AH and its constant Women Bashing

Dr. Zeus

Hi there,

Haven't been on boards for while but read an article in the SI which I know many of you will dismiss as a rag. That said it still has one of the highest circulations in print media so the figures don't lie. Anyways the article touched on intenet abuse and mentioned boards.ie for some of its misognistic content. Article written by a man and not a feminazi for the record.

Took a trip to AH to see had things progressed but low and behold one of the first thread was a women bashing one namely irish women who were rountinely called stuck up whores, ignorant bitches cnuts, bints, mingers etc etc. While AH is known for its banter there does seem to a select few posters who are pushing their genuine hatred and contempt for women at any opportunity. There is a different between "light sexism" and misogny and I think we all know the differece when we see it.

Attempts to address this by females it to run them off the thread by feminazi ugly lesbian comments ruining "the fun". If a man addresses it it is generally less hostile but he is accused of trying to curry favour with the wimminz. While some of the mods are genuinely great at addressing this bs I think there are one or two who actively ignore or even encourage this agenda.

This "in before the feminazi" crap is another manifestation of misogny in AH. So women are not allowed voice something that runs counter to some male opinion and the presumption if they do have a different opinion they are a lesbian bitch who needs to get back to the kitchen. And where are these feminazi so often alluded to (more wishful thinking on the posters part, chance to get some real digs in) Also threads are derailed by saying "men have to suffer this that and the other and we don't complain" Again missing the point.

Hiding behind " a lot" or "most Irish women" does not make it ok when it is very clear the poster is making broad generalisations and pushing an agenda. If it is not acceptable to make abusive, hateful and disrespectful comments towards blacks, jews, muslims gays, whomever it should not be acceptable to do the same for women.

Boards notes itself on its moderations and charters etc but maybe it should remove/edit its policy on women bashing as it appears to be acceptable in AH. It's not funny and its not clever

I know others myself included have tried to address this issue in the past but the abuse you are subjected to sometimes is not worth the hassle.


Thanks

Z

FlutterinBantam

Lighten up man.

El Weirdo

Boards has a policy on Women-bashing? First I've heard of this.

Actually, I've not really seen what the OP is on about to any great extent, but then I wouldn't really be looking for it. However, there was a thread today where a couple of posters were complaining about Feminazis and the mods seemed to nip it in the bud fairly lively.

The Hill Billy

While AH has a high level of traffic it is not representative of boards.ie as a whole.

mike65

SI have changed their tune

MitchKoobski

I'm a woman and I never saw any problem.






lol jk I have a penis


Anything you have a problem with you should report and it'll be dealt with. No point complaining without reporting.

Dravokivich

AH is like taking the piss with your mates for the most part. Hardly any of those "misognistic" comments are said with serious intent and often used to tear down the stereotype, more so than preach it. When it comes to preaching it, they are addressed accordingly by Mods / Cmods. Someone just glancing through it is not ging to see that though.

If the Sindo are using AH as a basis on their opinion of boards.ie they are not really reviewing boards.ie in a fair manner. There's much more provided here with a more serious tone if that's what one desires.

Overheal

Ah isn't it great we never get a feedback thread about this, after we hear discussions about women getting better insurance premiums or women suing their ex-husbands for not giving them enough sex.

Otis Driftwood

TBF AH has changed for the better a helluva lot over the last 12 months or so and thats down to the moderation of the forum and users having a bit of cop on for the most part.

Being the largest forum on Boards then obviously its going to get a huge volume of drive by posters as well as a huge volume of thanks whoring posts,tis the nature of t'internet but anything that crosses the line past gentle ribbing/banter is stepped on pretty quick,at least that Ive seen anyway.

For the volume of posters and relatively small number of mods they should be commended,I know I wouldnt frickin do the job anyway.

Super-Rush

Just to let you know that we have been working hard on stamping out this sort of sh1te for a while now. After discussions had over the weekend and on several occasions, i can assure you that we look at this sort of behaviour as completely unaccepatable and the offenders were dealth with as quick as possible.

So where do we go from here?

Do we ban threads like this from being started?

My answer would be no. There are plenty of people who use After Hours on a regular basis who are capable of having a discussion about these topics without resorting to the crap that was posted over the weekend. I don't think its fair to punish the majority of After Hours posters because of what a small minoroty of idiots said.

