@OldTimes Indeed, this is the last place where I would have expected to have to deal with this ideology. And the moderator labelling facts as hate speech... We are indeed heading towards an Orwellian distopia where objective truth and fact are forgotten by the majority, and those who have the courage to stand against illogical and dangerous ideologies are persecuted.
Lichess: we're a chess charity, but watch us write a whole blog post about lgbtqia+ ideology.
Also, we're going to disable the comments on this one blog post because we know we're going to get poor feedback.
Also, we're going to make the claim that we all have different perspectives but must make everyone feel welcome regardless. And then we'll delete the posts and ban anyone who doesn't subscribe to our social ideology (which is entirely unrelated to chess) because any opinions other than ours are HATEFUL, YOU GOT THAT BIGOT?
Nice chess charity you got going there.
Also, we're going to disable the comments on this one blog post because we know we're going to get poor feedback.
Also, we're going to make the claim that we all have different perspectives but must make everyone feel welcome regardless. And then we'll delete the posts and ban anyone who doesn't subscribe to our social ideology (which is entirely unrelated to chess) because any opinions other than ours are HATEFUL, YOU GOT THAT BIGOT?
Nice chess charity you got going there.
@TjoffenPD said in #18:
> I don't know the extent of the problem but based on what I've read the main reason for that is sexual harassment and sexism in general. ..]
> 2. Sexism is solved by education and I believe in general people have become more educated on this issue with every generation and within every generation. Compare how the female chess players are seen now vs the time when Fischer was playing. Try to post something among the lines "female chess players are worse than male players by default" on any social media and see what happens. I don't think it's a problem right now, to be honest - the community has made tremendous progress on this issue in my opinion.
>
Oh trust me, sexism in chess is still a huge problem right now. I'm guessing you are male though, and have absolutely no idea what it is like to be female in a male-dominated sport and to experience sexism and harassment on a regular basis.
The Lichess Breaking The Silence blog talked about serious allegations of sexual abuse in an OTB chess context.
But there is also a really big problem of female players being harassed in online chess, too. Even as recently as today and yesterday, I experienced multiple incidences of stalking and harassment from a user. But that is by no means the first or only time it has happened, either to me or to other women and girls.
I wrote a follow-up article to the Lichess blog called Breaking the Silence Online to raise awareness to people like you that sexism IS still a problem today, maybe some progress has been made, but not nearly enough.
lichess.org/@/QueenRosieMary/blog/breaking-the-silence-online/h9S8jea9
> I don't know the extent of the problem but based on what I've read the main reason for that is sexual harassment and sexism in general. ..]
> 2. Sexism is solved by education and I believe in general people have become more educated on this issue with every generation and within every generation. Compare how the female chess players are seen now vs the time when Fischer was playing. Try to post something among the lines "female chess players are worse than male players by default" on any social media and see what happens. I don't think it's a problem right now, to be honest - the community has made tremendous progress on this issue in my opinion.
>
Oh trust me, sexism in chess is still a huge problem right now. I'm guessing you are male though, and have absolutely no idea what it is like to be female in a male-dominated sport and to experience sexism and harassment on a regular basis.
The Lichess Breaking The Silence blog talked about serious allegations of sexual abuse in an OTB chess context.
But there is also a really big problem of female players being harassed in online chess, too. Even as recently as today and yesterday, I experienced multiple incidences of stalking and harassment from a user. But that is by no means the first or only time it has happened, either to me or to other women and girls.
I wrote a follow-up article to the Lichess blog called Breaking the Silence Online to raise awareness to people like you that sexism IS still a problem today, maybe some progress has been made, but not nearly enough.
lichess.org/@/QueenRosieMary/blog/breaking-the-silence-online/h9S8jea9
The reason women's categories exist isn't because of some inherent advantage that men have over women in mental bouts, it's because women were historically mistreated in chess circles. It's probably still going on today. I mean the Alejandro Ramirez stuff was only a year or so ago. Therefore women's chess gave women the opportunity to play chess away from the highly toxic environments that open chess was providing to them. This isn't a slant on all men or even some men. It was a very tiny minority but a tiny minority ruining it for the intelligent majority.
Regarding trans, I can't say I know of how trans people are treated in chess. I can't imagine that the same blockades that infiltrated cis women are there for trans players too but I might be wrong. Either way, it makes sense just to allow trans players MTF to play in women's sections, should they so wish. They will know more about their situation than you or I. Unlike in other sports, the physical advantage that men hold over women is negligible and thus the controversy around trans females playing in the female category shouldn't exist.
Regarding trans, I can't say I know of how trans people are treated in chess. I can't imagine that the same blockades that infiltrated cis women are there for trans players too but I might be wrong. Either way, it makes sense just to allow trans players MTF to play in women's sections, should they so wish. They will know more about their situation than you or I. Unlike in other sports, the physical advantage that men hold over women is negligible and thus the controversy around trans females playing in the female category shouldn't exist.
@QueenRosieMary said in #54:
> Oh trust me, sexism in chess is still a huge problem right now. I'm guessing you are male though, and have absolutely no idea what it is like to be female in a male-dominated sport and to experience sexism and harassment on a regular basis.
>
> The Lichess Breaking The Silence blog talked about serious allegations of sexual abuse in an OTB chess context.
>
> But there is also a really big problem of female players being harassed in online chess, too. Even as recently as today and yesterday, I experienced multiple incidences of stalking and harassment from a user. But that is by no means the first or only time it has happened, either to me or to other women and girls.
