My Last-Ever Post Probably…

Sarahs Joking
Jul 22, 2017 · 6 min read

I’m sure this satire will be destroyed soon. I’ve lost faith.

Why The Establishment Doesn’t Welcome Open Dialogue or Discussion on Any of the Important Views Expressed By the Establishment

I’m going to get assassinated — goodbye readers, I love you too!

It might seem strange for a newly launched online publishing platform to not allow comments.

Why The Establishment Doesn’t Welcome Open Dialogue or Discussion on Any of the Important Views Expressed By the Establishment

Really — what were we thinking with this whole “no comments” thing?

As a platform dedicated to discussing issues that don’t usually get attention in mainstream media, wouldn’t we want to promote dialogue in our comments section? I keep this in mind when others call out issues they see in my words, and have come to value deeply the times when others invest energy in engaging with me, enabling me to evolve.

The truth is…we thought long and hard about whether to include a comments section, but when it came time to decide, each and every one of us said “no.”

The founding team’ve decided to share those reasons with you here.

The founding team — Kelley Calkins, Nikki Gloudeman, Katie Tandy, Jessica Sutherland, Ruchika Tulshyan, and myself

What were we thinking with this whole ‘no comments’ thing?

It can be an uncomfortable and painful process to encounter new ideas or opinions, especially if they are directly critical of your work.

Our own reasons for deciding that we didn’t want a comments section:

A true discourse — however challenging — is vital to moving us toward a more equitable and informed society. A vast majority of my most formative ‘Aha!’ moments were borne of writers and thinkers rebutting and debating viewpoints. However, rarely happens in comments sections online — and certainly never as a result of hurled invectives or brutal ad hominem attacks.

Comments sections legitimize abusive language

- Nikki Gloudeman, Cofounder & Editorial Director

The Internet, that greatest of democratizers, has in many ways served as a powerful force for positive change; in the best of circumstances, marginalized voices that might otherwise be denied a platform are provided the critical space to be heard. But by its very nature, this democratization also provides space for those who have always been heard, and who least deserve to be: namely, privileged, hateful assholes.

The Internet presents the illusion that these bigoted voices carry as much weight, and deserve as much space, as the marginalized voices.

Every time, for instance, you read a story about rape, and then proceed to dive into a comments section where a bunch of men talk about how the woman probably deserved it or fabricated her story, you’re left with the perception that the voices of rape survivors and the voices of rape apologists are of equal merit.

Providing a platform for bigotry is an implicit endorsement of its value, when it actually has none.

Yet the comments section — which on paper is a virtual democracy in which all voices can and will be heard; it is decidedly Free Speech run amok.

In the bowels of those small white glowing boxes was a true, if twisted, cross-section of our society. And I’m wont to agree. There, in the blissful bravery that anonymity provides, people indulge their darkness; their basest fears. They bare their fetid teeth and claws, lashing out at those who are alternatively the most brave and the most vulnerable. And often in this Venn diagram of writers, they are both.

We have created and methodically maintained a ‘safe place’ for every disgusting ‘ism’ on the goddamn planet — while exposing writers and creators to the kind of caustic cruelty that as far as I’m concerned, only belongs in dystopian fiction. Clicking a View All Comments button is a mild manifestation, I suspect, of the Freudian death instinct.’

If the comments section is truly a cross-section of humanity, then we, as humanity, need to do better. Full stop. This isn’t about silence or censorship; it’s about civility.

It’s about fostering a critically thinking dialogue that isn’t predicated on expletives, fear-mongering, shame, or threats of sexual assault. Imagine that.”

Jessica Sutherland, Marketing Director,

These garbage people don’t matter, in the big scheme of things.

That’s why it was not a difficult decision for the ladies of the Establishment to keep comments off our site: we strive to provide a platform for voices we seldom hear in the media, and our content creators offer up so much of themselves to our readers, so that readers may see things a little differently when next they look at the world. We have a responsibility to house that gift they’ve given us in a safe place of honor — not out in the yard, where the bottom-feeders can try to destroy it.

Women writers of color face disproportionate amount of abuse in the comments

-Ruchika Tulshyan, Contributing Editor

Writers who are also women of color encounter particularly damaging vitriol, mostly ad hominem, when they write about minority issues at the intersection of gender, race, and class. Prowlers hiding behind the anonymous and cowardly masks the Internet readily provides, I have often felt deterred from writing on important topics such as immigration reform.

2001 Plymouth Prowler 2 Dr STD Convertible, wanted for questioning in the comments section

The Establishment recognizes that the digital age gives trolls the very platform they need to spew venom at bold writers. So we take a proactive stance to ensure our courageous storytellers never feel a moment’s hesitation when telling difficult, multi-layered stories.

We always welcome well thought-out critiques by email.

Even though we don’t have comments, we encourage you to keep the conversation going on Twitter and Facebook.

Sarahs Joking

Written by

I write whatever I want, not whatever gets applause. Satirist, comic, award-winning writer.

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