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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (54342)	9/3/1999 2:32:00 PM
From: Michael M	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

CB, why would I want to start a thread devoted to male interests? My interests are human interests (flawed species though it may be). A thread without honest expression and consideration of male AND female views would be doomed in any attempt at meaningful examination of the human condition. Would excluding male "feelings" differ from excluding Negroes, Mexicans, high school drop-outs, professional athletes, atheists, catholics, environmentalists, etc? Actually, your post indicates the desirability of a male/female mix. Why do you think I belong on a "male" thread? Are you only interested in male contributions that mirror your own. I think a significant percentage of male posters here do that (and there are some who do not). I don't consider this an insult to anyone - just a fact (OK, an opinion). ***** Next time you review my posting history you will note that my contributions include -- An opening dispute with Joan about bias in the media in which she stopped debating and clearly implied that I was drunk (not ad hominem, of course). I responded by referring to her as Missy Joanie Baloney or some such. I then fended off a personal attack or two from Joan defenders and an attempt by Joan to paint me as a roving hyena "spoiling for a fight." The last of all this from me, as I recall was a request for Ish to defend remarks made about me(no defense offered). I began a series of exchanges with Steven re. Reagan, the Philippines and follow-on topics. While Steven and I may continue to disagree on important topics, I enjoyed the exchanges and thought them quite civil. Next, I joined a discussion about public schools and tried to avoid getting into an argument by saying I really didn't recall who was on what side. Joan immediately told me to buzz off unless I had the history of the discussion down pat. At some point, maybe here, maybe elsewhere, I tagged Joan with another unflattering nickname. The DC education discussion evolved into a discussion of DC's "real" geographical bounds. I recall attempts on both Joan and my part to be civil if not outright friendly to one another at this point. You, CB, went ballistic when I offered a clearly ridiculous and sarcastic solution for dealing with out-of-wedlock kids. After explaining that I wasn't "serious" the situation mellowed a bit and we, along with one or more others shared personal stories of growing up in the south and how it affected our feelings and relationships with blacks. About this time, I noted that you were asking questions about a trip to Canada. I sent you a PM (private only because I didn't want to be seen as a commercial spammer on the thread) about travel in Canada. I did not solicit your business in any way but simply offered insights gained from planning trips to Canada for others this Summer. We exchanged several friendly PMs on the subject of your trip. About the time you returned, I offered a question that I thought might spark an interesting discussion of environmentalism -- it ended up being a discussion of what extreme measures might be contemplated in trying to preserve the human species. Your first response was one of the strongest and most violent comments I have seen anywhere on the web. I noted my position on the subject and then tried to keep my comments to pointing out examples of sloppy arguments, i.e., the first/last couple would be committing adultery and/or incest. Throughout the arguments, nearly every comment I offered contained a statement of respect for the opinions of others. I even made an actual apology to Joan on an OED comment. Throughout this period there were brief mini skirmishes with Edwarda, X and others. I made a few juvenile remarks and took a few. I made another self-deprecating remark to E, intended as humor which got me blistered. I trust that's been cleared up. My comment on the breast feeding issue was limited to saying I didn't have a position and that there seemed like there were points to be made for either side. About this time, I attempted to start another discussion re. the desirability of easing some teacher shortages by allowing the use of academically trained but non "teacher certified" individuals in the classroom. There may have been one response to that -- the three day breast feeding war raged on. Later, I tried again to start a discussion of whether dogs would prefer to remain dogs, even if given a chance to be human. One response (darn good one). Evening before last I used the term "Girl Talk" to describe the feelie thread. This in a generally complimentary msg to Christine (who is generally on the receiving end of some really rude stuff, from all quarters). Joan took offense. I commented. The rest is recent history. No doubt I would rephrase my comments (editing is an obsession) in restating my reply to Joan. That said, I am not uncomfortable with any point I tried to make. I specifically said that I was not advocating any change in the character of feelies. And, although noting my opinion that women here band together on women's issues, I took pains to note that women are not all the same and used a number of examples that apply to women I've observed on feelies. No doubt this recap of my feelings posting history is flawed. However, I do want you to point out to me, if you can, an argument that my presence here has been/is hostile to women. As someone trained and practiced in the law I know you know the drill. I will be interested to see whether you argue the fact or the law. Final note. Although, I don't care for PM, I receive a bit myself. I must note that more than one feelie female has offered support and more than one feelie female has indicated that there has been, at times, some feelie female whispering (PMing) that encouraged certain people to not respond to me and certainly not to encourage me by seeming to agree with me. Very fascinating. Peace.