Okay. So I post almost exclusively on this thread for 50+’s. That’s primarily because I wanted a group that could relate to my specific place in life and share, maybe, some of the “been there, done that, got the T-shirt already“, yanno? If I am having a problem with say, chin hairs, or belly fat, or (yikes!) vaginal dryness, I’d really like to be able to mention it, and have somebody say, “Oh, yeah. Me too.” Or NOT. I actually DO post on other threads when I see something that interests me. Now the dryness thing hasn’t come up yet, although it maybe will in another couple of years - but I can tell you that despite being blonde (Oh, alright! Picky, picky! Mouse brown - but LIGHT mouse brown, and I do highlight it HEAVILY) I DO manage to grow some chin hairs that are relatively light-colored and all, but …wait! Have you ever been sitting at a traffic light in your car, and just tilted your rearview mirror down so you can kind of check yourself out? Oh. NOT good! Not if you have the sun shining in your face, anyway, because suddenly you (I) have this freaking shiny HALO all around your (my) chin that is positively dazzling! (They aren’t long, but even a little micro-hair manages to SHINE! Something that would undoubtedly work well in a Disney flick about fairy folk or something, but decidedly not good for the average American woman-of-a-certain-age. So I pluck regularly. Yeah. That, and the what do they call them? Muffin tops? Oh, how perfect a description is that? Which is why I absolutely cannot and will not wear anything tight-waisted, NOR will I ever bare my midriff to a poor, unsuspecting world. As for the post-menopausal dryness that I hear whispered about in the dreary corridors of womanshadow, as I said, that hasn’t happened yet, but any day now, right?

So, I had to say all of that to get to this. Hopefully, it will not result in a multitude of negative comments suggesting that I “get a life”, or “catch up with the times”, or “quit being sexist.” Seriously - the above stuff really isn’t something I feel comfortable chatting about with a <gulp> guy! Call me old-fashioned, call me repressed, depressed, harboring residual resentment towards an abusive father (mine wasn’t), or whatever seems to fit, but I simply don’t feel like baring my soul (and/or my physical issues) to a male-type person. (I even have a female DOCTOR, fahgoodness’ sake!) So, here I am, reporting in just about every day (except when I’m at an out-of-the-office meeting, or go away for a long weekend, or some such) and pretty much letting it all hang out.

Kewl. Then, suddenly, this GUY descends upon the group, and it appears to me, at least (and one or two others) that he thinks he’s going to make us all into his “groupies”. You know…older women who are just *tickled pink* to be paid attention to by a guy….any guy….even a guy they’ve never met and probably wouldn’t want to meet! And, of course, all HE expects in return is that we hang on his every word, laugh at his piss-poor attempts at humor, and suck it up when he applies the name of our thread to his two freaking DOGS! So, I figure I’ll do a little research, see where else he’s posted on 3FC, and find out just how sincere he is - or, conversely, if he just hangs around here because of the HIGH RATIO of women to men, and the way that some women really do get all giggly and flirty with inanimate, faceless men online. Omigawd! He posts with a Christian group! WTF? Hah! But I read the posts and it’s clear that HE runs the show. In most, if not all instances, it all pretty much revolves around him. And, separate from that, he posts threads with tittilating names (which I won’t divulge here in the interests of member privacy) that some women are drawn to…the numbers of posts on these threads is phenomenal.

Well, the thing is that I’ll be damned if I’m going to be manipulated by some guy online or off and after the second or third time he used the groups name to refer to his DOGS, I got this very clear picture in my mind of him laughing sardonically at this “bunch of old babes” who couldn’t even tell when they were being made fools of. So, I called him on it. That’s right. I said I found it offensive. And then I just went on with my post like I normally do, and didn’t make any further reference to him.

So, he whips back a comment about how I’ve made him feel SO welcome, and hasn’t posted since due, undoubtedly, to hoping that he will get a dozen PM’s begging him to come back.

Well, he won’t get one from me, I can tell you that much. Two - exactly TWO out of some eleven or twelve who post here regularly backed me up. Mind you, I said it to him quite nicely - even went so far as to suggest that he hadn’t offended on purpose - and the two who backed me up were equally nice and polite and non-confrontative, as well.

The rest - well, some of them fell all over him to start with, so I imagine they’re all busy PM’ing back and forth and telling him that they aren’t offended at ALL by being compared to DOGS, and to PLEASE, please come back!

And I, of course, don’t care if he never posts on our thread again…my opinion is good riddance to bad rubbish.

I don’t mean this as a sexist diatribe. Those of you who know anything about me at all, or have read anything that I’ve written probably know that I don’t judge others based on their gender, their race, their religious beliefs…none of that. It’s a big world, and there’s room for us all, eh?

But, there are women’s sanctuaries.

Women are entitled, I believe, to their sanctuaries.

I have no problem with this guy posting anywhere he wants to, and if people - women, because realistically, there just aren’t that many men on 3FC - want to respond to him, then they should go for it, right?

Okay, I’m sounding paranoid. Mea culpa, mea culpa.

I just pretty much hate that it looks like he’s going to divide up our group when it was such a strong and supportive one. Tell ME that that’s not what’s happened throughout history, right? Well, we’ll see what happens now, won’t we?

 <cowering with shawl over head and covering face, waiting for the public stoning to start.> Is this medieval, or what???? LOL

I’m going home. I’ve done enough work and gotten myself in enough trouble here today!

Ciao!

E!