Touchy-feely can be addressed directly, if not completely, by simply explaining it as a group culture thing which a new person does not have to adopt.
Problem is, as a few people pointed out, making such a comment itself has significant effects. If you tell your potential newbies (from their possible POV), "Well, there are some creepy people, but you can just ignore them", that isn't going to endear the club to them. It's a very tricky and subtle point to make -- doing so in a way that doesn't in itself act as a turnoff isn't easy...
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Date: 2005-08-03 03:33 am (UTC)Problem is, as a few people pointed out, making such a comment itself has significant effects. If you tell your potential newbies (from their possible POV), "Well, there are some creepy people, but you can just ignore them", that isn't going to endear the club to them. It's a very tricky and subtle point to make -- doing so in a way that doesn't in itself act as a turnoff isn't easy...