Flame Warriors ~ View topic

Kitten is a female warrior who has for whatever reason appeared on a mostly male-dominated forum. Unlike Strumpet, she does not parade her sexuality nor brag of bedroom conquests. Her posts are always rational and thoughtful, and she contributes to the community at large. In fact, if it weren't for the fact she is a woman, she'd likely be treated with only passing curiosity by other warriors. Yet this distinction is her most powerful weapon.
Kitten's image as the wholesome "Girl posting next door" can reduce heated and violent discussions to amicable stalemates simply by her presence. Much like Toxic Granny, other warriors are loath to level the big guns at her, even when enguaged in battle since doing so would not be gentlemanly. While those that do are offten surprised to find thier attacks repulsed and must quickly conceede they have misjudged badly. Kitten does have claws.
Kitten is most devastating when employed against a forum of prepubescents, where all rational thought and discussion can be reduced to spastic, blabbering, hormonal-driven chaos.

She is also a powerful ally, and it's not uncommon to see her sent in as a shock troop to break up a heated debate, clearing the way for her allies to sieze the topic for thier own.

Kitten is a favorite target of Evil Clown and Perv, but because she in no way asks for abuse the way Strumpet would, those who attack her can expect fast and hard retribution, so she is usualy left alone.

This is just a female Big Cat.
_________________

Tireless Rebutter / Archivist
The Grand Suggestion List

Having seen a couple of situations like this, I think it is the mere presence of a member that they do not want to look childish in front of, that modifies the forum behaviour overall. The member is not really that powerful, but as an ally, you can be afforded some protection, like being a favourite so to speak.

I think the idea could be broadened to " Member of Interest" .

Sub group Kitten - The presence of wholesome female in a mature male dominated board resulting in an increase of maturity within the forum.
They would not be a Big Cat, as the summary points out, if they were male, they would be just a passing curiosity.

I think it is a good suggestion.
_________________
The important thing is knowing who owns the fence

It still needs to be greatly broadened. Right now it's a fairly narrow definition that is, for lack of a better description, a female Big Cat who happens to be surrounded by people who don't want her to think less of them.
_________________

Tireless Rebutter / Archivist
The Grand Suggestion List

A big Cat is a Big Cat regardless of the gender of the poster. As is any description.on the roster.

In some situations a female member finds they are afforded some status. Even if she can do things a Big Cat might do, doesn't mean that they are. The couple I've seen, are not like Big Cats at all. They know they can get what they want, without a great battle. Sooner or later, one member will point out how stupid all the members look fawning over Kitten.

At some point things may turn sour for Kitten, and she will be morphed back into much weaker warrior.
_________________
The important thing is knowing who owns the fence

That's kinda what I was getting at, reguardless of her fighting style, which may be similar to tactics employed by other warriors, Kitten's ace in the hole is her gender, which can be a real "X" factor

It may win her allies, it may win her enemies, it may have no bearing at all, but it can be enough to fully turn the tide of battle

The important thing is, Kitten herself never makes her sex an issue, she's all about substance, her power comes from how others react to her since she is probably the only woman they come in contact with on a fairly regular basis at thier forum.

Fence Sitter: I disagree. You've overlooked the bit about her posting style, and only focused on the reaction of other people to her. The entire description is a Big Cat with some status which makes other people lay off. I would suggest cutting out the nonsense about her always being rational and kempt, and just focus on the favored status part.

Guest (original poster): It is still too specific. I've never seen a forum where being female gave someone an advantage. I can believe there are such forums. However, your suggestion can be broadened to be more generic, as there are things which may lend a Warrior status that are forum-specific.
_________________

Tireless Rebutter / Archivist
The Grand Suggestion List

irritus - I have seen such a warrior or two.

She joins a forum. Soon she become aware she has this " shield" and is able to use her claws and finds that the rather once pitiful scratches are quite effective. A newbie who joins such a forum with a Kitten wouldn't immediately understand why her posts aren't ripped to shreads.

irritus - disagree all you like.
_________________
The important thing is knowing who owns the fence

Okay, so she's more like a Target who doesn't act like one, they're people who don't fit the mold of the average forum member, but aren't there begging for people to take them on or looking to troll.

A competent target, if you will.......

What would one call that?

