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Heroku Pulls Sponsorship After Boston API Jam Publishes Sexist Eventbrite

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Re: Heroku Pulls Sponsorship After Boston API Jam Publishes Sexist Eventbrite

#41

Post by stevenpworrel »

tptacek wrote: post #16
vertis wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heroku didn't notice/care until someone else started making a big deal about it. Then like any sane company they took the safe route.

It took less than 2 hours for this to go from Twitter meme to Heroku and Apigee pulling out. If a sponsor pulled out tomorrow, I'd still be impressed with them for doing it. The simplest explanation for what happened here: this is an image Heroku gives a shit about not having.

So they're OK with scantily-clad booth babes handing out beers at sponsored events, but they're not OK with a poorly-written post about scantily-clad booth babes handing out beers at sponsored events?

Re: Heroku Pulls Sponsorship After Boston API Jam Publishes Sexist Eventbrite

#43

Post by tzaman »

vertis wrote: post #12
mcherm wrote: post #9

If everyone responded like Heroku did (immediately, firmly, and without apologies) when they saw such sexist behavior it would improve our industry. Please do so whenever you get the chance, and props to the Heroku team!

Heroku didn't notice/care until someone else started making a big deal about it. Then like any sane company they took the safe route.

I agree.

This was a prank gone bad. No one got hurt (apart from a few egos). Pulling sponsorship because of that is just lame.

Don't get me wrong, I have the deepest respect for women but that doesn't prevent me from pulling (even sometimes sexist) pranks on my wife. She does the same to me and we smile at each other.

I dare you, everyone that's horrified by their prank say it out loud (and mean it!):

"I have never, ever made a sexist joke before in my life. At least not a kind that would in any way offend someone"

Re: Heroku Pulls Sponsorship After Boston API Jam Publishes Sexist Eventbrite

#44

Post by jballanc »

ellyagg wrote: post #29

Whenever people get outraged about things like this, it interests me. I like looking at attractive women. I like programming. Would it be possible to have an event where I could program and look at attractive women at the same time? Or does enjoying seeing attractive women in public make me a bad person? As a man, is this my original sin? In fact, I've even been known to flirt with attractive women in public--perhaps…

> Or does enjoying seeing attractive women in public make me a bad person? As a man, is this my original sin?

If you cannot understand the difference between admiring attractive women while programming, and listing "Women" as a "Great Perk" you need to have a serious conversation with yourself.

> Medical doctors have been mostly men, and, in my experience, exhibit pretty much the same desire for women as tech people, but that never stopped women from flocking to become nurses.

What decade are you living in? You should check the current demographic breakdown of doctors, lawyers, scientists, and programmers. I'll give you a head start: one of these is an outlier.

Re: Heroku Pulls Sponsorship After Boston API Jam Publishes Sexist Eventbrite

#45

Post by [deleted] »

stevenpworrel wrote: post #41
tptacek wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It took less than 2 hours for this to go from Twitter meme to Heroku and Apigee pulling out. If a sponsor pulled out tomorrow, I'd still be impressed with them for doing it. The simplest explanation for what happened here: this is an image Heroku gives a shit about not having.

So they're OK with scantily-clad booth babes handing out beers at sponsored events, but they're not OK with a poorly-written post about scantily-clad booth babes handing out beers at sponsored events?

[deleted]

Re: Heroku Pulls Sponsorship After Boston API Jam Publishes Sexist Eventbrite

#46

Post by stevenpworrel »

tptacek wrote: post #32
ellyagg wrote: post #29

Whenever people get outraged about things like this, it interests me. I like looking at attractive women. I like programming. Would it be possible to have an event where I could program and look at attractive women at the same time? Or does enjoying seeing attractive women in public make me a bad person? As a man, is this my original sin? In fact, I've even been known to flirt with attractive women in public--perhaps…

What the hell are you talking about? Medical doctors are not "mostly men". Roughly 50% of all medical students are women, and current trends have women overtaking men in the profession long term. "I very much doubt the dearth of women in technology is because men are sexual predators". Sheesh. I agree. Comments like this do the job just fine, too.

