gag rule joke

[Siddhesh Poyarekar]

[I am pleasantly surprised that you've chosen to continue the 
conversation, so I want to apologize for assuming that you'll walk away 
now that the commit is reverted.]

On 05/09/2018 09:09 AM, Richard Stallman wrote:
> Just as women are entitled to make statements about what men
> often do and think, men are likewise entitled to make statements
> about what women often do and think.  We all do know something
> about various kinds of other people.

No, the gender power imbalance means that we are not entitled enough to 
do that.

> Based on the name "Siddhesh", and your way of writing, I have the
> impression you are male.  But you too make claims about what
> women will think.
> 
> Everyone who has posted here is male, it seems.  I have started asking
> some women their impressions about the joke.

Nowhere have I referred to women or argued of what women specifically 
might make of the joke, although if you do a quick search on twitter 
(and a few women who cared to respond on libc-alpha) on various opinions 
women have written about you'll see that none find abortion to be a 
suitable subject for a joke.

While the possibility of someone hurt by jokes about abortion being a 
woman is higher, it is by no means a gender-specific thing.  My argument 
is not gender-specific either, I have reiterated/re-explained it below.

>    > The point in the end is not about *how many* people get offended by the
>    > joke or find it in bad taste; the point is that the joke is vague and
>    > doesn't really serve any purpose than possibly offending someone.
> 
> It serves the purpose of humor, and the purpose of reminding people
> about an censorship law which attacks the rights of women (especially
> poor women) in many countries.

The message does not translate correctly to anyone other than American, 
politically aware individuals and is very likely to be misunderstood, as 
is evident.  Just look at the reactions all over, there's very little 
understanding outside of the American people about what the joke 
actually means.

> I don't expect the joke to offend people, so if my purpose had been to
> offend, I would have written something else.

You wrote that 26 years ago, almost two generations ago and 
sensitivities and social norms have changed greatly since then.  The 
audience of the manual has also changed greatly from the initial 
predominantly North American white male one.

I don't believe you wish to offend and I never even gave that impression 
in any of my responses.  However you may be, because of the fact that 
the joke you wrote 26 years ago has not aged very well.

Siddhesh