uniformity or diversity?

[lolanarchy]

i am curious, are any of the participants here women?

are any of you people of color?

(and i'm talking about your real selves, not avatars or internet personas...)

i realize there's a stereotype in play, i'm just trying to gauge how real it is...

[infinity0]

i'm chinese. i know a black anarchist but he's not on these forums.

what's your point? this website is hosted in the US.

[Crustanarchy]

That better not be who I think it is!

I know numerous female anarchists who do not participate on the forums. I know a few "people of color" anarchists. Most of my other ethnicity anarchists experience comes from literature, etc.

[dinsdale]

This is a men's only forum. Women aren't allowed. There's a custom built-in filter that shunts women to a nunnery.

A more interesting question is what Myers-Briggs types come here. There aer the four temperaments: SP, NF, SJ, and NT. I think it's safe to say there are no SJs that would come anywhere near this place. But that's just a guess.

[lolanarchy]

so, what is it about anarchism, or this forum, that keeps women and people of color away? for your ideology to have any validity at all, it seems it ought to appeal to more than mostly white males, right?

[infinity0]

a set of ideas is a set of ideas. analysing why people believe what they believe may be interesting but it is independent of the validity or usefulness of the ideas themselves. you can turn this around onto any ideology:
- why is it that most (ideological) capitalists are rich?
- why does the prevailing economic theories coincidentally benefit (economic) capitalists the most?
- why is it that most internet trolls on forums have very few friends in real life?
these are some very interesting questions (especially the last one) but they do not tell us anything about the ideas themselves.

as to your attack-question, you should realise that most regular internet users (from english-speaking countries) are white males.

why is this? when you have answered this question, you will have answered your question.

[dinsdale]

so, what is it about anarchism, or this forum, that keeps women and people of color away? for your ideology to have any validity at all, it seems it ought to appeal to more than mostly white males, right?

I forgot to add this is a whites only forum.

[MilitancyFetish]

Let's face it: its a shame that the demographics on Flag are so narrow. It's not something to feel guilted about, but its good to be aware of and ask ourselves why it is the case.

[non-platformist]

My sense is that the alienation and mediation of this format/medium lends itself to the most alienated and accustomed-to-mediation types. That would be young, straight, white males. Let's face it, we are the most fucked up subgroup of anarchists with the most problems accruing to us as the result of living in the US: patriarchy hurts men too, racism hurts white people too, heterosexism hurts dudes too. Straight white (and mostly young--let's not leave that out) men have the most time to spend sitting in front of computers because we can't get laid.

[MilitancyFetish]

My sense is that the alienation and mediation of this format/medium lends itself to the most alienated and accustomed-to-mediation types. That would be young, straight, white males. Let's face it, we are the most fucked up subgroup of anarchists with the most problems accruing to us as the result of living in the US: patriarchy hurts men too, racism hurts white people too, heterosexism hurts dudes too. Straight white (and mostly young--let's not leave that out) men have the most time to spend sitting in front of computers because we can't get laid.

Sad but true.

[Insecuritykiller]

Man do you guys even realise most of the world almost worships white people? You go overseas with a black person and see how you are each treated.

There's no reason why we shouldn't be proud of who we are and how we look just like anyone else. And we are all proud of each other. Pats on backs all round, everyone loves each other. Don't we all look wicked, aren't our cultures great!

Now, the world is moveing away from nationalism and the world is becomeing a one people. Thats the way it is, and we are going to form a new identity as the years pass by.

[texanarchy]

I'm from Texas, does that count? for anything?

"what's your point? this website is hosted in the US."

Last I checked, the US is approximately 50% female. Depending on how you count, it is about 70% white. So, what's your point?

"why is it that most ... capitalists are rich?"

Because capitalism keeps them rich. It benefits them. More importantly, it keeps them in charge. I don't see how that relates to this board being almost exclusively white and male.

"you should realise that most regular internet users ... are white males."

But then why are there more women at ASC then there are here? Or DU? Or freerepublic? Or pretty much every political forum of every stripe except anarchist? Why? I think the OP has a legit question.

"I forgot to add this is a whites only forum."

You forgot to tell the Chinese guy.

"but its good to be aware of and ask ourselves why it is the case."

Got any answers? Clues?

"Straight white .... men have the most time to spend sitting in front of computers because we can't get laid."

That whole bit about white males being the most oppressed subgroup, was a joke right? Are you really saying non-white men get laid more than white men? I'm pretty sure almost anyone can get laid if they really want to.

"There's no reason why we shouldn't be proud of who we are..."

Ok, but how come there's no women and almost no people of color here?

[MilitancyFetish]

"but its good to be aware of and ask ourselves why it is the case."

Got any answers? Clues?

Nope, sorry. Don't mind me, I'm just an idiot.

[dinsdale]

"I forgot to add this is a whites only forum."

You forgot to tell the Chinese guy.

The white guys only filter is foolproof. Anyone here who claims he's Chinese is not serious.

[|Y|]

texanarchy,

But then why are there more women at ASC then there are here?

Anarcho-capitalism is statist, and it gives them power.

Or DU?

DU is statist and it gives them power.

Or freerepublic?

Freeperville is statist and it gives them power.

Or pretty much every political forum of every stripe except anarchist?

Pretty much every other political forum of every strip that isn't anarchist gives people power.

Got any answers? Clues?

It's simple, women are considered property in the vast majority of the world. And that has created a social requirement for women to be treated equally. However, what capitalism has done is created this condition whereby women aren't property any more than men, that women can have men as property and vice versa. It hasn't actually gotten rid of the "people as property" dynamic, only now we have women bosses telling men what to do and so on. Western feminism has created essentially the Powerful Woman concept, and they cannot see anarchism giving them the same thing because anarchism would deny them the property dynamic (but it would also deny men the property dynamic, which still exists in the third world). They've fallen for it.

If I was only recently introduced to my propertarian power as an individual, I'd be afraid of ascribing to a theory that denies me that power completely.

That whole bit about white males being the most oppressed subgroup, was a joke right? Are you really saying non-white men get laid more than white men?

I'm sure it was a joke about the geek dynamic, which is true to an extent. There's truth to every joke pretty much.

Ok, but how come there's no women and almost no people of color here?

Because the state gives minorities more power in their eyes. The white male, having power for so long, is almost invariably the first of the philosophers to realize their own condition, despise it, and write something about it. It is of no surprise that most of the major writers on classical anarchism were whites of various nationalities. Minorities, however, have a more difficult time getting to this point because they never had power, and they want it, because the state intices them with it.