I'm a doctor and the profession is still quite dominated by men. The women are far more likely to fill primary-care specialties while the good-ol-boys dominate ortho/neurosurg/EM/plastics and most of the internal medicine subspecialties. The women in my specialty (ortho) tend to lean toward the masculine side (in personality). A lot of it is about fitting in.

Re: Heroku Pulls Sponsorship After Boston API Jam Publishes Sexist Eventbrite

#47

Post by tptacek »

stevenpworrel wrote: post #41
tptacek wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It took less than 2 hours for this to go from Twitter meme to Heroku and Apigee pulling out. If a sponsor pulled out tomorrow, I'd still be impressed with them for doing it. The simplest explanation for what happened here: this is an image Heroku gives a shit about not having.

So they're OK with scantily-clad booth babes handing out beers at sponsored events, but they're not OK with a poorly-written post about scantily-clad booth babes handing out beers at sponsored events?

No? That's not what anyone is saying? That's not even wrong?

Re: Heroku Pulls Sponsorship After Boston API Jam Publishes Sexist Eventbrite

#48

Post by marcusf »

ellyagg wrote: post #29

Whenever people get outraged about things like this, it interests me. I like looking at attractive women. I like programming. Would it be possible to have an event where I could program and look at attractive women at the same time? Or does enjoying seeing attractive women in public make me a bad person? As a man, is this my original sin? In fact, I've even been known to flirt with attractive women in public--perhaps…

For me, there's so much viscerally wrong in this comment I'm just flabbergasted. I wrote a long reply and erased it. I think I'd rather just leave you with a cultural observation.

Americans tend to mired in sexism to a much greater extent than for example Sweden, where I'm at. The above comment would simply not be made by a professional in Sweden. I guess we don't equate sexism and fun to the same extent some americans do, nor is the female body under the same bizarre governmental scrutiny (abortion, an issue, honestly?). That there's a link doesn't seem entirely implausible.

Re: Heroku Pulls Sponsorship After Boston API Jam Publishes Sexist Eventbrite

#49

Post by oomkiller »

ellyagg wrote: post #29

Whenever people get outraged about things like this, it interests me. I like looking at attractive women. I like programming. Would it be possible to have an event where I could program and look at attractive women at the same time? Or does enjoying seeing attractive women in public make me a bad person? As a man, is this my original sin? In fact, I've even been known to flirt with attractive women in public--perhaps…

The problem here is not that most men are attracted to good looking women. The problem is that they made it a marketing point, which is blatant objectification. "Booth babes" aren't even advertised like this.

Re: Heroku Pulls Sponsorship After Boston API Jam Publishes Sexist Eventbrite

#50

Post by ceejayoz »

tzaman wrote: post #43
vertis wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heroku didn't notice/care until someone else started making a big deal about it. Then like any sane company they took the safe route.

I agree. This was a prank gone bad. No one got hurt (apart from a few egos). Pulling sponsorship because of that is just lame. Don't get me wrong, I have the deepest respect for women but that doesn't prevent me from pulling (even sometimes sexist) pranks on my wife. She does the same to me and we smile at each other. I dare you, everyone that's horrified by their prank say it out loud (and mean it!): "I have never,…

> This was a prank gone bad.

A prank? As in "haha, we got you!"?

> Don't get me wrong, I have the deepest respect for women but that doesn't prevent me from pulling (even sometimes sexist) pranks on my wife. She does the same to me and we smile at each other.

Your wife presumably is comfortable in the knowledge that you respect her, because she knows you well. A woman showing up at a hackathon likely hasn't known the organizers for years.

I'll smack my wife on the ass, but if I walk up to random women and do it I'm going to get the cops called on me.

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