I didn’t want to have to write one of these, but in any case the more I broach on intersectional social justice topics, the more likely it is that I am going to need one. Thankfully so far the trolls have been few and far between, and generally caught by my beloved spam filter. This comment policy owes a lot to Shapely Prose and Shakesville, and Geek Feminism Blog, awesome blogs that have been an inspiration to me, and also the wonderful women at Empowered Fire who have been a great source of support and advice.
This is a Feminist Space
It is not a safe space, but don’t bother making comments which tell me:
- To stop playing if I object so much
- To ‘stop my bitching’
- To find something more important to talk about
- To keep my vagina away from manly spaces (because how dare I pollute them!)
- That lack of intent makes ______ okay
- That “my gay/black/lesbian/trans/girl friend doesn’t have a problem with it”
- That I’m overreacting
- That it’s just a fantasy
- “What about the men, aren’t you being sexist against them?”
- “You’re ruining my entertainment by sanitising it with all this PC crap”
You are unlikely to make it past the moderation queue if your comment can be boiled down to the above. While I acknowledge that this a frontier blog (as in it bumps up against a lot of people who have no interaction with feminism beyond a shallow level) I will have to be somewhat selective about what comments go through otherwise I’ll tie myself in knots trying to give Anti-Bigotry 101 and Subtext/Context lectures to everyone who misses the point. I am not interested in engaging with trolls, period.
Don’t Derail
Yet all of a sudden something happens to put a dampener on your sharing of your enviable intellect and incomparable capacity to fully perceive and understand All Things. It’s someone who belongs to the group of people you’re discussing and they’re Not Very Happy with you. Apparently, they claim, you’ve got it all wrong and they’re offended about that. They might be a person of colour, or a queer person. Maybe they’re a woman, or a person with disability. They could even be a trans person or a sex worker. The point is they’re trying to tell you they know better than you about their issues and you know that’s just plain wrong. How could you be wrong?
I’m not going to leap on everyone who derails, but if you object to something I’ve written I beg you to read Derailing for Dummies. Go read now please. Read it. Think about it. Then comment.
Check my what? What is Privilege? I’m not a bad person, I’m not trying to be sexist.
I keep meaning to do a proper post on this, especially in a WoW context, but for now I’m going to leave you with some more general resources on what privilege is. Just remember that it doesn’t make YOU a bad person. Have your privilege exposed to you doesn’t make you a bad person automatically, and it is very hard not to get defensive or apologist. “Primer on Privilege: What it is and what it isn’t“ is a great place to start if you don’t want to wait for me to post on it. Alternatively there is “Check my what?” On Privilege and what we can do about: Tips on going from pro-equality in spirit to pro-equality in deed – less race centric in terminology. I put this here because I also have to check my privilege, and being a woman doesn’t mean you aren’t sexist, or racist, or transophobic, or ableist (even if you don’t intend to be.)
For men reading this blog, here are 12 Helpful Suggestions for Men in Feminist Spaces.
That said, I am NOT perfect either. If you think I should be called out on something, please do.
Be Respectful
I’d rather not see conversation shut down by ‘check your privilege’, and in general any comments that start to make personal attacks and name calling will get locked down. I’m not interested in hosting or being a part of blog wars or anything like that, so if you disagree with one of my commenters and you are angry, please back off.
Of course. It’s my blog. If someone is particularly assholeish I might well declare open season on them. If your comment is creepy or derogatory, or abusive it will likely not get published in the first place, so this is unlikely to happen often. Please try to refrain from using -ist language, and remember that is not a blog of hate in anyway – intolerance of religion, creed, colour, gender identity and sexuality are not welcome here.
On What Feminism Gets Wrong
Feminism, as an entire movement, has gotten an awful lot of things wrong. Feminists have been guilty of homophobia, transphobia, of ignoring black feminists, and of a whole host of problematic things. This needs to be changed, and there are many valid critiques of feminist movements and ideology. I am not yet equipped to answer them because I am still learning about the history of the feminist movement. I am happy to chatter about them though, but please keep in mind that trying to criticise me on the basis of ‘Second Wave’ feminism is not going to be helpful or productive.
You deleted my post/you don’t want a debate
I’m interested in discussion, but at the end of the day I’m only one woman. If I feel you’re really not ‘getting’ it, and are veering into derailing territory, I reserve the right to send all of your future posts to the spam can. Call me names all you want, but there’s plenty of places out there in the world where you can disagree with my views without being harassed, or me having to comment. I’m not a one woman feminist crusade, I just like blogging about WoW and sometimes I use a feminist/intesectional viewpoint or topic. I’m not here to debunk all your claims of hypocrisy or reverse sexism.
So yeah. My blog. You only get to comment if I feel you’re not being offensive, or you’re not trolling, or you’re genuinely trying to make an effort. If I feel you just want to be ‘right’ and prove to me that I’m wrong, then this isn’t the blog for you.
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