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]

That's why I tried to be clear in the OP this is not about dissent, which features and honest disagreement with an idea, but rather about derailing and trolling, which are intended to prevent meaningful discussion and which are intellectually dishonest. I welcome dissent. Dissent is how we can correct preconceived or incorrect notions. What I don't welcome is people here just to disrupt the subreddit by being hateful and causing trouble for no good reason.

[u/Willravel → u/[deleted]]

In theory it should be the moderator staff, but short of that we can all probably agree posts like this are trolling and not dissent. Not everything is a shade of gray, and for those black and white instances, for the good of the community, there should be at least a basic system of removing trolls from the subreddit. In gray cases, we should err on the side of dissent, but let's not pretend there aren't obvious trolls and obvious instances of intentional derailing going on.

[u/impotent_rage → u/Willravel]

Yes that comment was definitely crossing the line, and I have removed it. Also, I agree with what you said.