Women's Forum - Are private forums necessary?

[quote=“TwoTongues”][quote=“TheGingerMan”][quote=“TwoTongues”][quote=“TheGingerMan”]All this talk is meaningless. What we really need is a ginger forum, wherein we can talk in piece away from you louts & layabouts.
As if it’s not enough that we’re discriminated in real life, we have to put up with the erstwhile whinging of Canucks, lowlanders, and smokers of hashish. None of whom, with perhaps a few exceptions, are any good at securing the perimeter.
Better Red, than…[/quote]
finish yer sentence, man! I’m on tenterhooks and i gotta pee soon[/quote]

Give yourself some credit, afore I goggle some damn Leboswki quote. You know the answer, already.
Flankers, … Out![/quote]
ask anybody around here, i dont know jack :raspberry: or his evil twin brother herbert neither…[/quote]
Don’t be so modest. It’s unbecoming. Pivot 45 degrees, and assail the Scottish bahstards!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te-0w_-O8ts&feature=related

I remember what was bugging me about Inception. It was that I couldn’t figure out who that guy was. He was the one from 3rd rock.

Which guy from 3rd Rock? You mean Dr Emile Lazardo I mean John Lithgow? He wasn’t in Inception was he?

Which guy from 3rd Rock? You mean Dr Emile Lazardo I mean John Lithgow? He wasn’t in Inception was he?[/quote]
It was the long haired kid. He looks almost grown up now.

I’m sure this topic has been discussed before and is of trivial concern to the vast majority of users, but it always bothers me every time I see those pink letters below my username, so I dare to ask again…

Anyone feel that the privacy of the Women’s Forum is unnecessary and, quite frankly, discriminatory?

Now I understand the need for a separate forum addressing issues that are specific to women, but why are posts in said forum locked out from public view? I don’t know if that’s sexist or elitist or whatever-ist, but I do know that it goes against the open discussion nature that this very site is based upon.

Exclusiveness invites speculation about what is said behind those locked doors that can’t be heard by the outside world. And if there is a place for women to hold conversations safe from the ears of men, then, in all fairness, shouldn’t there also be a place for men to do the same? And, by extension, shouldn’t there also be forums prvy only to people of specific ethnic persuasions, religious affiliations, sexual orientations, and the like? Why limit it to just women? How is that justified?

I’m sure that no one is here just to bash on others behind closed doors, which is all the more reason why the Women’s Forum should be made public. The only forums that should be private are ones for moderators as they’re the ones who run the site and enjoy a clear distinction from regular users.

Previous threads regarding the issue suggest that the forum was established before there was a rule banning elitist cliques. That may explain its creation, but why its continued existence? Simply because that’s the way things have always been? If so, it’s quite disappointing and simply leaves me disillusioned.

Wonder if anyone else feels the same.

The simple fact is that most women are simply not going to talk about certain issues in an open forum where men might be. If they wanted to speak about sexual issues, for example, they might be afraid of getting perved on or cyberstalked. So if they didn’t have a private forum they would be unable to talk about such issues.

Coz different ethnicities and religions don’t get their own private toilets - genders do. :wink:

Amasashi,
Your post is very well written, and I think most of us chaps have a similar initial reaction. I believe the women’s forum is a historical legacy of past decisions. If folks were rebuilding this forum from scratch then it might not exist, but it does exist, and there’s no good reason to ditch it.
I’m guessing the ladies mostly talk about yeast infections and other sensitive medical stuff. I love yeast - drinking a fermented product as I write this - but have no desire to read the women’s forum. Forumosa is mostly a white male bastion - let the ladies have the occasional discussion in the background.
We’re lucky to have the nice female posters we do (pound for pound punching above their weight, well, screw that, person for person). On a side note, has a lady poster ever been banned?

It’s not discriminitory. Most things in the women’s forum are also discussed on the rest of the board. The difference is that sometimes women want to talk only to women about something–even if we’ve already spoken to you guys about it.

The other fora can be vicious at times, but we don’t tear one another appart in the women’s forum–we are mostly very supportive and uplifting.

