Homophobia also seems to get a fair amount of a pass here. Probably much like misogyny did in the past – brushing off common expressions and “jokes.”
I reported a post that was not directed to me specifically, but felt very gross in how it treated sexual orientation, and bringing sex into a topic that had nothing to do with it, and two mods responded to me to say it was not homophobic, and one pointed out that it was a joke, and then explained the joke to me. I don’t want to get into the specifics, but the mods were clearly not interested in learning more about my perspective – there was no request for more explanation about my reaction to the post, and no response to me when I further explained my issue.
And I am not someone who reports posts all the time.
That completely sucks. I also know we’ve had trans posters leave the boards. One virulently transphobic guy was eventually banned, not for hate speech, but because he eventually got so worked up that he physically threatened to beat the shit out of one of our trans posters.
Let’s just say that moderating hate speech isn’t an area where this message board shines.
I’m trying to maintain the good thought that it is all about educating. Sometimes though, if I’m tired, I just sputter and move on, depending on the context and egregiousness.
I have looked, but I have been unable to find a board - wide policy against misogyny. Could you direct me to it?
Rape Month is why I left, actually (in my recollection we’ve had several.) It was less a flouncing and more “I can’t handle this right now,” and as a mod you can’t really exercise discretion about what threads you go into. I haven’t seen anything like that pop up since I’ve returned, but I figured it would eventually. I’m glad to hear things are different now, but I’ve yet to learn how they are different.
The modding is much stricter. Shodan was banned after his final straw of a misogynistic post. I think (but my memory isn’t perfect) someone got mod-noted for using the word “chick”. Either that or the community came down on it - I’m not sure and I’m posting from my phone, so it’s hard to search. There have been mod notes I was surprised about. When we’re having a discussion and some guy pops in to say how hot he thinks a woman is, it always get modded. I’m sure some think it’s too heavy-handed.
I’m saddened to hear about @eschrodinger’s experience, and I’m trying to recall that incident. I may have missed it.
It’s not a rule that’s written down, AFAIK, or I’d have said “rule”. It’s just what the mods indicated in the severalATMBthreads about misogyny that constituted a more-than-year-long recurring conversation in this forum , and in concurrent and subsequent rulings.
One year there was a cluster of rape-related threads around February, and this was pointed out the next year when some other rape-related threads came up, and then it became a whole stupid thing. About 10 years ago or so.
Rape Month refers to a sudden explosion of topics about rape that lasts several weeks. It involves a series of threads popping up all over the boards with some posters perpetuating rape apologism and other kinds of rape culture mythology. At the start of the #MeToo movement, there was a different thread about every alleged assault. At its worst it had male posters attacking women posters who identified as victims. One in particular I remember was a thread created to support female victims of sexual assault. Women shared their stories and some men (I remember Der Trihs in particular) came into the thread to harass women about their lived experiences and complain about perceived misandry because some women raped by strange men were now afraid of strange men.
It was vile, honestly. I am so glad I wasn’t here during the Kavanaugh hearings because that was a low point for me and I think I would have lost my everloving mind.
My particular ire with this subject doesn’t mean I support banning general discussion about rape, even if it involves certain posters expressing their odious opinions. We are here, after all, to fight ignorance. I would definitely draw the line at attacking posters who are themselves rape victims, and I think the line can get blurred pretty easily. If you’re posting in a thread in which several members are victims of sexual assault, at a certain point odious generalizations about rape victims become attacks on the posters. IMO.
I suspect I have a higher tolerance for what should be allowed than most. I wouldn’t have batted an eye at “chicks.” I have no interest in censoring male sexuality - or anyone’s, for that matter. Harassment is not acceptable, but I don’t care who thinks who is hot. Have at it.
