The amount of misogyny on boards these days is frightening.*Mod instruction in OP*

Jingle_Balls

Jingle_Balls wrote: »

The mod wasn't typing in bold, so it could be that it's being posted from a personal, rather than 'professional' perspective.

True true. I didnt not mean to put any expectation or pressure on my post. But he made a comment "as a mod" and I was hoping he would respond "as a mod". I have moderated a lot of forums myself before and I do not have to imagine what it is like to moderate a community like this one - and have to maintain a distance between your own part in that community - and your own "impartial" part looking over that community too.

Actually to be 100% honest I did not take the OP seriously at all - especially in the light of there being no specifics of any type. But we have had a mod and quite a few users say that things have gotten worse recently. And I am now starting to take it more seriously indeed.

But as a common j.soap user I do not know how to process such a revelation. What can I do better? Ignore it and just report it? Or is there a way we on this forum who actually CARE about this forum - can actually modify our usual rhetoric to block out such elements?

After hours is a "who cares" kind of forum - but when it matters we actually DO care. The laughing at depression thread is a testament to that. So lets actually work out how we can move forward on this one. Weed out the freaks and the haters while still maintaining the actually funny intersex jokes which can sometimes make this forum a joy to behold

efb

http://bit.ly/1qsQ1OI

Fr_Dougal

RayM wrote: »

There's no real need for a male equivalent of feminism.

Because men have all the rights and women just need equality in those rights?

IrishCule

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

It's not just Boards, it's sites like Reddit too. There's been so much bickering with Gamergate/The "Quinnspiracy" and Sarkeesian debacle, a huge rise in MRA/Red Pill types, stuff like "The Fappening". It's probably just a phase and will pass but yes, it really does make you look back at sandwich jokes with a sense of nostalgia.

I'm on reddit alot and know exactly what you are talking about, it started (from what I can see) with subreddits like SRS (which IMO can only be described as militant feminist) + posters on other subreddits with a similar mentality which seems to have led to a counter movement on the MRAs side.

It quiet weird to have seen it grow the last couple of years to the point where there is actually a full on gender war online it seems. And alot of it is so stupid, you have "feminist" outrage junkies declaring everything as rape and then lads on the MRAs side thinking every woman is the spawn of satan, always plotting to get at your money even if have none.

efb

J Mysterio wrote: »

I think some people are just too sensitive to be allowed on the internet.

I think some people are too sexist to be allowed on the internet.

J Mysterio

efb wrote: »

I think some people are too sexist to be allowed on the internet.

Are you calling me sexist?

efb

TheZohan wrote: »

Because men have all the rights and women just need equality in those rights?

In the vast majority of cases, men have the advantage.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

RayM wrote: »

There's no real need for a male equivalent of feminism.

Fathers' rights, suicide rates, resources for male victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, funding shortages for men's illnesses, the amount of men vs women graduating from college...all of those would constitute a need for it, to my mind. And that's just in this country.

efb

J Mysterio wrote: »

Are you calling me sexist?

Were you calling me sensitive? No? Then I wasn't calling you sexist either.

Karl Stein

Gits_bone wrote: »

Is there a word for people who has a dislike of men?
Also is there a male equivalent of feminism?

ptee1 wrote: »

I think the opposite in fact.

I see a lot of generalizations about men.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B436avtEXzs

FouxDaFaFa

RayM wrote: »

There's no real need for a male equivalent of feminism.

I think there is, in relation to fathers's rights and some sex crime laws that are skewed unfairly against men (well, boys), like the "Romeo and Juliet" law.

But there's no need for the two sides to be mutually exclusive or pitted against one another. There should be an ability to calmly discuss one issue without descending into "well, you're not talking about the equivalent that happens to men/women, therefore you're a pr1ck" and completely derailing everything.

J Mysterio

efb wrote: »

Were you calling me sensitive? No? Then I wasn't calling you sexist either.

