It's more likely than you think.

So, over at ugly_crap on LJ, the comm members amuse themselves by doing the equivalent of telling ghost stories: finding the ugliest/most tasteless products possible and snarking them. Most of the time, things are pretty quiet there - it's quite rare that commenters disagree with the OP's judgement, and when it happens, it's usually pretty civil.

But when moira_aoibheane posts these high heels for babies, things get a little messy.

We have accusations that commenters have no sense of humour, cries of misogyny, and your standard "This isn't funny!" "That's because you have no sense of humour!" "ZOMG U JUST INSULTED MY SENSE OF HUMOUR U H00R!".

And, because no wank would be complete without it: invocation of Godwin's Law for absolutely no reason at all!

Small, but tasty.

bellasmommy links to a vaginapagina mod post about whether or not everyone who owns a vagina isn't grossly butthurt when it's implied that zhe is a woman.

stupid_free disagrees. For 700 comments, and counting....

Choice bits:

jack_jackrum: Some people who have vaginas are not women, ladies, or girls. I don't see how this is hard to understand. Have you been under a rock for the last 50 years?
freezer818: Seems like overdramatic, oversensitive hair-splitting that will cause more drama than it's meant to prevent. But what do I know, I'm just a lowly man. *crawls back under rock*

pettythiefIn the example the poster gives (paraphrasing) "recommend that women get pap-tests", how do you re-write that sentence so as not to offend people who have a cervix but don't call themselves 'a woman'? Can it be done? What are you supposed to say? "People with a cervix"? "Vagina-sapiens"? Is it fair of the cisgendered people to expect everyone to perform lexical gymnastics when they represent a tiny proportion of the populace? Unless of course there's a disproportionate number in that community, in which case it's a whole different ball-game.


...and, with that, I think I've burned out, since this whole post makes my head ache. Let's pick a pronoun and go with it.

The real problem is with a safe space that's so safe you're not allowed to say anything at all.