What is Your Desired Outcome?

I have not had a lot of time to blog, my familial and corporate duties are demanding at the moment, but there is much going on in my mind.  I have managed to take time off from colouring Easter Eggs with my family to point out the parallels between recent events and my own blogging life leading into a brief statement of my mission.

I have serious disagreement on parts of Amanda Blum's measured take on Donglegate, but I appreciate her tone and agree on the overall point, that Adria Richards made it harder for women in tech and we all lost because of her actions. I would just like to point out the advice provided for anyone faced with a similar situation:

All she had to consider was “what outcome am I looking for?”.

In Adria's case, if she had asked herself the question and her answer was to gain more attention for herself and her blog, destroy the life of the offender and raise a hoopla over nothing, then she accomplished her goals and much much more. One should also consider the potential negative outcomes of one's proposed action.

I remember thinking that exact phrase when debating what to do in my own situation when faced with offensive material displayed publicly. My primary desired outcomes were: to stop this person from spreading hatred more towards men, make a point about the true nature of contemporary feminism and to put feminists on notice that their public displays of hatred will not go unchallenged.

I admit that the idea of gaining notoriety was enticing, but, this was not the way I really wanted to go about it.  If that was really my primary motivation, it was certainly a risky method - there obviously were people supporting this author of the posters. I did not want to hurt anyone, including the author, despite her opinion of me. I thought long and hard and initially tried to send this to a prominent MRA, but, had to post it myself when nothing came of it. Once the ball was set in motion, I was not going to let it go, so the AVFM article came about.

In the end, my decision to take the actions I did was demanded by the primary goal of this blog - to inspire others to challenge ideas - any ideas - which seem contradictory to reality or common sense. I am not afraid to challenge ideas which are generally accepted by the masses, simply because they are told that they must and they do not have the tools or knowledge to challenge them themselves. If I was truly The Cul-De-Sac Hero, it was time to stand up and show it.

Science and the lexicon of political ideology are weapons used against individuals who would challenge the powers who use them. I am not the best equipped to fight them, but, I have the most important weapon in anyone's arsenal, no matter who the foe. I have an independent, human mind.

With this tool, anything is possible. I hope that more people read this and make the same choice that I did - stop accepting the lesson presented by The Greater School System that is contemporary media and take appropriate action to bring more rationality into the common discourse.