You don't have to be feminist to post here, but it helps...

[MrsReasonable]

I've noticed that whenever a 'non-feminist' view is brought up, there are occasionally some posts along the lines of 'this is a feminist board, why come here if you aren't...', etc.

Genuine question - is this a feminist board, or a board about feminism? Obviously the majority of posters are feminist, but I'm not sure whether that is because feminists (surprise surprise) like discussing feminism, or because it is seen as a feminist 'safe haven'?

Sorry cross posted.

Yes I agree needling etc. shouldn't be done.

And where people think it's happening, then we should comment on it and move on.

What I hate to see, is a 900 post thread which I think is going to be interesting, and it turns out that 300 of the posts are about the interesting subject matter and 600 are a row about someone's posting style. I think we all need to not get into the wrangling and maybe this is where PM can come in, or maybe that would make it worse, I don't know.

'there are constant threads like this, where we are having to discuss over and over again whether we're meanies or not and if we should behave better than the rest of mumsnet in order not to put people off. Meanwhile, we could be discussing feminism, but our time and energy gets siphoned off into these threads.'

I'm not wanting to be intentionally rude, but why bother wasting energy on defending something that you don't feel should be an issue?
Why not just ignore threads that are accusatory, and direct your energies into discussing feminism?

'I'm not wanting to be intentionally rude, but why bother wasting energy on defending something that you don't feel should be an issue?
Why not just ignore threads that are accusatory, and direct your energies into discussing feminism?'

Because these threads suck in lots of people with certain historic grudges etc. and are an attempt to change the posting styles of people who post on here. These threads can lead to people feeling that they should not be posting here in case they put MRAs off of feminism.

Yes, some heated words are sometimes exchanged by many, many posters, but 99% of the board doesn't involve that. We are making a mountain out of a molehill and it is diverting real discussion and stifling open opinion.

yes, that had occurred to me POG. I'm doing that at the same time... but again it's a balance is it - am I going to ignore this and do what I think should be done (discuss feminism/ get dressed) or am I going to engage yet again with this old chestnut. It's hard not to be drawn in, isn't it?

[Michael Corleone emoticon]

And what Claig said

I don't usually get sucked in to pointless, energy wasting battles, and I find it relatively easy to leave someone chuntering in their own bile and get on with what I want to discuss or do.
Some posters are never going to change their stance, so why engage?
Especially if it gets you furious and upset and detracts from more useful and beneficial discussions.

Yes it's difficult to know how to deal with the flood of MRA's and trolls, but I do think that they are delighted to line up with feminists in order to attack other feminists and I think everyone should be wary of playing that game.

Yes, that bothers me.

Anyway I'm going to take Goblin's advice and do soemthing more constructive - shower and getting dressed.

If you post anti-women stuff (which is what the anti-feminist accusations are about) in a feminist space, you will get called on it. If you post about rape being a subjective issue in a feminist space, you will get called on it.

Just out of interest, are there loads of threads on sections of MN that I have hidden about the tone of the staunch animal rights posters?