fempolitics - Profile (original) (raw)

This community was designed to be a place for constructive and rational debate about politics and feminism. We're open to a wide variety of opinions, but not if the expression of those opinions violates the rules established below. As such, it's tightly moderated, but with the hope that weeding out offending posts will create space for intelligent debate and not name calling or ad hom attacks.

The intent is thus: we want to have a community where a large number of political and feminist issues can be debated, but in a constructive, rational manner. Few things are off topic (unless you're posting about, like, what color you just dyed your hair or whatever... not that we don't like those sorts of things, just not in a community devoted to debate). No trolls, no ad hom attacks, but otherwise, go forth. Feel free to ask questions about issues you don't understand or pose questions for debate without fear of retribution.

Note, though, that this is a liberal/feminist community, with the understanding that we're all here because we believe in equality between all sexes/genders and a few other key causes. Differing opinions are welcome, to a point. If you do not feel your opinions are liberal/feminist but would still like to engage us (it’s sometimes enlightening to speak with those whose opinions differ fundamentally from your own!) we welcome your input so long as it remains respectful. If you can discuss topics with us, by all means. If you find yourself arguing about the topics, it might be better to take a step back and ask yourself why you’re here.

The main point of this community is that we’re not here to convince each other of anything – rather, we’d like to discuss various moral and political quandaries in a respectful and intelligent manner and discover not only why others feel a certain way about an issue, but why we ourselves do… we often do not understand our motives until someone else questions them and forces us to defend them. So please, defend them. Just don’t call anyone names while you do so.

General Posting Guidelines:
+ LJ-cut large images or extremely long posts. Here's how.
+ No quizzes/memes/surveys.
+ If linking to other journals, please get permission from the writer before posting the link.
+ Try not to be redundant. If there's something you're burning to post about, check the last 25 posts to make sure it hasn't been posted about recently.
+ All posts must have comments enabled. Only moderators can delete comments and posts - don't take things into your own hands.

Specific Rules
+ Watch out for biased language. Anything racist, phobic, sexist, etc. will not be tolerated.
+ + Please do not accuse anyone else of being a racist, phobic, sexist, etc. If you feel that a post or comment is inappropriate, send a note to burninglilac. Calling someone a racist is just as inflammatory as making racist comments, and flames are what this community is trying to avoid.
+ No trolling. Troll posts will be deleted promptly.
+ No flaming. In case that wasn't clear.
+ Treat everyone posting with respect. We want this to be a safe place to have discussions and to ask questions.
+ Disagreeing is one thing. We like debate. Bring it. Ad hom or personal attacks (anything of the "you're stupid" or "read the manual" variety will not be tolerated).
+ If someone asks a question that you do not want to answer, a) don't comment, or b) post links or resources but don't simply say, "Duh, Google."
+ On the flip side, if you’ve asked a question of someone and they’ve chosen not to answer, do not continue commenting/emailing them demanding an answer. Please respect that there are some topics that others simply do not want to speak about.
+ You can be angry -- racist sexist homophobes piss us off, too -- but don't direct that anger at community members. We're all on the same team here.
+ Understand that when discussing any type of politics/morality, there will have to be generalizations. For example, someone may say “I wish Republicans would just listen to pro-choice arguments.” Now, we understand that there are individuals within the Republican party who may be pro-choice. You don’t need to flame about your Aunt Jenny who lives in Alabama and votes Republican but believes in choice, and therefore we’re jerks for lumping all Republicans into that context. We know there will always be individual opinions within parties – hell, we wish there were more! – but please use common sense and good judgment to decide whether someone is simply using a word to describe a broad group of people or whether they’re name-calling. And if they’re name calling, send us an email. No flaming. Flamey bad.

Some Unsolicited Advice
+ Do not start a post with, "I'm really dumb, but..." You are not dumb. No question is stupid.
+ Please thoroughly read a post before you respond to it.
+ Lurk for a few days before posting, so you get a feel for what the community is about.

If you have a problem with something another member says, or if someone has violated a rule, please bring it to a mod's attention.

Rules subject to change as the community develops.

If you don't like the rules, join another community. Try feminist or the unmoderated feminist_fatale. (Or the community of your own personal political bent. This is LJ. It definitely exists.)

Mods are fshk and burninglilac.