All i can say to you is that we will continue to try and get rid of this sh1t and the people who post it.

stovelid

LOL. Lectures in moral rectitude from the fu+king SI?

randylonghorn

Otis Driftwood wrote: »

For the volume of posters and relatively small number of mods they should be commended, I know I wouldnt frickin do the job anyway.

Spot on.



And as with any forum, it helps if posters report posts which they feel cross the line (be that into misogyny or racism or whatever). Especially in AH, actually, because it's an extremely high volume forum and there is no way in hell that volunteer mods are going to be able to keep up with every thread in what is essentially their spare time.

Nodin

Dr. Zeus wrote: »

Hi there,

Haven't been on boards for while but read an article in the SI which I know many of you will dismiss as a rag. That said it still has one of the highest circulations in print media so the figures don't lie.

You're confusing quantity and quality.

Dr. Zeus wrote: »

Anyways the article touched on intenet abuse and mentioned boards.ie for some of its misognistic content. Article written by a man and not a feminazi for the record.

The article, if you'd bothered to read it properly, refers to another site entirely when referring to misogyny.
http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/independent-woman/celebrity-news-gossip/irish-online-hate-wars-2866351.html

The two comments referenced to that affair on boards were, if you'd bothered to look, not in AH and were clearly humorous.

Don't let that stop you though.

Morag

A particular corner of online Ireland seems to have it in for Ryan Tubridy. Boards.ie, a site that hosts a variety of special-interest forums, is buzzing with Friday-night haters who reckon the best way to end the week is watching The Late Late Show with a bottle of wine and the laptop next to them on the couch.

If their negative comments on the site are anything to go by, they sound like they are sitting there in leather bondage gear, with a pool ball tied into their mouth, the remote control just out of reach, being whipped by a dominatrix in a Ryan Tubridy mask. They take incredibly perverse pleasure from watching Tubridy every Friday. The worst thing you could do to them is cancel the Late Late. Except, of course, they’re masochists, so they’d probably enjoy the pain.

Read more: http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/independent-woman/celebrity-news-gossip/irish-online-hate-wars-2866351.html#ixzz1X7QT28pm

Funniest thing i have read about boards.ie in months.

dr.bollocko

The relevant subject matter with ref to Tubridy etc. was posted on the TV forum and not on after hours.

Not that I am passing the blame. We have worked with our c-mod and admin team for months now thrashing out a solution to the issue of celebrity abuse in after hours.

Regarding the issue of sexism in AH: I will not deny there is an element I would rather curb and am active in doing so. However reported posts and feedback like this do help.

5starpool

After Hours should only be nice to people. That would make for a lot of fun threads. As far as I can remember there have been threads deriding it for being:

Women bashing
Gay bashing
Foreigned bashing
Religion bashing
Celebrity bashing

I'm sure I'm missing some there. Each person thinks their complaints are more valid than the others and would like to see it stopped. If this had been the case each time, the only thing left to talk about on After Hours would be why no one posted there anymore.

jaffacakesyum

Good to hear the mods are aware of this anyway I can take a joke as much as the next person, I'm quite an un-PC person in general. But it's the fact that in my opinion there is a significant portion of posters on AH who actually do hold misogynistic views. Of course I can't prove that, but it's just when it's the same posters over a number of threads it becomes clear what their view is. That takes it beyond joking.

gargleblaster

Whatever the article says you'd have to be blind to miss the consistent nastiness in AH. Reporting sometimes works and sometimes not. If there were as many disgusting ways to refer to men it might have a chance to be more balanced but there aren't. Apparently "gash" is an acceptable term for women and I really just try to stay out of that forum because of things like that. It's a men's forum and women are allowed so long as they don't mind being reminded of their place, or if they do step out of it, they're prepared to be attacked either personally or as a group, that's how I see it.

Feeona

It was good to see that posts were deleted in a recent thread which referred to 'the feminazis', or female posters' physical appearance. This tactic had been used quite freely in previous times as a way of diverting a debate on sexism. It was extremely dismissive of the topic at hand, and served only a bitter few who wanted to maintain a certain status quo in After Hours i.e. female posters are not deserving of respect.

