BREAKING NEWS: Because of the gender issue and other issues people have raised with proboards, I will be moving the forum to another platform, probably phpBB. Just give me a few hours! I’ve locked the proboards forum down in the meantime. Post below with any thoughts and/or advice.
You asked for it – well, a majority of those who took the poll did. You got it! The Man Boobz Forum is open for business. Right here, right now.
I hope the discussions here on the blog will remain long and spirited and sprawly, but now you guys have a place to go to discuss, well, whatever you want to discuss, actually (within the limits of the forum’s comments policy, which you should all read). Raise you own issues, link to Man Booby stuff, link to off-topic stuff, link to your own blog, talk about books, talk about Magyck the Gendering cards, plan get-togethers, you name it. One bit of warning: I’m going to try to keep discussions on the forum a little more civilized than they tend to be here on the blog; this means I will be more stringent about the commenting rules and much quicker to ban offenders, temporarily or permanently.
I encourage everyone who regularly comments here (and who wants to post on the forum) to register there using the same nickname you use here. Also, please post a comment here after I approve you (just to verify that it’s really you behind both accounts). If you’re a regular commenter here and you’re interested in being a moderator of the forum, let me know.
Note on gender: Not everyone here identifies themselves as male or female. Unfortunately, proboards requires you to check either “male” or “female” when registering. The good news, for those who don’t fit the gender binary or who simply don’t want people to know what gender they are, is that you don’t have to display your gender in your profile or posts. (Go to your profile, and click “modify profile” and you’ll find a way to “hide” your gender as well as other ways to customize your profile.)
Post any feedback you have about the forum here or on the forum itself.
And enjoy!
I registered on the forum, but I don’t know if I will use it. I flipped a coin for ‘gender’. Best bit: the captcha was ‘a good man in hard to find’. lol
They don’t let nicknames with spaces in, so I just registered as Victoria. But it is saying that only staff are being allowed to register right now.
But, MBZ forum… woohoo!!
Oops! How did this happen? I thought I scheduled this to go up in about .. 12 hours.
Ah well, all that means is that some people will have to wait a bit before I approve them for the forum.
Anyway, welcome! Now I will go off and approve you guys and then actually start the forum going for realz.
Is there a way to get a third gender option (haven’t finished registration, due to said issue)?
Yeah, darksidecat, I wondered about that.
ditto to dsc and magpie.
darksidecat, unfortunately I can’t do anything about that. I could set up a group for people who don’t want to identify as male or female, but unfortunately you’ll still have to check one or the other on registration.
Ah, a solution of sorts: you can go to your profile and click “modify profile” and hide your gender. I realize that’s not perfect, but that’s the choice available.
So, I signed up under the name Sarah. (And as a man, just for shits and giggles.) But it’s not letting me log in yet? I am slightly confused.
And I would love to be a moderator! =D
Ok, it’s really really up now! And I just approved a batch new members. Have at it!
Are you kidding me? This is a problem worth talking about?
I signed up as Snowy
Yay! I am now a forumite! =D
And do you mean the gender issue, Mr. Al? Because yes, yes it is. Gender identity is very important! And we have a disproportionately large number of genderqeer types posting here, I think.
OK, think of it this way. It asks if you’re “male or female”, not “man or woman”. You ARE either male or female, unless you’re intersex.
I don’t like how us members can’t have capital letters in our names. This seems like a clear example of administrator privelege stemming from the moderatorarchy.
OK, think of it this way. It asks if you’re “male or female”, not “man or woman”. You ARE either male or female, unless you’re intersex
So what are the intersexed supposed to do?
What if the intersex is really subtle, like an androgen insensitivity?
Yay! Now I can mostly lurk and randomly comment on the forum too. 😀
I have registered!
registered and now am just waiting from Approval on High
Do we get to wear stickers saying “approved?”
Hey Futrelle, can you see IP addresses on the forum?
Apparently instead of Tabby Lavalamp or even just Tabby, I’m “tabby” now.
Also just waiting for approval.
And also now wanting a third gender option because the request for one offends MRAL so much.
I wanted to go by my name on here but there was no room so I went by my first interwebz nickname.
male or female and man or woman do NOT necessarily mean different things
what do you think I circle on forms and in this forum MRAL?
it’s not asking for your genitals, it’s asking for your gender -_-;; If you don’t think this is a big deal, then you don’t need to talk about it. It’s a big deal for others, like DSC who identifies as neither.
Everyone is approved! Regardless of credit rating.
(I can’t actually see your credit ratings. I can however see your IP addresses.)
