Due to the later time of your comment you may not have noticed but a comment in reply to mine was flagged and it meant my subsequent replies had to be removed or they would not make sense (I don't think I said anything in them that alone would have warranted removal).
I don't blame HN for this because such action stops the thread turning into a brawl where both sides become even more polarized and arguments get even more heated.
When I made my initial post I thought I was just making an observation on the story and I gave experiences which I would not repeat from my observations of cultural shifts of recent years. It certainly was not my intention to inflame and I didn't anticipate a large portion of these comments would have to be removed as a result.
Unfortunately, forums have to so act to keep some semblance of order. The tragedy is that issues such this topic—women working in traditional male roles such as the military, the Me Too movement, stuff about kids, veganism, etc.—can no longer be discussed in a rational manner seemingly anywhere in society without them flaring up into melees that have to be quashed to keep order.
Why in recent years many people have become so polarized and indignantly and or righteously argumentative about such issues is a complex matter and I don't think anyone fully understands why. There's little point me speculating about the reasons here except to say that there are many HN stories I choose not to comment on for reasons not out of fear they will be flagged but because it's clear to me that even if I put a
moderate and well-reasoned case they'll nevertheless draw comments that will likely result in them being flagged.
It's not that HN posters are any more rowdy than elsewhere—in fact, HN is one of the more civilized places on the Web—it's that I know such stories will draw attacks by virtue of the topics themselves. In these situations I prefer to self-censor and don't post because if I were to add anything meaningful to the conversation it would draw wrath and ire of many, and as I see no virtue in adding innocuous or irrelevant comment, it's better to remain silent—a point I've already made earlier.
I don't blame HN for this because such action stops the thread turning into a brawl where both sides become even more polarized and arguments get even more heated.
When I made my initial post I thought I was just making an observation on the story and I gave experiences which I would not repeat from my observations of cultural shifts of recent years. It certainly was not my intention to inflame and I didn't anticipate a large portion of these comments would have to be removed as a result.
Unfortunately, forums have to so act to keep some semblance of order. The tragedy is that issues such this topic—women working in traditional male roles such as the military, the Me Too movement, stuff about kids, veganism, etc.—can no longer be discussed in a rational manner seemingly anywhere in society without them flaring up into melees that have to be quashed to keep order.
Why in recent years many people have become so polarized and indignantly and or righteously argumentative about such issues is a complex matter and I don't think anyone fully understands why. There's little point me speculating about the reasons here except to say that there are many HN stories I choose not to comment on for reasons not out of fear they will be flagged but because it's clear to me that even if I put a moderate and well-reasoned case they'll nevertheless draw comments that will likely result in them being flagged.
It's not that HN posters are any more rowdy than elsewhere—in fact, HN is one of the more civilized places on the Web—it's that I know such stories will draw attacks by virtue of the topics themselves. In these situations I prefer to self-censor and don't post because if I were to add anything meaningful to the conversation it would draw wrath and ire of many, and as I see no virtue in adding innocuous or irrelevant comment, it's better to remain silent—a point I've already made earlier.