[WikiEN-l] Introducing a new mailing list

[charles.r.matthews at ntlworld.com]

Matt R wrote

> So in response to an environment where women feel uncomfortable about posting
> because men may disagree with them, you would have it that men cannot disagree
> with women over gender issues without running the risk of being flamed and
> shamed? I don't believe that would result in the problem going away.

Come now. They can perfectly well disagree. But I haven't seen so many clunky arguments put forward since I was a Fellow of a Cambridge college in the 1980s. I see very little actual sexism to complain about here. I see an almost complete dearth of tact. I see a hell of a lot of divisive language, as per your post. I see an almost total lack of empathy, from the males who are getting on a high horse about this. I see, also, an obvious flaw in the idea that the way technical issues are discussed extrapolates to discussion of social issues. Which is it doesn't: the whole culture of warring over getting your perspective installed as the de facto standard (which is the basic tech riff, no?) fails miserably in avoiding schism.

So, it's a crying shame all right. And, unbelievably, some people are still hammering away, in apparent complete ignorance of the effect they are having. Guys, your rhetoric and tone is not good for this discussion. Try saying 'I agree' or 'I disagree', instead of attempting to blister people's monitors.

Charles

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