I guess I would like advice here from Zippy, Cane, Keoni and any other male bloggers who visit here. SSM has just gone down. Now, (fortunately) SSM has been quoted fairly extensively elsewhere.
At the same time Vanessa is not feeling like posting much.
That’s two in one day.
Now, the issue I have is that we are (generally) not the husbands of these women. But women, in general, are more vulnerable. Particularly women with kids — because the family court version of the swat team is uplifting the kids.
I think collective blogs help women. Us guys, less so. We are ornery and snarl: the only collective blogs that work (for guys) have a benign dictator and minions. And we can (as guys) say what the church teaches — and in fact disagree with others about what the church teaches — without getting personal.
But women see things differently (at least in my experience) and the kind of harsh counsel that a man will appreciate can be destructive. We therefore need women to contribute. Safely. In the anarchy that is cyberspace, where speech is free.
My question is how can the church — in its cyberspace form — allow for the necessary conversations women are having right now, that are leading to a correction from the current heresies (Such as feminism) that are so destructive?
And without in anyway subverting their husband’s role as leader and provider.
I’ve honestly not given this (the problem of female softness and vulnerability – which are strengths in a woman – driving them out of cyberspace) much thought.
The Internet has always been the Wild West, and I already don’t play particularly well with others; so I just say what I want to say in my own venue, comment elsewhere when I think I have something to add to a discussion, and that’s that. I don’t know how to make the Internet into something less anarchic; and when we do attempt to civilize it (say by creating “less public” spaces) it takes on a different character entirely. Yet in the absence of hierarchy things strongly tend toward the bottom, which will naturally drive out those with a more genteel disposition, i.e., the more feminine women. Plus it may be that more feminine women by their nature are just less interested in online discussion.
The Wild West seems to be the Internet’s nature; and unlike the Wild West there is no obvious avenue for civilizing it.
I think one of the “safer” ways for women to leave a mark is in the form of the anonymous e-book.
Funny story- I read Zippys comment and thought “I like online discussion..does this mean I am unfeminine?” And then I realized that in over-personalizing Zippys comment I am indeed feminine. lol.
Zippy, agree on the Online WIld West analogy. But the towns in the West has posses. Most of the men in the blogoverse are moderately to significantly misanthropic:/
At work, we are modifying a wordpress blog so it has membership — for copyright reasons: we we teach (if is a teaching site) we put in sldes from papers farily frequently and widely publishing them would offend the legal trolls of academic publishing/
I’m aware the TC ladies have a private combox that is members only where they chat.
But we need a few Svars and Ferds. Seriously. Knights errant who do not live unless they hunt down the websites of those who do turn up and make the more gentle miserable.
A liitle bit of righteous anger and tech skillz can go a long way.