General Discussion Thread

[Lenny]

Eich, I know this has nothing to do with a principled person like *you*, or presumably most young men you know.  But there are plenty of reasons for girls to be afraid of boys.  Mostly in unsupervised venues, not  somewhere like a classroom -- but once that instinctive fear-of-predators reflex kicks in, it's hard to disarm.  (And I imagine that someone who grew up with only sisters, and went to a single-sex school, wouldn't have had a lot of opportunities to build friendly, nonthreatening relationships with boys.  I at least had brothers and classmates.)

That's not to say girls can't be nasty, bullying, or even physically aggressive -- but *on average* girls don't pose the same threat to a guy on his own that a group of guys do to a girl.

I got bullied a lot in junior high, including one incident of what nowadays would be considered sexual harassment (maybe even threatened assault). 

I don't think my tormentors (boys my own age) would have actually laid a finger on me... but I say that now as a big, tough grown woman who's capable of looking people in the eye and employing the art of verbal self-defense.  Back then I was a timid 13-year-old who looked about 9, and some crude talk was enough to absolutely terrify me.  It took me a good many years to get over the stereotype that "Boys = Scary." 

(It also helped that I went to a women's college, where we didn't have to deal with a lot of the party atmosphere that goes on at fraternities and sororities, or the idea that there's something unseemly about girls being interested in technical subjects or being leaders.  Blessedly, a lot of the latter prejudice seems to have disappeared since I was in college.)


I should add that the vast majority of men I've ever crossed paths with are fine, honorable people who'd find it unthinkable to take advantage of a woman, no matter what the setting.  But it only takes a few bad apples...

This is quite true.

[OrigamiOwl]

Eich, I know this has nothing to do with a principled person like *you*, or presumably most young men you know.  But there are plenty of reasons for girls to be afraid of boys.  Mostly in unsupervised venues, not  somewhere like a classroom -- but once that instinctive fear-of-predators reflex kicks in, it's hard to disarm.  (And I imagine that someone who grew up with only sisters, and went to a single-sex school, wouldn't have had a lot of opportunities to build friendly, nonthreatening relationships with boys.  I at least had brothers and classmates.)

That's not to say girls can't be nasty, bullying, or even physically aggressive -- but *on average* girls don't pose the same threat to a guy on his own that a group of guys do to a girl.

I got bullied a lot in junior high, including one incident of what nowadays would be considered sexual harassment (maybe even threatened assault). 

I don't think my tormentors (boys my own age) would have actually laid a finger on me... but I say that now as a big, tough grown woman who's capable of looking people in the eye and employing the art of verbal self-defense.  Back then I was a timid 13-year-old who looked about 9, and some crude talk was enough to absolutely terrify me.  It took me a good many years to get over the stereotype that "Boys = Scary." 

(It also helped that I went to a women's college, where we didn't have to deal with a lot of the party atmosphere that goes on at fraternities and sororities, or the idea that there's something unseemly about girls being interested in technical subjects or being leaders.  Blessedly, a lot of the latter prejudice seems to have disappeared since I was in college.)


I should add that the vast majority of men I've ever crossed paths with are fine, honorable people who'd find it unthinkable to take advantage of a woman, no matter what the setting.  But it only takes a few bad apples...

Hmm :/ the first and only boys I ever knew were horrible for 8 years, then I went to a girls school for high school, which was better (but girls can be mean too) and when I started college (co-ed) I'd thought that boys would have grown out of hair-pulling etc...buuuuuut, they hadn't. Which is actually why I have a bob haircut now instead of a ponytail -___- but it solved the problem, and it doesn't look bad, heh.
And they had creepier motives than in primary school too. :/

[Koeshi]

There's only one other girl in my fine arts major the class has totally shrunk, there were about 40 of us in first year (apparently a normal class in other universities would have about 100+ students?!) ...now there's 11. In the whole unit. o____o where did they goooo? (Especially the girls!?) I guess they weren't carrying a cat for protection while roaming the twisty corridors of the college...?

In my first year at university some of my classes had 300 people at a time in them.  By the end of third year having 30 people in the same room was a lot, a lot of people fall by the wayside during uni.

I'm no stranger to humidity, where I'm from. Late spring would be ideal for me right now, I think. Like, still humid but not annoyingly hot. I'll probably feel the opposite in the summer of course (wanting it to be winter), but I don't know if I've *ever* wanted it to stay cold in the winter...

