# Me whining about moderation again. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 20, 2018, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284 "2018-07-20T17:46:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/1 "2018-07-20T17:46:55Z")
So, the new sonic screwdriver for Doctor Who has been released, and instead of a linear mechanical looking device they decide for the first time to add curves to it to make it resemble a “lady’s razor”. [I make a thread with a title implying that,](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=859041) and give clarifying links after Snowboarder Bo complains. Chronos closes it. I’ll admit I could have been more diplomatic in my dismissive response, but I’ll still assert that there wasn’t one damned thing wrong with my subject line. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/2 "2018-07-20T17:53:00Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > So, the new sonic screwdriver for Doctor Who has been released, and instead of a linear mechanical looking device they decide for the first time to add curves to it to make it resemble a “lady’s razor”. [I make a thread with a title implying that,](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=859041) and give clarifying links after Snowboarder Bo complains. Chronos closes it. > > I’ll admit I could have been more diplomatic in my dismissive response, but I’ll still assert that **there wasn’t one damned thing wrong with my subject line.** Yes there was. The proper title is “Take a look at The Doctor’s new tool.” ---
**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:** [July 20, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/3 "2018-07-20T17:53:12Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > So, the new sonic screwdriver for Doctor Who has been released, and instead of a linear mechanical looking device they decide for the first time to add curves to it to make it resemble a “lady’s razor”. [I make a thread with a title implying that,](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=859041) and give clarifying links after Snowboarder Bo complains. Chronos closes it. > > I’ll admit I could have been more diplomatic in my dismissive response, but I’ll still assert that there wasn’t one damned thing wrong with my subject line. What are you whining about? You weren’t modded for the subject line, you were modded for the dismissive response. Seems clear to me. (As for your links, the first one is to a pentagon. The second one looks nothing like the new sonic screwdriver except inasmuch as they both are crooked instead of linear. Maybe you’re overgenderizing things a bit here.) ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/4 "2018-07-20T18:03:16Z")
Given the backlash against a female Doctor among some fans, my first thought on seeing the subject was that it was going to be another complaint about how having a gol-darned woman in there just ain’t right. Even if that wasn’t the intent, a title like that was bound to attract those people and it was only a matter of time before the thread was derailed by arguments. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/5 "2018-07-20T18:17:10Z")
I didn’t see anything wrong with the thread title, but I agree part of the problem was your “tough shit” dismissal. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/6 "2018-07-20T18:18:11Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > What are you whining about? You weren’t modded for the subject line, you were modded for the dismissive response. Seems clear to me. > > (As for your links, the first one is to a pentagon. The second one looks nothing like the new sonic screwdriver except inasmuch as they both are crooked instead of linear. Maybe you’re overgenderizing things a bit here.) 1.) Chronos asserted that I had a poor thread title. I disagree. 2.) Sense when does being dismissive of someone’s comment lead to thread closures? 3.) The first of the two links was to demonstrate the existence of a product called “Lady Schick”, clarifying the title analogy I had assumed to be obvious. The second link was to a photo illustrating the marketing of products “for women” by redesiging them to be all curvy, like the new sonic screwdriver. In summary: I stand by my title, I stand by my opinion that the new sonic screwdriver design is condescending, and I stand by being dismissive of Snowboarder Bo’s complaint (if not the abrupt language.) (Oh, BTW, the reason I didn’t make those design points in the thread itself was because I wanted to see other opinions before they were effected by mine.) ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/7 "2018-07-20T18:32:17Z")
It wasn’t clear to me that you considered the design condescending. It was equally likely\* that you were being condescending toward the idea of a female Doctor. As for why you didn’t explicitly make this point in the thread to avoid coloring others’ opinions, then why title the thread with something that was bound to color others’ opinions? I think with just a slight tweak to the title, it could be a great thread. **Chronos** invited you to start it, so why not? \*I know you as a poster, so not really equally likely to _me_. But in a vacuum, yes. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/8 "2018-07-20T18:42:16Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > 2.) Sense when does being dismissive of someone’s comment lead to thread closures? There’s no rule against being dismissive of other posters, but it seems to me that a poster needs to be mindful of the forum one is in. “Tough shit” would be very appropriate in the Pit, but maybe not so suited for a forum like Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/9 "2018-07-20T19:07:22Z")
**Darren Garrison** – not to Pit you, but what is your problem? You clearly overreacted to a comment (which I think is a well-founded one), and then you think you are the party being wronged? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/10 "2018-07-20T19:26:52Z")
That new sonic looks nothing like a “lady” product, unless that lady is the Queen Xenomorph. And yes, that was a serious overreaction by the OP in that thread. Good mod call, although just a re-title and a mod note could also have done the job I think . ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/11 "2018-07-20T19:33:06Z")
