By definition you cannot possibly know what the unstated beliefs might be. I would have thought that you of all people would be concerned that some people are expressing the fact they have a difficulty speaking out in the current climate.
OK, let me try to make this a feminist issue for you. A piece of research mentioned in the Telegraph yesterday showed that women prefer face to face communication because they need the signals of body language and context it provides, whilst men are less reliant on those and thus find both face to face and remote e-mail style communication equally useful. (This work was done by getting single-sex pairs to try to persuade one another of a case for something, so it is directly relevant to a discussion about 'discussing'.) This means that as a man you have an inherent advantage in utilising the prevalent online form of communication and thus it is not surprising that you are comfortable in expressing your views under any circumstances online. Women however, who find the online form of communication harder to use, will be at a greater disadvantage and we perhaps should not be so surprised that those who do not have the advantage of being in the majority opinion in the particular environment they find themselves in feel more than usually intimidated. I would imagine that as a feminist it might behove you to investigate the possibility that a change of culture as regards to 'dogpiling' and the like might facilitate more women to express themselves. Then you can find out if their opinion actually adds up to 5 or if it is in fact a perfectly respectable 4. Your current attitude is coming across as 'I'm alright, Jack, so why should I worry about all these bleating wingers who complain they find it too scary'.
Can you personally do much about it? No, of course not. But you could at least refrain from sneering at the people who are saying they dislike and are disadvantaged by the current situation.
no subject
OK, let me try to make this a feminist issue for you. A piece of research mentioned in the Telegraph yesterday showed that women prefer face to face communication because they need the signals of body language and context it provides, whilst men are less reliant on those and thus find both face to face and remote e-mail style communication equally useful. (This work was done by getting single-sex pairs to try to persuade one another of a case for something, so it is directly relevant to a discussion about 'discussing'.) This means that as a man you have an inherent advantage in utilising the prevalent online form of communication and thus it is not surprising that you are comfortable in expressing your views under any circumstances online. Women however, who find the online form of communication harder to use, will be at a greater disadvantage and we perhaps should not be so surprised that those who do not have the advantage of being in the majority opinion in the particular environment they find themselves in feel more than usually intimidated. I would imagine that as a feminist it might behove you to investigate the possibility that a change of culture as regards to 'dogpiling' and the like might facilitate more women to express themselves. Then you can find out if their opinion actually adds up to 5 or if it is in fact a perfectly respectable 4. Your current attitude is coming across as 'I'm alright, Jack, so why should I worry about all these bleating wingers who complain they find it too scary'.
Can you personally do much about it? No, of course not. But you could at least refrain from sneering at the people who are saying they dislike and are disadvantaged by the current situation.