Recently there have been an awful lot of over the top threads regarding topics such as sexism vs. reverse sexism, racism vs. reverse racism, homophobia vs. ... ad nauseum.
In this thread I have just been in a few posters made me think and write this thread to the community:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.312145-Sexism-Or-The-Turning-of-Tables?page=1
This is just the thread I was most recently in, there are as you know many others like it on various topics.
Anyway, someone who has been here for many years mentioned how he thought the boards and becoming more and more overrun with really privileged straight, white guys complaining about how they are victims of society. These boards are becoming full of casual sexism against women, casual racism, and casual homophobia he says. He says he is considering leaving because the environment here is becoming increasingly 'hostile'. I don't think we are at critical mass, but he has a very good point.
That makes me feel really awful. For a few reasons:
1)I love these boards, I haven't been around nearly as long as many, but I come here everyday and usually post in a thread i find interesting. There are people here that I genuinely like. If too many people act like jerks and all the good people begin to leave, jerks are all we will have left and I will leave too. That sucks.
2) I am a gay woman. I am secure and confident and I don't freak out every time someone says something offensive, but I still get offended make no mistake. When someone says something hurtful to you, it hurts - period. But because I'm gay, my intimate emotional experience with men is limited. I am forced to get my information about how men think by listening to other men's thoughts. This is a great place(as all message boards are) to hear varying opinions and have interesting discussions and learn from other peoples viewpoints. To be honest, these types of threads only serve to make men seem generally unfavorable to people like me. When there are SO many of them, what should people think about you in general? I know many men(like the guy I mentioned above) that are very sad to know that and realize that this makes some people feel like I do. Those men should be encouraged to remain. 'Male and hostile' is not an environment that I feel comfortable in and I know I am not the only one who feels that way nor are women here the only ones who feel this way.
Now, what do we do about it? Personally I would just like to say that I hope that before someone hits 'Post' on their new thread that they consider this:
Is this a controversial topic that can both easily hurt someone and easily be looked up on the internet if you have questions? If the answer is yes, think of something else to post about. Even if your intentions are good, you are only creating a stage for jerks to spout off on. Please just consider not doing it.
This is only my opinion of course. I personally am sick of seeing so many new outrageous threads every day. It makes me concerned that painful/hostile topics are all we can think of to chat about.
In this thread I have just been in a few posters made me think and write this thread to the community:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.312145-Sexism-Or-The-Turning-of-Tables?page=1
This is just the thread I was most recently in, there are as you know many others like it on various topics.
Anyway, someone who has been here for many years mentioned how he thought the boards and becoming more and more overrun with really privileged straight, white guys complaining about how they are victims of society. These boards are becoming full of casual sexism against women, casual racism, and casual homophobia he says. He says he is considering leaving because the environment here is becoming increasingly 'hostile'. I don't think we are at critical mass, but he has a very good point.
That makes me feel really awful. For a few reasons:
1)I love these boards, I haven't been around nearly as long as many, but I come here everyday and usually post in a thread i find interesting. There are people here that I genuinely like. If too many people act like jerks and all the good people begin to leave, jerks are all we will have left and I will leave too. That sucks.
2) I am a gay woman. I am secure and confident and I don't freak out every time someone says something offensive, but I still get offended make no mistake. When someone says something hurtful to you, it hurts - period. But because I'm gay, my intimate emotional experience with men is limited. I am forced to get my information about how men think by listening to other men's thoughts. This is a great place(as all message boards are) to hear varying opinions and have interesting discussions and learn from other peoples viewpoints. To be honest, these types of threads only serve to make men seem generally unfavorable to people like me. When there are SO many of them, what should people think about you in general? I know many men(like the guy I mentioned above) that are very sad to know that and realize that this makes some people feel like I do. Those men should be encouraged to remain. 'Male and hostile' is not an environment that I feel comfortable in and I know I am not the only one who feels that way nor are women here the only ones who feel this way.
Now, what do we do about it? Personally I would just like to say that I hope that before someone hits 'Post' on their new thread that they consider this:
Is this a controversial topic that can both easily hurt someone and easily be looked up on the internet if you have questions? If the answer is yes, think of something else to post about. Even if your intentions are good, you are only creating a stage for jerks to spout off on. Please just consider not doing it.
This is only my opinion of course. I personally am sick of seeing so many new outrageous threads every day. It makes me concerned that painful/hostile topics are all we can think of to chat about.
