Hedra42 said:
If you intended to offend someone and the other person takes offense, you take responsibility for it. If you say something that was not intended to offend and the other person takes offence, it's a misunderstanding, and it's the responsibility of both parties to figure that out and move on. 'Taking offence' is often an unfairly used weapon that gets the innocent and naive into trouble. I agree that some women will take offence more easily than others and they should still be respected and not criticised because of it. But this applies to anyone, not just women. Regarding this site, I agree, it's not the most ideal or inviting environment for female posters, but it is what it is, and anyone who doesn't like the look of it has the choice not to register. I roll my eyes at a lot of the male banter here, and maybe I shut them too when the testosterone levels get too high, because that's the demographic that's likely to arise since the gaming industry is geared towards male gamers. Trying to cure the symptoms by attempting to change the culture of a single gaming website is not going to address the root cause. Yes, the line probably does get crossed here, sometimes, and I would hope the moderators do their best to deal with those instances fairly and reasonably. As a female member with the bigger picture in mind, the positive things on this site far outweigh anything sexually offensive I've seen. |
as for the bolded part the offended party is completely entitled to express that it felt offended by whatever comment transpired, if the offensor (willing or not) takes up a posture of "thats not my problem you deal with it" it's hardly an atitude that should be ignored in a forum with so much activity and members.
the underlined bit is hardly a solution for a big community like this one, issues come up and they should all be adressed accordingly.
i dont care if you are a female member, i'm one since '09 and saw many come and go for many reasons that didnt turn me away but improving the community spirit in a forum with this amount of activity is important. and being a female member i dont think that bending over and taking certain types of comments is a propper representation of the way a female should behave and the image we pass of female gamers to the rest of our community. it will only encourage more inapropriate behaviour