In the 6 years since I joined BWS, I've seen mostly love and caring but a few flat out nasty fights. Sometimes hurtful things are said to-or-about someone of a differing opinion. Being an open forum, we also get the occasional person who is emotionally toxic.

Whenever these incidents occur, I'll get emails/pm's from women who didn't say anything in the forums, but voiced their disapproval to me (and I'm sure to others as well.) Quite a few of them dropped out rather than deal with confrontation and what they saw as hostility.

That was then -- and more than one then.

Now, perhaps the lack of more diversity is a perpetuating perception of lack of diversity -- in other words, "I" (not Meredith-I, just random-I) am diverse but this group is not; therefore, it doesn't speak to my interests.

I dunno. Everything has its ebb and flow.

On the personal side, being a one-woman business in an iffy economy means I work insane hours to stay afloat. Many other people work overtime to make ends meet, or to find employment. In a bad economy, people have less leisure time.