A queer woman, who talks about addiction, eating disorders, religious trauma, internalized racism, who raises oodles of money for good causes, who amplifies the voices of other women and lgbtq people…is compared to Walmart. Ridiculous.
I was really put off by some of the posts I read about Glennon coming to Substack. It felt "icky" to me, very "icky" and mean girlish behavior. How awful to be such an accomplished woman and to be treated the way she was, especially by other women. I have lost respect. Do better ladies.
I agree 💯! I don’t like it when women police other women on Substack and push people out like Glennon Doyle.
A group of haters bullied her with their “pity the underdog” and “eat the rich” stance and I call B.S.!
You can be small, medium, or large here. You also have the potential to GROW.
Individual artists do not have a monopoly on art. We are not a Starbucks, we are a human.
Am I tired of our celebrity culture? Sure.
Do I think Glennon deserves her flowers? Absolutely.
I am thrilled to follow her and other famous authors like Roxane Gay, Margaret Atwood, and Elizabeth Gilbert who deserve their success.
I also love following smaller authors and do not follow others and even block a few.
So we get to choose. Don’t be SMALL. Be generous. Our opportunities are limitless if we believe it. I believe it for myself and for other women. You are my sister.
Yes! We are very lucky that we have access to these courageous and phenomenal sages. I resent the people who thinks it’s their business to tear them down.
Hmmm. How many lesbian voices are on substack and especially “famous” ones? The lgbt community has been on the receiving end of so much crap and for as long as I can remember. I’m about to turn 65. I’m fighting to keep from becoming a bitter old woman who is so disappointed in human beings. While I love substack, I had mixed feelings about what folks were saying about Glennon coming here. To be clear, I’m a huge fan of hers and her various family members and friends. Their voices matter to me as someone who came out in 1973 at 14. I and my oppressed community got bullied everyday since then in some form. When I was growing up there were ZERO role models or voices but plenty of negative stereotypes. That aside, do substackers realize how many young people, sober and not, gay or straight, young and old need her representation? I’m really tired of American brutality, American opionion-ism on literally everything, (like I’m doing now), and in this time of Trumpism/MAGA and our challenged freedoms and declining democracy to have people flexing muscles of insecurity and fear towards someone who dared so bravely to push the fear button and fight back! She deserves the success and deserves to be here and it would be great if folks who I’m sure are decent, could look at why her being here mattered instead of bringing her and her fans down. That said, she’s a grown woman and a seasoned professional who could have stood her ground. But she might be beleaguered like me and frankly doesn’t need any more BS and neither do I.
Dee - you make so many incredible points here - about the lgbt community and beyond 🩷 I think you’re right that perhaps she was just so beat down already and didn’t have much fight left in her. She’s also written recently about how much she’s struggling emotionally, inwardly - in regard to her recovery. And this wasn’t a positive place to be for her - clearly!
🇨🇦 here. I agree completely. I'm an old bat lesbian, out since '82, who marched there, and advocated that. There aren't enough Glennon Doyles out there, to casually drive one out of the community lunchroom.
A woman who is a queer, working mum, married/ parent, "building- life-one- day-at-a-time-by-doing- the-work voice" is valuable on any social media platform.
Could she have made a softer entrance? Possibly. Is she a professional writer, who has every right to monetize her work from the start of her time on Substack? Absolutely.
I'm just here for the good conversation, and thoughtful exchange of points of view. I'm not supporting myself with this.
But I do get a whiff of professional jealousy, from the vehemence with which some posters object to new arrivals, suggesting evil corporate vibes from writers who have established bodies of work joining the platform. And I have to wonder how much of their concern is motivated by naked self interest.
It's not pie. There aren't limits to how many people will pay for good content. Good writing inevitably "makes more pie" by attracting new people.
