Posted by Vriess at mu-047026.dhcp.missouri.edu on February 24, 2000 at 15:52:58:
I'm sick. I'm sickened and saddened by some of what I've read on this board. But, I'll get to that in a minute.
First off -- the incident at UMass. Sounds sickening and revolting. Why someone didn't tell the men speaking to shut the fuck up, I don't know. I'm sorry it ever had to occur. I'm sorry that they embarrassed the human race.
That being said, was it handled correctly?
No. A thousand times no.
Someone on this board, following the incident, questioned what the hell the action in question (the notorious "D.P.") was. I was pleased to see that boarders handled the responses almost universally nicely. The answers were given, but almost always respectfully and with care to not offend anyone. Sometimes they merely opted to quote an e-mail that included lists of such actions. This e-mail's been floating around for ages, and is not exactly tasteful in any way. Some people in the thread DID respond with "Fuck off!" -- hardly a tasteful or well-done reaction. That was the most ignorant behavior, but at least there was no one ignorant enough to support to the horrible actions in question. Not that anyone would, that's the point -- no one does these things or supports that anyone else do so. Someone made them up. But that's still irrelevant.
So you can imagine my shock when Jen Smith showed up and deleted them. Was I shocked at the deletion? Not really. It's not like the post was terribly on topic, nor was the topic itself one that could handled very gracefully. It was handled as gracefully as possible by the board, though. One of the board's proudest moments for me. It could've degraded into "huh-huh cool", but it didn't. No one involved in the remarks there, myself included, ever promoted the disgusting actions involved in the D.P. To do so would be a sign of not only perversion but insanity.
But Jen S. wrote of those involved as though they, themselves, were *rapists.* I was disgusted and deeply offended by the statement that our behavior was: only embarrassing our gender and was ignorant... but I understood. She was blinded by anger at the horrible incident at UMass. That was understandable. She was unable to see that the board's behavior had been exemplary in the face of what could've easily become extraordinarily disgusting and sexist. It didn't, thankfully, but the Smiths were too angry to notice and didn't want the subject brought up on the board -- good enough. The fact remains that it was the behavior of the men at UMass that embarrassed the male gender -- not the behavior of those on the board.
Which brings us to the subject of MickCollins.
Mark Cowling made a posted response about how violence is NEVER acceptable, against men or women. The post was not worded very delicately, so it was no surprise that it offended many. However, the bottom line was true. Violence is never the answer. Whether it's male against male, male against female (unfortunately the most common and horrifying reality), female against female, or, rarest and most unlikely of all, female against male, the truth is still there -- violence is never acceptable. Sexual violence, in my opinion, is worst of all. Any rapist should have his testacles cut off as slowly and painfully as possible. Death is too good for them. Regardless of that opinion, Cowling's statement remained true. Many people, blinded by his wording, failed to note that. They pursued the agenda that violence against women is offensive, but all other violence does not matter. Disturbing. But not so disturbing as MickCollins' response...
MickCollins' reaction to these concepts? The concept that violence, in all forms, against all people, is wrong and unacceptable? I quote his response: "Shut the fuck up moron."
Surprisingly, despite that opening, he agreed that violence as a whole needs to be stopped. That hardly excuses the childish choice of words and the intentional harshness. He chose to insult Cowling's post for being too obvious and ignorant. Just because Mark worded his post poorly doesn't mean you lower yourself to that level.
But that's hardly the main problem I had with the post. The most horrifying statement came when he claimed THIS:
"Most American males are textbook cases of arrested development. I've gotten in plenty of
fights(Though I have'nt picked one since High School, I have grown up some.) with men and no
woman has ever picked a physical confrontation with me. Men are stupid and must be reminded that
they will not be excused for acting stupid because of ther culture they are in and because they have
dicks. I need to be reminded sometimes myself. "
OH. MY. GOD.
The ignorance inherent in such a remark is almost unbelievable. I hate to think that anyone could be so cruel and close-minded... so foolish and intolerant... so biased.
So you feel that American males as a whole are violent, are 'dicks', are stupid and pick fights at all times?
If you made such blanket statements against the African-American race, I would not tolerate them. If you made such statements against homosexuals, I would not tolerate.
Nor will I tolerate this.
Speak for yourself. If you consider yourself, as a (American) male, to be violent, or stupid, or a 'dick', then fine. But you have no right to speak for this country, or this gender. Most men are not violent. Most men will not randomly attack people. And here's a real shocker:
IN FACT, MOST MEN... AMERICAN OR OTHERWISE... ARE ***NOT*** RAPISTS.
I'm sorry if this is news to some. I pity you.
Naturally, I expect this post will get some angry replies. When those replies include profanity and expressions along the lines of "fuck you", "fuck off", and the like, I will not be surprised. But I *will* be saddened by the stupidity on display.
To those out there who are not intolerant, and have handled all of these troubles as of late so well... well, it's my own turn to say the line: I love you all. It's you that are the reason that I can't leave this place behind. The View Askew Board is like a home. Perhaps I'm not so well known as most are, but I'd hate to say goodbye. I can't, just because of a few foolish individuals. I thank YOU, for not being foolish.