No, given the choice between a mod retitle and closing, I prefer closing. Closing is annoying. Retitling would be actively offensive. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/12 "2018-07-20T19:51:51Z")
Nothing wrong at all with title. Mod note was all that was needed. There was no reason to close the thread. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/13 "2018-07-20T20:33:20Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > That new sonic looks nothing like a “lady” product, unless that lady is the Queen Xenomorph. Heh–I was thinking that it looked a little HR Giger, but now I’m imagining the Queen shaving the baby-smooth chin on her second, smaller head. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/14 "2018-07-20T21:05:04Z")
In that first link, it looks like she is shaving her legs while wearing pantyhose. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/15 "2018-07-20T22:12:24Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > No, given the choice between a mod retitle and closing, I prefer closing. Closing is annoying. Retitling would be actively offensive. From the photo, that object looks pretty gnarly to be “lady” anything (in the traditional sense, not that ladies couldn’t or shouldn’t have gnarly tools). I don’t think it is “curvy” so much as it is more organic than mechanical looking. So I disagree with your title, and I think your reaction to the first disagreement was way over the top, for the forum, for the topic, and for the mildness of the original response (“not the best option” are not exactly fighting words, after all). Having said that, I don’t think you deserved any mod activity for the title, only for your response. I think you deserved a note for that response in that forum, but I would have been OK with leaving the thread open with the existing title (the note, if from me, would have been to watch and moderate your tone appropriate to the forum). ---
**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:** [July 20, 2018, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/16 "2018-07-20T22:21:00Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > (Oh, BTW, the reason I didn’t make those design points in the thread itself was because I wanted to see other opinions before they were **effected** by mine.) Affected. 😛 Without those design points I assumed you were protesting the new doctor being a woman. Nothing indicated you were making a different point, including the baffling links. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/17 "2018-07-21T00:12:46Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Affected. 😛 > > Without those design points I assumed you were protesting the new doctor being a woman. Nothing indicated you were making a different point, including the baffling links. The standard practice for trying to market a pre-existing but heavily male used product is to [make it pink](https://www.vox.com/2016/3/1/11139280/avoid-pink-tax-women) or [make it curvy](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mar.20789). With the sonic screwdriver–they didn’t make it pink. But it looks like others are having [a different reaction.](https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/6830056/doctor-who-sonic-screwdriver-redesign-sex-toy/) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/18 "2018-07-21T00:20:33Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > There’s no rule against being dismissive of other posters, but it seems to me that a poster needs to be mindful of the forum one is in. “Tough shit” would be very appropriate in the Pit, but maybe not so suited for a forum like Cafe Society. I agree, but not to the point5 of closing the thread. Chronos should have noted the rudeness, but left the thread open. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/19 "2018-07-21T00:47:03Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > In that first link, it looks like she is shaving her legs while wearing pantyhose. Yeah? Have you, a guy I presume, ever worn pantyhose WITHOUT shaving? Something to cut the leg hairs before you move is needed. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284/20 "2018-07-21T01:54:43Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > **Darren Garrison** – not to Pit you, but what is your problem? You clearly overreacted to a comment (which I think is a well-founded one), and then you think you are the party being wronged? I can’t speak for **Darren Garrison** , but it seems pretty obvious to me. His thread was closed–that’s the “wrong.” He made a comment that was rude–which he admits. At most such comments get a Note, unless there is some past history. But **Chronos** went above and beyond that and closed his thread. Not only that, but he called “tough shit” a form of abuse. While I agree the post may have come off as too rude, it didn’t attack anyone. Normally, I wouldn’t quibble over the wording, but it seems being treated as “abuse” was why this was escalated to a thread closure. I don’t see a fundamental problem with the thread topic itself. I know of no history of Darren making bad thread. And I don’t see multiple posters getting into a fight. As such, I don’t see what purpose closing the thread accomplishes. A mod note telling him to calm down would have been sufficient to keep the thread on track. While I personally think the thread title is clearly about the “Sonic” and not the Doctor herself, it seems others assume it was some sort of code to attack her. As such, maybe clarification would be prudent. However, the normal way to do that would not be to edit the title, but to add something in brackets. So the title would be something like “Introducing the Lady Sonic™ [discussion of the new design of the Sonic Screwdriver]”. Surely that cannot be misinterpreted. So, the most that seemed to be necessary in this particular thread was a mod note informing him that he was coming off as too rude in that particular forum, and a clarification added to the title to avoid further misunderstandings. As such, I understand why the OP might be a little peeved that his thread was closed. Especially given what usually happens in such cases. There is a large amount of friction in opening a new thread on the same topic after a closure. That is part of why I think thread closures should be used only when necessary, since they have such a chilling effect on discussion of a topic. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/me-whining-about-moderation-again/818284.md?page=2)