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Sexism red/yellow cards at Defcon

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11–20 of 225 posts

Re: Sexism red/yellow cards at Defcon

#11
post #5
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The pillow-fight example sounds like straight-out sexism to me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexism

[deleted]

Agreed it's a douche with a hard-on. Doesn't mean it's not sexist. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_objectification

Re: Sexism red/yellow cards at Defcon

#12

What I don't understand is why this happens anymore. Surely no one can think it is acceptable in this day and age. I know we're talking about some of the least socially adept group of people, but come on. I don't see how you can even operate in society if you're literally trying to lick other people in public. Disclosure: I went to DEF CON 2 in 1994 when I was a shy 15 year old and there were no women around and appa…

Alcohol

Re: Sexism red/yellow cards at Defcon

#14
post #9
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was he asking guys too ?

[deleted]

What do you mean by sexist? Sexism isn't hating women although that would classify (that's a misogynist). It's discriminating on the basis of sex. The idea that women would enjoy having a pillow fight in front of men, because they are women, is the rather naive and ignorant view that qualifies this as sexist in my opinion.

I hate dropping "ist" and "isms" around, they tend to sometimes approach ad hominem if used to label a person. But in this case, I am talking about the behaviour.

Re: Sexism red/yellow cards at Defcon

#15
The recent rash of articles on HN re: sexism leaves me feeling hopeful that our industry is inching closer to being a place were women feel welcome.

I would love to see men handing out these cards too.

Re: Sexism red/yellow cards at Defcon

#16
post #2

Here was me thinking that the guys attending defcon were more introverts than sleezes.

Maybe they _are_ introverts . . . the other 362 days of the year.

Part of the magic of Las Vegas is watching people try on new personalities (usually without success). It's sad when it turns into sleaziness.

Re: Sexism red/yellow cards at Defcon

#18
Prediction: The sexism in IT problem will never end.

Here's my hypothesis:

1. Women and men are different. We see this played out all around us, all the time, both sides happily make and laugh at jokes about it, and no one has a problem acknowledging this fact during discussion of other topics, but when certain subjects are being discussed, these very same people will assure you, with total sincerity, that there is no difference between men and women.

2. IT is a male dominated field, and it is distinctly different from other "professional" fields. There is something about IT that either appeals especially to males, or males are particularly skilled at. I have no idea why. And, a significant portion of these men have very high technical skills, but relatively undeveloped social skills, which shouldn't be surprising. Other professions require social skills in addition to the skills dedicated to the profession. IT does not.

I'm not saying this is righteous, or the ways things should be, but that people continuously seem to be amaaaaaazed that this stuff still happens is getting a bit ridiculous.

Re: Sexism red/yellow cards at Defcon

#19

What I don't understand is why this happens anymore. Surely no one can think it is acceptable in this day and age. I know we're talking about some of the least socially adept group of people, but come on. I don't see how you can even operate in society if you're literally trying to lick other people in public. Disclosure: I went to DEF CON 2 in 1994 when I was a shy 15 year old and there were no women around and appa…

We learn norms from our surroundings. If everyone does it, everyone keeps doing it.

Also, those of us in the brainy set generally equate our rational inner narrative as the total of our self, underestimating how much of our behavior is driven by habit and unconscious reaction. This makes us very good at explaining away our poor behavior when it's exposed to us.

Re: Sexism red/yellow cards at Defcon

#20
post #3

[deleted]

This isn't really sexism .... Hell, at Defcon 11 there was a photo-op where you could get your picture taken with two "geek girls" lifting their tops.

Umm. Wow.

Yes, I understand that the party atmosphere makes having females paid to display their bodies seem less sexist.

That doesn't excuse the problem, that IS THE PROBLEM!

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