Re: feminist rant

aqua@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:
>How do you know that the various members of alt.poly aren't out there 
>battling ***ism already?  How do you know they're not arguing with 
>misogynist d%$kheads on a regular basis?  How do you know they don't get 
>sick and tired of dealing with it all the time, and welcome alt.poly as 
>an alternative space where the natives are friendly and they can relax 
>and not have to fight all the time?

No space will be 100% immune from possibly ***ist bits as long as it 
contains men. This is because on certain levels, male and female 
interests are mutually exclusive.

>And how *dare* you suggest that because society in general is more 
>***ist than alt.poly and the people who participate on alt.poly are not 
>out-and-out misogynists, that anyone who does post something ***ist here 
>should somehow be immune from criticism because there's worse out there? 

The underlying premise here is that there's supposed to be some 
unassailable contrast between alt.poly and the outside world. In fact, 
alt.poly's posters are also part of the outside world and have developed 
strategies for navigating it. So, I don't think there should be any 
appreciable difference between behavior here versus outside.

>  It's as though you think, by being a regular alt.poly poster you have 
>your "sweet and caring" card so you don't have to pay attention to 
>whether you maybe still have some ***ist attitudes.

On the contrary, I think Rick has demonstrated his consistent niceness 
over the years and has probably gained ***ist clearance by now. It's 
perpetually interesting to me how certain male posters end up getting 
this ***ist clearance, only to surprise female posters when ***ist 
attitudes apparently return.

>And it doesn't seem to occur to you that a space that's already 
>significantly less ***ist than many is a good place to practice getting 
>rid of any remaining bits of ***ism.

You make it sound like ***ism is like a toxic poison that needs to be 
gotten out of the mind at all costs. Why bother actually interacting 
with what you consider ***ist attitudes? Why bother actually 
contemplating what's being said rather than label it as ***ist? Since, 
of course, anything with the ***ist label is automatically banished, 
it's a convenient way of ignoring whatever you don't like.

>You are, in fact, exhibiting that *exact* problem this entire 
>conversation has been about: You'd like lots of pats and reassurance 
>that you're not one of those nasty misogynists, which is just marginally 
>better than being a nasty misogynist.

This is exactly the kind of dynamic I've been hitherto referencing. Men 
on this newsgroup try to present themselves as being morally superior to 
common misogynists in hopes of scoring some poly *****. If their act 
works well and the women believe these men are not at all misogynistic, 
the men have emerged victorious and can now look forward to some 
passionate poly *****. If they fail to deliver their non-misogynist 
lines convincingly, they get the punishment of being ignored or 
killfiled.

>If you still don't understand why 
>that's a problem, or why your writing exudes "But I'm not one those, 
>really, right?", go back and read the entire f$%king thread again.
>
>I'm sure not going to explain, because I'm killfiling you for the next 
>six months.

I'm sure Rick is quaking in his boots at the mere threat of being 
killfiled by an avowed Australian monogamist who will likely not be 
giving him ***** any time soon. What a loss!

Orlando