Have you ever heard of PostSecret? In essence, it's a method of publicly and anonymously telling a secret. DeviantArtSecret (DAS) is the same concept. Once up, secrets are open for comments by members of the deviantART community.
Secrets there run the gamut of topics, from forbidden love to childhood abuse to using one's own urine as a facial cleanser. Some secrets are funny, some beautiful, some depressing, and some are, well, extremely bigoted. DAS rules regarding secrets are minimal, and do not cover hateful topics.
The dynamic that makes DAS different from PostSecret is the ability of users to comment on a secret. On hateful secrets, there are frequently many people that will disagree with the Secret Teller (ST) in the strongest terms, or argue amongst each other over the merits and content of a secret. While DAS administrators do their best to block negative commenters, there is only so much they can do, especially when the hurtfulness of a comment is debatable.
I have been an active member of the DAS community for years now, and even have a few of my own secrets posted (ssshh!). Certain secrets have really gotten under my skin in terms of hurtful ignorance, while other secrets are heartbreaking and the comments on them infuriating. As I progress in terms of feminism and size acceptance, the angrier I become at these events, and I have found that venting in the form of a blog post is quite helpful.
However, I see little reason to go through this background explanation in each new post, so this is a simple all-purpose post I can link to instead.
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