When They Cry
Ophiolite said:
Their actions, their words and their attitudes do their cause, their reputations and this site, no favours. They disgust me.
Hey, Ophiolite, how about this:
• Angry member writes judgmental post based including insulting demand that one not give a detailed response.
• Other member accommodates.
• Angry member dashes off angry PM to call the other names.
↳ The judgmental post in point one is based on assertion of falsehood.
Whatever it takes to call people "a nasty piece of work", I guess.
Tell me, though, Ophiolite:
Do you feel better for having done so?
Remarkably for one of my age and experience I have felt bullied by them.
So here's a hint:
When you want to pitch a temper tantrum↱ on behalf of a person "no longer in a position to defend themselves", so that you might denounce a "rather despicable act of a bully and a coward", it would probably help you look a bit less ridiculous if your complaint was true. For instance, if that person
can answer for herself, but
does not want to, and
receives adjudication aiming to fulfill her wish, it is
absolutely bogus to try and pass that off as "a person who is no longer in a position to defend themselves".
You don't get to feel bullied. Not when self-righteous, bullying dishonesty is your gig.
†
Think of it this way, Ophiolite: Have you ever watched a politician or pundit put on such a bad show that even though you don't like them you are writhing in vicarious embarrassment? And what do you do about that? To the one, this political opponent is an asshole; to the other, he's also a human being, and on that level basic human sympathy, being sympathetic, can often only find vicarious embarrassment as a compassionate connection.
Think of it this way: If you wish to commiserate with mtf, do you really think you would be able to construe those posts as useful? Are you really so naïve that a con artist can walk in the door, attempt the same swindle you threw out of your shop yesterday, bawl about how mean you are when you turn him away, and reasonably expect he might win their sympathy?
There is a block of three posts from earlier this week; I would refer you to these:
You might notice, such as we see with mtf, that presented with direct issues and inquiries, our neighbor simply cannot be bothered to acknowledge those aspects.
In the two-part reply to Billvon, I document and explain the problem with simply ignoring the evidence in favor of an appeal to base conspiracism.
In either case, both apply.
What you're covering, Ophiolite, is the silencing of women. They tell us what the problem is, others tell them why they are wrong about their own experiences. To wit, disrupting a woman in order to hit on her. Women say stop. DaveC says this is her obligation. Bowser says it's enough if she catches his fancy. Schmelzer outlines the rules for properly rejecting. By the time we get to that, the invalidation is clear; what happens when women reject such advances is exactly irrelevant to these chauvinists' argument. Even
you,
Ophiolite↱, are in on it: "In each instance I have the option to ignore them completely, tell them to ****-off, give a polite yet non-committal reply, or seek to extend the conversation further." Women tell us what's wrong, and you tell women what to think. You know, because
you know, don't you? Better than they do? When it comes to any given woman's existential condition and living experience, you know her life better than she does, don't you?
Our neighbor mtf goes even further, arguing that sexual harassment is a competitive strategy, even endorsing bullying a woman into consent.
So it's true:
As you sit here advocating for bullies, you do not get to cry about feeling bullied.
Something about a nasty piece of work goes here.