I have a question related to this. If I (a man) meet someone at an EA meetup and I find myself interested in exploring the possibility of a romantic relationship, in an ideal world what would you like me to do?
Sometimes at social events I meet a woman that I feel attracted to. Generally speaking, if I feel that we have some rapport I’d tell her that I think she is pretty cool and ask her if she would be interested in going on a date. Sometimes it isn’t so clear cut as “want to go on a date with me?”, and we exchange contact info and chit-chat through some medium while I try to parse if she is open to a romantic relationship and while I try to parse to what extent I am interested in her.
I’m not sure what the appropriate actions I should take as a response to “women are getting hit on too much.” It doesn’t seem realistic to proclaim that if you meet a person you are interested in through EA you simply are not allowed to pursue any relationship with that person. Is this simply an issue of people getting hit on in a clunky/awkward/uncomfortable way? Is this an issue of a man asking a women out, the women declining, and the man being pushy about about instead of gracefully accepting the “no”?
I feel weird that I am using an anonymous account, but I think that even asking a question about this topic would have negative repercussions for me.
The brief answer is that it could cause harm to EA’s efforts, to EA people in China, or to EA people working on China-related issues.
The Chinese government is very sensitive. It takes perceived slights quite seriously, and has lashed out in the past against national governments, corporations, and individuals for perceived slights. Any discussion of China that is connected to EA and is publicly available could easily get EA banned in China if it is perceived as against China at some point in the future. That would cause serious difficulties for some EA causes, as well as for some people connected to EA who are working on related issues.
Anything related to China publicly should be done with great caution, as it would be far too easy to get an organization or a movement declared illegal in China.
When one doesn’t live in and think about autocratic governments, then it is easy to forget how flimsy of a justification the state needs for putting someone under house arrest, or for taking someone to a detention center.