Like 'anigbrowl, I simply think it's worth considering the extent to which the moderating staff do or do not personally experience the hostility this place can exhibit to industry minorities.

Paul Graham is originally from the UK. I believe Dan Gackle is Canadian in origin. Patio11 is a white American male living in Japan. Jacquesm is Dutch. Tokenadult has an Asian wife and has lived in Asia.

My impression is that the forum is fairly multicultural. It is not a monolith of white American males/white American male culture.

I am much more concerned with feeling heard than with whether or not they have firsthand experiences like mine. I once wrote the mods and made my case for why something should be deleted as I felt it was actively putting a young woman in real danger. They didn't initially see it, but they did listen and ultimately redacted the information that concerned me.

I think if I have a real problem, they will listen. This is better in my mind than having been born with the same bits between their legs that I happen to have been born with.

I don't pretend to speak for all minorities. But my understanding is that both you and anigbrowl are white males. So I thought I would chime in just so the topic isn't being addressed solely by the demographic that you two express concerns about dominating the mod staff.

I don't think this is a super productive debate to have here, but I do want to clarify that I'm not calling for more diversity on the mod staff, as much as just an awareness of what the mod staff is.

I wasn't seeking debate. But I do find it ironic that you and angibrowl, both white men, expect to be listened to when you critique the moderating staff wrt to diversity, but you (in specific, because anigbrowl has not weighed in here) are quick to essentially dismiss my statement that as a prominent woman here, I do not have those concerns.

This is an insidious pattern that I see a lot. White men virtue signal about their concerns about sexism, racism, etc, then fail to give real weight to the voices of the very people they claim to be concerned about. The concerns of white males matter and should be heard. The voices of oppressed minorities still are irrelevant, even when the topic is the concern of fair treatment for them.

I honestly don't even know where our disagreement is here.

Then it would probably be best to just let this go since you have suggested it is not the time or place for it anyway.

Same. I just wondered about it because first-hand experience isn't always as transferable as one would wish.