Shall we play a game?

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

8. Well, the latest one I just saw

was an OP bemoaning all the meta (from somebody who has posted several of the 'meta' OPs, iirc) and saying how we need to get back to talking about 'real things'. Because misogyny isn't 'real', of course.

But my fave, over and over, was the assumption that complaining about misogyny and homophobia was all simply 'me being a delicate flower' and 'me being offended' (where 'me' = anyone who points out such posts) or 'hating' things. I'm not in any shape or form a 'delicate flower', nor am I the one being injured directly by the maintenance of a misogynistic patriarchy. I'm among the privileged. I'm not trying to defend myself from offense, I'm not trying to 'censor' anyone. I'm trying to get them to realize that they're doing all they can to keep women feeling the internet is an unsafe environment, populated by neaderthals who think that women are nothing more than sex toys and should be just fine with being abused with sexually violent verbal imagery. For them to take misogyny as seriously as they take racism.

I want my housemate's niece to grow up politically aware and active, but I'll be damned if I can introduce her to any of the political blogs I've been on with any sense that she won't absorb the idea that her role in life is to be a victim. This is a 'real thing', and I want it dealt with before the next generation of political activists hit the site.