Monday, September 29, 2008

Pontification Rock

Why didn't they have that as one of the Schoolhouse Rock songs? Hell, what am I talking about? I'm too old to have watched any of that. But I've digressed, and I'm only on the fourth sentence...

Two burrs under my saddle today. The first--misogyny. Go ahead. Look it up. I'll wait...

It's maybe a strong word, but there's alot of misogyny going around HNT these days. I find it quite disturbing that new HNTers, whose first ones are a hand, or a belly or an ear, find it necessary to preface their post by saying that "next week will be better", or "sorry, this is all I could do this week". WTF?? Why should they feel they need to say that? Primarily because they think that's what HNT is all about--the boobies. Because they've been "recruited" to HNT by misogynists with the hope that that's what they're going to show. Misogynists who have no concept of what HNT is all about. Sure, I like the boobies as much as anyone else. But that has nothing to do with what makes HNT. And if the pressure out there to show them is so strong that newbies feel that they have to apologize, then maybe it's time to end HNT. Mysogyny. I don't like it. (Though I like typing the word. And I've learned that when you learn a new word, you should use it as often as possible...)

Secondly, and much more disturbing to me, is the current crop of trolls, stalkers and general assholes that are leaving comments around the community. In particular, two of my favorite bloggers have had nasty comments recently left for them. Comments that serve absolutely no purpose. Comments that elicited an attempt at rebuttals, with no discernable effect. Primarily because it's like arguing with a 2 year old. The two year old will always win. Or like the nerdy kid on the debate team--arguing just to hear themselves talk.

We've also had to watch a handful of bloggers close down sites, or move them, or change names, or go private--all because someone feels like stalking them. I can think of no fewer than six who have had to do that in the very recent past. That is simply inexcusable. Whatever happened to civility? Common courtesy? Good manners? What makes some people go to the lengths that they do to seem "anonymous"? What is so important to leaving a nasty comment that you would set up a fictitious blogger account with no information to reply to? Why would someone feel that a public display is necessary, when an private email exchange would be the mature thing to do?

It's times like this when I wonder if it's worth it to keep blogging. But then I realize that I've never (surprisingly) gotten nasty comments. Knock on wood. And if my friends that DO get them can get past them and continue, then I suppose I can too.
On a happier note--as I wrote this post, I was watching "West Side Story" on AMC. Good God, what a wonderful musical! Leonard Bernstein was totally on his game when he wrote the music for this! We'll be playing the symphonic suite to this for our March concert. We've seriously got our work cut out for us that month!

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