On Wed, 02 Feb 2011 09:22:36 +0000
David Woodhouse <dwmw2_at_infradead.org> wrote:
> I now find myself wondering how how many of these 'reports of genuine
> harassment' are actually cases where the perpetrator, if not in a police
> cell, ought to be put in the stocks outside the rego desk and have
> rotten fruit thrown at him — and how many of them are *much* less
> clear-cut than that.
When you grow up as a small, scrawny, relatively smart (or at least
thinking he is), red-haired kid in a far corner of Wyoming, you learn a lot
about bullying and what it feels like to be on the receiving end of
ostracism and violence. You also learn that a lot of people who might be
in a position to make things better are quick to seize on opportunities to
say "well, it really can't be as bad as you're saying it is, I don't think
we need to do anything."
I am totally unwilling to say that to others who are trying to talk about
the experiences they have had.
There are things in this discussion that have disturbed me. My experience
as an American causes my blood to freeze whenever somebody says "zero
tolerance," for example; I've seen where that leads. I also don't like
others seemingly telling me what I must be thinking. To me this means
it's important to be part of the process which is trying to make things
better.
There is a balance to be struck here. We need to become more welcoming
and safe for women in particular - and others, I'm sure. We need to find
a way to do that which does not make our community unwelcoming and unsafe
for others. I believe that the balance is currently off, which is why we
are trying to improve things. That's why I think this discussion has been
important and good - we cannot improve things without talking about them.
I don't think we'll improve things by questioning the experiences that
people are reporting. I'd much rather focus on how we can make things
better without making them worse in other ways.
jon
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Received on Wed Feb 02 2011 - 08:29:39 GMT