on respecting the views of all women.

one of the greatest things about twitter is the ability to participate in, and comment on, national events with strangers. i began watching "Up with Chris" because of twitter friends who would live-tweet the show. the topics and guests seemed very compelling, and with an infant, i was most decidedly "up" early on the weekends. when i started watching and live-tweeting, it was an instant community of people who were smart, interested in similar topics, and having a terrific discussion beyond the typical passive reception of news. i was in heaven.

the difficulty with a network like MSNBC, though, is that it can all too easily become an echo chamber. we want to be with like-minded people so badly that we forget that (especially as progressives, but definitely as americans) we are interested in rights for all ... not just rights for those we agree with. or rights that we think are important.

there's not often dissent in communities like #uppers or #inners, but i always appreciate it when it's there because that's when i know that we're having real discourse, and we're learning from one another, not just parroting ideas.

but i was reminded yesterday morning that not everyone thinks that way. the following is a storify of the exchanges i had, interspersed with my comments and interpretations of the situation.




i think i pretty much said everything above in the storify. i could further tease out the nuances of the exchange (for example, how i didn't attack him, or use words like "misogynistic," even though that would have been legit ... or how he framed me as an archetypal woman, and his attempts at constructing a positive exchange were completely founded in flattery and not substance ... or how he projected his own relentless behavior and emotionalism onto me.) but i won't go there. ;-) for now anyway.

i do think it's worth outlining what i think would have been the appropriate responses of someone whose tweet is pointed out as being anti-feminist:

1. huh. i didn't think of it that way.
2. interesting. i'll have to think more about that.
3. wow. you're right. i'm going to delete that tweet
4. thanks for pointing that out. i know that being male means that i have blindspots. thanks for helping me see them.

and of course, if none of the above responses are comfortable to you, you can always choose to not respond. that is a completely legitimate option as well.