Well, sort of. I don’t think that self-linking helps necessarily in cases where there’s a huge stylistic gap. There have been a number of guest bloggers whose work I’ve found (for a variety of reasons) stylistically inaccessible or requiring more close reading than I was really up for after getting home from a 12 hour work day. Knowing how they write doesn’t necessarily give me much in terms of trying to figure out how to parse it all, even if I know I’m inclined to skip their posts if I’m tired.

I’ve been reading (and sometimes guest blogging) for Feministe for more than five years now, and (until I started working for the government, which makes it a lot harder to comment) I was very much engaged in what I identified as the commenting community. I knew all the regulars, knew the resident trolls, etc. There’s a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge that you just can’t share with a guest blogger.

For example, Maia says that she’s written about topics like this before on her own blog and never garnered this kind of reaction. Every blog’s got its own community, frame of reference, in jokes, etc. When you don’t know about that, it can be really hard to know what to expect.

Been on my best behavior, Jill.

I’ve noticed! It is much appreciated :-)

Salix: @ Jigae,You seem to be talking past me rather than responding to me, although you quoted my post.I specifically said, the majority of the time people in oppressed groups aren’t looking for things to be offended by.(Seriously, how often have feminists been falsely attacked for just that?) … We’re not fighting oppression for the lulz, or because it’s so damn easy.  

I definitely appreciate what you’re saying. I catch myself talking out both sides of my mouth, asking everyone to give “peace a chance” and then accusing people of “looking for offense.” And I do acknowledge I’ve had privilege in a wide variety of contexts and lacked it in others — It’s sometimes hard for me to remember not to jump to conclusions and to listen to seemingly-oppositional perspectives: Of course this is the first thing I point out in others. Apologies.

I especially like that Mandolin mentioned code-switching, because that is one of the blessings of the guest posters—stylistic differences of expression. Not just what they say, but how they say it.

For me, this goes along with Jill’s request to treat guest bloggers like a friendly neighbor’s house guests. When I meet a person face-to-face who has a heavy accent or someone who uses a different kind of English than I do, I don’t make a big deal out of it. I’m continually appalled when people on blogs get hung up on punctuation or capitalization or “improper” English and point it out as if to undermine the arguments being made or perspective being shared. I appreciate that Mandolin admits to having difficulty interpretting certain writing styles because they are unfamiliar; I’ve had the same experience. It’s just really low (not to mention classist and ablist) to hold that against the person and dismiss the substance of their work because of it. I hope people wouldn’t treat each other that way in person (at least, I hope the people who contribute here wouldn’t), and it’s disheartening to see people resort to that sort of pettiness here.

I love language and I love discovering new ways that different people use it to express themselves. It might take a post or two to get the hang of a new style, but it’s worth it for the richness it contributes to the experience of reading blogs. La Lubu, I hope you become more and more comfortable expressing yourself in your authentic, true-to-life style. I always appreciate your insight and would be glad to see more of your unique style.

Maybe “or” but not “and”? At least not simultaneously? If the first thing you hear from someone is both unfamiliar *and* upsetting that’s a lot more of a hurdle to understanding them than hearing something upsetting (like, from a friend who you know) or hearing something odd but relatively innocent (like, hearing something noncontroversial in passing.)

Like, now –having read Maia’s latest post — I’m like yeah, your daughter is a badass but when that’s the first thing I hear (out of context) I’m like ew, one of those parents. If I read her posts in reverse order it would make total sense to me, basically…first I get to know the shit’s she’s been through, then I get to know how she views “mama” in that context, then I get to hear about how much she loves “mama-ing” and how pissed she is at various things that make it difficult for her. And I’m like, oh, okay, totally follow. Though how I would translate that into a suggestion for future guest bloggers I have no idea… it’s so personal opinion.

(Man, I’m failing at not talking specifically. Please delete if too off-topic…)

…none of which is to shut down the suggestion! We’ll discuss it. Just trying to give everyone a fuller view on how this all works behind the scenes.

I think that already exists in the form of guest bloggers linking to their own blog in their introductory posts. I think the Feministe crew makes a good faith (full disclosure: yeah, I’ve been one in the past!) effort in finding guest bloggers who have perspectives that the Feministe community would find valuable, enlightening, educational, what-have-you.

I like what Mandolin said @ #83. I also skip posts where there’s too much of a gap (ex: Lady Gaga). If something really sets me off, I go find the context first (meaning: we all carry our whole selves with us….everything that went into making us who we are now) before responding (if I choose to respond)……because again, I’m assuming that the Feministe crew made a good faith effort to find voices that matter.

I especially like that Mandolin mentioned code-switching, because that is one of the blessings of the guest posters—stylistic differences of expression. Not just what they say, but how they say it. I’m not really comfortable with doing that; I’ve made very few posts that didn’t deliberately code switch into my best approximation of “academic” style (stop laughing. I only graduated from community college, ok?). I always feel I won’t be listened to or respected if I write like I speak. (you can tell when I’m getting comfortable in someone’s comment section when I lapse into dialect…slurring my words together, droppin’ “g’s”, that sorta thing….:-) I love to see other bloggers use their real voices; it encourages me to come out of my shell in print, too!

I think it is contingent on us, the commenting community, to give the guest bloggers the benefit of the doubt. When Jill invites Sarah Palin to come guest blog, I’ll rethink that strategy.

But doesn’t this contradict Jill’s request?:

“Please think of our guest-bloggers as invited guests who are staying over at our house, and think of yourself as a friendly neighbor dropping by. Show them the attendant respect.”

Is it impossible to hear controversial or non-contextual language at Feministe? What would make it possible for commenters here to be able to give a guest poster the benefit of the doubt? How could we learn to question the meaning of language we dislike instead of erupting in mis-placed anger?