I can't believe this is still going on! 
I hadn't read any Dworkin, Daly, or any of the feminist books when I started posting on here. I even had to google 'patriarchy' - that's how ignorant I was about feminism.
I posted quite a few thoughts that I was pulled up on. I never felt attacked though. There was nothing personal in the way my assumptions were shown to be incorrect. I learned an awful lot from it. Some posters in this section are very forthright about their views but that's the same across the whole of MN.
As far as I can see, the only time there has been real difficulty in this section is when we talk about rape. I haven't seen any other threads where newcomers have had a hard time unless they are saying something that is blatantly anti-feminist, such as 'the patriarchy doesn't exist' or 'it's a woman's own fault if her partner hits her'. I have seen some very ill-thought-out arguments taken apart, but mostly it is the argument taken apart not the poster, and when it comes to personal attacks I think the feminist regulars get an awful lot more than anyone else.
I agree that the rape threads can be difficult for newcomers. I think we need to remember that emotions will run high on such a sensitive topic, because given the prevalence of rape, the size of MN and the fact that mainly women post on here, it is inevitable that some posters will have personal experience of it. 
It is one of those topic areas where you should think carefully about what you say and how you say it.
Rape has been going on for millennia and yet it's only in the last 50 years that the myths are being exploded. Rape within marriage was only banned 20 years ago. We have a long cultural history of apologising for rape in this country and still a long way to go - conviction rates prove that. Rape myths are sadly still controlling the mainstream view.
Having lurked on a few rape threads on here then gone off and found out more (info freely available on the internet) I had a complete conversion about rape. If you'd asked me to post a few years ago, I'd have had a very different viewpoint. I never thought rape was ok but I realise that I did accidentally 'apologise' for it in some cases because I wasn't aware of how much I'd bought into some of the harder-to-dispel myths. I think sometimes as feminists it would help our cause to remember that. Most rape 'apologists' don't hate women, they just haven't seen through all the myths yet.
However, when we come out and point out that a poster has believed a rape myth we are often accused of being patronising or dismissive. If we come back with a load of evidence or direct people off to read more about the research, we are accused of being intellectual snobs or bullying people. But how else can we point out the myths? To some extent it is an intellectual exercise because to prove/disprove something you have to research it.
We do have a go at simplifying things or labouring one myth at a time, but sometimes there is just too much information to bring it into a thread. When it comes to providing evidence to support a POV I have to say that I see that much more often from feminist regulars than I do from those disagreeing with us.
I concede that we could work on presenting our POVs in a more patient way. However, given the nature of the topic, I think newcomers also have a responsibility to use some sensitivity when posting about things such as rape and DV. That's got less to do with feminism than it has to do with basic respect to other human beings IMO.