They/Them She/Her He/Him - as you will

[TomC]

Would describing oneself as "faggot" be a problem? Perhaps a little to thorough and honest?

Is "faggot" a gender?

No. It's gender+

I have a very gendered screen name. Anybody sufficiently familiar with the language spoken on IIDB to communicate will know that much about me.

That's not true of all posters. You and Ziprhead have so much in common.

Adding "faggot" would just be strong evidence that I'm also gay, really out, and kinda mouthy without much regard for decorum.

It seems to me that that belongs in a 'sexual orientation' field, not a 'gender' field. But then, perhaps that's because I know what I and most people mean by sexual orientation, but I don't know what iidb means, or shall decide to mean, by 'gender'.

I am trying to get clarity around this field and whether iidb has introduced new rules of engagement.

Honestly, when I made the suggestion, I didn't expect it to become a venue for performance art.

I've been on many forums where one of the little symbols by your screen name was the male symbol, the female symbol, a combination symbol, or none. It made it easier to be polite is all. I don't recall ever seeing gendering weaponized before IIDB/TFT.
Tom

 

[Metaphor]

Would describing oneself as "faggot" be a problem? Perhaps a little to thorough and honest?

Is "faggot" a gender?

No. It's gender+

I have a very gendered screen name. Anybody sufficiently familiar with the language spoken on IIDB to communicate will know that much about me.

That's not true of all posters. You and Ziprhead have so much in common.

Adding "faggot" would just be strong evidence that I'm also gay, really out, and kinda mouthy without much regard for decorum.

It seems to me that that belongs in a 'sexual orientation' field, not a 'gender' field. But then, perhaps that's because I know what I and most people mean by sexual orientation, but I don't know what iidb means, or shall decide to mean, by 'gender'.

I am trying to get clarity around this field and whether iidb has introduced new rules of engagement.

Honestly, when I made the suggestion, I didn't expect it to become a venue for performance art.

I don't mean it to be performance art. I mean I have been sanctioned by iidb for violating terms of use before, even though I do not believe I violated them as they were explained to me.

I can't find the 'terms of use' for the board (was it displayed only when I signed up, in 2007??)

If the ToU are somewhere, can a moderator please link to them?

 

[laughing dog]

Would describing oneself as "faggot" be a problem? Perhaps a little to thorough and honest?

Is "faggot" a gender?

No. It's gender+

I have a very gendered screen name. Anybody sufficiently familiar with the language spoken on IIDB to communicate will know that much about me.

That's not true of all posters. You and Ziprhead have so much in common.

Adding "faggot" would just be strong evidence that I'm also gay, really out, and kinda mouthy without much regard for decorum.

It seems to me that that belongs in a 'sexual orientation' field, not a 'gender' field. But then, perhaps that's because I know what I and most people mean by sexual orientation, but I don't know what iidb means, or shall decide to mean, by 'gender'.

I am trying to get clarity around this field and whether iidb has introduced new rules of engagement.

Honestly, when I made the suggestion, I didn't expect it to become a venue for performance art.

I don't mean it to be performance art. I mean I have been sanctioned by iidb for violating terms of use before, even though I do not believe I violated them as they were explained to me.

I can't find the 'terms of use' for the board (was it displayed only when I signed up, in 2007??)

If the ToU are somewhere, can a moderator please link to them?

If you look at the menu at the bottom of the page, there is Terms and rules link.

 

[Metaphor]

Would describing oneself as "faggot" be a problem? Perhaps a little to thorough and honest?

Is "faggot" a gender?

No. It's gender+

I have a very gendered screen name. Anybody sufficiently familiar with the language spoken on IIDB to communicate will know that much about me.

That's not true of all posters. You and Ziprhead have so much in common.

Adding "faggot" would just be strong evidence that I'm also gay, really out, and kinda mouthy without much regard for decorum.

It seems to me that that belongs in a 'sexual orientation' field, not a 'gender' field. But then, perhaps that's because I know what I and most people mean by sexual orientation, but I don't know what iidb means, or shall decide to mean, by 'gender'.