It's great to see the mods cracking down on this gang/herd mentality.

stovelid

I'm still not completely convinced that the line-crossing re: women is any more than the other pet topics of hatred in AH. That doesn't make it any less nasty or make it any less worthy of censure but it does make the assertion that AH is misogynist a little less watertight. I would hazard a guess that those who think so are just a little more vocal and organized in assigning worth to their particular cause than the scumbags, swan-eaters and dole-ites.

TheZohanS

So here's the opening post:

Went out last night with several mates, we approached several Irish women for a chat, (none of us were drunk) and all we ended up getting was really harsh put-downs within the first 10secs. A woman has no rational reason to put a man down like that so fast. Where is the respect and manners amongst Irish girls these days?

There were 470 replies including the moderators closing post and here is a sample out of the first 40 of the replies that called the OP on his b/s:

I reckon you must be a minger.

They didn't wanna talk to any of you. Get over it.

You want women to believe when you approach them in a niteclub that you want to chat!!

How did you approach them? I think that's important.

Change your approach so.
Or your face.

put your willy in before you approach.

Yes and yes. Many guys DO come across a bit sleazy, even if they don't realise it. Plus nightclubs = reputation as meat markets. Pubs not so much.

Here we go, it is saturday after all.
Shortly there'll be "I've just seen a fireball flying across the sky thread" and we've already had the Garda one so all is as expected

It's a numbers game, move on til you find girls willing to talk to you then you have more of a chance.

You approach a girl as a group of guys and you wonder why you get ran? Seriously, wasting your time. One on one maybe, but there's a big scary world out there where bad shít happens. Most girls are conscious of spiked drinks and loons. You may very well be a complete gentleman but in a packed club with all your mates for back up she's never going to find out.

Scare factor, it exists.

What bar/club were you in? How did you approach them? What did you say? Do you have a face like a burst welly?

Only seven of you? thats not intimidating at all

Beginning to understand your rejection problem now.

Well yeah there is an element of that and there is a chance you approached a bunch of wagons. But there's also the chance that 7 lads moseying over had obvious intentions which may not have been reciprocated on their side. Girls very often nights out "for the girls" so really aren't interested in any case

Apparently, one silly newspaper study thing found that if men approached women from the side, or walked straight up to them they were less likely to be immediately rebuffed than if they creeped up behind them, maybe try that!
I was definetly a bit of a b1tch to most guys when I was younger, insecurity on my part, and I suppose I just hadn't developed great social skills (I'm nice now!)
Also if they'd been bothered by a load of nasy creeps all night, they might just not have been in the best form when some nice boys approached them! Wouldn't take it personally

But seriously, when you say all seven of you were approaching, do you mean all together as a group?
If so, it's easy to imagine that that would come across as overbearing and intimidating (and sleazy) for lots of women.
Especially if you were approaching lots of women and they were aware of this.

I used to be of the opinon that a lot were stuck up, and in fairness a good few are, but there's a big difference between approaching someone with the hope of pulling and approaching someone for a chat and a bit of craic and taking anything else that comes as a happy bonus
A very big difference

Any girl who is rude to you within a few seconds of meeting you is a bitch. Move on and talk to someone who is worth your time!

Probably best not to look like you're out to get whatever you can though, that's a bit of a turn off.

I agree with you that of course some women can be stuck up but seriously as a female it can be absolutely fcukin annoying on a night out to be constantly annoyed by blokes......
Im married myself with kids but would now and again get chatted to by a bloke on a night out. Within a few minutes I'd drop into the conversation that I'm married and the bloke then leggers
I used to be all tactful and tippy toeing as I wouldn't want to hurt a persons feelings but over the years I've gotten a lot blunter about it..

Constant women bashing? No. You do however get the occasional poster that's absolutely clueless with women and due to his limited success will post misogynistic crap on boards. His fellow posters, both male and female, don't take too long in calling him on his bs. I've seen huge improvements in AH over the last three years since I've been here, it's not a "free for all" anymore and if someone posts crap they get called on it.

donfers

precisely as my above friend says, AH is irreverent by its very nature, that's why it draws such a large crowd, they want to have a laugh and a bit of banter

if you start to dilute that (and that process has already started to an extent) because certain people can't take being made fun of then I'm afraid to say the forum starts to lose what made it so refreshing and appealing in the first place

yes of course, stamp out all the blatant malicious stuff that is said with genuine intent but to start pandering to specific groups in an effort to be seen to be at the forefront of some kind of crusade against evil insidious internet forces is laughable

Feeona

Why is After Hours the default forum for complaining about women? Why aren't these posters told to take it to a forum sepcifically for men, because after all it is an issue that affects men.