I sorta see the point irritus is making - Big Cat can be a girl in a formerly all-male forum, or a sypathetic male in a woman's forum - the gender specific doeasn't matter, they simply have one specific thing that differentiates them. But I disagree - women do tend to be civilising influences, God alone knows why. A guy doesn't calm down a female forum the way a female can calm down a male one.
_________________
The Average Woman Would Rather Have Beauty Than Brains Because The Average Man Can See Better Than He Can Think

Ok, three points for the snide remark, but there is a difference.
_________________
The Average Woman Would Rather Have Beauty Than Brains Because The Average Man Can See Better Than He Can Think

In all seriousness, though, I've never seen a mostly-male forum civilized by the presense of a female poster. For one, most men are aware attempting to have sex through a computer leads to electrical burns. This tends to eliminate the fear of female disapproval. Besides, most of the forums that attract young people have young women as stupid and shallow as the young male regulars.
_________________

Tireless Rebutter / Archivist
The Grand Suggestion List

*ahem* Just because you've never seen something does not preclude its existance, you know.
_________________
The Average Woman Would Rather Have Beauty Than Brains Because The Average Man Can See Better Than He Can Think

I guess the problem is the guest described a warrior which has not been touched on before by any other suggestions I can think of.

The original suggestion probably is not complete for those who have not seen a " Kitten" before.

What is probably happening here is Transference again, where I can fit the suggestion to a couple of warriors I've seen, but it has little meaning or a diferent one for other members here.

I haven't seen a situation where a Kitten could be employed against a forum of prepubescents, but then I don't visit those sort of forums.

I'll sum up the basics of a couple I've seen. Hopefully this will offer some clarity on the warrior I'm thinking of.

In Real Life

The female is not dull or drab (this is not to say she is or isnt attractive), but many guys are sort of like me and inteligence and good nature iis the majority of a woman's attractiveness

The female has usually worked and got ahead by being much better than the male counter-part, but she doesn't display any bitterness over that. It's a good bet she is quite inteligent, and has found it's far better to play nice than be an utter bitch.

Single and still available, no kids, but these days that probably woundn't matter.

She keeps more or less a clean lifestyle.

She has a good way with words and has learned the important art of dismissing any romantic interests very gentlly, without hurting anyones ego.

She probably doesn't realise or expect she is near the very top of many local guys "Most desirable woman to be with" list

She is basically a very desirable cantidate to start a family with.

In a particular forum

The forum generally has a reference to members real identies, and the forum usually has some purpose to it. eg a Research or discussion forum. The reference to real identies allows by one means or another, members to see who she is, maybe it's just the photo with a bio or there is a member present who knows someone who had known her for a long time, and she is a good sort.

When she joins a forum, she would probably expect to have to fight battles as she has always done. Her posts are rational and thoughtful, and generally good natured. Though she is not incompetent nor is she is a Kung-fu Master. (Though there is no reason a Kitten couldn't be, so the first suggestion needs to modified witha few " generally" words stuck in it) She finds the tone of the forum changes shortly after she joins, and it probably apears to her she has found, at last, some respect for her abilities and achivements. For this reason, she will stick around. Actually the male members are quietly fawning over her, or exercising good manners, behaving in a polite manner, as there is a female member present.

Almost immediately, if anyone were to gratuitously attack her, they would be looked upon much like they were attacking an Ent. She has become revered

Whatever the reason, discussion become more civilised, and any arguements that Kitten tackles, seem to end far less bloody and more end leaning towards her thoughts on the matter.

Anyhow the one thing that seemed clear to me, that both were a bit niave in the interest that they generated from the guys. They certinly didn't flaunt themselves, and probably never though themselves as physically attractive enough to even get that sort of response.

Things can and do go haywire when reasons are suggested for the new forum dynamics.
_________________
The important thing is knowing who owns the fence

Excellent job Fence, that was her to a "T" including the parts about her being able to post for months before anyone figures out through empirical evidence, "Hey, she's a woman!" and the fast rise so quasi-royal status

Well that was just a summing up I the 2 I can remember. Its bound to be different, depending on variables.

"Kitten" has an understandable effect in the situations I observed. Its interesting that the same sort of warrior can exist in a younger male populated forum.

Another broader label could be Forum Favourite though this label doesn't translate so well into what the situation is exactly. (meaning someone could be though of as a favourite, but as a result of effort, rather than the member being atypical )

A broader definition would need to describe an atypical member, whom merely for being someone of great interest to forum mebers, becomes revered. You could then mention a sub group called Kitten.

