Ryisco (aka Vlad_the_Impaler) is getting his knickers in a twist again. Bye bye Vlad.

I've never gone by such a name as Vlad The Impaler. Your powers of deduction are every bit as bad as your powers of logic.

Vlad, you and your ilk have had your time here but now it's over. You're not wanted here any more. Leave before you're kicked out. There's a good lad.

I always think that those who purport to be so offended by so-called 'degrading' chat are trying to overcompensate for something. Maybe it allows you to assuage your guilt over the fact that you spend inordinate amounts of your free time frequenting masturbation sites rather than doing something useful for humanity. If you really care about the plight of a women, why not volunteer at a battered wives refuge, or at a local food bank (women have been affected by the economic downturn more than men, so this would be a good way of expressing solidarity with our sisters)? Please don't try to claim that you are somehow morally superior.

You have yet to provide a cogent argument in favour of suppressing free speech. Your entire view amounts to little more than, "ooh I don't like so and so's views" before proceeding to launch unwarranted personal attacks on them. If you are going to institute a rule which polices freedom of expression, you need to come up with a more compelling reason than "well, some people, some of the time, say some things that are a bit offensive to some people." Many people would find the concept of this website as a whole to be horribly degrading to women.

Great, now if we can get a straights only forum, that'd be perfect.

What an absolutely baffling rule to add to such a site. Curious what exactly is being "banned" here.

Could I inquire if someone is interested in degrading someone? What's wrong with that inherently?

I suppose I could understand "degrading" comments. But how is actively looking for someone who may be into a particular kink, itself, turning anyone off? I'm repulsed by tons of posts on this site and things asked for in the chat... But I don't think the people looking for those things, should be forbidden to seek out others.

Not trying to start a debate/flame war, just looking for a bit of clarification.

This is my objection: it seems like a knee jerk, arbitrary rule that has not, in any way, been clarified. 'Degradation' has not been defined, nor has anybody here even attempted to put forward an argument as to why verbal degradation is objectionable in the first place. Who, exactly, has called for this? This is a slippery slope, and I'm sure that we are not the only ones who feel disconcerted. It is not even a matter of whether you like or dislike this form of speech: it is a matter of free expression and having clear rules with clear objectives. 'Degradation of women' is too vague a term.

If you read the title of the post it says Chat Room, not the site. I have no control over what is done on the website.

The whole purpose of this rule is to eliminate the use of the words degrade or humiliate. Many people have expressed that they do not like seeing men posting this in the chat room.

What is said in a private conversation in the chat room is still private and we have no control over said conversation. We are just trying to make the main room more hospitable to everyone and less of a chaos.

This only will affect those who chat in the chat room not on the website. I have never seen Ryisco or DomMyInstrument in the chat room, unless you are using a different name.

Good move!

Well done for doing this and banning the misogynists.

Oh no, wait, you banned the people, like me, who OBJECTED to the hate speech, that's STILL readable, right here on the board.

Look stop being a troll already and trying to get attention. There is only ONE person who can do the whole website as a mod and he has a busy real life. He gets to the stuff when he can.

As for the chat room you were removed because you kept pushing the limits and became a general annoyance to the room.

lol

Says you. I was doing the room a favour highlighting the abusive chat that goes on in these boards. And if your "one" mod, is such an incompetent moron, here's a hint, GET ANOTHER ONE

Finally at a real keyboard, as I expect this to be fairly lengthy...it's much easier to type it at a computer than on my phone.

To those who feel that this new rule is unacceptable, I can only offer an explanation. There has been a growing trend over the past few months of increasingly disturbing, hateful, derogatory, and violent discussion of the abuse of women as a sexual thrill. While I can certainly understand the logic of the argument, "It's all just fantasy, man! Get over it!" I can also understand the logic of the many who have complained about such content both in the chat room and here on the boards.

The following is typical of the complaints that we have received, via chat, email and private message:

Excuse me, I was told by one of your moderators that you were the person to talk to. You have a thread on your message board that is filled with rape talk and some pretty awful stuff about women. The thread is called OUR DEEP INSTINCT TO DEGRADE SLUTS (WITH ANIMATED PICS) Not only is filled with really derogatory stuff about women (the title of the thread calls them sluts for example) but inside the thread it gets really awful with many men talking about abusing women, wanting to get "revenge" on women and even one guy chillingly says that when he sees women getting chocked and slapped "it only makes him harder" and that he would be "pounding the life of of the horny wet little cunts." I can't imagine this is the kind of stuff you want on your website. This place has really taken a scary turn in the last little while towards becoming a truly scary place with so much angry, awful, hate talk about women. If you are the person to talk to, I guess what I want to know is this: Is this stuff really allowed here, or is that thread an oversight? Cause if it is allowed, I know that I just have to find some other place to chat. Thanks for listening.

These complaints have led to long discussions between myself and the other chat mods about whether or not such behavior was acceptable, and if so, to what degree. As we have deliberated, both the degree of this type of chat and the complaints have increased. That alone is enough to make a decision; one of them has to go, and it's simple to decide which one: the chat that has driven or threatened to drive users away. I'll gladly sacrifice the toxic in favor of the non-toxic any day of the week, and twice on Sundays.

As Walter Cronkite used to say, "That's the way it is."