I really like posting on this forum and reading the most eloquent of posts, that over the last few years have allowed me to really understand the issue and, most importantly put this into the real life action I’ve taken directly, challenging one particular aspect of this ideology (to little avail yet unfortunately☹️). The case has always been made that discussion is allowed here that isn’t allowed elsewhere and we should be grateful. However it’s clear that certain topics can be discussed and certain statements are now able to be made
elsewhere that cannot be made here. For example, if a male born person had made such similar statements on a feminist Twitter feed as was made on that thread, the “ratio” of replies would have been much different to a few years ago and clear statements of biological reality would have been able to be made without deletion.
Currently, as applied to MN FWR specifically and not the rest of the site, the realities are “we allow free discussion at great cost to us and you should be grateful” but only if posters:
• avoid stating biological reality in many situations
• comply with gender ideology with regards to pronouns, or butcher the English language to avoid this, or use appropriate sex pronouns for some bad people [waves moderation hand vaguely]
• don’t discuss the statements celebrities have made in public about their gender even though it’s all in the public domain
• don’t tell posters who are posting that their view isn’t agreed with in numbers we consider too great (no fixed percentage, likely different to what is allowed in AIBU)
• don’t challenge posters with their own words or Twitter posts
• don’t call anything grooming, even if it is
• don’t use any of the other banned words that aren’t listed anywhere for you to know what they are, you’re just supposed to learn as you go what words are not acceptable
• don’t point out the realities of treatments for children too accurately
• don’t expect a great deal of consistency
• don’t post things that don’t “add to the discussion”
• don’t link to Twitter if those links demonstrate a particular point
• understand that special deletion rules apply here that don’t apply elsewhere
• keep within “the spirit” even though “the spirit” is ill-defined, varies daily, and varies depending on whether it’s AIBU, FWR etc.
And all the while we are told of this unseen “great cost” that it brings. I can’t really take issue with MNHQ moderating how they see fit (well I can, but there doesn’t seem to be much point), but their “we are so much more allowing than elsewhere” is starting to look at little bit sanctimonious. Males complained about posts and they were deleted. It’s hardly a high benchmark that is being set here. We can be grateful for what we have, but that doesn’t make it amazing.