what draws you to this part of MN, particularly if you are a man? and if you dont support feminism?

Hi juggling

Yes it will depend which thread and what is the hot topic at the time. The first time I popped over to FWR I was actually disappointed as all the threads seemed to lack any real political analysis - but when I next looked a few weeks later it looked different.

I do always try to be welcoming to newbies, as do some other posters, if it is clear they are vgenuinely wanting to engage and debate. I obviously treat the posters who pop over to say - you are all a bunch of hairy lesbians and what about the menz - differently, as you would expect!

Maybe it depends which thread you first come across on here Eats - the first one I read was a bit complicated. Maybe just to be on the lookout for newbies and give them a welcoming smile ?

That's very encouraging bejeezus

And thanks to everyone who suggested interesting things to follow up - I hope to look some of those up later.

< wonders if the feminism boards or even MN in general should be a female only space ? Would probably be difficult to bring about anyway ? >

yes I agree only about 4 or 5 regular posters are in academia AFAIK

I am always a bit bemused about the academic debate allegation. I have seen very little of this here. Sometimes people mention particular books and authors, but the actual debate is rarely academic.

Maybe some posters fear that we are all very widely read? I don't think this is the case at all. I think there are a small number of posters who are very well read, but most of us haven't read much in terms of books - and thats fine.

Because although some of the ideas around feminism might be mind blowing, most of the actual concepts aren't at all academic. In fact once you get them, I think they seem pretty obvious and apparent

PM, isn't that true of a lot of MN threads though? If there are 2-3 pages of replies, either it's sOmething that's sparked a lot of quick and often similar reactions eg AIBU to park in a P&C space or if it is slower moving, posts have often picked up on one another and moved on from the OP. I doubt there would be any problem if you posted "WRT the question in the OP..." and went back to the first theme, though.

AF, sorry you have been getting those kind of responses.

I really don't understand why FWR regulars are "supposed" to post elsewhere on MN without politics/feminist views coming into it. I'm fairly sure no-one would see it as a cause for attack that, say, the Frothers were talking about government cuts in Politics and were also offering sympathy and advice to an individual affected by such cuts on a Chat thread.

Anyfucker, I thought it was a necklace you made out of testicles ( that we joked about many moons ago ).

And when I do come here I hardly every engage in back and forward posts with any one individual, as I find message boards a bit too one-dimensional a method of communication for me. Fine for hearty backslapping, encouragement, you're great, and so on, but it doesn't really work for debates and disagreements for me. Too many misunderstandings that would be corrected and dealt with in a nanosecond face-to-face turn into war on here.

Oh and I rarely open up a thread that has more than 30 or 40 replies to it already as by then it's often deviated wildly from the interesting sounding topic title and is just a rude slanging match. Not always the case but often is. A bit like everything on this thread from page 4 onwards, just a lot of late night guff and nothing to do with the question asked...:(

I'm a man. I came here to see if you all really were joyless anti-sex harridans, if anyone remembers that AIBU thread. I would always have called myself a feminist without having really read anything about it. Read around a bit. Realised that my actions don't always live up to my principles and have made some changes. I stay hanging around here for the outside perspective on men and male behaviour.

Thanks Alice - I will watch that

Ps I'm not saying 'go and look on YouTube' in a dismissive way, just on phone so can't link

Beachcomber found the thread I was thinking about. Re-posting in case anyone has missed it. Twas excellent here

Juggling, BBC4 made a documentary called 'angry wimmin' which talks about political lesbianism and the issue of being with a man. It's as part of a look at the 70s/80s feminism, really interesting. You can find it in YouTube.

I would agree bejeezus. There have been plenty of civil discussions with men on FWR. But comments such as men are more oppressed than women aren't going to get a good reception in a place to discuss feminism.

I click on 'last 15 mins' and sometimes it looks interesting. I never go to the section.

AnyFucker
"I have had my appearance mocked, my marriage ripped apart, my motives for helping women to see they don't have to stay in abusive relationships ridiculed, the location of my husband's bollocks questioned, and I could go on
all in the last few days, and it's a regular occurence
some regulars on the Fem board get it worse than me
a few "erm, what exactly are you doing/saying here, in this female-dominated space?" comments doesn't equate"

AF

these types of post have only become apparent to me because I lurk on this board, the threads on internet abuse have been a real eye opener.

I don't equate any comments that are on threads and aimed at menz etc. in the same light, but I want to talk, discuss and debate with people about feminism, and that is hard to do when threads are "locked down" with standard form responses.

Its just so fucking cliquey on here!

Night AF

I am going to bed now. You can have the dregs, Eats

(BC had most of it)

You fuckers hogging the gin to yourselves!

Such commitment to alleviating a fellow poster's suffering is not always appreciated, alas

I believe I will earn my place in Heaven though (hideous trolling notwithstanding)

Such generosity AF. Warms the cockles.