PD, plz advise. Satire device broken

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I mean, basically if a business or a performer says or does something that makes me uncomfortable, I can A: go along with the status quo in order to avoid rocking the boat, B: start quietly avoiding that business or performer without saying anything, or C: explain why it makes me uncomfortable, thus offering the business or performer the option of stopping and keeping my business, or continuing and losing it.

Which seems like the most mature and reasonable option? Even for women?

[xXRon_Paul_42016Xxx(weed)]

The existence of big, terrible things does not justify the existence of small, terrible things.

I too look forward to the glorious utopia where people dont tell jokes I dont like.

I look forward to a future in which ostensibly intelligent people don't dismiss a "joke" about women being harassed being posted in a public business as "just a sense of humor thing".

I mean, I know wanting to feel safe and reasonably respected in a bar absurdly outside of the realms of reality and clearly I don't know my place, but a girl can dream.

But as you said earlier, women already dont feel safe in public bathrooms. If the sign is in bad taste, or just humor, or a long lost Andy Warhol original is irrelevant. The sign is a non-issue, but by posting this on a news website it suddenly becomes something important, something to talk about. This article wasnt written to actually communicate anything, it only exists to generate ad clicks. Articles like these are information junk food, they dont contribute anything, they dont tell you anything you need to know, they dont make any new points. All you get out of it is your daily dose of anger. Its white noise and it kills your brain.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Patton Oswalt's essay on rape jokes might be appropriate to insert here:

http://www.pattonoswalt.com/index.cfm?id=167&page=spew

It's the third part, so you'll have to scroll down.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

The existence of big, terrible things does not justify the existence of small, terrible things.

I too look forward to the glorious utopia where people dont tell jokes I dont like.

I look forward to a future in which ostensibly intelligent people don't dismiss a "joke" about women being harassed being posted in a public business as "just a sense of humor thing".

I mean, I know wanting to feel safe and reasonably respected in a bar absurdly outside of the realms of reality and clearly I don't know my place, but a girl can dream.

But as you said earlier, women already dont feel safe in public bathrooms. If the sign is in bad taste, or just humor, or a long lost Andy Warhol original is irrelevant. The sign is a non-issue, but by posting this on a news website it suddenly becomes something important, something to talk about. This article wasnt written to actually communicate anything, it only exists to generate ad clicks. Articles like these are information junk food, they dont contribute anything, they dont tell you anything you need to know, they dont make any new points. All you get out of it is your daily dose of anger. Its white noise and it kills your brain.

You don't think that articles that talk openly about rape culture and how women feel about being objectified are important things to talk about?

You don't think that shining light on how women already feel unsafe in public bathrooms (well, all the time, really, but including public bathrooms because a fair number of assaults happen in them) is relevant to anything?

Wow, OK.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Keep in mind that this article was published in a Saskatoon paper. Saskatoon has about 200k residents. It's tiny, not that much actually happens, and this is an avenue for opening a public dialogue about social attitudes toward sexual harassment and other cultural contributors to the trivializing/victimization of women. Maybe you think that's not worth taking up space in a newspaper for, but I have a feeling that quite a few women do.

[LMNO]

Watch out Nigel, you're getting uppity again.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Watch out Nigel, you're getting uppity again.

I know, I know, I should sit in the back and pretend to laugh, to maintain my ladylike demeanor.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I think I'm just gonna re-quote Paes and leave it at that, because he really basically said it all.

It's probably a small symbolic thing for me if I'm at the restaurant, because it's not a sign saying "Lol, you personally being assaulted or exploited in the restroom is something that very well could happen", but in the face of all of the really big problems you acknowledge need to be addressed, it would probably be really nice to use a public toilet without being  explicitly reminded of that threat, I imagine.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

No wait, I do have a couple more things.

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Not_as_bad_as

Dear Muslima,
Stop whining, will you. Yes, yes, I know you had your genitals mutilated with a razor blade, and...yawn...don't tell me yet again, I know you aren't allowed to drive a car, and you can't leave the house without a male relative, and your husband is allowed to beat you, and you'll be stoned to death if you commit adultery. But stop whining, will you. Think of the suffering your poor American sisters have to put up with. Only this week I heard of one, she calls herself Skep"chick", and do you know what happened to her? A man in a hotel elevator invited her back to his room for coffee. I am not exaggerating. He really did. He invited her back to his room for coffee. Of course she said no, and of course he didn't lay a finger on her, but even so...And you, Muslima, think you have misogyny to complain about! For goodness sake grow up, or at least grow a thicker skin.

