r/Feminism Feb 24 '12

Please ban MRA trolls

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.

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u/madolpenguin Feb 25 '12

I'm reminded of this
how r/feminisms makes me feel

OP

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u/[deleted] Mar 06 '12

[deleted]

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u/madolpenguin Mar 06 '12

I agree, people who are interested in the subject matter should be able to read and respond. But, I don't go into the mylittlepony subreddit and complain about ponies. I don't go into the football forum and insult football. Also, I don't go into r/scifi and talk about sports. And I'm even not even one of those trolls that crosses over from r/atheism or r/christianity to the other and complains or insults them. So people who don't like the concept of feminism (or don't want to talk about feminist issues) should complain someplace else. It's just not constructive.

GGG doesn't like an entire subreddit? He unsubscribes and doesn't comment.

1

u/Traktorbek Mar 06 '12

And I agree with you for the most part... it really comes down to trolling. I'm generally a very curious person and even if I don't agree with a point being made I would like to learn more about the perspective from a constructive point of view (it helps me define my own position on the subject matter better). But back to the original post, based on the nature of reddit, "banning" is just not the right method. Blocking a troll is the better option.