I wasn't calling you anything at all.

the evasion_kid

RayM wrote: »

There's no real need for a male equivalent of feminism.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEr4od4jQk0

beks101

I'm a woman, I have many opinions and a propensity towards expressing them.
I've been doing so around here for very many years.
And to be honest lads, the combination of having an opinion and having a vagina around here isn't exactly a walk in the fcuking park on most days.
Here are some things I've dealt with:

- The repeated assumption that I am a male poster if I don't make the distinction. Despite what most would agree is a fairly obvious female username. Hence the persistent bleating of "I am a woman"
- A dismissal of and attempts to invalidate my feelings, experiences and opinions on some gender-related issue because I haven't taken any concrete action. Such as 'going to the cops'.
- A dismissal or attempts to invalidate my feelings, experiences and opinions on some gender-related issue because "I have a female friend who disagrees with you".
- Posters raking through my post history to find something that contradicts some opinion I have on something gender related
- The assumption that I am speaking for my entire gender when I express any opinion on any innocuous subject anywhere.
- Whataboutery. The fact that it can swing both ways does not detract from the fact that it exists as a way to degrade a female opinion or experience in the first place.

I like AH because IMO it can be like a microcosm of Irish society or at least of pub banter across the country on various social issues, something I sorely miss as an expat. It can be good craic.
But there's no denying it can be a bloody coarse place for a woman with an opinion, especially one who habitually seeks to speak up on gender-related issues.
And just because your own gender excludes you from experiencing the reality of that, does NOT mean it isn't the case.

PopePalpatine

TheBeardedLady wrote: »

Aaaaand here come the re-regs....

That was what I was about to mention. Usually on AH misogyny would take the form of conservative (almost always) Catholics popping into threads about abortion, Magdalene Laundries and the "Tuam babies".

However, starting with the GamerGate thread a few MRAs popped up, under the same pretence GamerGate has adopted (and totally ignoring the disgusting "Five Guys" episode). Then there was the thread on "10 Hours Walking the Streets of NY as a Woman", and a few so-called "pick-up artists"/dickheads popped up, and a few more of them appeared in the thread on that borderline sex offender Julian Blanc.

efb

J Mysterio wrote: »

I wasn't calling you anything at all.

as was I

Gits_bone

efb wrote: »

In the vast majority of cases, men have the advantage.

Until the advantage is so strongly pointed out that it becomes a disadvantage.

efb

Gits_bone wrote: »

Until the advantage is so strongly pointed out that it becomes a disadvantage.

for example Reg 2?

J Mysterio

efb wrote: »

as was I

That makes no sense. Also, you addressed me directly whereas I was making a general statement. Maybe you were a little too sensitive to it.

johnnyskeleton

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

I was actually discussing this with another female boardsie (who doesn't really post in AH anymore) a few weeks back. We had both, independently, noticed that Boards has gotten much more hostile and unwelcoming towards female posters recently.

And, like the OP said, it is an atmosphere rather than a single occasion where I can link to a post and say "There it is! There!".

It's not just Boards, it's sites like Reddit too. There's been so much bickering with Gamergate/The "Quinnspiracy" and Sarkeesian debacle, a huge rise in MRA/Red Pill types, stuff like "The Fappening". It's probably just a phase and will pass but yes, it really does make you look back at sandwich jokes with a sense of nostalgia.

Is it possible that this is only in jokey/social forums/threads like after hours or gendered ones such as the ladies lounge?

In the two forums i use most, legal discussion and accommodation and property, ive never seen anything even close to misogyny. If a woman has unrealisic expectations about getting a flat to rent cheaply, it is her unrealistic expectations that will be criticised, not the fact that she is a woman. And needless to say that the forum I moderate its all about the books and there wouldnt even be a question of gender.

