Scowl

Jay Sizemore's incendiary poem SCOWL was released to intense controversy on 8/24/2015. Published by the now rebooted Revolution John Magazine, an online journal, the poem was immediately met with a backlash of criticism and condemnation in a brutal display of unmitigated irony. SCOWL was written to showcase the hypocrisy of "call-out culture" and "mob shaming" that had become a prevalent staple of new-wave feminism and social media activism. The provocative nature of the work garnered the exact type of response it set out to critique, proving the thesis of the work. As a result, Revolution John was intimidated through ruthless online bullying until its editor decided to permanently delete all web content. The poem is printed here for the first time, along with several other poems that had been showcased in Revolution John Magazine, many of which are themed around freedom of expression.