# Limiting/flagging/forbidding post with content offensive to other members.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [May 26, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854 "2018-05-26T13:27:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/61 "2018-05-27T03:37:52Z")

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> [@Missy2U](#):
>
> Yet by telling the numerous women here who have stated how offensive it is, **especially in the context this poster does it** , to just “ignore it”, you are, in fact, condoning it. And dismissing us.

I think several have suggested that you report that post. Not ignore it. Not have you been dismissed.

Clearly several here are offended. But what do you suggest the mods do about it?

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/62 "2018-05-27T03:39:51Z")

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> [@Morgenstern](#):
>
> Well, it seems everyone but you understood it. I don’t think the problem is the thread so much. Perhaps you should reread the OP.

Ridiculous. If you posted in the Pit, you might justify this. You didn’t. You posted it in ATMB as a major change in the rules of the Board. You don’t get to tell the rest of us to shut up and go away if we don’t immediately grasp what you’re talking about.

You messed up in a big way on an important subject. And I’m still waiting for somebody to give other examples besides Skald.

This is not the way a board debate should be handled. Everybody needs to know all the facts. Everybody needs to know the entire history. Everybody needs to know how widespread the problem is. You haven’t gotten one percent of the way there.

You put it in public for the entire membership to discuss. OK, we’re here. Educate us on the whole, entire problem. Or, even better, somebody other than you do so.

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**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/63 "2018-05-27T03:44:47Z")

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> [@Skywatcher](#):
>
> [:dubious:](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=830387)

I don’t think most people realize that you embedded a link on the smiley.\*

There are few interesting things I realized as I read through that. There are similarities in the discussion, but very few people said “just ignore it” or denied that it was happening.

I found a few quotes that I think apply to where we are now and explain why people feel so frustrated. Women in particular feel like their concerns are being minimized and ignored because of their gender (although some men are supportive/also offended). Skald is the focal point, but he isn’t the only time this happens. He just happened to be the last straw.

> [@Really Guys? AKA Sexism on the Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-guys-aka-sexism-on-the-board/790633/135):
>
> Minimizing the concerns of other people isn’t helpful.

> [@Really Guys? AKA Sexism on the Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-guys-aka-sexism-on-the-board/790633/61):
>
> If someone says “I found what you said offensive” you don’t say “Here’s why you shouldn’t be offended” you say “I’m sorry, I didn’t intend offense, I intended to make a joke”. That’s if you’re a member of polite society. If you’re a member of asshat society I suppose you just don’t give a fuck, but you keep posting anyway.

So, here we are. Many people have said they are uncomfortable, and for the most part the response has been, “well, just ignore it” or “you just want attention so you’re making this up”.

I don’t know what the right answer is - maybe it’s spoiler boxes, or maybe Skald could not do the sex stuff anymore - but I do know that the right answer when someone tells you that something sexual is making them uncomfortable is NOT to tell them to ignore it or that they are making it up (or that it happens other places on the Internet, or in books, or in movies, or your friends do it, or whatever).

\*For the record, kayaker and Morgenstern both apologized for that joke and are both very supportive of women on the Dope.

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**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/64 "2018-05-27T04:03:38Z")

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> [@DrDeth](#):
>
> If you think he means to be offensive, then he is trolling and by all means report that post. By no means am I saying you dont have a right to be offended.
> 
> Look, there’s a certain poster or two here on this board who are hardcore atheists, and revel in mocking religion and the faithful. They even start threads “JAQing” off with questions designed to be offensive to the faithful. Should we ban that behavior too?

How about you fight your own battles and stop trying to derail the actual discussion we’re having here with your pointlessly inept attempts to make it all about you? In other words, go away, the adults are talking now.

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**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/65 "2018-05-27T04:26:01Z")

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> [@Morgenstern](#):
>
> Every one of your examples contain the words “could be offensive.”  
> Yet 8 women are speaking with one voice in this thread and that voice is saying that they are offended by the threads.
> 
> Do you see a difference here?

Count me in . . . so nine.

In the past, I’ve left the board twice (once for several years) due to the misogyny. It’s a little better these days, but it’s still frequently uncomfortable.

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**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/66 "2018-05-27T04:34:24Z")

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> [@Fenris](#):
>
> I’m not saying they should allow it and frankly, I agree with you. But this is a board where it took them like ~8+ months of agonizing to merely Caesario to stop posting his toddler-rape fantasies all over the board because “O noes! Free speech!”. And then like another 3 months\* to finally ban him…for failing to follow the topic ban (IIRC), not for posting toddler-rape fantasies.

I really don’t think this is a fair criticism. Of the current moderators, only 2 were mods at the time that Cesario was limited then banned (2008).

> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> If Morgenstern really wanted to expose a pervasive problem, he picked the worst way of going about it. No reasoned debate could emerge from it.
> 
> Why don’t one of you start a new thread that lays out the actual situation and bring the rest of us up to speed so that a reasoned debate can start?

That’s silly. I think we’re adult enough to be able to identify an issue and discuss it, even if there is a need to reframe it.

> [@erysichthon](#):
>
> “Just ignore him” is the second cousin of “That’s just the way he is,” another bit of normalization I hope I never hear again.

Do you have a suggestion?

> [@SmartAleq](#):
>
> And I really don’t want to be reading along and HEY PRESTO HUMILIATION AND DEGRADATION PORN!!! It’s nasty and slimy and I get flashbacks to way too many times when I got caught just like that but IRL. I like it less when a man does it, but if it was a woman posting the same shit I’d have an equal level of distaste for it.
> 
> I am sick and tired of being told that if I don’t want to be inadvertently involved in other people’s sex lives that I have to manage my entire existence to avoid what ought not to be a public spectacle in the first place. I think it makes way more sense to tell the smaller group of exhibitionist jacks in the box to knock that shit off rather than expecting everyone ELSE to “get over it” or “ignore it” or be told “you have no right to be bothered by this, see, I think it’s fine and YOU’RE TOO SENSITIVE.”

I think you’re vastly overstating your case here. I take your point that you don’t want to be surprised by content that is distasteful. I think that’s fair.

> [@](#):
>
> What I WILL NOT TOLERATE, however, is even the smallest whiff of someone engaging me on that level in order to satiate their own prurience. NO. I am not your fleshlight, fuck right off with that.

When you say that you will not tolerate it, what does that mean? What action are you suggesting? Do you have a suggestion for board policy or practice?

> [@](#):
>
> This board has a problem of that nature, and as per usual The Menz are buzzing and swarming to assert their rights to say any nasty thing they like and if it bothers women that’s our problem and JUST IGNORE IT GAH.

I find this mildly offensive - just because some folks may not share your views it doesn’t automatically mean it’s because they are men or you are a woman. And I’m not saying I disagree, I just don’t think it’s a very good point to try and make.

I am open to suggestions of general board policy though, so if there is one I think that can be constructive. I heavily favor the ability for open discussion about any topic, and I simultaneously don’t think it’s a good practice to try and fool the audience into discussion they don’t wish to participate in. That’s the guidelines I think are in play here.

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**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/67 "2018-05-27T04:38:07Z")

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> [@ioioio](#):
>
> Count me in . . . so nine.
> 
> In the past, I’ve left the board twice (once for several years) due to the misogyny. It’s a little better these days, but it’s still frequently uncomfortable.

Ten.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/68 "2018-05-27T04:39:09Z")

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> [@Bone](#):
>
> I really don’t think this is a fair criticism. Of the current moderators, only 2 were mods at the time that Cesario was limited then banned (2008).
> 
> That’s silly. I think we’re adult enough to be able to identify an issue and discuss it, even if there is a need to reframe it.  
> Do you have a suggestion?  
> I think you’re vastly overstating your case here. I take your point that you don’t want to be surprised by content that is distasteful. I think that’s fair.  
> When you say that you will not tolerate it, what does that mean? What action are you suggesting? Do you have a suggestion for board policy or practice?  
> I find this mildly offensive - just because some folks may not share your views it doesn’t automatically mean it’s because they are men or you are a woman. And I’m not saying I disagree, I just don’t think it’s a very good point to try and make.
> 
> I am open to suggestions of general board policy though, so if there is one I think that can be constructive. I heavily favor the ability for open discussion about any topic, and I simultaneously don’t think it’s a good practice to try and fool the audience into discussion they don’t wish to participate in. That’s the guidelines I think are in play here.

How about flagging ops that feature humiliation porn, or similar?

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**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/69 "2018-05-27T04:47:45Z")

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> [@DrDeth](#):
>
> Isn’t this from the person who was harassing & stalking a female member of this board? My aren’t we black & sooty said the pot to the kettle.:rolleyes:

What are you even talking about. Notice, that’s not a question. This isn’t the place to personalize arguments or take shots at other posters. Don’t do that here.

> [@SmartAleq](#):
>
> How about you fight your own battles and stop trying to derail the actual discussion we’re having here with your pointlessly inept attempts to make it all about you? In other words, go away, the adults are talking now.

Same thing with this. There can be a discussion of board policy here. This includes discussion about an alleged pattern of dismissive behavior towards various issues. There is irony in telling other posters to go away. Please keep discussion civil.

