brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton) (12/21/84)
And in many ways, feminists in general appear to know little about PR at times, too. When you make a plea like "cross the street", you should weigh what you gain and what you lose. Perhaps a certain small # of men will cross the street, but to the others you are saying... "I'm scared walking alone at night and when I see you walking down the street towards me, I would really appreciate it if you would prove to me that you aren't a violent sex offender, since I am worried that you might be one." No matter how well you phrase that, you are going to insult a large # of men, as is clear from net response. It doesn't matter that it's not your fault that they are insulted... YOU ARE WORKING IN MARKETING! Like it or not, it's a tough world and your job is to sell your ideas to the general public. You will never, ever, do it by insulting them, and THEY get to define what an insult is, not you. This is sadly one of the greatest mistakes of many movements, feminism in particular. If you start saying things that will alienate otherwise perfectly innocent men, you won't attain your goal, which is to influence people away from their current ways of thinking. -- Brad Templeton, Looking Glass Software Ltd. - Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473