I have a possible solution to the gender issue btw… so everybody hold your horses :3
*puts a sheet over her IP address* My god Futrelle, you are such a perv! *just kidding*
Ok, I signed up for the forum. I promise to floor you all with food and dog pictures.
Let’s use phpBB for the forum David, it doesn’t ask you for your gender on registration at all. :] In fact as far as I can tell it doesn’t have an option for gender at all (ppl can always put it in their profile and etc :] )
It’s the one that trans sites were using, so I went to check to see what they were using and that’s what it turned out to be 🙂 (also so far, it seems less clumsy to me than proboards which I’ve used in the past and am not that fond of)
I has an approval. THE WAR MACHINE LIVES!!!
And flood, but I suppose floor also works.
don’t everybody throw tomatoes at Ami at once (I suspect ONE person will say “THIS IS RIDIC JUST FOR THIS”? i hope not >_>) but we do have members who id as neither male or female and it’s not like we ALRDY started posting on the forum, so I think this is a good and useful thing, and that way nobody feels excluded :]
If it’s a lot to set up again David, you can temporarily make me mod and I’ll help you :]
Ohh, ohh, let’s have a discussion about sex vs gender! THAT will be fun! XD
So, even if you accept that they are asking for chromosomes or genitals or some other marker of sex-not-gender, honestly, WHY do they need to know that? It’s not like the forum has penis-operated controls or vagina-operated controls and it needs to know so it can present you with the correct set of controls :p
I have just gone and made a bunch of topics! In an attempt to start generating conversation! Wheeeeee! =D
And, I would not mind moving to phpBB, because I really do think the gender issue is kind of important. But in the end it’s up to our Lord and Savior, because he has to do most of the work. (Though I’d help!)
oooh, Plymouth! That’s a great idea.
I’m going to go start a new topic! =D
@Plymouth yeah srsly.. why IS it important? o_O it seems bizarre it would REQUIRE you to choose a gender… why is it relevant? and if we have an option for a boards that don’t think gender is something that must be determined before entry into the boards, we should take that one :3
i know i know lobbycat is lobbying xD
So, I’m actually OK with picking gender and random and hiding it but if there are enough people who want to move to a non-gendered forum I am cool with that too but I wouldn’t require it of David in order to participate (he’s done enough awesome things for us lately!).
My personal attitude towards gender is pretty much “ew, yuck, get it OFF ME!” but since I have to live in a world where gender isn’t really optional I’ve chosen to identify as a girl. I have a fairly long post in my livejournal from a ways back on why I identify as a girl and not a woman which if there’s an appropriate place for it (I imagine there will be – it seems on-topic-ish) I will crosspost to the forum one of these days.
Sarah, I wouldn’t start making topics so soon :] let’s wait… (also it’s unfair to DSC and others who can’t join and engage in the topics)
Also David, I have been thinking and I do think that there should be some closed areas… there’s a lot of survivors here, or also ppl w/ other personal issues, and often I think some ppl (I know I do) hold back b/c we worry the wrong phrasing or saying the wrong thing will trigger a troll attack, or we just don’t feel comfortable in a public setting, and want to just talk amongst supportive and friendly ppl (and our friends) :]
As I said, if it’s a lot of work for David, I volunteer to help him :]
JUST ARBITRARILY CHOOSE ONE! Jesus Christ.
MRAL, if it’s not an issue to you, then why do you care? -_-
I am male.
OH THAT WAS HARD.
awwww man, Ami, but I’m so excited! XD
I did start a new thread about sex and gender: http://manboobz.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=mostly&thread=13
Uh. I’ll cool my heels for a bit, now… =p
I just don’t see the problem if you can choose whichever you want.
congratulations, you just basically gave the most perfect example of cis privilege -_-
The forum looks great, David. And thank you for providing the space.
Mr. Al, you are not everyone. It is not so easy for everyone! Try to just have a little empathy.
I actually have a lot of thoughts and such about gender! I do id as a woman, but sometimes I am a man. (But I am always Sarah!) I like being nebulous, and being able to change my projection, and self-perception.
MRAL you just spent a 2nd thread yelling at ppl about your thoughts on being an American vs a USian, and now you’re telling ppl how they identify doesn’t matter? o_O
Although I will say that Proboards is known for kind of being a shit forum hosting service in general. It’s functional, but their security sucks a big fat one, you get spambots and shit a lot.
I don’t think it will matter for a small community like Manboobz, but if it grows (and it probably will if the blog remains active) eventually you’ll likely need to switch.
I am sort of loving this “exalt/smite” option.