Oh, I dread spring, I think Autumn and Winter are my favourite times of year, once Spring starts my immune system has a spaz attack that lasts until late Summer.  Really not looking forward to it.

[Fimbulvarg]

But there are plenty of reasons for girls to be afraid of boys.

There are plenty of reasons for them not to be as well. Like for instance how unreasonable it is to assume someone is likely a horrible human being based simply on their sex. There's a word for that and it's discrimination.

There's only one other girl in my fine arts major

That's weird, whenever I visited the Fine arts institute there seemed to be only hipster women around as far as the eye could see. I never saw a single male there.

[Lenny]

There are plenty of reasons for them not to be as well. Like for instance how unreasonable it is to assume someone is likely a horrible human being based simply on their sex. There's a word for that and it's discrimination.

That's also true, but it's quite hard to disarm a prejudice once it's activated. For example, in South Africa, I was taught to stay far away from any black (as in, coal black, not brown) coloured, very tall men, because those were most likely to be Nigerian slave traders, and not above kidnapping children - even in well-populated and busy areas, no matter how close you are to your parents/etc. Now I'm in Australia, but I still have that flickering between on and off mode, and it's sometimes hard to keep it switched to off. My brain knows very well that most Nigerians are not slave traders and are instead rather decent human beings, especially in this country, and I am in no danger, but alarm bells still go off sometimes.

Of course, there's a difference between <fearing yet trying not to fear + trying to understand>, and <fearing + then blindly believing in that fear, no matter the actual circumstances>. The latter is something that probably shouldn't ever be advocated.

(If this makes no sense and is somehow not cohesive at all, blame my sleepy state of mind.)

[Piney]

I have arrived to claim my airport

[JoB]

I have arrived to claim my airport

Considering your whereabouts, would you prefer the nice wildlife of Galeville, or the classicistic attitude of Floyd Bennett Field's buildings?

http://www.skyscanner.net/news/14-worlds-most-amazing-abandoned-airports

[Fenris]

A half-way decent first attempt at making a hnefatafl game. Blade I used to cut up the pieces ended up being too thick (my tools are more geared towards larger scale work), so chipped off parts of some, while the wood I used for the board was some old rubbish lying around and chipped in a similar way even when just whittling it. Still, good enough for own use.

[Fimbulvarg]

I have arrived to claim my airport

The property's all yours, but if you truly want to claim it you're going to have to work for it.
Congrats. The airport business seems to be getting crowded these days.

A half-way decent first attempt at making a hnefatafl game.

That's the best .... Hattifnatt board I've ever seen.
(It's also the first hattifnatt board I've ever seen)

[Eich]

I have arrived to claim my airport

You might take a South Carolinian airport, if you want to build a castle on Piney Grove Road.
Welcome to the airways!

also...
SNOOOOOOW! 
Not that sleet stuff from last week, the good stuff!  It's all powdery and wonderful and... and... *dies*
I took pictures on the way to class; I feel like such a tourist. 

[Piney]

Considering your whereabouts, would you prefer the nice wildlife of Galeville, or the classicistic attitude of Floyd Bennett Field's buildings?

http://www.skyscanner.net/news/14-worlds-most-amazing-abandoned-airports

Ooh, tempting - I'll just go with LaGuardia, thanks!

The property's all yours, but if you truly want to claim it you're going to have to work for it.
Congrats. The airport business seems to be getting crowded these days.

So long as it never resorts to sharing airports, it shouldn't be a problem.

You might take a South Carolinian airport, if you want to build a castle on Piney Grove Road.
Welcome to the airways!

If I have enough free range, I can name any road Piney Grove Road.

[Nimphy]

Welcome to the business, newbie.

Forum-Thor, I demand more ranks!

[Fimbulvarg]

Welcome to the business, newbie.

Forum-Thor, I demand more ranks!

You demand it? Did you miss the "no one bosses Thor god of Thunder around like a varlet" part?

It will be a bit difficult finding something that sorts hierarchically above "ruler of a derelict airport".

[Fenris]

Welcome to the business, newbie.

Forum-Thor, I demand more ranks!

What would that be? Ruler of a Derelict Oil Rig?

[Eich]

Welcome to the business, newbie.

Forum-Thor, I demand more ranks!

It shall be done.  I meant to do that a while ago, actually.

What would that be? Ruler of a Derelict Oil Rig?

I have a plan.