>
> I wrote a follow-up article to the Lichess blog called Breaking the Silence Online to raise awareness to people like you that sexism IS still a problem today, maybe some progress has been made, but not nearly enough.
>
> lichess.org/@/QueenRosieMary/blog/breaking-the-silence-online/h9S8jea9
Sure, I welcome your effort to raise awareness to people like me.
To highlight how huge the problem is could you please answer a few questions:
1. Do the majority of these people harass you after they play a game of online chess against you / lose against you or more often these are just random encounters in chat/forums/private message?
2. Do you know the geography of such people (i.e. their cultural background - if they come from cultures where women's rights are historically underdeveloped)?
3. Can you tell how often (percentage-wise) you get such interactions (e.g. every 5th game, every 10th game)? These stats would be great to measure the extent of the issue.
> Oh trust me, sexism in chess is still a huge problem right now. I'm guessing you are male though, and have absolutely no idea what it is like to be female in a male-dominated sport and to experience sexism and harassment on a regular basis.
>
> The Lichess Breaking The Silence blog talked about serious allegations of sexual abuse in an OTB chess context.
>
> But there is also a really big problem of female players being harassed in online chess, too. Even as recently as today and yesterday, I experienced multiple incidences of stalking and harassment from a user. But that is by no means the first or only time it has happened, either to me or to other women and girls.
>
> I wrote a follow-up article to the Lichess blog called Breaking the Silence Online to raise awareness to people like you that sexism IS still a problem today, maybe some progress has been made, but not nearly enough.
>
> lichess.org/@/QueenRosieMary/blog/breaking-the-silence-online/h9S8jea9
Sure, I welcome your effort to raise awareness to people like me.
To highlight how huge the problem is could you please answer a few questions:
1. Do the majority of these people harass you after they play a game of online chess against you / lose against you or more often these are just random encounters in chat/forums/private message?
2. Do you know the geography of such people (i.e. their cultural background - if they come from cultures where women's rights are historically underdeveloped)?
3. Can you tell how often (percentage-wise) you get such interactions (e.g. every 5th game, every 10th game)? These stats would be great to measure the extent of the issue.
@ElectronBug said in #53:
> Nice chess charity you got going there.
Don't let the door hit you on your way out
> Nice chess charity you got going there.
Don't let the door hit you on your way out
@QueenRosieMary said in #55:
> You think sexism and harassment is funny? Please, do elaborate...
Allow me to elaborate.
Sexism is neither funny nor horrible, it simply is a human variable like many others.
Virtuous? Certainly not.
But everything must be put into the right perspective of gravity because too often the topic becomes the springboard for some girl's 5 minutes of fame playing the victim card.
If you think that "awareness" policies will make groups of pubescent boys stop laughing when a beautiful girl walks by, you must understand that you are not challenging the culture but its opposite, which is nature.
As long as it remains within the limits of good taste and does not degenerate into any forms of crime, however mild or severe, I advise every woman to build up her antibodies and stop complaining on behalf of the entire female gender (unless there will be planetary votes).
As for online harassment, it's a ridiculous concept, sorry.
Here you are a nickname, nothing more, nothing less.
There is no picture of you and not even your age.
If you are bothered by someone writing to you, you block them. Simple.
> You think sexism and harassment is funny? Please, do elaborate...
Allow me to elaborate.
Sexism is neither funny nor horrible, it simply is a human variable like many others.
Virtuous? Certainly not.
But everything must be put into the right perspective of gravity because too often the topic becomes the springboard for some girl's 5 minutes of fame playing the victim card.
If you think that "awareness" policies will make groups of pubescent boys stop laughing when a beautiful girl walks by, you must understand that you are not challenging the culture but its opposite, which is nature.
As long as it remains within the limits of good taste and does not degenerate into any forms of crime, however mild or severe, I advise every woman to build up her antibodies and stop complaining on behalf of the entire female gender (unless there will be planetary votes).
As for online harassment, it's a ridiculous concept, sorry.
Here you are a nickname, nothing more, nothing less.
There is no picture of you and not even your age.
If you are bothered by someone writing to you, you block them. Simple.
@OldTimes said in #60:
> [...] As long as it remains within the limits of good taste [...]
Priceless. Absolutely priceless.
> [...] As long as it remains within the limits of good taste [...]
Priceless. Absolutely priceless.
@Brian-E said in #61:
> Priceless. Absolutely priceless.
You can mock with clichés as much as you want, but from a pragmatic point of view, the only way to lead a society is to draw a line that defines what is a crime and what is not, establish a legal system, and adhere to it. Otherwise, we return to the mob with pitchforks, which is exactly what many powerful entities incite whenever they want to distract the public from more serious issues. The distinction between annoyance and harm is of fundamental importance. Implementing awareness policies to prevent harassment on the internet is redundant; the means to stop it already exist (blocking the person). Complaining about something for which a solution already exists is simply vanity.
> Priceless. Absolutely priceless.
You can mock with clichés as much as you want, but from a pragmatic point of view, the only way to lead a society is to draw a line that defines what is a crime and what is not, establish a legal system, and adhere to it. Otherwise, we return to the mob with pitchforks, which is exactly what many powerful entities incite whenever they want to distract the public from more serious issues. The distinction between annoyance and harm is of fundamental importance. Implementing awareness policies to prevent harassment on the internet is redundant; the means to stop it already exist (blocking the person). Complaining about something for which a solution already exists is simply vanity.
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