[The Wizard Joseph]

Normally I would run like hell at this point but since I'm locked into the thread id like to issue a few warnings about the absolute statements already being thrown around.

Articles like this make great clickbait and are often slanted to shok moar but that is not relevant to whether the sign was inappropriate for a public place.

ALL women have had to deal with the ogling of men. This is not entirely our fault as we do the same to cars, delicious foods, vintage games and other men in a range of sexual and non sexual contexts. It's reflex and part of mating signaling. It must be curbed and can be but even the most well mannered gent has the autoogle still kicking.

Womens do it too.
Womens do it too.
Womens do it too.
Thrice cuz it's true.

SOME men have done enough harm that MANY OR MOST women feel uncomfortable in a public bathroom. I suspect this is in part why they tend to go in groups. One to do her business and one to kick open the other stalls looking for creepers. It's just practical.


And the sign will very uncomfortably remind the traumatized and is a bad choice.
The one vocal and assertive enough to complain should have been taken as a process indicator by the manager right away. If one pops up then probably many have been effected and the problem needs to be addressed. Then they screwed up a little and backtracked some and now we got a story.

there were at least 4 replys while I wrote this and I AIN'T reviewing 'em an' rewriting this.

[xXRon_Paul_42016Xxx(weed)]

The existence of big, terrible things does not justify the existence of small, terrible things.

I too look forward to the glorious utopia where people dont tell jokes I dont like.

I look forward to a future in which ostensibly intelligent people don't dismiss a "joke" about women being harassed being posted in a public business as "just a sense of humor thing".

I mean, I know wanting to feel safe and reasonably respected in a bar absurdly outside of the realms of reality and clearly I don't know my place, but a girl can dream.

But as you said earlier, women already dont feel safe in public bathrooms. If the sign is in bad taste, or just humor, or a long lost Andy Warhol original is irrelevant. The sign is a non-issue, but by posting this on a news website it suddenly becomes something important, something to talk about. This article wasnt written to actually communicate anything, it only exists to generate ad clicks. Articles like these are information junk food, they dont contribute anything, they dont tell you anything you need to know, they dont make any new points. All you get out of it is your daily dose of anger. Its white noise and it kills your brain.

You don't think that articles that talk openly about rape culture and how women feel about being objectified are important things to talk about?

You don't think that shining light on how women already feel unsafe in public bathrooms (well, all the time, really, but including public bathrooms because a fair number of assaults happen in them) is relevant to anything?

Wow, OK.

Then why not write an article about that? Because few people would read it. It wouldnt generate controversy. Maybe you could get the most virulent /r/theredpill idiot to be stupid about it, but the majority of people would agree with it.  Do you really think that if this was an article about sexual assaults in public bathrooms anyone in this thread would deny this was a problem? This article isnt about that, its about a sign being taken down in a bar. Its stupid, on purpose. That makes it controversial which creates more ad clicks. But that controversy doesnt help, it doesnt facilitate discussion, its just a chance for people to fling shit at each other. Articles like these make things worse. It doesnt matter what "side" of the issue they take or even what issue it is.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

It's not necessarily about being traumatized, and it's not necessarily about "ogling". It's more the "LOL peeping toms, totes funny joke eh?" attitude of posting that sign in the bathroom of a public bar that is expected to be used by men and women.

I'm not going to try to speak for all women, but only for myself when I say that I think the sign is inappropriate, and, yes, reflective of facets of rape culture. Just as the woman in the article spoke for herself.

What I find more troubling than the sign, though, is the (entirely from men, so far) response of "It's not important, it's just a joke, there's no reason to make an issue of it", which seems like essentially saying "hey, we don't care what you think about this thing, we think it's trivial and funny". Which further reinforces everything said earlier about the humor of the sign trivializing women, and women's concerns and feelings.

[The Wizard Joseph]

The existence of big, terrible things does not justify the existence of small, terrible things.

