I feel the need to say something about the Open Source Boob Project. I think I got the intent theferrett was talking about from his first post. His follow up posts correspond to my first impression.

I understand that some people have issues with the idea and that is ok. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and feelings. I don’t like all the crap that has been flying about this. I really feel that the people that are so opposed to this don’t get that it wasn’t about letting everyone touch women’s boobs. It was about a system where, when approached with respect, a woman could be asked a question about touching a part of her body that society has listed as verboten and she had the option to say Yes or No and have that answer respected. I think this is rather healthy in the right circumstances and if everyone agrees with the rules. It removes a level of mystery that causes tension. Like showing ankles in Victorian times. Once women wore shorter skirts, the ankle wasn’t as titillating.

I probably would be wearing of Red button of Don’t Ask me and not participating but I don’t think the project is a bad thing. Guys that are there just to get their jollies wouldn’t be allowed in the project because they aren’t approaching it with respect.

I feel the project was about removing a layer of titillation to something that is really a body part (not all the titillation but some of it) and respect for women and the right to say yes or no. What I have seen written about the project from other sources all seem to focus on the idea that if a woman wears a yes button, she is open for anyone to grope her at any time.

I can understand people getting upset about it to a point they can’t see everything involved. Boobs are tied into sex and that is a very emotional subject. I can see some people getting justifiably upset. I can see why theferrett wrote the original post the way he did having had an incredible connecting experience at a con and not having the opposite point of view to know what land minds to avoid. If it was a different type of subject for the project, I think people would have just read it and if they didn’t agree, ignore it for the most part. Because this is something we tend to not talk about and is so emotionally laden, it has turned into an internet phenomenon. I am sorry that theferrett is painted so harshly that he feels he needs to avoid certain cons so that people can feel safe/comfortable. I don’t feel he is a predator. What happen with the Open Source Boob Project is not that different that other stuff that happens at cons. If you aren’t into it, there is a good chance you didn’t even see it going on and wouldn’t be aware of it.

I don’t think theferrett is any more of a pervert than he has shown in his other posts. I think he has a lot of respect for women as well as admitted desires for their bodies. I think he is a good guy that had this neat experience and wanted to share it. It turned out to make a lot of people uncomfortable and he really regrets that. I think a lot of people don’t get the idea behind the project and are taking just the surface (Ooo, they said “boob”) and reacting from there. I think his response is appropriate.

As for the The Open-Source Knuckle Sandwich Project, I would have to say my answer will always be No. If you ask with respect and respect my answer, it should be ok to ask. Of course I will assume that you like to hit things or that you don’t like me or I might ask why you would want to punch me in the face.

Sadly I have a hard time seeing the humor in this parody because so many people are upset with the entire idea. I am disabling comments because this is something I feel rather strongly about and would take needing to defending my position as a personal attack when it isn’t. It hits an emotional trigger for me and therefore I am not to reasonable about arguments about it. I did feel like I wanted to let people know what my position on this was since it seems to be going around and it seems like I differ from some of those on my friends list. It is ok for us to have different opinions. I don’t need to convince anyone that mine is right but I do feel the need to state what my opinion is and why.