group host / statement of purpose

[iverglas]

102. why are people picking sides??

omg, yes yes yes!! The html buttons have appeared before mine eyes! Yes! This is not a cave locked in the 20th century after all!

Ahem.

Why are people picking sides?

Ask the people who picked sides, please.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002133497

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11372559

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11372627

If you want to know what the discussion is about, you will want to read those threads. Or at least some of them. Those are the actual subject here.

I don't think you will be wanting to say "I think you may be taking some of these posts much too personally" then. I hope.


The purpose of this thread is to select hosts/subhosts. Ultimately, I hope those hosts can be even-handed in their duties even when they see a post or feminist perspective with which they disagree.

Please, can we get this straight?

No one, absolutely no one, not one person, at least not on this side of the fence, us straight white middle-class (and surely middle-aged) feminists, is objecting to any perspectives, or plotting to banish people with different perspectives to the outer GD.

We are talking about people who have, very recently, participated in attacks on those of us who dared to express an opinion on what we very much consider to be a woman's issue: the practice of hetersexual male posters at DU rating women on their appearance, in this case a lesbian contestant in a beauty pageant. There were dozens upon dozens of posts in that thread vilifying any woman who voiced an opinion on that subject, let alone the subject of beauty pageants themselves. No one from the LGBT/feminist side of the fence spoke up against the misrepresentation, insult and intimidation fired at us there; some gleefully participated.

The victims in this whole thing are NOT lesbian women or the LGBT community.

And some of us are trying to figure out what grievances on that side of the fence are being referenced, and how they could possibly justify the behaviours in those threads -- or what else might justify those behaviours.