I too look forward to the glorious utopia where people dont tell jokes I dont like.

I look forward to a future in which ostensibly intelligent people don't dismiss a "joke" about women being harassed being posted in a public business as "just a sense of humor thing".

I mean, I know wanting to feel safe and reasonably respected in a bar absurdly outside of the realms of reality and clearly I don't know my place, but a girl can dream.

But as you said earlier, women already dont feel safe in public bathrooms. If the sign is in bad taste, or just humor, or a long lost Andy Warhol original is irrelevant. The sign is a non-issue, but by posting this on a news website it suddenly becomes something important, something to talk about. This article wasnt written to actually communicate anything, it only exists to generate ad clicks. Articles like these are information junk food, they dont contribute anything, they dont tell you anything you need to know, they dont make any new points. All you get out of it is your daily dose of anger. Its white noise and it kills your brain.

You don't think that articles that talk openly about rape culture and how women feel about being objectified are important things to talk about?

You don't think that shining light on how women already feel unsafe in public bathrooms (well, all the time, really, but including public bathrooms because a fair number of assaults happen in them) is relevant to anything?

Wow, OK.

Then why not write an article about that? Because few people would read it. It wouldnt generate controversy. Maybe you could get the most virulent /r/theredpill idiot to be stupid about it, but the majority of people would agree with it.  Do you really think that if this was an article about sexual assaults in public bathrooms anyone in this thread would deny this was a problem? This article isnt about that, its about a sign being taken down in a bar. Its stupid, on purpose. That makes it controversial which creates more ad clicks. But that controversy doesnt help, it doesnt facilitate discussion, its just a chance for people to fling shit at each other. Articles like these make things worse. It doesnt matter what "side" of the issue they take or even what issue it is.

Oh so now controversy doesn't help and facilitate discussion.
All people do is fling shit cuz they're stupid monkeys. Or women... right RP?
Doesn't matter what side of the women's rights issue your on huh?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

The existence of big, terrible things does not justify the existence of small, terrible things.

I too look forward to the glorious utopia where people dont tell jokes I dont like.

I look forward to a future in which ostensibly intelligent people don't dismiss a "joke" about women being harassed being posted in a public business as "just a sense of humor thing".

I mean, I know wanting to feel safe and reasonably respected in a bar absurdly outside of the realms of reality and clearly I don't know my place, but a girl can dream.

But as you said earlier, women already dont feel safe in public bathrooms. If the sign is in bad taste, or just humor, or a long lost Andy Warhol original is irrelevant. The sign is a non-issue, but by posting this on a news website it suddenly becomes something important, something to talk about. This article wasnt written to actually communicate anything, it only exists to generate ad clicks. Articles like these are information junk food, they dont contribute anything, they dont tell you anything you need to know, they dont make any new points. All you get out of it is your daily dose of anger. Its white noise and it kills your brain.

You don't think that articles that talk openly about rape culture and how women feel about being objectified are important things to talk about?

You don't think that shining light on how women already feel unsafe in public bathrooms (well, all the time, really, but including public bathrooms because a fair number of assaults happen in them) is relevant to anything?

Wow, OK.

Then why not write an article about that? Because few people would read it. It wouldnt generate controversy. Maybe you could get the most virulent /r/theredpill idiot to be stupid about it, but the majority of people would agree with it.  Do you really think that if this was an article about sexual assaults in public bathrooms anyone in this thread would deny this was a problem? This article isnt about that, its about a sign being taken down in a bar. Its stupid, on purpose. That makes it controversial which creates more ad clicks. But that controversy doesnt help, it doesnt facilitate discussion, its just a chance for people to fling shit at each other. Articles like these make things worse. It doesnt matter what "side" of the issue they take or even what issue it is.

So you're taking issue with the way the article is written, because it doesn't draw enough attention to the issues of sexual harassment and rape culture?

Just trying to clarify your actual stance, here.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

And for the third time, before anyone else decides to shift the focus to the newsworthiness of the article again... it's fucking SASKATOON. The fact that you have access to it on the internet does not make it magically no longer a SASKATOON NEWSPAPER. Just look at the other local news articles in it to get a feel for just how much happens there.