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Jessamyn Smith: Fighting sexist jokes with a Python bot

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Re: Jessamyn Smith: Fighting sexist jokes with a Python bot

#81

Post by jobu »

hythloday wrote: post #16

"It has been fascinating to watch the ongoing reactions. There have been complaints that we have too many bots in the channel now. There have been complaints about it spamming the channel. There were several “Make them shut up!” responses. These are not reactions I have seen the other bots elicit, certainly not with such intensity. One person even complained about the name being too long, though to his credit he real…

"If your reaction to this post is "the first one seems harmless but the second is really overstepping the line", please take a few minutes to consider how you would feel if everyone's reaction to that (and everything else you objected to) was "just lighten up"."

The first one does seem harmless to me, perhaps a bit annoying. The second one though.. is TOTALLY AWESOME.

Re: Jessamyn Smith: Fighting sexist jokes with a Python bot

#82

Post by drhowarddrfine »

I'm tired of women wanting men to quit acting like men. If she doesn't like it, is she a woman acting like a woman? I don't want her to behave that way so maybe she should change HER behavior. Get along with others. Nobody's calling her names. Nobody's targeting her.

Re: Jessamyn Smith: Fighting sexist jokes with a Python bot

#83

Post by ceol »

CompiledCode wrote: post #43
rmc wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, ads (etc.) that portray people as bad based on their gender are wrong. However men are still in an advantageous position. widespread anti-male laws They are small in number compared to the widespread anti-female laws and customs.

Can you give an example? In almost all states, if the wife gets pregnant by another man, the man is still on the hook for child support for the next 18+ years... even if she divorces him and marries her lover. I can't think of an equivalent anti-female law with such devastating long-term impact on the woman. I know this message might be off tangent for the HN board. But if we're discussing anti-female sexist culture…

> I can't think of an equivalent anti-female law with such devastating long-term impact on the woman.

Child support law in the United States doesn't discriminate. The office that handles child support may, as may the judge (I've heard stories of women given more leeway with payments than men), but both genders are able to be the obligor.

> in today's culture, men are also often treated extremely unfairly...

No, they are not, comparatively. It's not even on the same scale. There may be a handful of instances of men being treated unfairly, but pointing to a commercial where a man is portrayed as bumbling and equating that with the institutionalized sexism women face is ridiculous.

In fact, most of the instances of men being treated unfairly (child support, custody) are actually byproducts of sexism against women. Society places the woman in the role of the caretaker automatically.

Re: Jessamyn Smith: Fighting sexist jokes with a Python bot

#84

Post by woohoo »

unalone wrote: post #28
oskarth wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I find the most fascinating is that she did everything exactly right and people still feel like she did something wrong. She didn't go to her supervisor and she didn't turn it into a drama. Instead she fought the problem in its own arena by making a IRC-bot to combat the problem, and not only that: the IRC-bot is only selectively used in the exact situation that is seen as problematic and it does so by writing e…

Really? What do you want? We want women to shut up and stop telling us that there's a problem with how we behave, because it's rude to tell people there's something innately wrong with their behavior. Also it takes so much time and effort on our parts to try and behave like better people that it hardly seems like we should bother. The problem, for many people, is not that the issue is being handled indelicately. It's…

LOL - this is my fav comment on this thread. I feel like I have seen a shift in the comments on women in tech related articles on HN over the past few weeks. 2 weeks ago I had a really hard time reading the comments because they seemed either hate-filled or ignorant (like the comment above is mocking) but I feel like lately the discussion has become more intelligent. Or is that just wishful thinking on my part?

Re: Jessamyn Smith: Fighting sexist jokes with a Python bot

#85

Post by agentultra »

What a great idea.

I find it's too easy to be ignorant of injustices when you see yourself as principled and everyone else as ignorant brutes. I've been guilty of this. It's the kind of thinking that leads you to conclude that TWS-like bots are just a bit of light-hearted humor. It's the kind of thinking that allows sexism to fly under your radar. You don't participate because you want to live in a world where sexism doesn't exist. It's a noble ideal but it is ignorant.

Truth is that even what you don't say has an impact on the people around you. If other people make sexist jokes at the office and you don't say anything about it (especially if it actually does bother you) then you're encouraging the people making sexist jokes.

