Misogyny in the here and now

If you are living in a dream world where you truly believe that women are considered equal to men and that women who point out the insanely rampant misogyny in this society are empty alarmists, then I've got a little enlightenment for you.

Go here and tell me if you can read more than a dozen of the responses to a well reasoned and rational letter written by a woman at the University of New Hampshire without wanting to vomit. You might want to gear yourself up for it first by reading Twisty's comments. Going in cold to that level of abject hatred could be hazardous to your health.

Spend a little time with the absolutely superb post by Res at The Republic of Dogs about the situation at FDL which turned into what absolutely appears to be "a full-on sexist infestation at FDL". FireDogLake was once one of my favorite "big dog" blogs, but once I started reading some of the comments, I saw time and again that it was a place where you either agreed with the community mind-speak, or you were troll labeled out of existence. I've also noted a, shall we say, certain arrogance in many of Jane Hamsher's postings which left a bad taste in my mouth.

I haven't made up my mind what to think about the community there, but this episode, coupled with some others I've observed, give me reservations about the blog. I have a small group of readers, at this point, I know. Still, this blog is my baby and my blogroll is my personal honor roll. I don't add blogs there lightly and only do so once I'm convinced that it belongs. Which is why FDL is coming off, at least for now. Not that anyone cares or that it matters to anyone but me.