Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - YLYL Thread Sexism Discussion (split from Gay Teen thread).

octothorp · 09-02-2014, 10:50 AM

I don't have a problem with the existence of the thread or most of the photos that are posted on there; but as others have said, it's the judgemental commentary where I think misogyny comes into play. At the very least it needs a "keep comments positive, or STFU" rule (whether that's self-policed or mod-policed). Doesn't matter if a women is too plain for you, too muscular for you, too tattooed for you, too curvy for you, too old for you, whatever. It isn't often that those sorts of comments come up, but that's perhaps only because pictures of women who differ from those narrow standards are rarely posted. So to what extent are photos of such women not posted because they're met with vocal criticism when they are posted? I think there's a vicious circle there that perpetuates the narrow definitions of female beauty in that thread.

To me the harm in such comments isn't that you're insulting some woman in a photo who's never going to read those comments, or insulting our more visible female posters, who seem pretty thick-skinned about it. To me, the harm is telling girls who might be visiting the site that they will be judged by similar standards, and telling boys that it's acceptable to make comments like this to girls. I hate to play the "won't someone think of the children" card. On the Internet nothing is said in a vacuum, and a negative comment about a woman's appearance is going to hurt someone, somewhere, in a way that's much more personal than, say, running down someone's favorite hockey team.

09-02-2014, 10:50 AM	#106
octothorp Franchise Player Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: not lurking Exp:	I don't have a problem with the existence of the thread or most of the photos that are posted on there; but as others have said, it's the judgemental commentary where I think misogyny comes into play. At the very least it needs a "keep comments positive, or STFU" rule (whether that's self-policed or mod-policed). Doesn't matter if a women is too plain for you, too muscular for you, too tattooed for you, too curvy for you, too old for you, whatever. It isn't often that those sorts of comments come up, but that's perhaps only because pictures of women who differ from those narrow standards are rarely posted. So to what extent are photos of such women not posted because they're met with vocal criticism when they are posted? I think there's a vicious circle there that perpetuates the narrow definitions of female beauty in that thread. To me the harm in such comments isn't that you're insulting some woman in a photo who's never going to read those comments, or insulting our more visible female posters, who seem pretty thick-skinned about it. To me, the harm is telling girls who might be visiting the site that they will be judged by similar standards, and telling boys that it's acceptable to make comments like this to girls. I hate to play the "won't someone think of the children" card. On the Internet nothing is said in a vacuum, and a negative comment about a woman's appearance is going to hurt someone, somewhere, in a way that's much more personal than, say, running down someone's favorite hockey team.