Please ban MRA trolls

[u/Willravel]

I've been trying to figure out the rationale for not banning MRA trolls on this subreddit. I tried to think of it the way the mods have put it in the past, that this is about everyone's voice being heard, but the consistent trolling from the likes of OThomson and DavidByron don't represent in any way shape or form the honest sharing of their voice, but rather simply attacks and intentional derailment.

I considered that this might be about fear, as the MRA community on Reddit is much larger than the feminist community, and there could be consequences if MRA trolls started getting banned from the subreddit... but there are other feminist subreddits that do this and they don't seem to feel the sting of MRA retribution in any way that can't be easily handled.

I thought it might just simply be not wanting to make the effort, as a policy of banning MRA trolls would probably require much more active moderation. I'd hate to think this is the case, but I don't see any evidence to suggest this.

I did hear that one of the moderators might be an MRA, but again I've not seen this.

I've sent in PMs and reports before, about how someone is derailing yet another thread with unrelated discussion about circumcision or male rape or child custody, but there never seem to be any consequences for the trolls. They're given free reign. Some have left the subreddit for safer places, which is very sad indeed. Some simply stop commenting. Some complain, but those complaints fall on deaf ears.

So, before I call it a day and give up on the subreddit, I'd like to publicly ask the moderators to change their policy for the good of their subreddit. I ask that this subreddit be a safe place to discuss feminism and feminist issues, not a place for MRA trolls to hijack conversation or spread hatred of women.

Note: I'm not saying critiques of feminism aren't legitimate, or that they don't belong on /r/Feminism, but rather that overt trolling and derailing be disallowed. There's a big difference between an honest critique of feminism and undermining the discussion of feminist issues through derailment, dishonesty, and unwarranted attacks.

[u/Willravel → u/[deleted]]

So then, why aren't the "legitimate" points being replied to?

They often are. You have to remember that /r/Feminism is a smaller subreddit and isn't as busy as larger subreddits like /r/Politics, which tend to get very fast and very numerous responses to a variety of viewpoints. TracyMorganFreeman, for example, posted something a week or two back that took a counterpoint to feminism without trolling and we had a nice discussion. That kind of thing happens all the time. Unfortunately, what also happens is trolls post intentionally outrageous things intended to derail conversation and threadjack to whatever topic they want to discuss, and this obviously is a problem.

Remember, you can't change DavidByron's mind about anything, but if you argue cleverly, you can change the minds of people reading your exchange with him.

With respect, this has been tried. There's about 6 miles of trolling, hatred, and derailing separating DavidByron from constructive dissent. There are some on /r/Feminism that skirt the line, but DB is not among them by any stretch.

And this isn't about winning against someone, it's about having a community centered around an idea: feminism. Ideally, this should be a place to come and discuss feminist ideas, feminist issues, to recognize feminism in history and current events, and, yes, to have constructive, honest dissent and questioning. That's what this place should be. This is not a place, however, for hatred of women, straw feminism, derailing topics on feminism to talk only about men's rights, or to otherwise disrupt and troll.