Edit: a followup story is here – Why are “nerdy” groups male-populated? Revisiting a debate full of dogma.
“Sexism by numbers” is a faulty premise- let’s respect voluntary association
It’s not controversial to say that aliens aren’t among us. It takes bolder attitude to doubt some other faiths in public. But nobody should be afraid to say the emperor has no clothes. This is for furries- but also any nerd fandom, and anyone whose beliefs are developed enough to handle skeptical debates. Let’s start with a pervasive belief…
In furry fandom, men exclude women because there are more of them. There’s more men because they exclude women.
That’s a tautology: self-reinforcing logic that’s built so there’s no way to challenge it. Circular arguments and religious articles of faith work that way. It’s a type of fundamentalism- like creationism.
That’s not a straw man. These fundamentalists see a group of largely male members, and make a push-button reaction: there must be something wrong. Penis = BAD! With scowls, pointy fingers, and dutiful outrage, they go hunting for evidence to prop up a pre-fab belief that bad behavior shapes the membership. Counting up a raw demographic number is the basic evidence to accuse this community of “inherent sexism”. The number is sandwiched with bias-confirming anecdotes, and righteous demands to correct it. Why aren’t we more inclusive? We need less men!
It’s a faulty premise. A raw number doesn’t show one motivation to cause it, like mean exclusion. What about associations formed by friendly mutual interest? That includes hobbies and open-door clubs.
A gay bar is an open-door club. You can expect the clientele not to have the same proportions as society at large. It invites certain interest, but it’s self-selecting. They don’t screen between gays and straights at the door. (Could that even be possible, unless they invent a literal Gaydar?) Actually, there’s a general sentiment that gay bars are more friendly than other clubs, and they welcome allies of all kinds. That’s what draws many straight people to my local gay bar for our monthly furry dance night. You CAN have a less balanced, more inclusive community.
Exclusion is human. It can happen anywhere. But despite flaws that are a natural part of society, like crime or evil, it’s easy to contend that furries do it MUCH LESS than elsewhere.
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