I am trying to get clarity around this field and whether iidb has introduced new rules of engagement.

Honestly, when I made the suggestion, I didn't expect it to become a venue for performance art.

I don't mean it to be performance art. I mean I have been sanctioned by iidb for violating terms of use before, even though I do not believe I violated them as they were explained to me.

I can't find the 'terms of use' for the board (was it displayed only when I signed up, in 2007??)

If the ToU are somewhere, can a moderator please link to them?

If you look at the menu at the bottom of the page, there is Terms and rules link.

I referred to that link above. The terms and rules displayed there are completely silent on the 'terms of use' violations I have seen threads shut down for and for violations I have been personally sanctioned for. The terms there say, in full:

The providers ("we", "us", "our") of the service provided by this web site ("Service") are not responsible for any user-generated content and accounts. Content submitted express the views of their author only.
This Service is only available to users who are at least 13 years old. If you are younger than this, please do not register for this Service. If you register for this Service, you represent that you are this age or older.
All content you submit, upload, or otherwise make available to the Service ("Content") may be reviewed by staff members. All Content you submit or upload may be sent to third-party verification services (including, but not limited to, spam prevention services). Do not submit any Content that you consider to be private or confidential.
You agree to not use the Service to submit or link to any Content which is defamatory, abusive, hateful, threatening, spam or spam-like, likely to offend, contains adult or objectionable content, contains personal information of others, risks copyright infringement, encourages unlawful activity, or otherwise violates any laws. You are entirely responsible for the content of, and any harm resulting from, that Content or your conduct.
We may remove or modify any Content submitted at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice. Requests for Content to be removed or modified will be undertaken only at our discretion. We may terminate your access to all or any part of the Service at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice.
You are granting us with a non-exclusive, permanent, irrevocable, unlimited license to use, publish, or re-publish your Content in connection with the Service. You retain copyright over the Content.
These terms may be changed at any time without notice.
If you do not agree with these terms, please do not register or use the Service. Use of the Service constitutes acceptance of these terms. If you wish to close your account, please contact us.

A thread (that I did not participate in) was recently closed by a moderator because of 'accusations of lying' - but accusations of lying is not in the rules above. I don't want to get into too many details, because it's discussing moderation (which is also apparently against the rules, but is not in the above terms of use either).

I am really and seriously and sincerely trying to understand what iidb expects in general and from this new 'gender' field in particular.

 

[Patooka]

If you want clarification for moderation you could either:

1) Act like an obtuse pedantic prick, the type of person who would argue ad nauseum so much in a D&D run people start forgetting to invite him/her/they for future games (also known as "acting like a Rimmer" or "acting like Major Burns")
or
2) Query the mods in private

I'm sure there are a plethora of nuanced variations which I am ignoring but which approach do you think is more productive?

 

[Metaphor]

If you want clarification for moderation you could either:

1) Act like an obtuse pedantic prick, the type of person who would argue ad nauseum so much in a D&D run people start forgetting to invite him/her/they for future games (also known as "acting like a Rimmer" or "acting like Major Burns")

or
2) Query the mods in private

I'm sure there are a plethora of nuanced variations which I am ignoring but which approach do you think is more productive?

I don't know. I haven't yet taken either approach so I don't know which would produce (faster) results.

However, since the mods started a thread about this new feature, it seems to me the most logical place to field queries is within the thread they started.

(Also: I am the exact opposite of a D&D rules-Nazi as a player or DM, but I do respect that a DM, in fact, sets the rules. The rules can be whatever they want, but they should be knowable. There should be natural justice, even in a world where the bosses have legendary actions).

 

[Eldarion Lathria]

Bera, Berak
Eura, Eurak

Nothing else is needed.

Eldarion Lathria

 

[Politesse]

Would describing oneself as "faggot" be a problem? Perhaps a little to thorough and honest?

Is "faggot" a gender?

No. It's gender+

I have a very gendered screen name. Anybody sufficiently familiar with the language spoken on IIDB to communicate will know that much about me.

That's not true of all posters. You and Ziprhead have so much in common.

