It was closed because of an asshole infestation. I might've been one - I'm not sure.
For the relatively small commenting crowds that show up at non-controversial posts at Feministe, I feel that I could do a decent job on my own of representing dissent. The reason is that if you (as a dissenter) have one point you want to contest, and someone who agrees with you ... oh fuck it. Analogy time:
You make the complaint to the "Baker's Bureau" council that they are selling fattening cupcakes at Store #5. Valid retorts come back from the council saying that the cupcakes aren't that fattening, they don't sell many, etc. An invalid retort comes back saying that the milkshake stand next door to Store #5 is just as bad and you should go bother them.
It's easy for you to say "No, I'm talking to you about your cupcakes at Store #5, don't bring in other issues."
With me?
Now imagine another person, angry with the Baker's Bureau about Store #5 appears next to you and shouts out "Store #5 sells honey-drizzled croissants, as well, with the same calorie count as the cupcakes!"
Yes, Honey-Croissant-Person is on your side, and almost certainly agrees with you about the cupcakes. They are an ally.
But if you are just looking for an answer from the Baker's Bureau about those damn cupcakes, you don't want to start talking about croissants!
I hope that wasn't too hard to follow.
Back to the Anxiety post: My first post was an honest question: if women are more anxious than men, and this study says it's because of the way we're raised, how SHOULD we raise our children? I also threw in there a reference to the high rate of male suicide -because anxiety plays a role in any suicide.
I thought I was on-topic with this. I don't think it got off-topic until Eve posted, claiming that the anxiety women experience could be correlated to "the constant stress of being threatened with sexual violence."
She derailed the conversation about female anxiety into blaming rape culture.
Her original correlation was related to this finding about infant mortality among minorities:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2007/09/28/20099/racism-may-affect-infant-mortality.html
She bought the story as reported hook, line and sinker. She turned "racism may affect infant mortality" to "sexism certainly affects female anxiety" with ZERO link in between.
The thread quickly went down hill from there, and I don't blame Jill for closing it. I didn't intend on stirring up that much shit, and I don't even know how culpable I am.
Eventually, Well, I happen to know that all women feel exactly as I do all the time."
Considering that I wasn't even asking her, I knew the thread was lost.
Shortly after that, I realized that being skeptical of "rape culture" brands one an asshole. Fantastic.
I'd also like to say that I'm a little disheartened. I started this blog hoping to better understand my own experiences with Feminism, feminists, sexism and gender.
It now seems that my options are limited:
- Read pro-feminism blogs that stringently delete, dogpile or moderate dissent
- Read and comment on pro-feminism blogs that will quickly identify me as a dissenter and therefore disregard any rational argument I make
- Read MRA sites that are far too misogynistic (and rarely chastise their own)
- Read the barely-updated FeministCritics.Org
- Suck Hugo Schwyzer's penis
- Continue to post rarely-read and even-more-rarely-commented-upon posts at this blog and hope enlightenment comes
