Want to comment? Great! Your comments and feedback are welcome here, but there are a few ground rules to bear in mind.
Comments on my blog are fully moderated. I will approve, moderate, and respond to comments according to my standards of acceptable behaviour.
No Bigotry or Hate Speech
Comments that are discriminatory, derogatory, threatening, hateful, harassing, abusive, contain ad hominem arguments, or are otherwise obnoxious and disruptive are not acceptable.
All forms of oppressive behaviour and comments, including but not limited to sexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, racism, ethnophobia, ableism, sizeism/fatphobia are not permitted here.
Feminism 101 and Anti-Oppression 101
Occasionally I may use feminist or anti-oppression terminology that commenters may not be familiar with. I've had to explain these concepts many, many times. Where the ignorant party stands to benefit by gaining knowledge, I run the risk of exasperation and abuse. These 101-level conversations drain my energy, can be irritating, and sometimes result in people being assholes at me. If I'm in a teaching mood, I may oblige by explaining basic terms and concepts, but ultimately it is not my responsibility to educate commenters on feminism, anti-racism, or any other anti-oppression movement. Repeated discussions of these topics where they have been much better and more comprehensively discussed elsewhere add little to the conversation.
There are loads of resources on the internet where you can go learn about feminism, anti-oppression, and equality. To start you off, check out Finally, a Feminism 101 Blog and this Feminism 101 post for basic information about feminism and this post to learn about privilege. At the end of this post, I've provided links to basic anti-racist information, including several links to information about privilege, which is essential to understanding what racism actually is. This is a pretty good post about privilege and politeness which may help you understand where I am coming from if I seem a little testy when responding in the comments.
If you don't understand and accept the concept of privilege, then I encourage you to do so before commenting. If you're here to argue with me about how privilege "doesn't exist" or how feminism is "wrong"—please don't be.
Also, don't do any of these things.
Be Nice
Don't be a jerk. Your comments may never see the light of day and/or they will be moderated accordingly.
Anonymity and Pseudonymity
I don't allow anonymous comments. Please use a pseudonym or your real name and a real email address (visible only to the blog owner).
Comment Sunsetting
Comments on posts close after one year. Generally, discussion on a blog post greatly diminishes between a week to a month after a post is published. If you have any feedback for me on posts that have been published more than a year ago, please send me an email.
My Blog, My Opinions—Not My Employer's
All statements and opinions made on my site, in posts, comments, or other personal sites linked from this one, are my own and do not represent the views or policies of my employer. If my company has anything to say, it will not be here, but on their official website and other official channels.
No Work-Related Comments
This is a personal space, not a work space. Work-related comments and feedback will not be entertained. If you wish to leave work-related messages, please do so using official channels. Please respect my boundaries.
"Why wasn't my comment published?"
While it's true that I have a policy about not allowing abusive or oppressive language here, I don't often get comments that directly violate those rules. The majority of the comments that I decide not to publish are really stupid. They contain "arguments" and debate points that are so worthless and ill-thought out that I do not consider it worth my time to refute them. They often distract from or derail the discussion. If you hit the 'Submit' button and your comment never sees the light of day here? It's because I think your comment doesn't add anything useful or interesting to the discussion.
It's possible your comment was inadvertently marked as spam and got trapped in the spam filter. It's happened from time to time. To avoid this, don't leave spammy comments.
Or maybe your comment violated one of the other rules.
My Blog, My Rules
If I think your comment is stupid, irrelevant, ignorant, annoying, creepy, disrespectful, shows no indication that you've read and understood my comments policy, or some other reason I haven't listed, I may decide not to publish it. I may also decide to publish comments that go against the guidelines listed here for whatever reason I see fit.
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