# How is this not in violation of Great Debates? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 17, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615 "2005-02-17T23:43:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/1 "2005-02-17T23:43:18Z")
In [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5853845&postcount=134), **tomndebb** accurately summarizes the comments that led to my reporting **Lib** for calling me (if symbolically) a rapist. He acknowledges that **Lib** is old enough to know of the sexual meaning to the term (indeed, I, at 30, haven’t heard of any other meaning to the term), and that **Lib** ’s subsequent reference to orgasms “clearly indicates the older sexual meaning.” If he was clearly indicating the older sexual meaning–a meaning having to do with rape–how on earth was he not calling me and **priceguy** rapists? Great Debates rules explicitly forbid referring to the sexual gratification of other posters. How on earth is this not in violation of that rule? It’s your forum to moderate, **tomndebb** , but sheesh. What am I missing? Daniel ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/2 "2005-02-17T23:51:05Z")
The first reference was the more recent meaning, the ill-advised second was to the older meaning. Maybe I’m the one missing something, but **Tom~**'s response seems quite clear to me. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/3 "2005-02-17T23:52:42Z")
When metaphors are outlawed, only outlaws will use metaphor. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/4 "2005-02-17T23:56:47Z")
He says it’s “more likely a mixed metaphor than an accusation of rape.” My understanding of the rules is that: 1. I may not call someone “pigfucker” in great debates even as a metaphor, because it’s an insult; and 2. I may not call someone “pigfucker” in great debates even as a metaphor, because it’s making a metaphorical comment about the sexual proclivities of another poster. I’m not sure why saying that someone is participating in a gang bang would be any less _verboten_. Yes, his response seems clear; no, it doesn’t seem to conform to the rules of the forum. It’s the latter that confuses me. I was not worked up about the thread, contrary to how it may seem, until the gang-bang comment came along. That’s not ill-advised: that’s loathsome, and I’d hoped I wouldn’t be subject to that shit anywhere on these boards, much less in Great Debates. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/5 "2005-02-18T00:05:38Z")
It was a metaphorical use. It was not actually accusing you of being a rapist. **Lib** is very deliberate in the words that he chooses, however. I cannot imagine that he was unaware of the sexual connotations of _both_ comments and to suggest that he had anything else in mind seems disingenuous to me. That is only my opinion. I cannot know his motives. I suggest you ask him straight out which metaphor he had in mind at the time. I have not read the thread and do not know what other comments have been exchanged. Those particular comments from **Lib** do not seem to me to be in keeping with the rules of GD as I understand them, but who can argue with the advice that ensued? Wasn’t that more important than who’s right or wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/6 "2005-02-18T00:13:37Z")
**Zoe** , I understand it was metaphorical, and I’m pretty sure it’s clear from what **tomndebb** quoted that I understood that. **Lib** is extremely careful in his use of language. He is deceitful with it all the time; his response to my anger at his metaphor was to imply that he was saying something else–clearly absurd, but he uses language to obfuscate when it serves him. The advice that ensued was fine. I am puzzled and concerned, however, by what seems to be a relaxation in the rules of Great Debates in an area where I very much do not want to see a relaxation. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/7 "2005-02-18T00:24:59Z")
You were told what you were missing, you just didn’t want to hear it. A gang-bang is not a rape, and I have never heard it used in association with rape. And I’m 29 years old. A gang bang is nothing more or less than some chick getting tagged by an indeterminate number of men. How does that constitute rape in any way, shape, or form? You’re acting like he called you a murderer. From someone who was called a murderer in GD (and the offender got away with it, with moderator approval), my advice to you is to calm down. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/8 "2005-02-18T00:29:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Great Debates rules explicitly forbid referring to the sexual gratification of other posters. How on earth is this not in violation of that rule? Most posters would likely argue that rape is not a form of sexual gratification (the power/domination theory) and thus, in a trial before SD peers, **Lib** would skate on a technicality. This sounds like a tempest in a chamberpot to me. Maybe some nice green tea? ---