Thank you. I think back on my younger self and the older woman I now am. I think telling the truth, one’s truth is critical. We have, I believe, a birthright to be whole. My parents “lied” to my brother and me. It was a harsh way to find out that at age 11 my parents in fact had adopted us. Those kinds of lies lead to a lifetime of trauma. The worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves and thus betray ourselves. When we do this we not only cause harm to others but we create generations of harm. I’ve known older women who are just now coming out. They are grandmothers some of them. The shock to their husbands and children run so deep that having been deceived was more than they can now bare at 60 years old. I appreciate your compliment. So many young queer folks have no idea. They don’t even bother to know their gay American history. Most of the time I now feel invisible and a relic of a gone by era. I’m grateful for Glennon and Abbey and her sister and all their kids (and maybe even the ex husbands). In so many regards our society has come far. Just now being undone by the very same Christians (along with the madman grifter in the Whitehouse) that I marched by in the 1970s and 80s Gay Pride parades we called it in NYC and who spit on me and shouted the most hateful things one could imagine. We are all braced for the uncertain times ahead. Substack lost an excellent contributor in Glennon. Maybe, just maybe, she’ll give it a shot again one day?
Thank you, Dee! I do hope G comes back too. Your story is a brave one and I commend you for the way in which you view others. I, too, originated from a family where lying came easily. My parents did so to protect us, or so they thought. But they had their own secrets and their own struggles. My dad ended up moving out when I was 18 and leaving my mother as soon as I went to college, which explained a lot. He moved in with another man. But back then there was still a lot for him to work through and he didn’t come out to us until years later. I have so much compassion for my father and the pain he endured. The things you said above remind me of his generation who have struggled. Thanks again for being here.
The problem here is Notes. If Substack had just remained a platform to do your newsletter/blog/podcast – like WordPress or Blogger or Ghost, etc – stuff like this wouldn't happen. But Substack insists on becoming a social media platform too, and this happens to every single social media site (even the "good" ones).
I just had to reinstall the Substack app and on the app store it’s described as “videos, writing and podcasts”. Ugh. That positioning says a lot about where Substack wants to go…
On Notes, I use it primarily to restack other writers and have discovered some amazing publications through that. It’s unfortunate that it’s becoming a scrolling IG-like feed but I liberally mute or block content that is not relevant for me.
You’ve articulated what I felt yesterday. Thank you for sharing. I am also sad to see Glennon go. It was really troubling to see how some individuals reacted to Glennon appearing on this platform.
I’ve seen the same writer’s, who I’ve looked up to, who boast freedom, talking about how Glennon joining a platform on the internet is affecting their ability to be free and write and be financially secure. I’ve seen already-successful writer’s speaking about how their platform is going to be negatively influenced by Glennon coming to this platform… when there was no merit for that. It was a fear-based claim rooted in worrying about the future. Like you mentioned, her presence could have brought more people to this platform. It could’ve been a net-positive for us all, but now we will never know. I’m very disappointed Glennon left, and I’m also proud she made the best choice for herself.
All I want to say is—Glennon Doyle helped me get and stay sober. I found her book, Untamed, when I needed it most. Her podcast has brought me perspective and learning. I like Glennon. I’ll continue to support her, and everyone’s right to be here, if they want to be, and write their thoughts. Anyone who share’s there story is valuable. Isn’t that what it’s all about anyways? Sharing and creating?
Absolutely. It’s about sharing, creating and supporting one another as we wander this road together. We should be building one another up, not tearing each other down. Glennon was a big part of me getting sober too. I read Untamed in the early days and I love her podcast. I also found great comfort back in 2020, from some of those other authors you’re likely thinking of, who used this space to tear her down last week. Some of these women inspired me to write my own memoir and tell my story - in the hopes of helping others who suffer in silence.
Well said, Kimberly. I just finished reading the “open letter" that I think got this whole thing started, and to me, it just reeked of underhanded bullying wrapped in a faux blanket of admiration. And all of the fawning in thr comments was even more offputting.
The scarcity mindset is pervasive in a capitalist society, and wanting to exclude people who are successful at what they do for fear that they will take the few crumbs I may have is just sad.
I have no doubt Glennon would have brought the spotlight to many lesser-known writers on this platform, and now she's gone.
Some people are claiming it was the way she made her entrance that created the “backlash”… we need to get over ourselves. Please. Asking a successful woman to play small is lame. She deserved to be here and we could have learned a lot from her. It's a shame what the mob mentality does to people.