I think that's what gets me the most to be honest. It's a message that suggest women are a minority on boards.ie, along with blacks, travellers, gays, foreigners so they're fair game.

I'm a teacher and believe you me I have seen my share of teacher bashing threads on After Hours. But public sector spending is an issue that affects everyone in this country, and as such I think After Hours is a good place to discuss these things. Suicide is also another issue which is discussed, and rightly so. It's something that affects everyone in some way.

'Not getting any' in the local niteclub at the weekend does not warrant a thread in After Hours I feel, especially when it's accompanied by female poster bashing.

Dravokivich

Feeona wrote: »

Why is After Hours the default forum for complaining about women? Why aren't these posters told to take it to a forum sepcifically for men, because after all it is an issue that affects men.

Because the forum specifically geared towards men is also rather welcoming of women.

opinion guy

Nodin wrote: »

You're confusing quantity and quality.
The article, if you'd bothered to read it properly, refers to another site entirely when referring to misogyny.
http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/independent-woman/celebrity-news-gossip/irish-online-hate-wars-2866351.html

The two comments referenced to that affair on boards were, if you'd bothered to look, not in AH and were clearly humorous.

Don't let that stop you though.

Also - how in Gods' name did they right an article on Irish internet hate figures and NOT mention David McSavage ? He is easily the most targeted public figure targeted for hate on boards and unlike others has actually been beaten up on the street. To be honest I'm often shocked at the vitriol that is allowed to be targeted at him on boards without moderation.

pickarooney

Dravokivich wrote: »

Because the forum specifically geared towards men is also rather welcoming of women.

And presumably less welcoming of whiny maggots with an agenda.

starbelgrade

opinion guy wrote: »

Also - how in Gods' name did they right an article on Irish internet hate figures and NOT mention David McSavage ? He is easily the most targeted public figure targeted for hate on boards and unlike others has actually been beaten up on the street. To be honest I'm often shocked at the vitriol that is allowed to be targeted at him on boards without moderation.

I'm not surprised he's been beaten up on the street. He seems to think that it's fair game to mock random passers by without them reacting. I'm not saying that throwing a few digs at him is right - just that it's hardly a surprise it happened.

The same goes for how people react to him on Boards - he's publically slagged off forum users here - even though he was once a member himself. Again, I'm not saying that the reaction he gets is right or wrong.. but if you dish it out, you should be able to take it back.

That's the one thing that strikes me about the man - he can give it but he certainly can't take it.

The other thing that strikes me about him even more though, is that he is an incredibly unfunny man.

donfers

Feeona wrote: »

Why is After Hours the default forum for complaining about women? Why aren't these posters told to take it to a forum sepcifically for men, because after all it is an issue that affects men.

I think that's what gets me the most to be honest. It's a message that suggest women are a minority on boards.ie, along with blacks, travellers, gays, foreigners so they're fair game.

it's not a default forum for complaining about women, it's a default forum for taking the piss out of EVERYTHING/EVERYONE..of course you can describe it as "complaining about" or "taking the piss out of" depending on how seriously you take the subject matter - incidentally if one is of such a sensitive mindset that the banter of faceless internet strangers is likely to upset then maybe AH is not for you


oh and to be quite blunt about it women are a minority on boards, nothing wrong with that, the problem arises is if they get treated differently from everyone else, hopefully the won't and they'll take the piss and have the piss taken out of them as much as anyone else, ironically what some people are asking for here goes against the notion of women being treated like men on here i.e. you mustn't say bad things about us

forgive the psychobabble here but i do understand that the temptation of the persecution complex is incredibly appealing for minorities despite the reality that the so-called "persecution" is often actually a sign of their seamless integration into the group and equal treatment within it

this of course doesn't negate the further reality that often minorities are genuinely discriminated against and treated unfairly but the delicate trick is deciding when the nasty stuff is directed at you because of who you are rather than what you do/say

imo, in this case, the complainants here are overplaying the persecution card, the really malicious stuff is dealt with, now they are asking for special treatment which goes against the irreverent raison d'etre of AH and thus they should be told where to go

SugarHigh

There are constant jokes made about child abuse and people pretending that they shag kids but does this mean AH is pro child abuse? No, they're just taking the piss.

