In which RDM is full of hat, but less so than he was.
Greetings all and sundry, it's been a while since I've made an update. I was originally going to make a long and angry post about the situation that started here and then spread to here and the much less publicized here. Then with rapid secession to here and here, back to the second, waited a few days, spread to here and here, back here again, which lead me to add this to the list. I think that's everything.
I was going to point out that treating half the species as if they were small children is not a good way to get your point across, that I resented the implication that I needed reminding not to rape people because my chromosomes don't match, and that anybody who did need reminding wouldn't find a list copied on livejournal exactly helpful.
Instead one of my role-play characters decided to remind me that if I was merely reacting to what was presented, there could be a great deal I was missing.
Two days later when I stopped chortling to myself, I started to think about the situation. I was still angry, but I wasn't upset anymore. I found that if I looked at the posts around the fifth or six iterations that everybody basically agreed that:
Rape is bad.
Placing the blame on the victim is bad.
Misunderstanding is quite common.
Telling people to listen to what you intended to say instead of what you did say doesn't work.
And yet. And yet people are still arguing, still fighting the people who mostly agree with them.
And yet. And yet I'm reminded that there is no such thing as bad publicity. If people are talking about the subject that has to be a good thing, right?
And yet. And yet I can't help but think that if these people understood each other they would unite and bring a well conceived and implemented message to their target audience in such a way that they would begin to understand.
And yet. And yet I know that is false. That there are real and fundamental differences of opinion. That these opinions are held close to the hearts of their owners and that one small barb can cause an entire message to be discarded no matter the potential worth of all else that was said and meant.
And yet. And yet I still feel insulted by a list that made me wonder if images like this one would have any effect.
It won't, or I should say it won't have the effect that I wish it would. It won't make people roll their eyes and realize how ridiculous this situation is and then maybe work on a solution that doesn't insult the intelligence or the emotions of either half of the participants. It will get me flamed for not understanding. For not being able to understand.
On the other hand, I am a large (200+ pound) male individual of slightly above average height, and somehow I feel as if I should shout "Fear me not!" like some biblical, flaming sword wielding, angel so that my very appearance should not cause others to flee before me in terror.
I was going to point out that treating half the species as if they were small children is not a good way to get your point across, that I resented the implication that I needed reminding not to rape people because my chromosomes don't match, and that anybody who did need reminding wouldn't find a list copied on livejournal exactly helpful.
Instead one of my role-play characters decided to remind me that if I was merely reacting to what was presented, there could be a great deal I was missing.
Two days later when I stopped chortling to myself, I started to think about the situation. I was still angry, but I wasn't upset anymore. I found that if I looked at the posts around the fifth or six iterations that everybody basically agreed that:
Rape is bad.
Placing the blame on the victim is bad.
Misunderstanding is quite common.
Telling people to listen to what you intended to say instead of what you did say doesn't work.
And yet. And yet people are still arguing, still fighting the people who mostly agree with them.
And yet. And yet I'm reminded that there is no such thing as bad publicity. If people are talking about the subject that has to be a good thing, right?
And yet. And yet I can't help but think that if these people understood each other they would unite and bring a well conceived and implemented message to their target audience in such a way that they would begin to understand.
And yet. And yet I know that is false. That there are real and fundamental differences of opinion. That these opinions are held close to the hearts of their owners and that one small barb can cause an entire message to be discarded no matter the potential worth of all else that was said and meant.
And yet. And yet I still feel insulted by a list that made me wonder if images like this one would have any effect.
It won't, or I should say it won't have the effect that I wish it would. It won't make people roll their eyes and realize how ridiculous this situation is and then maybe work on a solution that doesn't insult the intelligence or the emotions of either half of the participants. It will get me flamed for not understanding. For not being able to understand.
On the other hand, I am a large (200+ pound) male individual of slightly above average height, and somehow I feel as if I should shout "Fear me not!" like some biblical, flaming sword wielding, angel so that my very appearance should not cause others to flee before me in terror.