narrated by a tech bro whose startups include a 'sexual consent on the blockchain' app and a 'meal-replacement shake called Döpesauce'. The story takes the form of an extended blog post written by this Elon Musk-ite, in which he describes wooing a woman with his 'algorizzim' and subsequently imprisoning and surveilling her to help her achieve her 'life goals'. In another story, a man comes out as gay but is unable to reconcile the openness and liberality of contemporary society – including queer and kink-friendly dating apps – with his own sadistic fetishes. Another is simply a series of metaphors for the humiliating state of being a rejected man: 'Passing your neighbor's house, you catch a glimpse of someone through his living room window, lit up by the television he's watching alone in the dark, and think, What a loser ... on your way home to do the exact same thing.'
Sunday World
22-06-2025
- Sunday World
Young Wexford man weeps tears of relief as jury acquits him of sex assault
It took them just two hours of deliberation before they brought in their finding in the case A 27-year-old man wept tears of relief at Wexford Circuit Court as he was found not guilty of sexual assault. The unanimous verdict was delivered more than four years after the incident that led to his prosecution. The trial before Judge James McCourt was into its fifth day when the jury of eight men and four women reached their decision. It took them just two hours of deliberation before they brought in their finding in the case. The prosecution was taken after the defendant and his accuser met for the first time outside a rural pub in September of 2021. At closing time they walked up a lane to a field where they kissed while standing against some hay bales. The young woman, then aged 19, complained that he went too far. She was examined at the sexual assault treatment unit in Waterford and found to have lacerations in her private parts. 'She simply did not want to be to be intimate with him,' concluded prosecuting counsel Sinead Gleeson. Her opposite number Diarmuid Collins urged the jury to view what happened as a clumsy but consensual encounter. In her testimony, the complainant told how she was in the pub to celebrate the birthday of a friend and she spent most of the evening in the company of girlfriends. However, at the end of the night she was on her own when the accused came up to her and made small talk. The pair walked up the lane and began kissing in the field, which was in use as an overflow car park. Her version of events – disputed by the defendant – was that he started sexually assaulting her with his hands. 'He never asked, he just did it,' was her recall. 'I was begging him to stop and he just laughed.' Before she drew away, she had lost her underwear, which was found undamaged the following day by a garda who examined the scene. In cross-examination by Mr Collins, she confirmed that his client had been the one with his back against the bales. The injured party was collected by one of her parents and brought home where she discovered blood in her urine. She also exchanged a series of Snapchat with the accused who had obtained her social media contact details just a few hours earlier. Two screenshots of his Snapchats were available to the jury. In one, accompanied by a smiling emoji, he said 'you liked it really' and in the second he said he would try to stop the next time. They were both sent from a pub where the man had gone to continue drinking late into the night. The young woman stated that the contents of the second message really frightened her with its reference to 'next time' and she blocked him. She also told how the gardaí were called after she told her family what had happened. She was brought to the hospital in Waterford. One of the officers who drove her and her mother to the sexual assault treatment unit came to court to give evidence. Garda Orla Sherry consulted her notes and recalled that the complainant told her that night that the defendant had his fingers in her vagina for about five minutes before she pushed him away and ran to her friends. Wexford circuit court News in 90 Seconds - June 22nd She described the teenager as evasive and defensive, while she was unable to confirm whether she had stepped out of her underwear and how it had ended up on the ground. In Waterford, the injured party was examined by Doctor Ellen McGovern who remembered her stating that she had asked the defendant to stop but that he just continued doing it. The examination revealed two external lacerations and one abrasion in the vaginal area, along with three internal abrasions. 'Minor but sore' was how the doctor summed up the injuries, agreeing with Mr Collins that they could have been caused by a fingernail. When he was interviewed a few weeks after the incident by Wexford-based Garda Richie Fitzgerald, the defendant agreed that he was the person who went up the lane with the complainant. He maintained that she did not say no and that she did not seem uncomfortable, adding that he did not use force. Entering the witness box in his own defence, he revealed that he had never been in the pub where the incident happened until the night in question. 'The allegation is not true,' he said under oath. 'I am not like that at all.' He also reckoned that he had five or six pints and two or three double vodkas before going to the car park, followed by more drink later at another venue. He added that he had zero recollection of sending the Snapchats. In her speech to the jury, Ms Gleeson suggested that the young woman simply did not want to be intimate with the accused and that she had repeatedly said stop. Mr Collins summed up what occurred as a 'clumsy and quick interaction in a car park'. He reasoned that his client would never have sent the first Snapchat message of the night, which was not available as evidence to the trial, if he had felt he had committed an assault. He pointed out that there was no complaint made until after the social media exchange. Counsel summed up what occurred as a misadventure. He agreed that the young woman should not have been hurt but insisted that what happened was nonetheless consensual. The mother of the defendant and the father of the girl were present when the jury's decision was announced by the court registrar. After the jurors left the courtroom, the accused shed his tears. He was still in the dock when his solicitor came over to him and gave him a hug.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
