OK, before anybody gets their back up, nobody's saying that anyone has done anything wrong, or that the thread is inherently bad. Ben and I have both posted to it recently. And it's absolutely true that there hasn't been any nudity--and believe me, I have been watching this thread like a hawk waiting for somebody to post some. (Wait, that came out wrong...) At worst the images have been PG-13 (albeit really pushing the envelope of PG-13 in some cases). Believe me, we appreciate the restraint.
The thread itself has kind of meandered from its original goal somewhat, though, which was I believe was supposed to be a discussion of the many complex reasons why we love women. Lately it's been more of a "post pix of hot girlz" thread with occasional commentary on each girl's (ahem) attributes. I believe this is the slippery slope to which CFH refers.
What we've been debating is whether or not the thread is appropriate for the site, and how it reflects on the community we're representing. There's concern that new visitors (or just visitors in general) may find it off-putting, or worse be offended by the apparent objectification of women that's happening here.
And before anyone leaps to the conclusion, we're not just talking about female visitors either--in fact, it was a few male members' misgivings about the thread that started the conversation. (Heh..."male members."
) The idea of attracting or retaining more female visitors to the site isn't something we've discussed internally at any length at
all. We just want to appear inclusive and respectful to
everybody. We're not sure that allowing this thread to continue in its present form accomplishes that goal.
What to do about it? We're not sure yet, which is why CFH used the words "near future" and "ongoing discussion". It's also why the thread has pretty generally been left alone until now. If anything's to change, though, we'll be sure to keep you posted.
If anyone has any comments, questions or concerns, please feel free to respond here or send me a PM, and I promise to get back to you.