Comments On: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but... by Megan Seling

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

idaho — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 12:08:56 -0800

This whole discussion makes me think I don't really understand what 'trolling' is.
Posted by idaho

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

takesonetoknowone — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 10:43:04 -0800

The original post was not a troll but this whole article is (and its working!) The original post was so obviously clich� that it was meant as irony and possibly humor. An article about �what should a paper based on outrageous comments and irony do about an outrageous and ironic comment???� is disingenuous. Troll on troller.
Posted by takesonetoknowone

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

Papayas — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:02:34 -0800

Why does it have to be "too sensitive" or "too dismissive." The reality is that the comment was abusive. Yes, tons of comments are abusive, yes it is the nature of the internet.

Slog gave us the ability to flag, so we flagged. There have been many abusive things on Slog that I would not think to flag. I did write in when there was a bunch of racist stuff about Obama. I wish Slog would take down the misogynist posts about ECB--although I have never flagged them.

You all at Slog can choose what you take down, and we choose what we think is so abusive as to flag.
Posted by Papayas

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

My Name Here — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:01:21 -0800

I agree that "abuse" should be construed narrowly: limited to things that could get the Stranger in trouble for having (i.e. leaking Classified information), incitements to criminal conduct (here's how to build a bomb and send it to Rick Warren), and commercial spam (free enzyte!).

If you want to talk about posts saying "The victim was asking for it, wasn't she?": while phrased insensitively (as if that were reason to delete it), it raises a point that some people seem to consider valid: a number of posters, including mrclean, Psilly Cybin, and a number of sel-proclaimed rape victims and other whackos all take the perspective that it was at least partly the girl's fault. You can either delete every post that says the girl has to take some ownership of what happened, or we can have a whole conversation about it and let people go back and forth.

Before you say, "Well, of course it should be deleted," remember that even if there's nothing to be read between the lines of the letter, women DO do things like this all the time. Sometimes it's to get sympathy from a bf they just cheated on, sometimes it's to vacate their responsibility for something they regret afterwards, and sometimes it's to get back at someone. Was the Duke Lacrosse scandal so long ago that we've forgotten it already? If you want to pretend that false accusations of rape never happen and forbid people from even asking the question, go ahead, but remember that you'll be perpetuating just as big of an injustice as those who say that rape victims are always asking for it.
Posted by My Name Here

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

JZula — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:11:05 -0800

I believe it's within The Stranger's rights to edit comments as they see fit. In this case, deleting the comment would have led to a much more civilized and productive discussion. HOwever, I don't think it's The Stranger's responsibility to police the comments, either. THe writer should have expected trolls in a public forum.
Posted by JZula

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

JZula — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:08:07 -0800

I recognized it as flamebait right away and ignored it. Unfortunately, anyone who expressed valid doubts about the integrity of the letter writer's story were immediately associated with the troll.
Posted by JZula

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

RobotRevolution — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:48:28 -0800

I think we can find at least one positive in the asshole's posting of that comment: just like Idaho Nazis remind us evil still exists, the victim-blaming commenter reminds us stupid motherfuckers still exist and we have to remain vigilant.
Posted by RobotRevolution

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

Lawrence — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 07:49:12 -0800

I thought it was sarcasm directed towards Psilly Cybin's comment.
Posted by Lawrence

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

Fred34 — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:00:26 -0800

Better to delete the commenter - and leave the comment as a reminder.
Posted by Fred34

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

Let's be consistent — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:03:30 -0800

If you're going to delete that comment, then you should delete the entire post where Dan made fun of a man who was killed when his wife set his genitals on fire.
Posted by Let's be consistent

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

east coaster — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:00:48 -0800

Since when is it a right to be a jerk in a blog comment and not get the comment deleted? Just delete the comment and be done.
Posted by east coaster

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

Natasha — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:16:53 -0800

Rape is the most repugnant manifestation of female oppression. I'm all for free speech, but even I agree with the Supreme Courts in saying that yelling fire in a un-enflamed theater is an abuse of free speech. And yelling "she was asking for it" in a public forum, when the oppression of women is a very real issue, and when women are raped and then dismissed for it with these sort of beliefs at hand precludes society for attaining any notion of equality or freedom from these old oppressions. By flagging this comment as abuse, we are saying that it is not okay to talk about certain things in certain ways, because a human's autonomy is the first place to draw the line of asshole-ery, and we need to elevate the level of debate to help make steps toward stopping rape and the subjugation of women a reality.
Posted by Natasha

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

windy — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:19:38 -0800

Leave it up. Ignoring ignorant comments breeds more ignorance. Communication is the best way to dismantle unintelligent and hateful ideas.

