Inappropriate comments at pycon 2013 called out

Post by colabug » Mon, Mar 18, 2013, 8:34 PM UTC

thisone wrote: post #9

bradhe wrote: post #2

Wait wait, so this chick finds something that she thinks is inappropriate, takes a picture of the "offenders," and puts it on Twitter? Even if the comment in question was derogatory towards women in the first place (it wasn't, unless sex and big dicks are automagically offensive to women), how are people OK with that? BTW, this quote is gold: > As an advocate for digital equality, my actions today at #pycon made me f…

private conversations are private. If she was feeling that they were being inappropriate, there are other ways to handle it. I'm not a fan of naming and shaming without trying to handle it privately first. Such as me saying I find the use of "chick" in that way to be unnecessarily derogative, but she really was out of line in my opinion.

Post by callahad » Tue, Mar 19, 2013, 12:54 AM UTC

colabug wrote: post #11

thisone wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

private conversations are private. If she was feeling that they were being inappropriate, there are other ways to handle it. I'm not a fan of naming and shaming without trying to handle it privately first. Such as me saying I find the use of "chick" in that way to be unnecessarily derogative, but she really was out of line in my opinion.

"Private" conversations held with people in close quarters (e.g. conference keynote-esqe seating) is not a private conversation. Sexual jokes create an unnecessarily hostile and unwelcoming environment, especially when women are so drastically underrepresented. I fully support her in calling them out publicly. Quietly informing the authorities does little.

Post by colabug » Tue, Mar 19, 2013, 1:25 AM UTC

callahad wrote: post #13

colabug wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Private" conversations held with people in close quarters (e.g. conference keynote-esqe seating) is not a private conversation. Sexual jokes create an unnecessarily hostile and unwelcoming environment, especially when women are so drastically underrepresented. I fully support her in calling them out publicly. Quietly informing the authorities does little.

> Quietly informing the authorities does little. As an aside, every PyCon attendee agreed to a code of conduct during registration, and the conference staff are available to address and remedy violations of that code.

Post by zshprompt » Tue, Mar 19, 2013, 2:07 AM UTC

jdunck wrote: post #14

colabug wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about her being offended by a particular comment, nor is it required that said comment be directed at her. The issue is the environment that is created when such things are quietly tolerated. Sure staff could have been involved, but then it's not a teachable moment, just another moment suffered in silence while the "authorities" handle the situation for her. It may seem like a small event to you, but I'd sug…

Staff were involved after the fact. The Code of Conduct, which these attendees agreed to, makes it clear that this behavior is not allowed. Very often with bad behavior, the offender is anonymous and intentional, and the subtext is: "what are you going to do about it?" Was this so bad? Should she have called out these people in this case? That question misses a larger point. So many such incidents (and much worse) go…

Post by zshprompt » Tue, Mar 19, 2013, 2:25 AM UTC

_5gtv wrote: post #16

As a female attendee of Pycon this year I was overwhelmed by all the friendly people I met. Now maybe my sense of humor is juvenile or coarse but what was overheard is a joke I'd probably make myself. Keep in mind Pycon was attended by plenty of minors so making adult themed jokes in a crowded room was really not the smartest move. Regardless it clearly states in the Code of Conduct ( https://us.pycon.org/2012/codeof…