Is the increase in anti-feminist trolls normal in the general cycle of this topic?

[FlamingoBingo]

I've not been here that long, but I've just suddenly noticed a couple of people coming here, it seems, simply to disagree with things...not to try to learn more (eg. 'I don't understand why...can you explain it), but to be rude, unpleasant and aggressive.

I know this is to be expected, but I'd been surprised not to see it here up until now, and now a sudden influx. Is this normal? Will it settle down again at some point and make the topic a nice, happy, safe place to be again?

they come and go.
It's probably connected the general extra coverage women's issues have been getting because of IWD.

it's driving me nuts at the moment, specially the concern trolls (how I love that phrase).
people self-righteously telling you that you're 'devaluing' rape/not being pragmatic enough, etc etc. It's the hypocrisy that astonishes me - if these were people who actually know something about it I would be happy to listen to what they say, but they never do.

I'll make it safe and happy for you FlamingoBingo! You just let me know who needs a kicking.

Or would that be contributing to the problem?

Are you a man, Grumpla? Could do with a man to come and make my world safe for me, really!

I'm not a man Flamingo, sorry. Silly little me to be playing with tools, eh?

Yes, I wouldn't want the board to be members only for the reasons you say. I was just interested in the sudden influx.

Do we need a reminder at the top to not engage with trolls? I stupidly got sucked into a troll-debate and now wish I hadn't!

Grumpla - well if you're a woman, then you'll be no bloody good with pitchfork anyway! WOuld probably end up stabbing me with it with your crap spatial awareness and lack of aggression in your personality!

the concern trolls would get in anyway, they'd be perfectly capable of talking about how they support feminism before suddenly switching and starting to tell us we're doing it wrong.

Oh, lack of aggression is not a condition I suffer from...

I have a lot of knitting needles - I reckon I could do some damage with them. Good feminine weapons!

To be fair, I wouldn't be to quick to judge. I have alot of questions about feminisim - I hold my hands up and say the form it takes on MN both confuses and interets me. I tried to ask the questions and apparently all I wanted to do was promote my own views. It was a shame as it was an aea I am very intertested in.

So my word of warning - having a different opinion to the MN feminist stance doesnt make someone a troll. I know you arn't saying that, but I would hate for this intertesting section of the board to become a back scratching place rather then a place of entertaining and infomed debate.

It's not the questions I, personally, object to, but we've had quite a few rude, aggressive posts from people in the last couple of days that clearly aren't here to do what you're talking about, toddler.

Sorry you got a reaction that made you feel that way - have you left completely? Are you sure you weren't just feeling too challenged? (I say that not in a patronising way, but because I decided to stop posting once or twice when I first starting posting and reading here...and I now recognise that it was becuase some of the ideas were just too challenging to me and I percieved them as being exclusive and offensive when actually they weren't, as I can see with the benefit of hindsight).

FlamingoBingo , not knowing much about feminism, I diddn't realise it at the time but i was asking about an area I now understand to be sensitive - 'Choice feminisim and the sex industry'. It diddnt get heated but it certainly diddnt feel like a friendly place to bounce my questions about, if that makes sense!

My main problem is that, essentially, I am not the brightest tool and my writing style/vocab range is very poor. Therefore I think I put peoples backs up on the topic without meaning too.

Yeah I'm with Toddler, not knowing or being a feminist doesn't make someone a troll.

or not being*

why would trolls come back? I have lurked a fair bit around here and am amazed at how quickly trolls are picked up, on a site this big.

please can someone explain to me how make it any clearer that I am specifically talking about trolls, not people who want to know more about feminism?

I think the confusion is over "concern trolls" as opposed to the straight up and down shit-stirring variety.

I'm guessing that there's a worry someone who genuinely wants to engage with the topic and has views which don't necessarily chime with feminism as such may be confused with a "concern troll".

Out of interest, how would you spot the difference?

Descending, at some point, into rudeness and aggressiveness?