... it should be rolled back except the OP was being harassed over it.

@djechlin Harrassed? Come on. Calling someone out for an error in judgement is not harrassing someone. When you come to a site asking for advice, people have a right to answer what they think is right. If the OP doesn't want to be called out for being sexist, don't describe sexist behavior!

@blankip calling someone out... 20 times though, often extremely rudely because why not? with the complaints still piling on despite having already been thoroughly called out, with any chance of receiving any other answer (and there were other ways to answer the question) drowning away. Sure, I used the word "harassed," I'm not submitting a police report or legal case so that should be fine. And I certainly would have edited the post at that point.

The original question already clearly stated: “So I am not necessarily soliciting an answer specific to my situation, but in a more general setting.” If it described a case which was commonly agreed upon to be sexism, I am pretty confident that people would have answered the actual question.

@djechlin - I do not know the OP. I can only go by what was written. Anything theoretically could have happened. Maybe the student was a huge sexist, who knows. What we do know is that we are supposed to answer a question based on what the OP writes and assume what they write is true. That's it. From what the OP wrote I believe she mirrored her sub-conscious bias to the student. Many people agreed. I am not saying the OP is sexist, I am saying her behavior to this student seems sexist based on the question she wrote. Why are you turning this into more than a question?

What I'm saying is it was very reasonable for the OP to not like how she was being treated and try to edit out the part of the question inviting the response. It's very not reasonable to roll back the question in this face of this fact.

@djechlin - so if someone wrote a question that said "You know all Italians are dumb" they shouldn't be called out? Well not if they edit their question? Not saying the OP said something that harsh, but certainly her microagression seemed as controversial to a lot of people.

Well you just took that really off topic all of the sudden.

Oh, I can answer though. Sure, called out once, respectfully, in one comment or one answer, and still with a possibility of getting answers to the actual question. Or if the OP made a really offensive comment, flagged for moderator attention and either edited or deleted. What we have now is mob justice instead.

It is like asking the question on Home Improvement, How to add a bigger breaker to your electrical box? Well I hope no one answers that because it could burn your house down. So should we answer the question, that is faulty or tell the OP that the question is faulty in the answer? If that question were asked on HI stack certainly 20 people would tell the OP how dumb they were to think of doing something like this and the consequences. Same thing here. This play nice thing has gone too far.

OK sure, I'll just be blunt about it: If you don't understand your own stance that's totally fine, feel free to drop it and move on. Don't drag me into random analogies to deal with it though.

@djechlin - You keep mentioning microaggresions everywhere like it means something. When you figure out that most people think the OP was the one displaying them, then you have a clue.

@blankip google.com is your friend

I think everyone, myself included, was being a bit "microagressive." I am laughing at these analogies though. Of course we would answer the electrical box question. We would answer with the correct answer of "This is an unsafe idea because:" and list reasons why the OP of the question should not do what he/she is planning....There are no faulty questions, only faulty logic and answers.

@NZKshatriya: The "Of course" part of your comment above seems to be debatable. One of the issues at hand is that some argue, in terms of the analogy, that the asker should not be told if/why the idea is unsafe, and just have the explicit question answered instead. Only that in this case, it's not "merely" the asker's house that may be burnt down, but also the house of someone who might well be absolutely innocent. Accusing someone of sexism can be disastrous for the accused, even in cases where the accusation is completely unfounded.

Change that to read "Of course we SHOULD answer." I have stated elsewhere, that a single data point not enough to establish a pattern. This applies to the OPs assumption of a sexist incident as well. The one incident which may or may not have been intended to be sexist, does not mean there is a pattern of behavior. Back to the breaker. If one does not answer the question, and inform the asker why it is not a good idea, and the asker goes ahead and performs the action, would those who poster asked for help not be somewhat responsible for not attempting to educate the person of the dangers?

@NZKshatriya - I know that I was a little harsh with the OP in my answer. That was on purpose to help OP not to harass them. I took the question as something at face value - a person without a complete understanding about the situation to potentially do something very dangerous to them and others. This could potentially cause the OP to lose their job or not get accepted for tenure so I thought the warning, while harsh, was warranted.

@blankip Personally, I think this issue has been flogged like the proverbial dead horse. I think we all need to take a step back from it for a while.

@blankip - I have a real problem with two statements you made in this comment chain: (1) "Accusing someone of sexism can be disastrous for the accused, even in cases where the accusation is completely unfounded." (2) "This could potentially cause the OP to lose their job or not get accepted for tenure." I think you haven't understood how bringing a concern to the university Title IX Coordinator works. You start out by bringing a concern in confidence. It is not like going to the press!