Words to live by...

[Ronny W]

This site is sooooo confuseing

Your free to say "SEX"
but i get scaulded by the moderators for trying to add a joke that has the word pen*s (the part of my anatomy that makes me a boy) in it becouse that word may offend someone? These Moderators are slipping or somthing?

My trailer isnt going to get any "SEX" untell I do!

[Steve L.]

I use the rule of thumb offered by a moderator awhile ago in explaining the Web Guy's philosophy with respect to language. "Would I use the word in front of Mike's granddaughter?" Expecting, of course, a younger child I pondered this for a moment, and could imagine asking what sex was the dog, or what sex what the baby. I decided it was OK, but I won't be offended if the topic title is edited. It's a little grey up along the edge.

[Bigfoot Mike]

Here is part of our Mission Statement.

Fiberglass RV administrators and moderators will review messages on a regular basis for appropriateness and reserve the right to edit or delete messages. From time to time, it may be necessary to move a post to another, more appropriate area of the website. Photo album hosting for other sites will be removed. Abusive linking to or from other sites will be removed.

Please note: we will only do these things when we feel it necessary to maintain control of the website ... not out of some desire to play censor or big brother.

Above all else, please have fun on our website!

We want to build this into a place that welcomes all owners and potential owners of all makes and models of molded fiberglass travel trailers.

So come back soon. Post often! We look forward to your participation!

We have somewhere around 10 or so Moderators and Administrators. All are not online at the same time. I share leadership more then any other forum I know of. If any of them feel something is inappropriate in their World View, I will back them up. If I get a lot of complaints, I get feedback from the Moderators and make a decision as to the best course of action for the good of the forum.

If something bothers you, PM me and I will do my best to discuss it with you.

We have people from all walks of life here. Please be sensitive to other people’s World View.

Thank You.

[Steve L.]

Ronny,

It’s not for me to define the audience, but I’ll take a stab.

I think why it’s hard to argue is because the owner (and moderators) of the site have chosen a lower age limit that has certain implications with respect to speech. While adults are pretty much the only participants, I don’t know who reads it. I can imagine kids hanging around while a parent types away. I notice long periods of inactivity in the Board Index while logged in, which suggests that a parent has walked away. Possibly leaving the last page viewed up on the screen. Like a restaurant, perhaps, the Web Guy has made a choice about the audience he wants to be suitable for.

As you suggest, “sex” can be ambiguous and I took advantage of that to draw attention to the post. As you point out, your word is pretty specific which moved it past where the moderators were comfortable.

I don’t think this is a protected speech area. It’s not a newspaper or even a street corner. In a way it’s a family club. I bowled in a mixed league. Only adults bowled, but some parents brought their kids. I don’t like ‘em (kids) unless I can mess with their heads, but I watched my language.

I would guess that once you accept the premise you won’t really find it too hard to figure out. Nobody's being grumpy, it's just that I chose an ambiguous word that I thought would pass muster.

[Frederick L. Simson]

I cant remember or think of a reason they think PEN*S would be offensive?

I think of it like this:
In general society, Men wear pants. I enjoy attending naturist (recent euphemism for nudist) events. But that is a subset of society. Thinking, feeling Naturists do not offend the general society at large. When in Rome...

[Donna D.]

It's very simple really. This site is about Molded Lightweight Fiberglass Trailers, not religion, politics, swearing, flame wars, racist anything nor body parts...no matter how many asterisks are used.

The moderators have kicked around the topic about the A Little Sex Anyone?, Gender Bias?...in depth. We've considered, deleting the topic altogether, locking it down, editing the posts or changing the title of the topic to something other than what's written. As long as everyone stays "clean" and doesn't start describing what goes on INSIDE the trailer...we're going to leave it.

My 14 y/o daughter sometimes reads over my shoulder. It will be a sad day if I have to chase her off because of what someone else has written on a site that should be safe for anyone of any age.

If you choose to post other than what this site is designed for, I respectfully suggest you would be welcomed at MANY other places on the WWW and maybe you'd be happier going there.