Adding "faggot" would just be strong evidence that I'm also gay, really out, and kinda mouthy without much regard for decorum.

It seems to me that that belongs in a 'sexual orientation' field, not a 'gender' field. But then, perhaps that's because I know what I and most people mean by sexual orientation, but I don't know what iidb means, or shall decide to mean, by 'gender'.

I am trying to get clarity around this field and whether iidb has introduced new rules of engagement.

Honestly, when I made the suggestion, I didn't expect it to become a venue for performance art.

I don't mean it to be performance art. I mean I have been sanctioned by iidb for violating terms of use before, even though I do not believe I violated them as they were explained to me.

I can't find the 'terms of use' for the board (was it displayed only when I signed up, in 2007??)

If the ToU are somewhere, can a moderator please link to them?

If you look at the menu at the bottom of the page, there is Terms and rules link.

Which says nothing about this policy...

 

[Politesse]

If you want clarification for moderation you could either:

1) Act like an obtuse pedantic prick, the type of person who would argue ad nauseum so much in a D&D run people start forgetting to invite him/her/they for future games (also known as "acting like a Rimmer" or "acting like Major Burns")
or
2) Query the mods in private

I'm sure there are a plethora of nuanced variations which I am ignoring but which approach do you think is more productive?

I don't really see why having a published set of moderation policies would be such a problem. Most fora have them. If you're going to enforce rules, it's only reasonable to make them available for posters to read. Wouldn't it make less work for our volunteer moderators if PMing them weren't the only way to find out what the forum rules are?

 

[Metaphor]

If you want clarification for moderation you could either:

1) Act like an obtuse pedantic prick, the type of person who would argue ad nauseum so much in a D&D run people start forgetting to invite him/her/they for future games (also known as "acting like a Rimmer" or "acting like Major Burns")
or
2) Query the mods in private

I'm sure there are a plethora of nuanced variations which I am ignoring but which approach do you think is more productive?

I don't really see why having a published set of moderation policies would be such a problem. Most fora have them. If you're going to enforce rules, it's only reasonable to make them available for posters to read. Wouldn't it make less work for our volunteer moderators if PMing them weren't the only way to find out what the forum rules are?

I dare say there is very little Politesse and I agree on, but I couldn't agree more with this. It is--dare I say--Kafkaesque to have a set of rules that the site owner and moderators have decided upon but then not let the users know what they are.

 

[SigmatheZeta]

Which says nothing about this policy...

Honestly, I think that your gender is kind of like the place where you say you are from. If you want to say you are from "The Milky Way Galaxy" or "The Middle of Nowhere," then that suits me down to the ground. If you want to say that your gender is "dragon" or "dragoness," then that suits me just fine. It is so hard to be offensive with this purely by accident that it literally defies belief.

 

[blastula]

FYI for our fellow politickers:
A gender field has been added to user profiles to denote pronouns if you wish to use it.

Add the pronouns you’d like to be used, “He/Him” or “They/Them” or “She/Her” so that people can remember what you use.

Are the above sets of pronouns the only pronouns available, or are they just an illustration/example?

For those who don’t care - leave it blank. But for those who wish folks would use something particular, there it is.
Click on your name at the top right and go to “account details” then scroll down to gender.

And thanks to TomC for the suggestion.

If somebody puts suggested pronouns in that field, are moderators going to enforce use of the pronouns? I am unclear on the rules of this new policy and the 'Terms and rules' link on the bottom right does not talk about pronoun usage.

Is there nothing you can't suck the joy out of? What new policy? It's not that serious.

Just go into your account details and write whatever you want or not.

By the way, the terms and rules link just goes to some Xenforo boilerplate text. It's not IIDB's or TFT's crafted rules. I found this out recently because I had an issue with moderation and they referenced some rule here that I never heard of and I went to look for the rules and only found that one page too. But I did find their old rules at the web archive. It didn't have that alleged rule.

Terms of Service - Talk Freethought

 

[Gospel]

Just let Metaphor use the word faggot if Metaphor wants to. I don't see any harm in us referring to Metaphor as faggot if that's what Metaphor wants.

