From: alan@ROS6.GSFC.NASA.GOV (Alan Smale)
Newsgroups: talk.rape
Subject: Unnecessary hostility in talk.rape
Date: 25 Aug 92 19:17:42 GMT

What do all the following people have in common?

Kathi. Ataylor. Sam. Kim Posey. Rolfe. More than one Susan. Synth.
Tim, I think. Probably a few other people I've forgotten about.

They have posted to talk.rape. And they have been attacked by DC,
called deliberate liars, idiots, ignoramuses or worse, on the basis of
their opinions (generally freely and openly admitted to be opinions,
note, rather than facts). Many have been attacked savagely and
demeaningly, in 500-line polemics about their morality, their
relationships, their access to legal documents and their spelling.
After a series of increasingly heated exchanges with DC, many don't
come back. I doubt (this is my OPINION) that this is because they've
come round to DC's rather narrow way of thinking and as a result,
don't need to post any more.  It wouldn't surprise me if the
readership of talk.rape is getting rather small these days.

DC; you're a lawyer and, put bluntly, you're paid to argue. You do it
very well, if rather savagely. But you might consider whether this is
the right place for you to practice your craft.

I feel (that means that this is my OPINION) that rape prevention and
the discussion of related sensitive issues would proceed better if
people could participate in thoughtful discussion in a friendly,
non-combative way. That has become all but impossible on this
newsgroup; the level of hostility has become too high. Mostly (though
not totally) this is because of you.

DC; I would ask you to take a couple of days off. Take a look at
yourself. All the people I listed at the top are entitled to their
opinions and actions. Don't reply to people's posts immediately. Is
everybody else REALLY dead wrong, while you're always dead right? Are
you ALWAYS the only one marching in step?

THINK about what you're doing when you reply to messages.  Think about
who will read your venom-laden missives and the effect it will have on
them.  It just doesn't help to hurt people. It doesn't persuade people
to your point of view by battering them, it just makes them defensive.
Maybe you can win cases by being forceful and intimidating, but you
don't win arguments that way. It just doesn't work.

You'll note that female posters are becoming increasingly marginalized
in this newsgroup; why is that, do you suppose? Could it be because
talk.rape, a group that exists primarily to help THEM, has become such
an unpleasant place that they don't want to be here any more? Who does
that help? Women? Men? You? None of the above?

OK, you "do research", and pride yourself on getting your facts straight.
This is commendable. You derive great glee from "correcting" people.
This is unpleasant. You then indulge in sneering put-downs, sarcasm,
and general nastiness. This is reprehensible.

Based on the evidence before me, I'm not really expecting you to
change. I would be surprised if you indulge in any self-examination at
all, or attempt to put yourself in somebody elses shoes, more than
once a year.  But I'd sure be happy if I was wrong, and if you drew in
your claws a bit.  Just try to be constructive instead of destructive.
We'd all gain. Including, and especially, you.

        - Alan.