Harrisburg woman allegedly using Snapchat during fatal hit and run that killed teen
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — A Harrisburg woman was allegedly on her phone when she fatally struck a teenage boy in a hit-and-run in Lancaster County last year, police say. Mikayla Mustard, 24, faces felony charges of homicide by vehicle and accidents involving death or personal injury. She also faces misdemeanor charges of involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person, along with summary charges, court records show. Prior coverage -> Teen killed in Lancaster County hit and run The criminal complaint filed Wednesday in Magisterial District Court Torrey Landis's Office details the investigation by Northern Lancaster County Regional Police. Officers found 16-year-old Curtis Groff dead in a cemetery along the 200 block of West Sun Hill Road in Penn Township on May 2, 2024, around 9:30 p.m. The complaint shows Groff had injuries that appeared to have come from being hit by a vehicle. Police said they learned that Groff was weed-whacking when he was struck. No vehicle was at the scene, but police said there was evidence that Groff was struck like scrapes on the road, tire tracks through the grass, and debris from a vehicle. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now The complaint states that Mustard later showed up at the scene after being driven by a relative, and she told police she might have hit a deer or rock, and drove back to Harrisburg after the crash. By looking at data from Mustard's phone, police said they saw she was using Snapchat right before and after the crash. The complaint shows Mustard sent Snapchats regarding blood on her vehicle and that she might go to jail if she hurt someone. Caregiver charged with assaulting, neglecting Lancaster County patient 'The driving actions of Mikayla Mustard were determined to be the primary cause of the collision,' the charging officer said in the complaint. 'Specifically, regarding driving actions, the defendant traveling westbound on West Sun Hill Road, Penn Township, while attempting to read a message she received, which caused her to leave her lane of travel and the roadway. The defendant's vehicle then struck Curtis Groff, who had been weed whacking the grass and standing off the roadway, causing his death.' Mustard is scheduled to be arraigned Friday morning, court records show. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
I struggled as a new mom. Snapchat filters masked my pain and helped me bond with my baby.
My first child was born in 2017 and I have so many photos of him with Snapchat filters. He was a hard baby, and I had postpartum depression, and I struggled with loneliness. I found solace in taking silly photos together. I've snapped photos with my firstborn son since he was born in 2017, but unlike my parents before me, many of the pictures I took were silly selfies with Snapchat filters. Back then, this was a popular method of communication — so, no, I don't regret it at all. These Snapchats helped me get through a challenging and lonely time in my postpartum days. Motherhood was difficult for me at first. I experienced postpartum anxiety, which was not officially diagnosed or treated until years later. On top of this, my firstborn son was a difficult baby, crying nonstop for hours, refusing to latch, and keeping us up all night, every night, for months. As I worked hard to keep my baby happy, I also struggled to keep myself happy — battling terrifying intrusive thoughts, irrational anger, and overwhelming anxiety that kept me awake even during the rare times of quiet. When my husband went back to work, my feelings intensified. The minutes stretched out impossibly before me as I felt desperately alone and overwhelmed taking care of my newborn baby. In those moments of loneliness, I would find comfort in taking photos, using cute and ridiculous filters, and then sending them to friends and family. It was an easy way to find little moments of connection. Plus, getting responses from my friends helped me feel included in their lives, even when I was stuck at home. Especially because it was hard for me to reach out to loved ones or even know how to ask for help. Sending Snapchats was the easy icebreaker I needed. Even when I didn't send the pictures, the act of taking selfies with my baby was a bright spot in my day. With every snap, I felt more normal (and less like the tired mom I was). It was an illusion that I cherished. The pictures showed a new mom happily hanging out with her baby and hid the fact that I was sitting nap-trapped on a recliner in milk-stained clothes, with yesterday's smudged eyeliner still desperately clinging on. It became a ritual of sorts, swiping through the filters and making my baby giggle at the funny animals, cartoons, hearts, and other features that popped up on the screen. These cute and ridiculous pictures may have been unconventional, but they helped me bond with my son. It created these pockets of fun in my otherwise mundane day filled with diaper changes, feedings, and near-constant worries. Eventually, my baby started sleeping through the night, eating solid foods, and adapting to a schedule. I returned to work, and the intrusive thoughts came less frequently. Taking goofy photos became something fun and lighthearted rather than a lifeline. My son still loves taking pictures on Snapchat and looking back at the cute faces he made as a baby. He doesn't know we did that when I was on the edge of despair and struggling to make it through the day without crying. He just sees his mom smiling and having fun with her new baby, and he absolutely loves it. Pulling up Snapchat photos to reminisce on the past isn't exactly the same as going through an old photo album — but it's not that different either. And even though I have plenty of traditional photos of my baby, I don't regret taking so many with filters. It reminds me of a challenging, exhausting, and ultimately beautiful time in my life and motherhood journey. For that, I'm forever grateful for digital dog ears. Read the original article on Business Insider