This. I was so irritated and annoyed by that “open letter”. I wish the author had just told the truth and admitted that she was jealous of Glennon’s reach and insecure. It was outright bullying.
When I first found Substack it felt like a safe haven and I just wanted to stay tucked in because the warmth and kindness was amazing. I have to confess that over the past month the drive and obsession with subscriber numbers became obsessive and it's all I could think about but I also realized that it can lead to a bit of suffocation and actually takes away from the objective of joining Substack in the first place. Hearing about Glennon Doyle's experience and decision has made me think back to why I joined Substack in the first place, and it was never about the numbers, it was supposed to be a safe haven for writers 💛🌻
I sometimes find myself getting caught in the numbers game - especially when every post on notes is about “how to get more subscribers” and “how to grow your Substack” 🙄 then I remember why I left Instagram, because of the competitiveness and inauthentic friendships I had on there. I do find I’m having meaningful interactions on this platform regardless of notes and all the noise. And everyday I discover new incredible writers. So that’s what it’s about. The writing.
Being new myself and a follower of G, I was excited as well and loved her interview with Liz Gilbert. Was shocked to get her email today and saddened by it. You make an excellent point about how we are all human and capable of feeling extreme hurt no matter our social or monetary status. And yes, there’s room for everyone at the table.
Just came across you Substack as I was looking for others who write about sobriety. And it's very fitting that this was your first essay I read. Thank you for these words. My feed was inundated this week with commentary about Glennon coming to Substack. It was very fitting; I'm in school for Positive Psychology and in my human development class, we recently read a study about parasocial attachment. And while it can have positive impacts, it's often problematic. I felt like what I witnessed in the reaction to Glennon coming to Substack was very illustrative of that. And it really made me think about some of the most important lessons and things I've learned on my sobriety journey, like what you mentioned about personal responsibility.
The situation on Substack this past week truthfully made me sad and feel a lot of things about where we are culturally. 2025 in particular feels so fraught with emotion, and what I hear from a lot of people, is something of a disillusionment with social media and so many online gathering places. It seems to be in part why people have gravitated to Substack. There seem to be fewer safe and empowering online spaces for people, and especially creatives, to congregate. Substack, especially when I first joined, felt like that. It's ebbed and flowed for me. But this week was such a disappointment and I hope that it isn't a foretelling sign of the platform.
Thank you for putting words to some of what I'd been feeling!
Spencer! Great to meet you! I had to Google parasocial attachment 😂 but wow yes that sounds spot on! That idea that people felt as if they could harass her, tell her what to do and how to behave. As if there were no boundaries or levels of respect. She’s a human being!! And yes, it shows a lot about where we are culturally. I endured something really painful in my community, not to this level - but I experienced what it’s like when people turn on you. Social ostracism hurts like physical pain. Thanks for being here and I’m eager to hear more from you down the road! 😊
I was elated when I saw Glennon join Substack and heartbroken 💔 when she left. She is a lighthouse to her Pod squad and I am disappointed with the women that felt her presence was taking away from them.
Beautifully written Kimberly; thank you for adding your voice to those of us deeply disturbed and disappointed by this pushback against Glennon’s presence here.
A queer woman, who talks about addiction, eating disorders, religious trauma, internalized racism, who raises oodles of money for good causes, who amplifies the voices of other women and lgbtq people…is compared to Walmart. Ridiculous.
Exactly. It seems as if people were looking at the whole thing through a rather frightened lens. Everyone was just worried about their own platforms.
Such a strange thing to witness.
Unfortunate and strange indeed
Beautifully said. I’m sure this would bring a smile to Glennons heart.
I was really put off by some of the posts I read about Glennon coming to Substack. It felt "icky" to me, very "icky" and mean girlish behavior. How awful to be such an accomplished woman and to be treated the way she was, especially by other women. I have lost respect. Do better ladies.
Yes! That’s exactly how I felt. Icky. 😕
I agree 💯! I don’t like it when women police other women on Substack and push people out like Glennon Doyle.