 

[Metaphor]

FYI for our fellow politickers:
A gender field has been added to user profiles to denote pronouns if you wish to use it.

Add the pronouns you’d like to be used, “He/Him” or “They/Them” or “She/Her” so that people can remember what you use.

Are the above sets of pronouns the only pronouns available, or are they just an illustration/example?

For those who don’t care - leave it blank. But for those who wish folks would use something particular, there it is.
Click on your name at the top right and go to “account details” then scroll down to gender.

And thanks to TomC for the suggestion.

If somebody puts suggested pronouns in that field, are moderators going to enforce use of the pronouns? I am unclear on the rules of this new policy and the 'Terms and rules' link on the bottom right does not talk about pronoun usage.

Is there nothing you can't suck the joy out of?

Henry Cavill didn't return my calls.

What new policy?

I don't know. Is there a new policy? That's what I'm enquiring about. I have been given demerit points for viloating a policy I did not know I was violating, and in fact the post for which I got the reprimand I had gone out of my way to not violate the policy as I understood it. I want to know the rules of engagement.

You know what sucks the joy out of something? Being subject to a policy which you don't know the terms of and which may be enforced selectively, especially since you don't know the terms and there is no appeal.

It's not that serious.

How do you know? This board has a reprimand system and people have been permanently banned, presumably for violating policies.

Just go into your account details and write whatever you want.

By the way, the terms and rules link just goes to some Xenforo boilerplate text. It's not IIDB's or TFT's crafted rules. I found this out recently because I had an issue with moderation and they referenced some rule here that I never heard of and I went to look for the rules and only found that one page too. But I did find their old rules at the web archive. It didn't have that alleged rule.

Terms of Service - Talk Freethought

So, you agree with me that the rules should be made available, but you use your post to attack me instead?

Moderators: Can we please have terms of use made available to the users, including policies on 'gender' discussion?

 

[blastula]

So, you agree with me that the rules should be made available, but you use your post to attack me instead?

Moderators: Can we please have terms of use made available to the users, including policies on 'gender' discussion?

Psst, ixnay on the addingyay oremay ulesray alktay.

 

[Metaphor]

So, you agree with me that the rules should be made available, but you use your post to attack me instead?

Moderators: Can we please have terms of use made available to the users, including policies on 'gender' discussion?

Psst, ixnay on the addingyay oremay ulesray alktay.

No fucking idea what any of your post means.

 

[blastula]

Yeah, those linguistics would be far too advanced. My fault, knowing you already had trouble with plain English. Lo siento.

 

[Politesse]

So... does the forum have rules or not?

If you want clarification for moderation you could either:

1) Act like an obtuse pedantic prick, the type of person who would argue ad nauseum so much in a D&D run people start forgetting to invite him/her/they for future games (also known as "acting like a Rimmer" or "acting like Major Burns")
or
2) Query the mods in private

I'm sure there are a plethora of nuanced variations which I am ignoring but which approach do you think is more productive?

I don't really see why having a published set of moderation policies would be such a problem. Most fora have them. If you're going to enforce rules, it's only reasonable to make them available for posters to read. Wouldn't it make less work for our volunteer moderators if PMing them weren't the only way to find out what the forum rules are?

I dare say there is very little Politesse and I agree on, but I couldn't agree more with this. It is--dare I say--Kafkaesque to have a set of rules that the site owner and moderators have decided upon but then not let the users know what they are.

Kafkaesque seems a bit dramatic. But if the forum does, in fact, have rules, it would be interesting and perhaps productive to able to read them. This is not the only policy I'm curious about, though it is the only one I've ever been censured for. If I know that a rule exists, I will generally endeavor to follow it; I'm prickly, not antinomian.

 

[Bomb#20]

Bera, Berak
Eura, Eurak

Nothing else is needed.

Eldarion Lathria

Yes, go ahead, bask in our adulation...

 

[Metaphor]

Yeah, those linguistics would be far too advanced. My fault, knowing you already had trouble with plain English. Lo siento.

But not sorry enough to explain yourself?

EDIT: Your post didn't do both, and I did not ask for the site to add more rules.