Some people are expressing various degrees of anger or upset about these discussions, seemingly for a wide range of reasons. Some of the people in engaged in #3 don't actually seem to be interested participating in these acafan discussions at all. Some do seem to, but seem to be expressing anger or frustration toward the group over their interactions with individuals (some of whom may not even *be* in fandom) that may or may not reflect on acafandom as a whole. So where does that leave us?
Well--at the risk of getting jumped on for comparing two dissimilar things--if some fans are discussing canon (say, for example, wishing Scully wore heels more often), and a reader says, "that's sexist, and posts like this are Bad For Fandom" and the discussers say, "we don't think so; if you don't like it, you don't have to read"... there's usually a flurry of angry comments & new posts. Sometimes a whole storm of them.
Nobody is saying acafandom is sexist or other -ist. But some fen *are* saying, "it's unpleasant, and it's band for fandom as I perceive it and wish it to be." (I think there's three of those posts that kicked off the most recent round of meta-posts, but I could be mistaken. I'm sure there's two.) And they're being told, "your opinions are irrelevant." Sometimes by direct comment reply, sometimes by new post that says, "look at this person here--she thinks acafandom is bad! Boy is she wrong!" with a string of "mm-hmm, you called it" replies.
I'd be less upset if these were not the fans who regularly post diatribes or pleas that say, "When someone says, [behavior x] is hurtful and mean, please don't disregard it; instead, try to accept that it's true, and sort out whether you wanted to be hurtful or mean. Then go read some about the topic, from both sides, and you'll have to decide for yourself if it really is hurtful, or if the person complaining is overreacting."
When ALL the complainers are told they must be overreacting--that it's NEVER okay to draw conclusions about a group based on what members of that group have done in the past, that any perception of rudeness is incorret--I am suspicious about the kind of blinders being worn.
The very firm message is "acafandom is good; anyone who complains about it is just biased or stupid." Which is not the same as "acafen have just as much right to post as those other people, and I'm sorry it bothers some of them."