[/moderating]

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/70 "2018-05-27T04:51:44Z")

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> [@Bone](#):
>
> What are you even talking about. Notice, that’s not a question. This isn’t the place to personalize arguments or take shots at other posters. Don’t do that here.

You’re right, I was wrong, my apologies to you.

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**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/71 "2018-05-27T05:01:02Z")

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Ok, but where do we go then?

I got no issue with giving Skald a topic ban on this. I have no issue with his threads that cross this line being labeled or closed either. I do agree they get a bit skeevy and uncomfortable. But we’re also supposed to be adults here who get to talk about adult subjects. Yes, putting the man on ignore is a reasonable, viable ADULT solution. It isn’t telling you to pay no attention to someone yelling in your face or catcalling as you walk by, because that isn’t happening. You have to choose to open his threads and read them.

If someone is making harassing statements directed at you, then yes, they should be reported, they should be warned. Unfortunately, we have a lot of people on this board who write ignorant, racist, sexist and trollish things. Is the board going to start warning and banning them too? Or only men who make women uncomfortable in how they talk about certain issues?

Silence of the Lambs featured some pretty nasty stuff. Should we mark such topics as NSFW (which I have already stated that I don’t have a problem with), or do we start banning topics that make anyone uncomfortable? Do we ban discussion of this and other movies because the movie contains offensive ideas or content? Do we ban the discussion of books and offensive speakers as well? Can we talk about Roy Moore, or Donald Trump’s despicable actions toward women? Or are those banned because they make some women uncomfortable?

Where do we stop? Because if we can’t talk about uncomfortable topics here, then the Chicago Reader may as well pull the plug on the site.

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**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/72 "2018-05-27T05:13:37Z")

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> [@Chimera](#):
>
> skeevy and uncomfortable.

Indicate that in the thread title. As I said, I clicked on a thread that looked innocuous but it had unnecessary crap in it. Not everyone will have been around to know who are the “skeevy” posters.  
It’s like somebody coming up to you and asking to talk about something ordinary and then whipping out their willy and waving it about. Make them wear the raincoat so you can see the creeps coming. Disclose the skeeviness in the title and don’t make it look more innocuous than it is.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/73 "2018-05-27T05:24:54Z")

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> [@Bone](#):
>
> Do you have a suggestion?

A wide variety of suggestions have already been offered in this thread.

**Here’s a new, additional suggestion:** since _some_ posters seem to think this is an important issue, how about the mods/admins discuss the matter and give us some official feedback, telling us how you plan to handle this matter?

We don’t get to tell y’all what to do, so “we don’t plan to do anything except help Skald with his blindness-induced typos” is certainly a possible response. I’m sure many of us will be unhappy if that’s the official position, but at least it would be a TPTB acknowledgment, which would be something more than we’ve heard so far.

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**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/74 "2018-05-27T05:27:29Z")

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> [@Bone](#):
>
> I really don’t think this is a fair criticism. Of the current moderators, only 2 were mods at the time that Cesario was limited then banned (2008).

Holy crap! It was that long ago?? I would guessed 2012-ish. Given that, fair point.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/75 "2018-05-27T05:47:41Z")

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> [@CairoCarol](#):
>
> A wide variety of suggestions have already been offered in this thread.
> 
> **Here’s a new, additional suggestion:** since _some_ posters seem to think this is an important issue, how about the mods/admins discuss the matter and give us some official feedback, telling us how you plan to handle this matter?
> 
> We don’t get to tell y’all what to do, so “we don’t plan to do anything except help Skald with his blindness-induced typos” is certainly a possible response. I’m sure many of us will be unhappy if that’s the official position, but at least it would be a TPTB acknowledgment, which would be something more than we’ve heard so far.

I’m trying to crowdsource this a little bit - at least as a method of brainstorming. One thing that is always challenging is crafting guidance that is clear and actionable. Some of the suggestions thus far have been around clear labeling - but we already have rules around descriptive thread titles. Perhaps that can be applied in these types of cases. There’s also been suggestions to disallow topics of this nature which I think is a larger lift. What I think would be constructive would be things like, ‘I think there should be a rule that says XYZ’

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**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/76 "2018-05-27T05:50:15Z")

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Descriptions of sexual abuse/assualt/rape should be spoilered.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/77 "2018-05-27T05:53:06Z")

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> [@Fenris](#):
>
> Holy crap! It was that long ago?? I would guessed 2012-ish. Given that, fair point.