A group of haters bullied her with their “pity the underdog” and “eat the rich” stance and I call B.S.!
You can be small, medium, or large here. You also have the potential to GROW.
Individual artists do not have a monopoly on art. We are not a Starbucks, we are a human.
Am I tired of our celebrity culture? Sure.
Do I think Glennon deserves her flowers? Absolutely.
I am thrilled to follow her and other famous authors like Roxane Gay, Margaret Atwood, and Elizabeth Gilbert who deserve their success.
I also love following smaller authors and do not follow others and even block a few.
So we get to choose. Don’t be SMALL. Be generous. Our opportunities are limitless if we believe it. I believe it for myself and for other women. You are my sister.
Yassss amen to this! 🙏🏻🙌🏻
Yes! We are very lucky that we have access to these courageous and phenomenal sages. I resent the people who thinks it’s their business to tear them down.
Hmmm. How many lesbian voices are on substack and especially “famous” ones? The lgbt community has been on the receiving end of so much crap and for as long as I can remember. I’m about to turn 65. I’m fighting to keep from becoming a bitter old woman who is so disappointed in human beings. While I love substack, I had mixed feelings about what folks were saying about Glennon coming here. To be clear, I’m a huge fan of hers and her various family members and friends. Their voices matter to me as someone who came out in 1973 at 14. I and my oppressed community got bullied everyday since then in some form. When I was growing up there were ZERO role models or voices but plenty of negative stereotypes. That aside, do substackers realize how many young people, sober and not, gay or straight, young and old need her representation? I’m really tired of American brutality, American opionion-ism on literally everything, (like I’m doing now), and in this time of Trumpism/MAGA and our challenged freedoms and declining democracy to have people flexing muscles of insecurity and fear towards someone who dared so bravely to push the fear button and fight back! She deserves the success and deserves to be here and it would be great if folks who I’m sure are decent, could look at why her being here mattered instead of bringing her and her fans down. That said, she’s a grown woman and a seasoned professional who could have stood her ground. But she might be beleaguered like me and frankly doesn’t need any more BS and neither do I.
Dee - you make so many incredible points here - about the lgbt community and beyond 🩷 I think you’re right that perhaps she was just so beat down already and didn’t have much fight left in her. She’s also written recently about how much she’s struggling emotionally, inwardly - in regard to her recovery. And this wasn’t a positive place to be for her - clearly!
Yes yes yes this.
🇨🇦 here. I agree completely. I'm an old bat lesbian, out since '82, who marched there, and advocated that. There aren't enough Glennon Doyles out there, to casually drive one out of the community lunchroom.
A woman who is a queer, working mum, married/ parent, "building- life-one- day-at-a-time-by-doing- the-work voice" is valuable on any social media platform.
Could she have made a softer entrance? Possibly. Is she a professional writer, who has every right to monetize her work from the start of her time on Substack? Absolutely.
I'm just here for the good conversation, and thoughtful exchange of points of view. I'm not supporting myself with this.
But I do get a whiff of professional jealousy, from the vehemence with which some posters object to new arrivals, suggesting evil corporate vibes from writers who have established bodies of work joining the platform. And I have to wonder how much of their concern is motivated by naked self interest.
It's not pie. There aren't limits to how many people will pay for good content. Good writing inevitably "makes more pie" by attracting new people.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and support
You came out in ‘73 at the age of 14!?! Wow, I cannot imagine the bravery of that young girl❤️❤️❤️
Thank you. I think back on my younger self and the older woman I now am. I think telling the truth, one’s truth is critical. We have, I believe, a birthright to be whole. My parents “lied” to my brother and me. It was a harsh way to find out that at age 11 my parents in fact had adopted us. Those kinds of lies lead to a lifetime of trauma. The worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves and thus betray ourselves. When we do this we not only cause harm to others but we create generations of harm. I’ve known older women who are just now coming out. They are grandmothers some of them. The shock to their husbands and children run so deep that having been deceived was more than they can now bare at 60 years old. I appreciate your compliment. So many young queer folks have no idea. They don’t even bother to know their gay American history. Most of the time I now feel invisible and a relic of a gone by era. I’m grateful for Glennon and Abbey and her sister and all their kids (and maybe even the ex husbands). In so many regards our society has come far. Just now being undone by the very same Christians (along with the madman grifter in the Whitehouse) that I marched by in the 1970s and 80s Gay Pride parades we called it in NYC and who spit on me and shouted the most hateful things one could imagine. We are all braced for the uncertain times ahead. Substack lost an excellent contributor in Glennon. Maybe, just maybe, she’ll give it a shot again one day?
