Board Thread:Community Voting/@comment-5052737-20160202174112/@comment-5780776-20160202203219

Unblock both; for the second I've never seen it used before today, so being blocked is obviously unnecessary, and it's likely not going to be used for another three years. (though I'd say absolutely do walk up to your parents and ask them what a condom is; it's for your betterment to know about how to take care of yourself)

And for the first, I've already been a major advocate for this on chat, for a few reasons. But first, think about how many times you've seen this word used--I've been here for 3 years and maybe come up against it 3 times. When it gets unblocked, it's not suddenly going to become a daily topic. So I'm not voting to unblock it because I think it's a word we need to use, but my press about this is more about the spirit of the issue.

One of the abominations of this day and age is the pervasiveness of the rape culture, and the victim-shaming and blaming that occurs afterward. By having this word blocked, we're contributing to the culture that shames victims and tells them that what has happened to them is unacceptable to be known and talked about, that they've been humiliated and disgraced for something that is absolutely never their own fault.

There are people here this has happened to, in case you were wondering why this is relevant. And after a traumatic incident, I don't know about everyone, but many are hypersensitive to anything relating to their experience. With this word blocked, we're sending a message--no matter how subtle--that they must manage alone, they need to pick up their life and hold it carefully around them and make sure no one ever sees what happened, it needs to be secret because they must have done something wrong. Especially if they're younger.

How will we ever fix this culture if we aid in pressing the idea that you can't talk about what happened to you? If we don't bring light onto it, it'll fester and get worse, and I don't know how anyone human could approve of that.

(And in case it's not clear, I'm not saying that chat should become a place for one and all to share heartbreaking stories 24/7, but right now we're one brick in the wall that gives people the idea that they must stay oppressed.)

TL:DR Unblock both, I don't really care about "condom" but having "rape" blocked is shutting down victims and perpetuating shaming.