**Author:** ![Balduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/9 "2005-02-18T00:42:07Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > A gang-bang is not a rape, and I have never heard it used in association with rape. And I’m 29 years old. A gang bang is nothing more or less than some chick getting tagged by an indeterminate number of men. How does that constitute rape in any way, shape, or form? I’m 32, growing up I heard gang-bang as meaning gang-rape. Although I hear it as you define it now. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/10 "2005-02-18T00:59:51Z")
I’ve always heard it as sexual, though not always as rape. (“Bishop jumps queen!”) I remember feeling very confused when I first heard the term in reference to gang activities. Still am, actually, but I first heard it in Salt Lake, in mixed company. No one batted an eye, which confused me even more. It’s a silly term for anything but intercourse, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/11 "2005-02-18T01:24:40Z")
Well, maybe I’m overreacting. I still cannot see how there’s another plausible reading beyond the one I made, given the context, but since so many other folks are seeing a plausible alternate reading, I’ll let it go. My apologies, **tomndebb**. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/12 "2005-02-18T01:45:23Z")
> [@Balduran](#): > > I’m 32, growing up I heard gang-bang as meaning gang-rape. Although I hear it as you define it now. same - I’ve rarely, but more now than in earlier times, heard it used as gang-rape. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/13 "2005-02-18T02:02:32Z")
M/36/NJ - More than one male, one concentual female. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/14 "2005-02-18T04:54:52Z")
M/29/ VA. Formerly NY. Multiple men/non-consentual woman. ---
**Author:** ![Hellestal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hellestal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hellestal)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/15 "2005-02-18T05:14:44Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > > [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > > > Have some herbal tea, dude, and calm down. If you think reading posts equals being raped, your sense of perspective has got a flaw or two in it. > > > > Daniel > > That’s easy for you to say. You’re on the orgasm side of the gang bang. I don’t see how this post makes any sense unless **Lib** was talking about rape. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/16 "2005-02-18T05:41:23Z")
> [@Stricker van Gogh](#): > > I don’t see how this post makes any sense unless **Lib** was talking about rape. Good point. If the intent was to evoke the “group of men having sex with a single woman, consensually” version then you’d expect orgasms on both sides, wouldn’t you? Wikipedia (I know, not the most reliable source, but still) says the original usage was descriptive of rape. > **[Gang bang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_bang)** > > A gang bang is a sexual activity in which several people, usually more than three, engage sexually with one specific person sequentially or at the same time. That specific person is the central focus of the sexual activity; for example, it could be one woman surrounded by several men, or a man with multiple women (a "reverse" gang bang). The term has become associated with the porn industry and usually describes a staged event whereby a woman has sex with several men in direct succession The la... And to add to our survey data, I’m 39, male, from Minnesota, and the original meaning of the term as I understood it was non-consensual sex with one woman and many men. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/17 "2005-02-18T11:52:41Z")
For anyone interested, I was using gang bang to mean pile-on, which I thought was clearly expressed in this post: “I physically can’t keep up with two to one posting, and you know it. Why don’t you use your much lauded majoritarianism to pick a spokesman? Or is it good for nothing but gang banging?”. The metaphor was “orgasm”. In other words, he seemed to be enjoying the pile-on. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/18 "2005-02-18T12:06:07Z")
NY/30 Multiple men, one woman, ‘all night long.’ Not in and of itself rape, but it takes a really screwed up kind of woman to enjoy it. Mostly either (stereotypically) biker mamas or cheerleaders. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/19 "2005-02-18T12:17:47Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > For anyone interested, I was using gang bang to mean pile-on, which I thought was clearly expressed in this post: > > “I physically can’t keep up with two to one posting, and you know it. Why don’t you use your much lauded majoritarianism to pick a spokesman? Or is it good for nothing but gang banging?”. > > The metaphor was “orgasm”. In other words, he seemed to be enjoying the pile-on. That’s precisely how I understood it. Rape would be such an odd image in the context that it didn’t occur to me at all until LHOD brought it up. ---
**Author:** ![jester21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@jester21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jester21)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615/20 "2005-02-18T12:46:47Z")
if you doubt it’s current generally accepted meaning… download some porn, and you’ll find that it’s quite consentual… … not that i ever download porn :dubious: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-this-not-in-violation-of-great-debates/290615.md?page=2)