Nudity, Is It Sexist In This Forum?

[Thumpalumpacus]

They should be challenged, I just disagree that the way Heatheness is addressing this is a particularly effective way of doing that. Pointing out that the sexualization of the female form is a cultural construct with sexist implications, and that that construct was largely built by men without the input of the women being sexualized is a very valid idea, but if the issue at hand is that female bodies are unfairly policed due to a system stacked against them, unfairly policing the bodies of more people is, at best, a childish tu coque masquerading as social justice, and at worst simply indulging in the very behavior that was found to be objectionable in the first place.

I disagree. She is pointing out the you on the Staff are settling on the law as a defense, while not acknowledging the fact -- fact -- that you can do more, but are, to judge from the posts in this thread, clearly unwilling to do so. It is not a tu quoque (which is a logical and not social concept), but rather, it is a challenge: put your money where your mouth is. It's very easy to espouse equality, but really, look at all the squirming here in this thread.

Earlier in this thread, I half-jokingly posting a snippet for "The Trees", by Rush:

Now there's no more oak oppression, for they passed a noble law
and now the trees are all kept equal ... by hatchet, ax, and saw.

I posted that precisely because I understand the concern that equalization is not always beneficial. Pruning a tree often results in fresh growth, though, if done well. You can choose to prune or not, as you see fit. But, to use if you'll forgive me another quote from Rush, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." Conceding to the default is itself a decision.

It just depends on what your aims are: if you just want to shine a light on an arbitrarily decided double standard without heed to progress or even making a point, then doing more of the arbitrary thing you don't like definitely accomplishes that. But actually enacting a change in cultural thinking will require something more substantive to be said.

Thank you for your kind words.

Unfortunately though, this isn't the first charge of conspiracy or bias I've seen lodged against my colleagues in the staff, and I know from experience that those making them tend to see the colored username and assume ill-intention regardless of what's actually going on. Nobody who could actually see the staff discussions on these issues could ever honestly make these insinuations of collusion and so on.

That said, if I really wanted to close down a thread on false pretenses, I wouldn't need to go on this roundabout to do so. There's a button right on my admin dash that could accomplish exactly what Heatheness seems to be implying in a matter of moments, and in a far more effective fashion. It would take almost no effort on the part of any one of us on the staff, but here's the thing: in all the time I've been here that button hasn't been used once. Which I think is the biggest vote of confidence for us there is: we have the power to easily do all the evil things people have ever accused us of doing. We just haven't, because we have no reason to and we've got enough professional dignity not to even want to.

There's actually a lot of crazy shit MyBB lets moderators and admins do. I'll let the body-snatchers style paranoia start itself now.

I've made it plain in this very thread that I have full faith in the good intentions of the Staff here, and nothing I've posted should be read as an attack upon them. I wouldn't post to this extent at any forum if I thought the management was fishy.

Just so we're clear on this, for once and all: I don't associate myself with her insinuation. I have also relayed this to her privately.

You guys do a great job. But I can't help but feel a little down in the mouth reading the way Staff ganged up and took raw slaps at her. I know you guys are regular posters and have your duties as an extra, which doesn't remove your right to behave as a lay member, but when reading back through this thread, the mockery emanating from the Staff is distasteful. You can like or disagree with this sentiment, but no matter your feelings, you will have to deal with it.