I remember one time i was accused of misogyny by a lazy incompetent co-worker who i was short with because she was interrupting my work to help her with hers. Her idea was that by not dropping everything for her, i must dislike all women, whereas it was just her mannerisms that i disliked. I have to say i found it a difficult criticism to address, because no matter what i said it was proof of my hatred of one woman (i didnt mind her, she was just annoying me that day) and as soon as the misogyny issue was raised, proof of hatred of one woman meant proof of hatred of all.

I think its just that the internet jokey social forum has hit its teenage years. Its no longer new and cutting edge, but it hasnt quite caught up with the boring adult world of comparing insurance or asking advice on how to fix your dishwasher. People will thus read in it misogyny, misandry, racism etc - whatever motive they want to see in it.

efb

J Mysterio wrote: »

That makes no sense. Also, you addressed me directly whereas I was making a general statement. Maybe you were a little too sensitive to it.

No, I quoted you for context, if I was addressing you, I would have typed it as such

DoYouEvenLift

RayM wrote: »

There's no real need for a male equivalent of feminism.

Ha! Good one!

J Mysterio

efb wrote: »

No, I quoted you for context, if I was addressing you, I would have typed it as such

Brilliant.

How Soon Is Now

If women feel there been disrespected in this forum and there are measures been done by mods etc to change that where does the bill stop?

Im not saying it shouldn't be taken seriously it should but there are a lot of things on this site and other parts the internet that seem to go unaffected.

Without going off topic and derailing this thread there is one major thing that bothers me personally about Irish society that i see a lot of on here and im obviously not the only one who it would cover but its allowed.

My point is there are a lot of things online and specifically on boards that could be addressed but can they all be addressed? Is it possible even?

Gits_bone

efb wrote: »

for example Reg 2?

An example would be that companies are seeking to put more women in management positions. It should be the quality of candidate that fills these positions, not gender. So men out there who have great experience in a role are getting overlooked for women (occasionally and I know of a few) who do not have the same experience reg 1.

efb

Gits_bone wrote: »

An example would be that companies are seeking to put more women in management positions. It should be the quality of candidate that fills these positions, not gender. So men out there who have great experience in a role are getting overlooked for women (occasionally and I know of a few) who do not have the same experience reg 1.

Anecdotal evidence then? The figures and salaries definitely say men have the advantage

Gits_bone

efb wrote: »

Anecdotal evidence then? The figures and salaries definitely say men have the advantage

And who says they are not deserving of them? Maybe mens skillsets are more suited to some jobs than women reg 1?

Fr_Dougal

efb wrote: »

Anecdotal evidence then? The figures and salaries definitely say men have the advantage

Yeah I can remember that old line being trotted out not too long ago, I think it might have been Wibbs that countered the claim with an up to date study, and he certainly wouldn't be anti-women.

DoYouEvenLift

PopePalpatine wrote: »

That was what I was about to mention. Usually on AH misogyny would take the form of conservative (almost always) Catholics popping into threads about abortion, Magdalene Laundries and the "Tuam babies".

However, starting with the GamerGate thread a few MRAs popped up, under the same pretence GamerGate has adopted (and totally ignoring the disgusting "Five Guys" episode). Then there was the thread on "10 Hours Walking the Streets of NY as a Woman", and a few so-called "pick-up artists"/dickheads popped up, and a few more of them appeared in the thread on that borderline sex offender Julian Blanc.

These are the words of the borderline sex offender for anyone unaware:

I shared a bed with my sister, Grace, until I was seventeen years old. She was afraid to sleep alone and would begin asking me around 5:00 P.M. every day whether she could sleep with me. I put on a big show of saying no, taking pleasure in watching her beg and sulk, but eventually I always relented. Her sticky, muscly little body thrashed beside me every night as I read Anne Sexton, watched reruns of SNL, sometimes even as I slipped my hand into my underwear to figure some stuff out

efb

TheZohan wrote: »

Yeah I can remember that old line being trotted out not too long ago, I think it might have been Wibbs that countered the claim with an up to date study, and he certainly wouldn't be anti-women.

can you quote it?