I suspect that as time goes on, either MichFest will continue to be obscure to you and will eventually fade away, or you will learn more and your views might change depending on how influential you judge it to be. My biggest concern is, of course, focused upon the influence and the message. The rest of the issue just…

Chiming in kind of late here, but I'd like to note that one of my friends actually experiences enough distress from her dysphoria that it actually reaches disabling levels. Granted, this is probably connected to her awful family, but there you go. Certainly her primary goal is just to get on with her personal business…

A person could tell any other person that they haven't thought things through. This does not require gender. Once, a friend of mine tried to mix cake batter without any water, wondering why it was so difficult to stir. Eventually her sister corrected her after her entire family watched around a corner for a while.…

The issue is - and I can't believe I'm on the other side of this kind of thing after my advocacy for Penny Arcade - that what they say and do has farther reaching consequences than just within the gathering.

There is a difference between protest or a call for change and harassment.

A lot of my exposure to "International English" as used in Japan comes from video games and...Canadians. My suspicion is that all of the Canadian spellings just wind up reinforcing your written dialect. That old MegaTokyo joke seems pretty apt.

You are conflating and confusing a desire for acceptance with demanding entitlement.

Simmer down. We can have animus and not be adversaries.

Aren't these spellings also ones that are used for English in Japan, or am I mistaken on that point? My understanding is that "international" English is used, which looks...Canadian.

Hey, now, use more stars plz >_>; I don't know how many other people feel the same way, but I'm particularly sensitive to that word.

What you've got to realize is that this is less about genders and more about High School-like factional conflicts.

TL;DR Some feminists have hangups and issues owing to the crap that society's put them through NO WAY. Guess what? So does every other feminist. That's no excuse for paranoid discrimination.

Pay close attention to your use of language:

Fair enough.

I'm not going to be dismissive, but nearly every "men's rights" issue as described by MRAs is something simple. Men already have rights and privileges. This does not, however, prevent men from having problems.

You know, I almost had MRA leanings before coming to the shocking conclusion that I am not male. As a feminist, I encourage you to come to Feminism and understand that the MRA movement solves next to nothing and refuses to recognize that the troubles both men and women face are due to the patriarchy. I understand the…

I'll borrow from Football for a moment: It wouldn't be a touchdown, but it might be one or two yards. Gains are still gains, it's just a question of whether or not they are worth he energy vs. other gains. I'll repeat that this is still something that is worth some notice as opposed to total apathy. Allowing it to…

This obviously doesn't bear an exact comparison to MichFest, but the well-known "gay bar" near where I used to live is also currently known as the place to party whether or not you are LGBT. They've kept pace with modernity and have allowed themselves to progress into a club where everyone can attend and are welcome,…

I'm talking about Penny Arcade.

This really depends on the circles you run in, though.