People from cork get a much harder time than women in AH IMO and I'm not even from cork. I think the main problem here is that too many people visit AH that really are just too sensitive for the type forum that it is.

I don't see why misogny should get special attention from the mods when culchie bashing doesn't get any attention.

SugarHigh

pickarooney wrote: »

And presumably less welcoming of whiny maggots with an agenda.

I'm not even sure which side of the argument you are talking about because it sums up both pretty well.

If your too sensitive for AH just don't post there. Wasn't TLL set up specifically because female posters were too intimidated by AH? So why do we also have to feminise AH?

LeeHoffmann

A selection (from 3 threads):

Sits back, folds arms and waits for the offended feminazis!

All the fat ugly women gonna be bitchin now.

Ahhhhh I think I hear the engine of the hypocritical feminist bus coming over the horizon.

Only ugly yokes would complain about these adds.

LeeHoffmann would you mind stop kissing Eve_Dublin's ass all over this thread.
I'm sure she gets the message by now, and it is distracting from the issue we are trying to engage in. - [2 women agreeing that Hunky Dory's ads are bad, oh no can't have that]

Can you actually really drive properly though or are you referring to the stereotypically female driving mentality where you're doing well if you have 5 or less crashes per year? (You go girl)

the whores who model for these ads should be ashamed of themselves

The stupidity of 90% of women.

Explain yourselves, bitches

They're all bints!
Spoiler: ALL!!!!!!

every time I see a girl crying chatting to a lad, I just feel sorry for the lad, chances are 9 times out of 10 hes having to listen to some stupid drivil he doesnt care about

Women who get upset when you tell them their vagina smells like rotting fish

No sense of direction. A map would be more useful in the hands of an illiterate and visually impaired monkey.
Need Oprah Winfrey to empower them and tell them how or what to think. Gullible fools for the self-help industry.
No interest in current affairs or politics. How can females have an entitlement to vote with no comprehension of the issues? Like Kang said - "Go ahead. Throw away your vote."
Painful to take on holidays anywhere. They are more like toddlers. I'm tired. I can't walk any faster. I'm hungry. I need three suitcases. Impractical and stubborn. A drain on male resources.
Claim that men are dirty, but take a look at the discharge on knickers. Like glue or gruel.

hate the fact that they have periods and bleed and the smell of their minge uhhhhhh rotten different species alltogether

plenty of mustard on my sammich, theres a good girl

Personally, i just dont trust anything that can bleed for 7 days solid and not die!

Women get angry at other women for being sluts because they are giving out sex for free. The more women do this the less power women have in relationships as it bring down the market price for sex. So women who aren't openly sluts ( women don't have a problem with women being secretly sluts as it doesn't harm the market price so much) will condemn the obvious sluts to reduce it occuring and protect the market price for sex.
You'll notice women don't get nearly as p!ssed off about prostitutes as sluts because prostitutes aren't messing with the market price for sex. They are making men pay, it's simply in a different form of currency. [TL;DR - all women are sluts]

Male period = Women!!

Girl of average intelligence, hobbies = drinkies with me girlies, whoop whoop, hanging out with me girlies loves em to bits, going for spins with me girlies
Fella of average intelligence, hobbies = some sort of sport, some type of music, a general awareness of what's going on in the world of current affairs.

I don't think the majority of women know what equal rights means!!

Sure in reality women do the asking out, pay for the drinks, speak with logic and rationality and love a nice guy!! :P

Women who moan about lack of equality then don't pay their way.
I'm all for spending my money on a girl but only if she is banned from the voting booth

Mostly I think boys are better than girls

The anti equality movement commonly referred to as feminism

I also like the fact that 95 percent all the major historical figures are male and are the ones who have made society what it is today

being stronger, smarter, more successful, better drivers, better cooks, world leaders, having things like logic and reason , pissing standing up , not spending all our money on shíte we think makes us look better and all the other glory that comes with being a man

Try to find as many openly misandric posts from women on 3 threads