'In this thread, I hadn't addressed a single comment to him, but he couldn't manage to disagree with me without flaming.'

In this thread, yes. I've seen the reverse happen many times as well though. Journalistic integrity anyone...

'Ill mannered oafs'.

Classic Gielgud!

'except for the gratuitous feminist bash'

It's 'de rigueur'. It's also apposite! As in MTR would never concede the points I made about the terms used for men or the nice guy/bad boy stuff. Neither would pynchme. Or if they did, they'd say it's somehow men's fault. And it'd be no indication of misandry. 'It's... it's just... it's just different!'. 'I don't know why'.

With all these feminist deconstruction of culture articles, everything is seen as evidence of the oppressing of women and the misogynist nature of men. When you point out to them men have similar constraints and that women make up half of 'societal expectations', they normally give you a look like Julie Bishop on Q&A.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_jKKnO9NE0

BTW: I love it how no spell checker ever knows the word misandry. Perhaps it doesn't exist in gender studies courses either...

"Do you regard promiscuity as something to be encouraged? If so, why?"

When I was unattached promiscuity should have been thoroughly encouraged. I hope the why does not require explaining.

With a long term partner it's not something I have a personal stake in.

I do think that we should be teaching kids to respect their bodies and how they use them. We should be making it clear that sexual intimacy can be a very powerful thing and that for most of us some care is required in how we manage it, either for our own sake's or for the sake of those we are intimate with.

It means that promiscuity with caution against the obvious risks and undertaken with care for all involved can be fun but that promiscuity to try and gain acceptance from others or as a weapon against others can be a source of heartache and regret.

R0bert

"The net allows easy regulation of what is published, as Facebook has demonstrated on several occasions and as many responsible ISPs have also shown."

Anti
I agree with a lot of what you said (eg. grafitti scenario) however, I thought the whole point of this debate was that this website was allowed to continue and there was no regulation or responsibility assigned to ISPs. Hence unlike grafitti it was not to be 'scrubbed' away.

My comments have been based on the assumption that we don't allow bullying to fester in real life, why do we allow it to run amok on the Web.

If it has been taken down or others like it then I guess my concerns are no longer valid

Houellebecq:" they're the kind of people who don't care what others think"

I think you're right. The important factor is self-confidence, rather than any moral judgement. Let's face it, self-confident people are not really vulnerable to the judgements of others less well-endowed.

An important aspect of bullying is the social one and for people who don't define themselves by the social norms imposed by others this aspect is not effective. OTOH, those who are prone to dependency are more greatly affected by the judgement of others.

Hence CJMorgan, whose entire sense of self-worth is created by the response of others to his blandishments, is a perfect exemplar of my point.

If he had a strong sense of self-worth based on his own capacity to cope with vicissitudes, he'd not get upset when I point out how his behaviour resembles that of a small dog seeking a lap to lie on.

Hourllebecq:"men have similar constraints"

Of course. All that has happened in recent years is that some women have become enamoured of the idea that society exists purely for their benefit. That's dysfunctional, but hardly unexpected given the Flood of fatuous propaganda that has been put about on the subject.

With so much guff being published, it becomes difficult to sort through to the facts, especially when there is a social norm that says dissent is aberrant, such as exists in most social groups of women.

R0bert:"promiscuity with caution against the obvious risks and undertaken with care for all involved can be fun "

And there's the rub, isn't it? Adolescents are given to rebellion against the strictures of their parents. They are much more vulnerable to influence by their peers. If their peers are saying "promiscuity is bad", most won't engage in it. If their peer group approves, then you end up with the sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s and all the negative as well as positive consequences.

How the peer group expresses itself is all that's at issue here. The gender stuff is purely a sideshow.

Pelican, I believe it's been taken down.

Just remember! our young are a reflection of ourselves and the environment their nurtured in! If our young are encouraged to idolize
sluttish behavior like Madonna promotes, and countless other bimbos! What do you expect? Monkey see! Monkey do! And as fare as girl hatred goes, feminism is to be blamed for that. A backlash! and an over
sense of worth!

Anti

“self-confident people are not really vulnerable to the judgements of others less well-endowed."
To put it another way, arrogant people don't care about others.

CJ

Sleazy men are criticicised with a variety of terms, none of which are reserved purely for men who sleep around. As you have pointed out, there is no insult reserved purely for this variety of deadbeats. Thank-you for drawing our attention to this gaping hole in the English language. We desperately need more insults. Feel free to invent a new word that is the male equivalent of slut.

Houllie

Unacceptable to who?

Those blokes who have done the right thing by women by not sleeping around.

Those women who have earned the right not to be called a slut.

Those of us who cannot stand hypocrites. You will never meet a slut who doesn't criticise men who have left them.

Those of us who cannot stand losers. These women all want a long term relationship, at some time, with a bloke who can afford to be fussy. By sleeping around, they are shooting themselves in the foot.

Those of us who despise arrogance. It must take an amazing amount of self-belief to think that they can sleep around without looking bad. They are also addicted more to the attention that their reputation brings than to the actual sex.

Those of us who cannot stand selfishness. These women don’t care about how their previous exploits make any current boyfriend look like a loser. The availability of casual sex also makes it hard for other women to maintain long-term relationships.

Those of us who don’t respect suckers. Sleazy blokes are like con-artists. Women who sleep with them look like they are easily conned.