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Recent reporting and discussions here about "trolls" and the "culture of hate" (both con and pro) have repeatedly broached the topic of what appropriate limits to free expression might be.
Dean of Students John Ellison at the University of Chicago has taken a stand on the issue in a letter welcoming new students. He writes:
Once here you will discover that one of the University of Chicago's defining characteristics is our commitment to freedom of inquiry and expression. [...] Members of our community are encouraged to speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn, without fear of censorship. Civility and mutual respect are vital to all of us, and freedom of expression does not mean the freedom to harass or threaten others. You will find that we expect members of our community to be engaged in rigorous debate, discussion, and even disagreement. At times this may challenge you and even cause discomfort.
Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so called 'trigger warnings,' we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual 'safe spaces' where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.
While some have voiced support for Ellison's commitment to free expression (with Robby Soave at Reason encouraging readers to give the dean "a round of applause"), others are concerned about the implications of his message. L.V. Anderson at Slate agrees with much of the letter's content promoting "civility and mutual respect," but finds the last paragraph quoted above to be "weird" and unsettling:
By deriding "safe spaces" and "trigger warnings" before students arrive on campus, the University of Chicago is inadvertently sending a message that certain students—the ones who have never been traumatized, and the ones who have historically felt welcome on college campuses (i.e., white men)—are more welcome than others, and that students who feel marginalized are unlikely to have their claims taken seriously. Adults who decry "the coddling of the American mind" will likely celebrate U. Chicago's preemptive strike against political correctness, but students who have experienced violence, LGBTQ students, and students of color likely will not.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 27 2016, @07:02AM
in the modern era men are the ones that are generally violently assaulted, not women
The truth might be more of this:
There's a large minority of violent men, they stay in about the same areas and they go about assaulting each other (gang wars, arguments etc). And they raise the statistics for men vs men.
But outside that scenario that large minority is more likely to assault some random woman than some random guy (who is also more likely to be able to get away/defend himself). Or some random guy is more likely to assault some random woman.
So if you aren't a regular in those areas/situations, your risk of getting violently assaulted is higher if you're a woman.
It's like including warzones in the stats- in warzones there are lots of guys violently assaulting guys. Many guys like "war" and fighting - many seem to treat sport as a form of duelling or symbolic warfare (by the way there's a big difference between duelling and fighting - lots of martial arts teachers teach duelling and not fighting, while that can be useful it can be dangerous if you don't know the distinction). Males of other species often duel - they charge at each other at high speed and butt heads in a precise way. If they did it differently there's a much higher chance of killing but that's just not done, kills do still happen but there are rules. Oops gone off-topic but :).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 27 2016, @08:57AM
Large majority?
You have any proof of that or are you just making shit up as you go along?
Men are 11 times more likely to be attacked.
Are all men 11 times more likely to live in gang infested areas?
How is it that no women live near these places?
When did we start to segregating living areas by gender?
You are full of shit.