So. That thread.

Noble - thanks, some food for thought there.

Kickass - yup, that sounds like massive imposter syndrome!

Mostly about that thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/2766839-How-to-spot-a-shill?

Perhaps an active awareness of tactics would make people less likely to be sucked in by them? I'd have certainly wasted less time.

I'm meant to know about feminist theory - I'm on the verge of getting an MA in the subject! I have never posted in there, though, as I don't feel worthy.

Imposter syndrome in action, I suspect.

OK - going over to have a look around!

"fuck all squared in a box"

Righty ho, I know fuck all squared in a box about feminist theory but in a fit of enthusiasm am off to spread my blissful ignorance over some old threads. Use it or lose it I guess!

There is no way on gods green earth i would go on feminist theory

Just thought i would put it out there

Yes... I guess quite a lot of us would think we had to know which wave of feminism was which and stuff like that to participate let alone start a thread on Theory. Would posting a topic there deter people who might be genuinely interested from joining in? And it might not make any difference to trolls (especially if they really do happen on threads via Active Convos)

I thought feminist chat was where you could ask daft questions and discuss issues that maybe the academics already did years ago. I thought feminist theory was for the high brow stuff where people who know what they're talking about go

But almost nobody posts on Feminist Theory,Activism, Support or Book club. There's tumbleweed there.

Well, dilution is the solution to pollution and all. So if the FWR board can attract more people who are actually interested in FWR, and the existing posters can make lots of contributions, preferably ignoring GFs and just replying to the last sensible post (though I admit that troll-feeding is irresistible sometimes and I did it myself in the last few posts on the thread) then the buzz of interesting conversation may drown out the trolls jumping up and down squealing, "Look at me". Oscar Wilde's "not being talked about" is the worst outcome for them, not being beaten in an argument, because as far as they are concerned they will never be beaten in an argument- they are the pigs enjoying the mud wrestling. They don't give two shits about the topic, it could be anything. The sport is in the derailing and getting a thread deleted probably results in PM high fives all round, especially if they can see posts that have taken a lot of time and consideration go up in smoke along with the shite they tapped out in a few minutes with the little finger of their beer (or Ribena) holding hand.

giraffe, you're right. Unfortunately there are far too many times when someone comes on and asks "isn't it true that all feminists are man-eating lesbians?" or other such genuine questions. Then when people don't agree with them, they get very angry about the way that they're being silenced by the feminasties. Then they feel justified in calling us names and saying how disturbing or lacking in humor we are.

I would be fine answering real questions. I'm happy to spend hours of my life answering even something that sounds simple and basic, because it's always good when someone starts asking questions like "why won't my husband cook dinner?" and starts to see how their life is being impacted by patriarchy. But there are way too many times when people appear to be engaging in a genuine discussion, only to gradually derail and start name calling and then claim that they're being silenced/bullied/they're a nice guy/we should listen etc.

btw - I love the theory of safe spaces. I don't think it's actually possible to create them, online or in RL, but it doesn't mean we should give up on the idea.

IT got derailed,

What happened? What was the subject for the post to be pulled?

Good point, giraffe - quick look at the dates and a couple of OPs with no response suggests we're not making good use of it.

I thought feminist chat was where you could ask daft questions and discuss issues that maybe the academics already did years ago. I thought feminist theory was for the high brow stuff where people who know what they're talking about go.

Wouldn't help the app

I've been wondering if one of those chrome plugins that lets you hide adverts/random chunks of pages could be used to ignore based on username - Fark style....

Well - it depends - if there is a particular subject on the card, and someone arrives and wants to use that thread to discuss other feminist basics, thats not so good.

I don't mind the "let's discuss the basics" threads at all - they almost always throw up a new way of thinking about things. And I certainly don't want tumblr style echo chambers - I think we've all seen the dangers of those in recent years. But I do get fed up with people who don't engage, but simply come on here to hector.

Feminism and autism sounds like a great idea for a thread, Potoroo.

I don't think I'm very knowledgeable either - but willing to learn. Thats the main difference maybe?

Welcome potoroos sounds like a good thread

Must it be either/or? I've only just starting posting and have little knowledge but have learned a lot from these boards.

I've had several light bulb moments through reading posts here and would like to start a discussion on feminism and autism, once I've got my thoughts a little more coherent. The MN Feminist board is the only place I'd feel comfortable doing so.

Sort of... I hate the 'safe space' thing which seems to have taken over campuses, leaving people in echo chambers - very unsafe. And erasing the importance of actual safe spaces like refuges. But yes, sometimes you do want to discuss a topic with people who want to engage properly, and who have some idea (or are willing to go away and read when it's suggested.

What we really want is to be able to create a safe space which is also very welcoming and inclusive to genuine people who may be asking some fairly obvious questions.

OR - do we only want FWR chats to be among people who have some kind of credentials/knowledge?

I get a bit fed up with going over some of the 'basics' sometimes (like the existence of benign sexism) but also would never want to exclude someone who really does want to know something. How to achieve that anywhere on the internet is pretty impossible to set up.