Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I feel like I've seen that conference before, many times. Really? Where? Could you please give an example?
Uh, every single tech conference... ever?
Every single tech conference did not allow girls? Really?
Female Founders Conference
31–40 of 112 posts
Re: Female Founders Conference
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
Please explain to me the worst that can happen because of an event like this.
People who might not have the ability to succeed in the wider market are encouraged to start and then drop out and they extend the perception that females aren't suited to be start-up founders
That you take an event like this meant to inspire and empower an underrepresented group and interpret its implication to mean that said group is somehow inferior to the majority is just a remarkable level of mental gymnastics.
You are essentially in support of no form of supportive outreach that targets a specific group because the act of targeting alone implies a kind of special assistance for the less capable.
Re: Female Founders Conference
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Don't you think it'd be just a 'founders conference' in that case? That's right, but its seems YC is looking to find an open space for aspiring female founders and, at the same time, still remain open for male atendees. What I said was because in the application form you can say if you are male or female.
> YC is looking to find an open space for aspiring female founders and... PG is probably partially covering his own ass after the most recent debacle. Correlation does not equal causation and all that fun stuff, but this is rather well timed.
Nope. PG planned this before that other incident happened.
Re: Female Founders Conference
#34Isn't this kind of short notice ... oh wait, my mistake, everyone who is important is already in Southern California.
Re: Female Founders Conference
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
Uh, every single tech conference... ever?
Every single tech conference did not allow girls? Really?
I've got a question for you.
Blacks are incredibly underrepresented in the medical field (13% in the US population, 4% as physicians). Some believe it to be due to the damaging effects of medical experiments conducted on African Americans -- eg. the Tuskegee experiment where many were purposefully left untreated for syphilis despite the existence of a simple treatment (read: penicillin). Other reasons include the lack of African American physicians in the media, peer-pressure to pursue other career paths, and financial constraints. Bottom line: there is a racial disparity in the medical field, and those that are underrepresented have some very legitimate reservations for entering that industry.
So, the question: Would you be against movements targeted towards Blacks/African Americans meant to both encourage them as well as address their many concerns regarding entering a career in medicine?
Re: Female Founders Conference
#36Cool I am going to host the "Male Founders Conference" And no girls are allowed. What are you implicitly stating here? Women aren't good enough to stand toe to toe with male founders so the only way they will ever be able to succeed is if they are given special treatment. Why can't I go to this event and learn from female founders do they have nothing of value to convey to me as a male ?
Sheesh. Somebody feels threatened. Let them be, seriously. We have enough "Ruby-on-rails super-star douche-wad with tits and porn jokes on his slides" events for overgrown man-children, let there be something for women that doesn't make them feel awkward or weird. We already have a problem with this industry being a boys-only club, no need to get your panties in a bunch over this.
Or maybe women feel awkward and weird when tits and porn jokes are on slides just because men taught them to feel that way?
> overgrown man-children
Re: Female Founders Conference
#37This thread made me want to cry..... this thread..... oh my god you guys this thread is so awful!
Does anyone have ideas about what could be done to educate against the constant same old "If it's just for women, it's sexism, same as if we said something was just for men" crap? I mean this is basically internet discussion canon at this point.
As a side note, we COULD have a conference just for men if it was aimed (as this is) to close the gender gap in society, tech, etc. That conference would be about treating women better, how to see your own biases and avoid them, things you think are ok but aren't, etc. Nobody would go, but that would be analogous event, not an event aimed at helping male only founders found companies.
Edit: I decided to write up a quick blog for public discussion outside of this thread
Blog: http://istommydrunk.svbtle.com/the-maleonly-version-of-the-f...
Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7099636
If anyone wants to find it on the front page, it's there. Expecting/getting trolls.
Re: Female Founders Conference
#38Cool I am going to host the "Male Founders Conference" And no girls are allowed. What are you implicitly stating here? Women aren't good enough to stand toe to toe with male founders so the only way they will ever be able to succeed is if they are given special treatment. Why can't I go to this event and learn from female founders do they have nothing of value to convey to me as a male ?
Could you kindly s tfu please? Women do simply have it much harder than men in tech and if you even criticize them for trying to build a community, you do a lot of harm to the whole industry and will scare away even more women from becoming interested in tech. With statements like yours, you are making sure that the gender divide becomes bigger and bigger and that people become very sensitive and insecure when discus…
Feminists are probably the #1 force for scaring away women from tech. If you say something is true enough times (All men might rape you! Programmers all hate women!), especially from a position of power and political influence, people will start to believe it. Encouraging and (in some cases, like donglegate) inducing both an atmosphere of fear and paranoia in and towards women is incredibly detrimental towards the general humanitarian goal of bettering society.
There are isolated instances of sexism, but women don't really have it hard at all in tech. I'd say the sex discrimination in favor of women ("affirmative action") massively outweighs any lingering discrimination against women.
Re: Female Founders Conference
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Every single tech conference did not allow girls? Really?
I've got a question for you. Blacks are incredibly underrepresented in the medical field (13% in the US population, 4% as physicians). Some believe it to be due to the damaging effects of medical experiments conducted on African Americans -- eg. the Tuskegee experiment where many were purposefully left untreated for syphilis despite the existence of a simple treatment (read: penicillin). Other reasons include the lac…
>Some believe it to be due to the damaging effects of medical experiments conducted on African Americans
Or an even simpler explanation: medical education is expensive and many blacks (and members of other races) are working class. So perhaps scholarships tailored towards the economically disadvantaged, rather than any specific race, would address the disparity.
Re: Female Founders Conference
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
Could you kindly s tfu please? Women do simply have it much harder than men in tech and if you even criticize them for trying to build a community, you do a lot of harm to the whole industry and will scare away even more women from becoming interested in tech. With statements like yours, you are making sure that the gender divide becomes bigger and bigger and that people become very sensitive and insecure when discus…
>With statements like yours, you are making sure that the gender divide becomes bigger and bigger and that people become very sensitive and insecure when discussing female founders, female programmers and similar. No, that is what statements like yours do. Contrary to popular belief, not all women share a single brain and all think the same thing. Many women do not like being singled out with patronizing events like…
Thank you.