Why is DU in a gender war anyway?

[BainsBane]

50. I didn't see the part of that thread about men as rape victims

I believe that to be an important subject and I see no reason for it to be downplayed or why it undermines the significance of women as rape victims. Rape is a crime, and while 90% of known victims in civil society are women, that doesn't make the experience any less horrific for male victims.

What I did observe in that thread is insistence by a few members that "no one" on this site every blames rape victims, which is clearly false. When people gave summaries of cases in which rape victims were blamed, those same members insisted they didn't exist and demanded proof. When proof was supplied, they either quickly absented themselves from the thread or became angry that their posts were linked to.

Part of what I see is that some seem to think simply by virtue of posting here it makes them immune from all societal influences and ills. I find particularly irritating the insistence some make that the fact they are Democratic or pro-choice makes them my ally on gender issues, while they turn around and insist rape isn't really a social problem and that huge numbers of women lie about rape to punish men, or that the jails are too crowded to keep serial rapists locked up. The fact is this site has a small number of very vocal, intensely reactionary members who are extremely conservative on gender issues. They think the fact they post here means they should not be subject to criticism on those positions. I submit that if they don't want those views countered, they should avoid posting on them.