Maybe you have been browsing FDS for a while and are wondering, how the hell does a woman actually get flaired and get their comments approved/seen?

Every day, this subreddit sees massive amounts of mod traffic from users trying to join in bad faith to disrupt the community. We have male would-be moles who literally spend their time crafting a female persona by having some half-assed history in makeup, twox or reality TV subreddits to appear female enough to squeeze in here. The shit they attempt is ridiculous but not surprising. As such, FDS needs to maintain a constant vigilance and practice strict vetting of our approved posters.

Here is a quick guide to make it easier for a woman wanting to join. This is not a guarantee; mods retain the discretion to approve or deny as they see fit.

STEP 0: YOU WILL BE BANNED FOR DMing MODS FOR A FLAIR

This is non-negotiable.

STEP 1: CREATE AN ALT FOR FDS

I highly recommend having a dedicated profile just for this sub. Some of you like to participate on controversial subs found on the Popular tab, or scroll through All and don’t pay attention to the subreddit you’re replying on, and bam, you’ve posted on a men’s rights sub or cringetopia or something. There’s nothing wrong with this per se, but we have a strict ban bot that WILL ban you for posting there. It doesn’t matter if you were actually arguing in defense of women there. The bot does not care about context. Loosening up the bot is not an option, as it keeps out a lot of riff-raff. Unfortunately, that means sometimes someone will be banned by accident. You may appeal the ban, but why not take the easier road? Having an alt removes this issue - less hassle for you, less work for the mods.

Alts are also a part of good OPSEC. This way, if you like to post things like selfies or personally identifiable information on your main, you can have an alt where you can remain anonymous. There are some scary mofos out there and we want you all to be safe.

STEP 2: CONTRIBUTE HIGH-VALUE POSTS/COMMENTS HERE ON FDS

At first, your posts will not be visible to the wider sub, but the mods will see them. Brand new accounts with zero/near zero history on FDS are NEVER flaired as approved users. Trolls try to get in this way and we reject anyone with zero history, as well as anyone who has barely or never commented here, even if they happen to be active elsewhere. And what comments you do make, must be high-value and contribute to the discussion. Which means, simply spamming a bunch of low-effort comments over enough time to have some “history” is not going to get you flaired. And, though it should go without saying, but being consistently argumentative with other members or mods, rude demanding messages, posts that clearly demonstrate you never read the Handbook or sub rules, or shit-stirring of any kind are noticed and will result in banning.

I know that it can be discouraging to feel like you are posting into the void, but please know, the mods do see your posts, and we will get to you.

STEP 3: PLEASE SUBMIT EXACTLY ONE JOIN REQUEST

You’ll want to do this after you’ve got a nice bunch of good comments on the sub. Mods must check each and every profile when deciding to approve user flairs. If you only have a few comments > 30 days ago and not much else, chances are you will not be approved. Repeatedly bugging the mods with multiple messages will get you banned. Asking for flair outright will also get you banned. See Rule 0.

Please be patient. I went back into my own history and it had been about six months I had been posting here before I received my flair. But I recognized that this is the price to pay for the only safe, female-centered sub left on Reddit.