I got this wrong. It was Feb-2010. At that point it was 3 of the current active mods (plus 2 currently less active). Split the difference?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cleophus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@Cleophus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cleophus)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/78 "2018-05-27T06:27:05Z")

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> [@Chimera](#):
>
> Ok, but where do we go then?  
> Where do we stop? Because if we can’t talk about uncomfortable topics here, then the Chicago Reader may as well pull the plug on the site.

Once again, this is not about generic “offensive content”.

It is about bait-and-switch inclusion of prurient sexual material in posts that appear innocuous, and in a manner and pattern where the poster appears to derive some level of sexual gratification from doing so.

It is about being mislead into _nonconsensual participation_ in someone’s sexual activity.

“Just ignore the posts” does nothing for people who don’t know that certain posts are likely to contain prurient sexual material. It implies they have to learn by trial and error who and what to avoid, and that’s not OK.

Here’s another way to think about this: If you introduced your mom, or SO, or daughter, or some other woman who wasn’t a generic object to you to the boards, would you feel the need to tell them “FYI, those posts sometimes have graphic sexual content in them?”

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/79 "2018-05-27T06:52:17Z")

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> [@Helena330](#):
>
> Some of us aren’t about to ignore the degradation of women.

Like I said, I don’t typically read his threads, but mostly because I recall them being really convoluted.  
On the one hand, my point still stands that if you put him on ignore, you won’t even notice it. To me, that’s like walking out of the room when the guy that makes all the dirty jokes walks in. OTOH, I 100% understand what you’re talking about. If his posts bother you, you should feel free to voice that.

In the end, I suppose the winning side (for me, won’t speak for others and about this specific thread) is that…I’m not a woman and it’s really not up to me to decide what should or should not offend women.

> [@Fenris](#):
>
> I personally think it’s the stealth titles. Stuff like “Friend A asks you to persuadeFriend B not to break their engagement. Do you try?” as the title, only to find out, halfway through the thread, incest/rape porn (example below in spoiler box)
> 
> And there have been worse Skald threads as well as completely innocuous ones. The trick is that the reader never knows which he/she’ll be getting because the disgusting ones are labeled the same the normal ones.
> 
> I’d personally favor an Evil Captor topic ban for him, but at least making him put NSFW or “Gross, skeevy incest-rape porn shit” or something in the title would be helpful.

I could understand him having to use some kind of tag, but I don’t think it would work, for two reasons. It may be a spoiler, but if people (not all, but some) don’t want to ignore his threads, I’m not sure warning people would make a difference. Streisand Effect and all.  
I suppose my suggestion is that he could be topic banned from anything deemed overtly or purposely offensive to woman, at least if that’s a common topic for him.

Perhaps people should report the threads they find offensive (not disagreeable or ‘eww’ but really offensive. The mods could keep track of how many reports they get on specific types of threads.

Again, I’m not the offended party so I don’t want to speak for them. The one thing that caught my attention was talks of porn (incest porn or otherwise). One thing that always bothered me about people being offended by porn is that their issue seems to be that these women are coerced into doing it. I’d wager that the majority of women aren’t coerced into it, they do it because [for any number of reasons] they like and/or want to do it. As for incest porn, that’s nothing more than the name of the video and maybe the first line or two. Hell, I’ve seen porn videos recycled into incest porn. Same exact video, the only thing that changed was the title. It’s not that it’s actual (step) siblings/parents doing this but from what you see in the internet a lot of people seem to be under that impression.

To reiterate, if what he’s doing offends/irritates/bothers enough of the SDMB population, I see no reason why there shouldn’t be a topic ban. Hell (and this is in general) it doesn’t even matter if it’s not offense. If someone came in constantly started threads about high end bikes, found ways to shoehorn high end bikes into random topic, generally spoke about high end bikes every chance they got, the same thing would probably happen.

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**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/limiting-flagging-forbidding-post-with-content-offensive-to-other-members/814854/80 "2018-05-27T06:52:36Z")

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> [@Cleophus](#):
>
> Once again, this is not about generic “offensive content”.
> 
> It is about bait-and-switch inclusion of prurient sexual material in posts that appear innocuous, and in a manner and pattern where the poster appears to derive some level of sexual gratification from doing so.
> 
> It is about being mislead into _nonconsensual participation_ in someone’s sexual activity.
> 
> “Just ignore the posts” does nothing for people who don’t know that certain posts are likely to contain prurient sexual material. It implies they have to learn by trial and error who and what to avoid, and that’s not OK.
> 
> Here’s another way to think about this: If you introduced your mom, or SO, or daughter, or some other woman who wasn’t a generic object to you to the boards, would you feel the need to tell them “FYI, those posts sometimes have graphic sexual content in them?”

The knuckleheadedness in the Pit is far more liable to be off putting than stumbling onto a random and rare “pervy” thread.

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