Thank you, Dee! I do hope G comes back too. Your story is a brave one and I commend you for the way in which you view others. I, too, originated from a family where lying came easily. My parents did so to protect us, or so they thought. But they had their own secrets and their own struggles. My dad ended up moving out when I was 18 and leaving my mother as soon as I went to college, which explained a lot. He moved in with another man. But back then there was still a lot for him to work through and he didn’t come out to us until years later. I have so much compassion for my father and the pain he endured. The things you said above remind me of his generation who have struggled. Thanks again for being here.
The problem here is Notes. If Substack had just remained a platform to do your newsletter/blog/podcast – like WordPress or Blogger or Ghost, etc – stuff like this wouldn't happen. But Substack insists on becoming a social media platform too, and this happens to every single social media site (even the "good" ones).
I just had to reinstall the Substack app and on the app store it’s described as “videos, writing and podcasts”. Ugh. That positioning says a lot about where Substack wants to go…
On Notes, I use it primarily to restack other writers and have discovered some amazing publications through that. It’s unfortunate that it’s becoming a scrolling IG-like feed but I liberally mute or block content that is not relevant for me.
So frustrating!
THIS!
Yes
You’ve articulated what I felt yesterday. Thank you for sharing. I am also sad to see Glennon go. It was really troubling to see how some individuals reacted to Glennon appearing on this platform.
I’ve seen the same writer’s, who I’ve looked up to, who boast freedom, talking about how Glennon joining a platform on the internet is affecting their ability to be free and write and be financially secure. I’ve seen already-successful writer’s speaking about how their platform is going to be negatively influenced by Glennon coming to this platform… when there was no merit for that. It was a fear-based claim rooted in worrying about the future. Like you mentioned, her presence could have brought more people to this platform. It could’ve been a net-positive for us all, but now we will never know. I’m very disappointed Glennon left, and I’m also proud she made the best choice for herself.
All I want to say is—Glennon Doyle helped me get and stay sober. I found her book, Untamed, when I needed it most. Her podcast has brought me perspective and learning. I like Glennon. I’ll continue to support her, and everyone’s right to be here, if they want to be, and write their thoughts. Anyone who share’s there story is valuable. Isn’t that what it’s all about anyways? Sharing and creating?
Absolutely. It’s about sharing, creating and supporting one another as we wander this road together. We should be building one another up, not tearing each other down. Glennon was a big part of me getting sober too. I read Untamed in the early days and I love her podcast. I also found great comfort back in 2020, from some of those other authors you’re likely thinking of, who used this space to tear her down last week. Some of these women inspired me to write my own memoir and tell my story - in the hopes of helping others who suffer in silence.
Well said, Kimberly. I just finished reading the “open letter" that I think got this whole thing started, and to me, it just reeked of underhanded bullying wrapped in a faux blanket of admiration. And all of the fawning in thr comments was even more offputting.
The scarcity mindset is pervasive in a capitalist society, and wanting to exclude people who are successful at what they do for fear that they will take the few crumbs I may have is just sad.
I have no doubt Glennon would have brought the spotlight to many lesser-known writers on this platform, and now she's gone.
Some people are claiming it was the way she made her entrance that created the “backlash”… we need to get over ourselves. Please. Asking a successful woman to play small is lame. She deserved to be here and we could have learned a lot from her. It's a shame what the mob mentality does to people.
Absolutely. We could have learned so much. It was herd mentality at its finest. 😕
Well said ❤️it’s a huge loss to all of us that this happened. I respect her decision and I wish her peace.