I admire the author for taking a stand. And such a clever way to do it too.

Re: Jessamyn Smith: Fighting sexist jokes with a Python bot

#86

Post by ceol »

vasco wrote: post #5

I think this would never happen where I live. Honestly this seems like its the same thing as you guys in the US not being able to say merry christmas because it might offend someone. What's so wrong with being offended anyway? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHMoDt3nSHs&t=3m30s I think people over there just take everything to seriously.

I can't take you seriously when you link to a white, male comedian telling people not to get offended.

Re: Jessamyn Smith: Fighting sexist jokes with a Python bot

#87

Post by illumin8 »

oskarth wrote: post #22
hythloday wrote: post #16

"It has been fascinating to watch the ongoing reactions. There have been complaints that we have too many bots in the channel now. There have been complaints about it spamming the channel. There were several “Make them shut up!” responses. These are not reactions I have seen the other bots elicit, certainly not with such intensity. One person even complained about the name being too long, though to his credit he real…

What I find the most fascinating is that she did everything exactly right and people still feel like she did something wrong. She didn't go to her supervisor and she didn't turn it into a drama. Instead she fought the problem in its own arena by making a IRC-bot to combat the problem, and not only that: the IRC-bot is only selectively used in the exact situation that is seen as problematic and it does so by writing e…

I realize this is just a startup, and many things that wouldn't fly at a large company are considered fun, however, the founders should really think twice about even having a TWSS bot.

They are basically providing documented proof in writing of a hostile work environment. Sure, this employee handled it well and had a little fun with it, but there are many more litigious employees that will take your company to the cleaners with just a couple printed chat logs.

The fact that she's complained about it and her concerns were shrugged by male employees and supervisors makes it even more egregious. This kind of story makes ambulance chasers salivate...

Re: Jessamyn Smith: Fighting sexist jokes with a Python bot

#88

Post by [deleted] »

oskarth wrote: post #22
hythloday wrote: post #16

"It has been fascinating to watch the ongoing reactions. There have been complaints that we have too many bots in the channel now. There have been complaints about it spamming the channel. There were several “Make them shut up!” responses. These are not reactions I have seen the other bots elicit, certainly not with such intensity. One person even complained about the name being too long, though to his credit he real…

What I find the most fascinating is that she did everything exactly right and people still feel like she did something wrong. She didn't go to her supervisor and she didn't turn it into a drama. Instead she fought the problem in its own arena by making a IRC-bot to combat the problem, and not only that: the IRC-bot is only selectively used in the exact situation that is seen as problematic and it does so by writing e…

[deleted]

Re: Jessamyn Smith: Fighting sexist jokes with a Python bot

#89

Post by jasonlotito »

unalone wrote: post #42
jasonlotito wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We want women to shut up and stop telling us that there's a problem with how we behave... > As you can see I've got perfectly rational explanations for why I'm so irritated by women calling out sexist behaviors. > I want them to stop calling things sexist so that I can stop worrying about their feelings. > I just thought it was funny that Dave said something that sounds like sex talk, and wanted all of you to know!…

I was worried about people thinking I meant what I said when I wrote it. Then I decided that maybe the fact that people could theoretically take it seriously was a good reason to keep it how it was.

No, I agree. I'm glad I assumed correctly. Still, I was more concerned the message would get lost in downvotes.

What caught me was the specific wording used. Specifically, this caught my attention:

> I'm so irritated by women calling out sexist behaviors

For obvious reasons, this stands out.

All things considered, good job.

Re: Jessamyn Smith: Fighting sexist jokes with a Python bot

#90

Post by 3pt14159 »

oinksoft wrote: post #57

Step 1: I copied the LogBot code into local files, and tried running it. And the code is pretty much that, with a few extra lines ... a copy and paste job. It really isn't difficult to write an IRC bot using the standard library ... here's my shit one that sits in ##javascript: https://github.com/pigdude/pigbot Edit: I became more curious about what the author works on -- by the favicon, I thought she must be involve…

You probably found the wrong person. I know the author personally, she is a great hacker and worked for FreshBooks for years before moving to her current job.
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