There are some posters here who post exclusively, or almost exclusively, in the women’s forum.

And everytime we have to have this discussion again, and make these same points again, it just goes to show just how baddly the women’s forum is needed becaue ever woman who uses it “gets it” and you guys still don’t. That’s a real, ligitimate, difference in thinking that the women’s forum is addressing.

I hope I’ve made my opinion on this matter clear enough.

[quote=“Amasashi”]…Exclusiveness invites speculation about what is said behind those locked doors that can’t be heard by the outside world. And if there is a place for women to hold conversations safe from the ears of men, then, in all fairness, shouldn’t there also be a place for men to do the same? And, by extension, shouldn’t there also be forums prvy only to people of specific ethnic persuasions, religious affiliations, sexual orientations, and the like? Why limit it to just women? How is that justified?
[/quote]

Because women face harassment and threats of a violent, derogatory and creepy sexual nature at a level and frequency miles above what men do. Because a male discussion on jock itch, for example, doesn’t bring out perverted and insulting comments from women (or other men) whereas a topic on breast exams would. That’s the way the world is and so a forum where women can discuss important issues without the fear of that harassment and insult entering is entirely justified.

This is entirely different from having to endure, for example, right wing blowhards fouling up threads on politics when you’re a liberal.

I’d guess that feisty Ms. Buttercup probably got herself banned once or twice.

I’m surprised there’s discussion about this. I’d have thought the reasons for having a private forum for women would have been obvious.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

I’d guess that feisty Ms. Buttercup probably got herself banned once or twice.[/quote]
You could be right. Which brings up the question; have we ever had a good spanking thread? i.e. thread on (non-educational) spanking?

Strewth!
I guess it is inevitable that this topic will resurface with every influx of new posters.
I believe divea, housecat, and Mucha Man have quite solidly stated the reasons for having a women’s only forum.

Keeping it exclusive means that women can actually discuss matters of their own interest, without needing a team of 10 or 20 full time paid mods to parse out the ranting one-upmanship, puerile sexual innuendo, or rank machismo of us males.

I have no problem whatsoever with a women’s only forum.

The men have their own forum, which is the regular flob.

I think the fact that many women posters sign up for it and use it speaks volumes. As long as that continues to be the case, I don’t see anything changing. To the contrary, I’m not expecting any stampede of demands for a private Men’s Forum

I’d guess that feisty Ms. Buttercup probably got herself banned once or twice.[/quote]
You could be right. Which brings up the question; have we ever had a good spanking thread? i.e. thread on (non-educational) spanking?[/quote]
I thought all spanking was educational.

And see what has happened to this thread already? :howyoudoin:

[quote=“divea”][quote=“Amasashi”]
Exclusiveness invites speculation about what is said behind those locked doors that can’t be heard by the outside world. And if there is a place for women to hold conversations safe from the ears of men, then, in all fairness, shouldn’t there also be a place for men to do the same? And, by extension, shouldn’t there also be forums prvy only to people of specific ethnic persuasions, religious affiliations, sexual orientations, and the like? Why limit it to just women? How is that justified?

[/quote]
because different ethnicities and religions don’t get their own private toilets - genders do. :wink:[/quote]

Not if you live in San Francisco, “gender neutral” bathrooms are the wave of the future! Urinals are a strong symbol of male aggression and oppression of women. You better not use gender specific pronouns like “he” or “she” either. Haven’t you gotten with the program? There is no such thing as gender you blibbering neanderthal :taz:

I am totally fine with women having their own forum. I am not a woman, I have no business being there and thats fine.

I often go to an aviation forum and they have special locked forums for members of particular airlines to discuss matters privy to that airline and thats fine.

Why cant it be fine here too? It should be.

I would add that there should be an individual forum for gays and lesbians because they do need a place where they can express their views without undue judgement from “regular” folks. I am not gay or lesbian and therefore I do not feel I need to be able to access that forum either.

While the woman in me would like to be privy to the ladies’ discussions, the man in me would not; and the gentleman in me understands their need to discuss certain matters in seclusion, away from the doggish intrusion of us menfolk.