That's why a blog comment format is sort of a shame, really. Everybody is shouting out into the wild fray of the interwebs, able to say whatever they want without any real accountability. Dang. Wonder if it really even matters that I'm posting this?
Posted by windy

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

partychief — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:10:50 -0800

the comment gave me pause. and made me think. for the last ten minutes. and isn't that why we, the literate, read things in our spare time in the first place?
Posted by partychief

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

Joh — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:08:07 -0800

@55

You're right, i would respond with something like;

"BLAMMO!"

Then i would do some sort rad ASCI picture.

<("<)
Posted by Joh

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

fen — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:52:55 -0800

It's an asshole thing to say. Period. Leave it up.
Posted by fen

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

yucca flower — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:27:35 -0800

Since when is Slog a democracy? If you find it offensive, take it down. If you find the commenter offensive, ban them. You don't owe a troll a forum to comment. You are not bound by the rules of "free speech". If a troll wants to comment on something, let them do it on their own blog.

Posted by yucca flower

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

??????? — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:04:33 -0800

what?!
Israel is constantly 'raping' Palestine, and all i hear from many Americans is " oh well...the Palestinians deserved it....they killed about 10 Israeli soldiers...meh who cares if 640( many of whom are children) Palestinians are killed from the Gaza attacks, and that some 3000 are displaced/wounded from/at there homes "they were asking for it" (by trying to defend themselves, and being there in the first place?!!?)

completely outrageous...
i see that these two situations are very similar to one another...hmpf...the only difference is that one is on a larger scale then the other.....so why are many people reacting to these cases differently?
Posted by ???????

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

Thomas — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:04:00 -0800

I think it should be left for conversation. It's better to know about the toolbags who are lurking out there. Of course this may have just been someone who posted this crap to see how many people would respond to it..
Posted by Thomas

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

Greg — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:47:38 -0800

It seemed awfully verbose for Joh.
Posted by Greg

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

Lara — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:12:54 -0800

Sorry, that last post under "Joh" was me, not Joh (damn you, saved display name and e-mail address!)
Posted by Lara

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

Joh — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:09:54 -0800

Leave it up. People who say things like "She asked for it" need to experience the inevitable backlash of survivors and general non-assholes telling them what an asshole they are; deleting them just makes them say "Ooh, who's the victim now? Censorship!". For the record, I don't think Slog (or anyone) should be any more dismissive of rape than they think is acceptable about gay-bashing or race-based hate crimes. But Slog is about discussion, intelligent or not, so keep it going and hope intelligent people outnumber the rest.
Posted by Joh

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

Will in Seattle — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:57:11 -0800

Where is Mr Poe anyway?
Posted by Will in Seattle

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

nelson — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:31:48 -0800

I haven't counted, but it seems to me that the vast majority of comments recommend keeping it up, so... this is really a phantom controversy. Don't we all feel very righteous?
Posted by nelson

Re: Sure, It's an Asshole Thing to Say, but...

MJ — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:26:21 -0800

What's the definition of "abuse" re: comments on SLOG? Attacking another commentor, being off-topic, ??

This comment, while offensive to many people, is on-topic and part of the larger debate on the topic. Lots of other people wrote in with variations on the same theme, "Maybe she gave a certain degree of consent". While I don't agree with the perspective, I think it's creating an informative dialogue.

It's at least as socially responsible as the debate(s) re: the definition of "neo-Nazi" and/or legality of shooting blanks carried on in the comments of the article about the German Studies student killed by cops.

I say keep it.
Posted by MJ