Interesting stats:

This article has accrued a total of 74 ‘Likes’.

Comparing this ‘Likes’ number to the other articles in the ‘Most Discussed’ panel:

‘Eclipsing the Religious Right’ (in support of gay marriage) – 141
‘Without oil, modern civilisation does not work’ – 29
‘42 a poor alternative to Jesus’ – 1
‘When freedom of religion becomes bullying’ – 7

A glance through most of the other articles over the last week or so, the number of ‘Likes’ ranges between 1 and 5.

So, on the basis of these figures, this article has an extremely HIGH approval rating among those who have read it. Yet the commentary section - made up of all the usual, almost exclusively male, commenters who frequent the OLO gender threads – there is hardly a decent word to be said about it. Virtually all the comments denigrate the author’s credibility and/or or validate some universal male right to enjoy porn, regardless of how women feel about it.

So what’s going on here? It seems as if the comments here are at odds with the general consensus among the article’s readers. Perhaps the men commenting here need to learn to be quiet and listen for a change instead of lecturing those concerned about pornography’s negative effect on women about just how wrong we are.

Or perhaps those who know they don't have arguments which are consistant with feminist stances on other issues but at the same time support their belief that they have a right to control male sexuality find it easier to like than to put their case.

R0bert

The other possibility, Killarney, which R0bert also alludes to, is that your method of measurement is itself faulty.

>>It seems as if the comments here are at odds with the general consensus among the article’s readers.<<

I have been reading OLO articles for over five years, and have yet to touch the "like" icon. On the other hand, I have been relatively free with my postings here, whether I have agreed with, or disagreed with, the opinion in question.

Admittedly, a sample of one proves nothing. But it can point to a fatal flaw in your assumption that the act of making one click of the mouse is somehow the equivalent of thinking a position through, and committing those thoughts to the forum.

Personally, I agree with R0bert, that the converse might be more accurate, and that hitting "like" means less than nothing in this context. After all, it is entirely possible to click without even reading the article in question.

I've yet to hit the "like" botton too. Actually, I wouldn't hit it on principle.

>Perhaps the men commenting here need to learn to be quiet and listen for a change instead of lecturing those concerned about pornography’s negative effect on women about just how wrong we are<

Perhaps the author and those concerned about pornography's negative effects shouldn't express themselves on public opinion threads if they don't want it critiqued.
Presumably the author here would rather her article had been ignored?

I feel a little embarrassed that Squeers has received rather a lot of attention and may have even derailed the thread, or at least side-tracked it, despite Robert's and other's attempts to change the subject. I only picked on a certain angle but I think there's a great deal more that could have been said pro and con about the article--though it has to be said that it's decidedly light weight, making assertions without in the least backing them up.

But perhaps you're right and we should "learn to be quiet and listen for a change".

I for one am listening, please feel free to expound. I would value your own thoughts on the matter.

Nice try, Pericles and R0bert.

What you are desperately trying not to face up to is that this article received overwhelming support from those who read it, but total rejection from those who commented on it.

And we all know by now that those who commented are part of a small, close knit group of male OLO gender commenters, who have held the OLO gender threads in a state of siege warfare for several years. Anyone with a differing opinion on gender issues gets bullied and intimidated out of any opportunity for decent discussion. Eventually, anyone with a differing opinion to 'the group' finally has to give up, not because of a lack of reasoned arguments, but because it becomes a waste of time and energy to reason with closed-minded people.

But, please ... far be it from me to burst your self-righteous bubble of privilege. As far as you are all concerned, the people you bully off the forum never had any decent arguments to start with - and never let anyone convince you otherwise.

Killarney,

"Yet the commentary section - made up of all the usual, almost exclusively male, commenters who frequent OLO gender threads - there is hardly a decent word to be said about it..."

What is noticeable is that the people who chose to hit "like" obviously didn't "like" the article enough to jump on board and defend it.

The "general consensus" amongst article readers appears to be accompanied by apathy when it comes to articulating their support...much easier to simply click a mouse.