It is not about the swimsuit issue it is about basic respect for women

[BainsBane]

62. I did not read the thread

nor was I part of the exchange. However I was called upon to apologize for it on multiple occasions, by men who have insulted women on this site as whores and a series of other degrading terms, including those linked. Why I should apologize for something I had nothing to do with escapes me.

I am continually amazed that particular insult is viewed so much more seriously that the dozens of others that occur each and every day, many of which are worse. It's clear the whole thing serves a mercenarian purpose. The person targeted in that exchange gives cover to men who oppose equal opportunity and care not one iota what the majority of women or indeed the majority of DUers find hostile and offensive. I do not consider someone who opposes my civil rights as more important than the rest of humanity. I suspect most of the men who point to that example don't really care about the insult to her as much as they like to use it as an excuse for opposing feminists on this site and women's voices overall. If you decide that one exchanges tells you something about the site more broadly, I expect whatever it is telling you is what you wanted to believe to begin with. One person doesn't represent more than one person, unless of course people want to use it as an excuse for something else, which is precisely how that incident has played out.