Anyhow I think the Kitten suggestion could ride on its own. It's the first mention of this warrior, I think, and I even had a quick look through the old guestbook and the ideas page.
_________________
The important thing is knowing who owns the fence

Well, I find her interesting as, for a while, I was posting on some SF forums, and I hadn't really crystallized the pattern I saw there until I read that description. I would look back at some of the older posts, and they would get real nasty - and then suddenly things seemed to get very mannerly for no reason. I wish the forum had survived, it was an excellent example, but unfortunately a couple of Blowhards morphed into Godzillas and killed it.
_________________
The Average Woman Would Rather Have Beauty Than Brains Because The Average Man Can See Better Than He Can Think

Oooh new pic there Teamtunafish, mmmm swords of fire?

You know its interesting that this has been observed, in more than the situation I would have expected it. Perhaps manners are alive and well after all?

I meant to add in my last post, in one of the forums there was more than one female. They didn't get quite the same treatment or respect, but I put it down to she was either very much spoken for, or she tended to be hostile/ nasty/ ill mannered. I tend to think it was the latter reason.
_________________
The important thing is knowing who owns the fence

Yes, I believe inserting "generally" a few times would allieviate my problems with this. As it stands, the original description borders on saying all women are Kittens, favored, rational, and excellent fighters. A quick run through a gaming forum or anime fanforum would put that notion to rest. However, I could see a rational woman who could handle herself becoming elligible for Kitten-hood on some forum.
_________________

Tireless Rebutter / Archivist
The Grand Suggestion List

Hells Kitchen Enforcer Joined: 16 Feb 2005 Posts: 655

The Kitten descriptor lacks in that it projects images that do not fit the description of the character. I think it needs to be beefed up a bit. Feline strikes me as entirely more suitable, having less cutesy suggestiveness or sexist overtones.(ie being a 'Sex Kitten', lesser than Big Cat) Feline allows for more breadth of definition, including that of an abuser of the status.

Ps, if you call me a Weenie for pointing that out, I will sigh...deeply.

[Randomly edited so you will wonder what I have changed]
_________________

Its a hard one to pin down neatly. I think as I have seen a couple of situations, it made sense to me. I think the definition of Kitten would also need to acount (or make obvious) for the female being a cut above the rest or an outstanding femme. I suppose just being female (regardless of how outstanding there ae) might work on a forum of desperate guys.

Where I observed this, I think the likely motivation are the guys finding out about the female's Real Life characteristics, and the fact she conducts herself in a charming and graceful manner. Emmulating everything they had picured as a ideal mate. She is also not stupid, and would normally give the most powerful of warriors a good scratch, it is just in this particular setting, thats enough to get them to back off and tone down.

Actually a vague thought, think of Merry Melodies (?) and the dog and kitten segments.
_________________
The important thing is knowing who owns the fence

I've seen this... Basically, no one will engage the person because doing so can win them only scorn from everyone else. Being the only female is one possible way... But they could also be revered for other reasons. The result of harrassing them is the same as stepping into a Swarm, but is more obvious than a Swarm is. In that way, that particular member obtains a Godfather status without ever knowing it.
_________________
My Site My Forum My Game Ban DHMO

I think we ned to add that she (often charmingly) refuses to answer questions about her personal life. That can have much to do with her power on the forum.
_________________
The Average Woman Would Rather Have Beauty Than Brains Because The Average Man Can See Better Than He Can Think

First edit Sat Feb 26, 2005 6:20 pm approx

Ah I should have gone to roost hours ago.

mmmm, I guess that happens, but I think it sort of depends on the forum. I guess I'd put that as " May charmingly refuse to post personal info"

My thoughts are if you have a forum that you'd only expect males there, they wouldn't even question the gender of the new member, or question if begin female would be important to them. It also may be the case it doesn't occur to the forum that a female would ever be interested to join their fray(and if that were the case any female could become revered) Mostly though I believe it just happens the femme is over a theshold point, that captures their interests. The forum may also be so intensely focused on the subject at hard to get off topic much, and discussl any personal details.

In both situations I remember, when ever that sort of topic came up, she didn't do any different to anyone else. To the femmes in question, there wasn't any big secret who they were, it just never occured to them they were being treated diffently as a result of their gender. There may be already, ofther female members there who haven't become revered.
_________________
The important thing is knowing who owns the fence