This. I was so irritated and annoyed by that “open letter”. I wish the author had just told the truth and admitted that she was jealous of Glennon’s reach and insecure. It was outright bullying.
When I first found Substack it felt like a safe haven and I just wanted to stay tucked in because the warmth and kindness was amazing. I have to confess that over the past month the drive and obsession with subscriber numbers became obsessive and it's all I could think about but I also realized that it can lead to a bit of suffocation and actually takes away from the objective of joining Substack in the first place. Hearing about Glennon Doyle's experience and decision has made me think back to why I joined Substack in the first place, and it was never about the numbers, it was supposed to be a safe haven for writers 💛🌻
I sometimes find myself getting caught in the numbers game - especially when every post on notes is about “how to get more subscribers” and “how to grow your Substack” 🙄 then I remember why I left Instagram, because of the competitiveness and inauthentic friendships I had on there. I do find I’m having meaningful interactions on this platform regardless of notes and all the noise. And everyday I discover new incredible writers. So that’s what it’s about. The writing.
It is heartbreaking. Mean Girls are ruthless. I am beyond disgusted by how she was treated.
Agreed. Ruthless 😕
Being new myself and a follower of G, I was excited as well and loved her interview with Liz Gilbert. Was shocked to get her email today and saddened by it. You make an excellent point about how we are all human and capable of feeling extreme hurt no matter our social or monetary status. And yes, there’s room for everyone at the table.
Me too. Loved her interview with Liz G! The email made me so sad today. Mostly because she seemed so sad. 😞
Just came across you Substack as I was looking for others who write about sobriety. And it's very fitting that this was your first essay I read. Thank you for these words. My feed was inundated this week with commentary about Glennon coming to Substack. It was very fitting; I'm in school for Positive Psychology and in my human development class, we recently read a study about parasocial attachment. And while it can have positive impacts, it's often problematic. I felt like what I witnessed in the reaction to Glennon coming to Substack was very illustrative of that. And it really made me think about some of the most important lessons and things I've learned on my sobriety journey, like what you mentioned about personal responsibility.
The situation on Substack this past week truthfully made me sad and feel a lot of things about where we are culturally. 2025 in particular feels so fraught with emotion, and what I hear from a lot of people, is something of a disillusionment with social media and so many online gathering places. It seems to be in part why people have gravitated to Substack. There seem to be fewer safe and empowering online spaces for people, and especially creatives, to congregate. Substack, especially when I first joined, felt like that. It's ebbed and flowed for me. But this week was such a disappointment and I hope that it isn't a foretelling sign of the platform.
Thank you for putting words to some of what I'd been feeling!
Spencer! Great to meet you! I had to Google parasocial attachment 😂 but wow yes that sounds spot on! That idea that people felt as if they could harass her, tell her what to do and how to behave. As if there were no boundaries or levels of respect. She’s a human being!! And yes, it shows a lot about where we are culturally. I endured something really painful in my community, not to this level - but I experienced what it’s like when people turn on you. Social ostracism hurts like physical pain. Thanks for being here and I’m eager to hear more from you down the road! 😊
Thank you for this post. No matter how long I live, I will never, ever understand the lack of civility and grace.
Neither will I 😞
I never even got a chance to read her, so thank you so much for writing this.
It seems she was attacked for no other reason than some people don't like her style.
So what. Scroll on by, read something else.
This IS what happens on Instagram, where even the most benign and non-political posts get trolled by a-holes.
Too bad it's happening here, too.
Super unfortunate
I was elated when I saw Glennon join Substack and heartbroken 💔 when she left. She is a lighthouse to her Pod squad and I am disappointed with the women that felt her presence was taking away from them.
She is a lighthouse but she’s still writing to her pod squad - just not on Substack. 🩷
I know but on Substack she might’ve reached more women that could be lifted up by her words that otherwise might not have found her.
Beautifully written Kimberly; thank you for adding your voice to those of us deeply disturbed and disappointed by this pushback against Glennon’s presence here.
Thank you Amy 🩷
Totally mean girl behavior. Not okay at all. Thank you for this.
Thank you!