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Philosophy of OvaritKeep the invite system
Apologies if I’ve missed any official comments on this, but I’ve seen a few comments now suggesting this with a lot of positive feedback so figured I’d make a dedicated post!
What I personally think:
There’s a ton of attention on us right now from our #1 fan clubs, just waiting to “cheat the system” and wriggle their way through. With the current invite-only system, even if they got ahold of a code, banning them and tracking who they’ve invited is an easy task. Having open registration would eliminate that trail and make ban evasion a breeze, even IP bans could be bypassed if they had used a VPN while invite-only would take much more time and effort.
Of course (wo)manpower to approve all requests is a big hindrance, but I think ensuring a female-only space for the long run is a higher priority than automatic approvals and sheer numbers right now (quality over quantity). Like many others, I was a lurker on r/GC for a long time before actively participating beyond just voting, my views and opinions hadn’t reverted just because I wasn’t commenting. If people are interested in reading our content then I think they’ll visit regardless, and waiting even a few days for approval won’t make any noticeable negative impact.
First, I am coming to read this brilliant book a couple of years after it was published, so some of you may have already read it. But wanted to highly recommend it. Shriver is one of my favorite contemporary writers (I mostly only read women authors), and this book is a deep, funny, imaginative exploration of the difficult subjects of aging, mortality, the body's deterioration, choices to stay or go, and much more, written in Shriver's inimitable way, with great humor, energy, intelligence and a wonderful ability to point up cultural ridiculousnesses and fads with sharp wit and insight. She is, of course, gender critical in her journalism (the novel is not about "g.i" issues, but gets a bit in). She is also brave and courageous and embodies freedom of speech and belief in her forthrightness to speak on any subject, particularly taboo ones.
I posted this link because it is an excellent interview/discussion on the novel, and on writing, with Zoe Strimpel. I really like to hear from authors whose books I admire.
I recently listened to the Mandibles, from 2016, on a long road trip. She predicted toilet paper shortages! That book terrified me because we're headed in that direction and it really made me think about my own situation in the context of all that's happening across the globe, which isn't great as a single woman who doesn't have a stash of gold bars or a gun. I'm not quite up for this one yet, but I'll get there. She's my new favourite horror novelist and I love that she sees right through the gender nonsense, which of course she does.
Yes, the Mandibles is really really good - and grim! Ohmigosh. She writes about her worst fears, and the thing of it is, it's all things that could actually happen. And in some cases already have, to somebody.
It made me think I should learn how to use a gun, and get one, even though I'm in Canada. As a single woman, I can't protect myself if I can't stop men. Grim stuff!
That part with the "house-jacking" - that's like, yeah, that's actually how that could go.
There's a similar scene in "Should we stay or should we go", and the old couple wind up relegated to their attic while others have taken over their own house.
I strongly think Shriver is an under rated author. She is really really REALLY good. The way she writes it is so visceral.
Yeah, and seeing how the police don't give a shit about women, the house-jacking scene really made me think, and as a single woman, it could go way worse than what happened in the book, plus, any food I have would be taken. I agree that Shriver is underrated. The first book of hers I read was "We Need to Talk About Kevin" and it was mind-stretching and important.
She writes about things that are outside of your control, that are still going to affect your life. And yet, she still writes from a perspective that personal responsibility exists. I really wish we heard more, from this sort of perspective. Like, if the entire American Dollar collapses, there is no amount of self-help that's going to really help you, and yet, there ARE some choices you get to make.
Yeah, good analysis. I just want to prepare to keep myself somewhat safe and go from there. It's like driving, though, I'm a good driver, but I have no control over the assholes on the road.
Yes, The Mandibles is my other favorite of hers. And like a great writer, she understands humanity and can see possibilities of where we are going on many different levels. As she says in this interview, one of the things that interests her is our financial situation.
Our financial system is grim. I'm in Canada, and waiting for the ball to drop, because we've turned on the printing money taps and left them running for years and it's going to hurt when we shut them off and try to clean up the mess.