to really not identify with the feminist boards on here, when i always thought I was a feminist

[DinahMoHum]

seems so joyless and anti sex.

I feel very conflicted now. I always thought feminism was about equality for women, which I dont believe we have, but it seems to re\lly be focusing on the wrong issues for me, and getting too much into dynamics of personal relationships, and peoples sexual preferences

im probably being unreasonable

Melted No, its no problem I'll change it, they are too similar really. My living room is a lovely shade of brown now FWIW!

reported, not posted

There have been consistent posters like me though who have said that they enjoy reading and lurking on FWR.

Not enough of us though to drown out the insults, sadly.

That's true Gurl. Sorry you're being ignored. Negativity gets the attention.

I hope you start posting and come out of lurkerdom.

The fact the OP started with insults and the closest anyone has come to saying that it was wrong was an agreement that it was "tactless and probably inaccurate" speaks VOLUMES.

Plumpdog I was talking about stuff like calling the FWR section joyless, anti-sex, aggressive, negative, bullying, gang mentality, predatory and all the other stuff that has been deleted by MNHQ on this thread (and others). Not people saying they felt unwelcome .

It would appear that MNHQ agree with me that this is feminist bashing AKA personal attack.

And please don't call me 'love' in a post that misrepresents what I am saying.

As I said, I don't think I know enough to be able to contribute really. Maybe I will spend some time educating myself on feminism first!

Whenever sexism pisses you off - post! I think that's pretty much what everybody else does.

No, I have read the whole thread. I had a face like this when I read the responses to garlics post.

As I posted earlier, a lot of Mn do not feel comfortable posting on the feminist boards. If you are happy with that then OK. I just think its a huge shame and a wasted opportunity.

Usually someone else gets in first! A certain AF or some of the people on this thread

I think that a lot of people may say they are uncomfortable posting on FWR as they have seen people saying on the innumerable threads like this that they are uncomfortable posting. It kind of spreads virally rather than being real.

There's a good thread about TV shows and films that challenge gender stereotypes, I had no idea that SardineQueen and I have so many tastes in common!

GurlwiththeFrothyCurl thanks for being so nice. I hope you decide to post more in the section. I post sporadically myself through lack of time and I admit getting a bit sick of being called insane, etc for daring to discuss feminist analysis in a feminist section.

I agree quick, it's a huge shame and a wasted opportunity.

And just when things seem to quiet down, when lurkers are starting to post, lo and behold, someone starts a thread like this to say how nasty and unwelcoming FWR are. And people who can't be arsed to post there and try to make it better, pile on to agree. And even if their posts get deleted for personal attacks, the damage is done.

Nice.

Gurl I think some people mean 'I feel too uncomfortable to post on FWR' and may have never really been there, but just heard it has a reputation.

Others say 'when I posted on there I felt unwelcome' and they have been on the board and have disliked it.

I think there are plenty of both to be honest.

Thanks Beachcomber - I do read it all, but don't post much on MN as a whole because I get caught up with following threads so much that I don't have time to actually write anything. Been here a year but feel like a newbie still.

Also, I am totally paranoid about posting on a open forum like this, particularly when I read about attacks. Have been following the threads about that organisation and it's awful FB page - horrifying to see MNers posts copied onto there and attacked :(

QuickLookBusy don't you think the hate mail issue that garlic has raised is serious? I think it is really disturbing.

Other posters have said they received weird messages from trolls. Garlic will correct me if I'm wrong, but I understood from her post that she had received hate mail from regular FWR section contributors. I find that a very very serious matter indeed.

I think that a lot of people may say they are uncomfortable posting on FWR as they have seen people saying on the innumerable threads like this that they are uncomfortable posting. It kind of spreads virally rather than being real

Oh Gurl so people stating they are uncomfortable posting are infact not telling the truth. They are copying other people?

WTAF are you on about? Women eh they can't be trusted to be honest.

I'll leave you all to it on that note. I really can't stand it any more.

ShitThatsALotOfMoney you are probably right. But surely MN is big enough to enable people to have boards for all interests. I'm not interested in the pet boards and wouldn't post there and don't think I would be welcomed for some of my views, but equally wouldn't post a thread in AIBU to moan about it!

When I started posting here on MN I was quite liberal about porn and generally thought that feminism meant simply the right to the same opportunities as men (without recognising that because women are women rather than men, women need different things, because equal doesn't mean the same as.

I am now a radical feminist. That's down to the FWR board and several posters on it. Don't get me wrong, I've been challenged and found myself in a very uncomfortable place many times over where I've been forced to accept some very unpalatable facts about society and my own life in particular. But I'm a big girl. I like being challenged and seek to learn from it. I can't say I ever felt personally attacked, though sometimes some gaping holes in my arguments were (quite rightly) pointed out. I saw that as an opportunity to either find more weight to back up my existing POV, or maybe accept that new evidence meant I should change my mind - isn't that the definition of learning and progression?

I have found the FWR - including some of the posters being indirectly referred to on this thread - extremely supportive and less judgemental than most areas of MN when it comes to women who have been raped, abused, passed over for promotion because of their sex, unable to get a job because of their child-caring commitments, dealing with accusations of letting the side down for choosing to be a SAHM or for abandoning their children by being a WOHM, etc.

I think I'm quite a moderate poster in terms of style. I don't ridicule except when I'm dealing with a definite MRA (and I've never been wrong yet). I definitely identify as and with the other radical feminists on the FWR board. I wonder if I am considered 'part of the problem'.

QuickLookBusy No, I didn't mean that as an attack on women's honesty at all, just that we can all be influenced by how other people feel. If I read that FWR is a scary place, then maybe I might not feel confident enough to go there.

GurlwiththeFrothyCurl I read lots too but only post now when the fancy takes me. Used to post a lot more but got put off by the trolling and threads like these if I'm honest.

I find myself wondering why bother to explore issues and give an honest and thought out opinion if it is only to be dragged up later and misrepresented on a thread like this one.

I think Feminists need to realise that they do not come across at all well when so many of them are aggressive, shouty and do not appear to be particularly happy or pleasant people. I realise that only a small minority of feminists are like this but they are also the most visible group and the ones who tend to make themselves heard the most.