In case you weren't already thankful for the TE forum...

[Irulan]

I can't speak for anyone else, obviously, but I don't have a problem with BF or with them doing whatever they feel like to grant entry to the women's forum.

However (and the quote is taken from one of their posters on the linked thread) the reason they have to block access is just (to me) a little sad. I don't like that there are people who are so immature and insensitive that they've driven the women into hiding.

"Some women post personal issues that they would be embarrassed about if men could read them, and some men can't control themselves from posting juvenile comments when women bring up sensitive issues. Bike Forums handles that by making the women's forum accessible only to female members and requiring a posting history on Bike Forums before access is granted."

The flavor of any board is determined ultimately by the admin and the guidelines given to the moderators. We don't have the above problem at mtbr, where the women's board is huge and not closed to men. The women got sick of the bs from the guys and formed a team of moderators, with the back up of admin. It took a few months, but with a zero tolerance approach to men being d**kheads, some forum guidelines posted about what behavior was acceptable, and the problem was solved. I have yet to understand why this approach isn't taken elsewhere.... the guys only do it because they can ( ie, the "the more annoyed you get the more fun it is for me" concept). All is takes is setting a standard, letting people know you mean business, a warning and then banning individuals that are pushing the limit.

In addition, this empowered the women to be in control of their own board, and it rarely takes a moderator to send a guy out of there, tail between his legs, for inappropriate posting. Women routinely discuss any biking issue, without inappropriate posts from guys, without the secret club approach.

Here's what we did, works great. I was on the moderator team that put this in place, and enforced it, for many years.

I do find the number 50 kind of ridiculous.

The Women's Lounge is a place for mountain biking women to discuss topics of their choosing. Guys are welcome, but consider yourselves guests, in this small corner of Mtbr designated for Women, specifically.

Wit and humor and being a good sport are appreciated; trolling and baiting are not. Any post that is deemed inappropriate for this forum will be deleted at the moderator's discretion without explanation.

This includes but is not limited to:

* Posts that insult women, either individually or in a group
* Posts that criticize sexual orientation
* Posters that are deemed to be harrassing female posters


We take complaints from our regular users very seriously, as they are the core of this forum.

Access to the WL may be restricted if the rules are not heeded.

Questions/concerns/complaints can be sent to the Site Manager directly: "

Thanks in advance for your compliance.

easy fix, dunno why they don't do it.