Let’s say you wake up one morning and you decide, for some reason, that you’d like to make it your goal for the day to get yourself banned from the Men’s Rights subreddit.
If you’re a feminist, it’s not hard. I managed to get myself banned there some time ago and all I had to do was … well, I’m not exactly sure what it was I did. Actually, I’m pretty sure I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, Reddit-wise, other than argue with the regulars there. It’s possible I may have engaged in some light sarcasm. So maybe try that.
If, on the other hand, you hate women, all you have to do is … well, again, I’m not sure. Because earlier today, as one friend of Man Boobz pointed out on the Against Men’s Rights subreddit, a dislikeable fellow who calls himself sciencegod posted an elaborate, graphic torture fantasy to the Men’s Rights subreddit. I’m posting it below as a thumbnail; click to see it full size, but TRIGGER WARNING because it’s very graphic.
It got some downvotes, and the mods deleted the comment. But it didn’t occur to any of the mods, evidently, to actually ban this user from the Men’s Rights subreddit.
Because obviously anything he might ever have to say on the subject of Men’s Rights is much more worthwhile than anything I might ever have to say on the subject.
I asked the mods why they felt it necessary to ban me when they wouldn’t ban someone like sciencegod, and here’s the response I got back:
![sillymod [M] via /r/MensRights/ sent 51 minutes ago We don't answer to you. You have zero influence through which to get a discussion out of us. Goodbye.](https://i0.wp.com/www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/sillymod.png?resize=521%2C124&ssl=1)
This is pretty much the answer I get whenever I ask them anything. I could ask them if they thought the sky was blue and they’d send me the same response and probably put something in the sidebar saying the sky was red.
Ironically, elsewhere in the Men’s Rights subreddit today I learned this:
Huh. Where on earth might I have gotten the impression that there are MRAs who hate women?
Oops. There’s that sarcasm again. When will I ever learn?
I have a number of miltonia x phalenopsis, and an oncidium x odontoglossum.
I bought the latter when it wasn’t in bloom and it bloomed. So I’m feeling pretty good at my orchid husbandry.
Your baby African violets are adorable, and I’m going to say that a 50% survival rate from cutting ain’t bad ^.^
I’m thinking I’m gonna stick the orchid in there for the winter, having lost the last one to fucking Nemo.
Oh, me! Oh, my! People are using actual evidence that r/mr is a misogynistic shithole! Whatever shall they do?
Those evil feminists are using a case in which we didn’t ban someone for fantasizing about torturing women on our subreddit as proof that we don’t ban people for fantasizing about torturing women on our subreddit!
Failure to ban somebody who’s posted violent misogynistic fantasies doesn’t necessarily mean that you share those fantasies, but it does necessarily mean that you don’t mind sharing space with somebody who does.
This is kind of basic logic and stuff. Do we need to start giving remedial classes?
(thinks about trolls of yore)
Really, we should have started years ago.
Clearly this dude is in denial about how dangerous leaving a comments section open on a feminist website can be. I recently had a debate with some jackass on my youtube channel’s comments policy which states that all comments on discussions on feminism will be moderated (I will have to individually approve them), to help maintain a safe space for women. The dude was of course crying freeze peach, but it’s like, I’m not about to leave a rape threat or something sitting on my video for hours, if not weeks, because I didn’t realize it was there. If I have the ability to moderate those comments before they get posted, I can ensure that triggering comments and obvious trolling/bad faith arguments don’t slip under the radar. No, I will not give equal time to trolls, cry about it.
Dude was like, “You’re gonna lose subscribers because people see this as a human rights issue.” Yeah, those trolls can see the door, I’m not concerned one bit about it. Youtube is a haven for blatant misogyny, trolling, and “debates” that dehumanize entire groups of people. Not being able to start a wankfest on one person’s channel is not a fucking infringement on your free speech. You can save that shit for someone who wants to hear it because it’s not your right to talk to me or all two of my viewers, lol.
@auggziliary, I see violentacrez a lot too but for some reason I always read his un as “violentalcatraz.” NFI.
Would that make him the bird-brain of Alcatraz?
Either way, you’re not obliged to give people a platform to speak in your own private space. It’s your video/blog, you make the rules.
That’s what I said. But there are a lot of s/c/w/a dudes out there who have no idea how to deal with someone not automatically valuing their opinions over other people’s and feel entitled to everyone else’s time and attention, so the thought of not being able to spew whatever disgusting, uninformed garbage all over other people’s spaces sends them into a state of blind determination to restore their over-inflated egos.