While we're tackling unpopular topics, I may as well explain why I don't think shutting down Ask.fm is the solution to teenage suicide.
In fact, I'm not even convinced that preventing people from being able to use the service anonymously is the best thing to do - and I'm speaking as someone who was bullied, verbally and physically, badly enough at school that it stopped me from wanting to get out of bed in the morning.
The solution to bullying is not to shut down all potential methods by which that bullying might be delivered; the solution is to empower victims of all ages to know, without question, that they can speak out, and that there are people who will support them.
#thanksbro
It seems Laura Robson had an interesting encounter with a well-meaning passer-by recently (presumably somewhere in the Toronto area)...
Now, I'm not one to interrupt a tennis star while they're enjoying some baked goods, but I was interested to see the hashtag #mansplaining in amongst the replies to Robson's tweet.
If you're not aware of it, the word 'mansplaining' is - to the best of my knowledge - a term used, generally by feminists, to indicate that a man is condescendingly attempting to explain something to a woman who already has a perfectly good degree of understanding of the subject at hand (that's not a wrist pun, by the way).
And I got to thinking - given that no further information was given about this 'random guy' - is it not possible that he was genuinely just trying to be helpful? That maybe, in Canadian coffee shops, people try to help each other out if they're aware of a problem their fellow human being is facing?
Random guy in Panera sits down at my table and tells me how I need to be treating my wrist. #thanksbro
— Laura Robson (@laurarobson5) August 15, 2013
Now, I'm not one to interrupt a tennis star while they're enjoying some baked goods, but I was interested to see the hashtag #mansplaining in amongst the replies to Robson's tweet.
If you're not aware of it, the word 'mansplaining' is - to the best of my knowledge - a term used, generally by feminists, to indicate that a man is condescendingly attempting to explain something to a woman who already has a perfectly good degree of understanding of the subject at hand (that's not a wrist pun, by the way).
And I got to thinking - given that no further information was given about this 'random guy' - is it not possible that he was genuinely just trying to be helpful? That maybe, in Canadian coffee shops, people try to help each other out if they're aware of a problem their fellow human being is facing?
