My philosophy at this blog has been to encourage a free-wheeling discussion in the comment threads. People who disagree with my point of view are welcome. I have indeed actively encouraged some conservative Christians and men's rights believers to read my blog and participate. I have hardly ever deleted a comment, admonished anyone, or banned anyone (although those things have happened). For the most part, I have been pleased with the results.
But. I have noticed that people who dislike feminism or feminists will sometimes turn the thread into a generalized discussion of how irrational/dogmatic/fascist/unrealistic feminists are. Or people who dislike feminism or feminists will say things like, "But another feminist said something stupid on her blog!" or "Someone from NOW said something with which I disagree." This recent thread is a classic example. I don't, however, mean to single out any one commenter since there have been others in the past who have behaved similarly on this blog. I am also not faulting anyone, since I myself have allowed or perhaps seemed to have encouraged these kinds of discussions.
These kinds of threads are frustrating because my choices are then (a) to simply allow my comments threads to turn into a platform for people who want to prove that feminism sucks or (b) to run around breathlessly researching what some other feminist said so I can respond in the comments thread. Either way the commenter who is hostile to feminism winds up controlling to some degree the agenda on this blog, and the substantive points I am trying to make get lost or forgotten.
So here are the rules, some of which are designed to address the phenomenon to which I allude, and others which are unrelated:
(1) The comments threads here are not a forum for explaining why you think feminists in general are irrational or silly. I can't respond to gross generalizations and the point of this blog is for me and others who are interested to explore whatever issues are specified in a particular post.
(2) The comments thread is not a forum for saying, "Some feminist who isn't you said or did something that I think was wrong or silly." There is a good chance I will delete those kinds of statements. I can't spend my life researching what people may have said in other fora.
(3) I sometimes find thread drift interesting, but I would ask that people try to remain on point.
(4) Please try to avoid swearing. In my real life, I swear like a sailor. Some people, however, do not like swearing and I would like to make this blog accessible to a wide variety of people.
(5) I will likely delete any insults directed at me or at others. Or I may keep the insult up and ban the commenter. Telling someone to "eff off" or "go kill yourself" is not acceptable.
I am just feeling my way along as a relatively new blogger, so I would be happy to consider any feedback, questions, or comments about "da rules." I realize there are a variety of different philosophies of blog comment moderation. While I prefer to keep the discussion as loose and unmoderated as possible, I have begun to identify areas where it isn't working and this is my effort to address those.
No insults??!?!!? I knew that you didnt like me!
Posted by: will | March 31, 2006 at 08:08 AM
I like the new rules, Happy. You should set the direction for the discussion on your own blog. If you wish to talk about one thing, you should not have to deal with some silly commenter talking about something else entirely which may offend you and make you feel obligated to refute it. If any anti-feminist type would rather talk about something else, well, Blogger and LiveJournal are free. They can get their own damn blogs.
Posted by: Lanoire | March 31, 2006 at 09:10 AM
So, to clarify, can we or can we not use ethnic slurs?
CC
Posted by: Chalicechick | March 31, 2006 at 09:19 AM
It's good to have ground-rules. I started off not deleting any comments at all. And now I don't even engage with ones that are needlessly offensive or plain trolling. I don't delete people just because they disagree with me though :).
Posted by: Ally | March 31, 2006 at 09:45 AM
Thank you HF. I think this will make your blog even more enjoyable.
Posted by: j0 | March 31, 2006 at 09:52 AM
CC violated the rules by making me laugh.
Posted by: will | March 31, 2006 at 10:04 AM
The swearing one seems odd; it's easy enough to abide by, but it seems like a superficial balm. The "some people don't like..." rationale is one of those Pandora's Box criteria. Some people don't like a discussion of religion where certain viewpoints or personal beliefs are stated. Some people don't like obvious logical fallacies.
Posted by: norbizness | March 31, 2006 at 10:28 AM
I'm glad you've adopted this policy! It's because of the behavior of those certain commenters who won't be named that I stopped participating in the discussion, and evenutally stopped even reading the comments if there were more than one or two.
Posted by: t. comfyshoes | March 31, 2006 at 10:43 AM
Norbizness, I think swearing can be an incredibly effective tool. The folks at Pandagon use certain language to great effect to make a point.
But I don't think it's necessary to what I am trying to do here, so it's a compromise I am willing to make. I am not going to be a clean-language Nazi though. I just ask that off-color words be kept to a minimum. I haven't noticed that it's been a problem here.
Posted by: The Happy Feminist | March 31, 2006 at 11:26 AM
I appreciate your making the rules overt, so we all know when we're stepping close to a boundary. This is a terrific blog and I appreciate your efforts to make it even better.
Posted by: Dr.Sue | March 31, 2006 at 11:26 AM