Posted:
Those in Agreement, say 'Aye' ...
It is widely believed that IF moderators have absolute immunity and absolute power to do as they please and we, the members, are but the proverbial 600 who's not to reason why, who's but to do and die!!! REALLY?!!!
Had but more than a handful of IF members seen the concupiscent outpourings of a 'mind' (the moderator's very own 'mind' mind you) on the KB forum, you may not have been this charitable as I was (some details here - https://india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1356059):
Given the brouhaha over a certain Fan Fiction thread, I would like to take this opportunity to uphold the notion of Free Speech. I have inveighed against needless censorship and felt it my absolute right to be allowed to express myself as freely as possible. That privilege however, is the exclusive domain of an adult.
Human sexuality is an extremely complex issue and hardly well understood. Adults may forward their favorite theories to their 'heart's content'. Many derive a great deal of pleasure from aspects that others consider prurient and abhorrent. That is a matter of personal taste and I will (as should others) resist any attempt at foisting one's own puritanism on others. There is an entire industry worth a gazillion dollars that thrives on such things - po*nography (with all its accoutrements including sadomasochism). I have no problem with that ... provided (i) whosoever participates and partakes in it is a consenting adult and (ii) every effort is made to ensure that it remains completely sealed from the young and impressionable.
I would suggest that when flights of fancy such as the aforementioned FF are desired (for whatever reason), that there be an avenue to mark such a thread as 'Adults Only' ... I personally do not know how contributors or readers of such material can be authenticated as being adult on a site such as IF ... if such controls can be put in place, then, by all means, go for it and play out all your fantasies to whatever degree gives you pleasure. I am happy to report that such stuff has never had even a sliver of interest for me.
Mme moderator decided that this kind of reproach was unwarranted and stifled any further comment (a practice she employs with frequent and great gusto).
While others may, I do not hold myself out of line by then admonishing her thus:
Mme Moderator!!
Before you decide in your infinite wisdom that comments are irrelevant (that's how it's spelled) or irreverent (that's a different word), do us all the kind favor to first understand what is being said!!
I take great exception to your locking of my thread that had GREAT relevance to what goes on in this forum!!
You may grant yourself any degree of immunity you damn well please, but if you can dish it out, best be prepared to take it as well!!!!
Your tale telling wasn't just distasteful, it was unconscionable!!! You showed complete disregard for the fact that all kinds of people have easy access to anything and everything!!! This is not the kind of stuff to which youngsters should have any access!! What an excellent example of an abject lapse of judgement!!!
And before you decide that my warning level needs to be raised as a result of this post, here's something for you to consider: I don't give a gnat's behind if you do!!!!! That is a meaningless threat and/or deterrent!!! I am giving myself complete freedom to tell you this as your peer not some junior flunky!!!!
All those who relished her sick recounting, would be better served by chewing some of this:
From the Jan/Feb 2010 edition of 'Foreign Affairs' ... a book review by Isabel Coleman (Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy & Director of the Women & Foreign Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations) of 'Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide' by Nicholas Kristof & Sherly Wudunn:
... Half the Sky, should convince any reader of why those priorities do, in fact, need to change. Kristof & Wudunn argue that "brutality inflcited routinely on women and girls in much of the world" is "one of the paramount human rights problems of this century." Their statistics are numbing: every year, at least two million girls worldwide "disappear" due to gender discrimination. Given little societal value, girls are not vaccinated, not treated when they are sick, not educated, and often not even fed. Women between 15 and 44 are more likely to be maimed or killed by male violence than by war, cancer, malaria, and traffic accidents combined. More women have been killed by neglect and violence in the last 50 years than men have been by all the wars of the twentieth century ...
Folks, take especial heed of that last bit ... so, when a woman glorifies rape under the guise of fiction (she has obliterated her own thread so as to leave no audit trail), condemnation is an absolute absolute must!!!
It is also a deeply entrenched belief, that the IF admin. staff and their retinue of moderators practice heavy-handedness to suit their purpose. I would like to be proven wrong.
Please - make sure that the right thing is done!
Anupamaa
