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Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

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Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#121

Post by GFK_of_xmaspast »

dandrews wrote: post #58
onmydesk wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"men considerably outnumber women. We (and I mean the egalitarian "we") have to do something about that." Why? What is that evidence of? You assume sexism presumably. Men and women are different and have predispositions to excel in different areas. You know what would be really weird? A 50/50 split. Why is that the definition of correct? Why are so few people rational about this?

Careful with that. You saw what happened to Larry Summers, right? Seriously, I take your point about the differences between men and women. I saw the news tidbit a few weeks ago about the study on toddlers and the toys they prefer. I'm willing to treat those studies objectively. Yet in the case I cited, fewer than three percent of attendees at a technical conference were women. "Predispositions to excel" or not, that…

You saw there was a study in the AMS Notices a few years after the fact that said 'actually Larry Summers is full of shit, here's the data,' right?

Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#122

Post by GFK_of_xmaspast »

cube_yellow wrote: post #83
danilocampos wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's cute, but attrition for female tech workers is double that of men. Something is going on.

Yeah, women are raising kids. And, they negotiate lower pay, so are less invested in the industry. And, they find opportunities in other industries more enticing than men, so are more likely to jump ship for more pleasant pastures. And, and, and shit that people in tech shouldn't bust a brain cell over figuring out and seeking rent to validate their feelings. If you haven't had your warm fuzzies for today, go work a…

I wonder what the rate of attrition is for women in other fields.

Also w/r/t/ negotiation and pay, check out things like this: http://pwq.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/08/23/036168431245...

""" Policy makers, academics, and media reports suggest that women could shrink the gender pay gap by negotiating more effectively for higher compensation. Yet women entering compensation negotiations face a dilemma: They have to weigh the benefits of negotiating against the social consequences of having negotiated. Research shows that women are penalized socially more than men for negotiating for higher pay"""

Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#125

Post by danielha »

onmydesk wrote: post #42

When is the blue eyed founders conference? The left handed? Its an interesting watch for sure but what the hell. Pandering to a fashionable discrimination. When we all get over this as a society we'll be shaking our heads at it.

Replace "female" with "European founders." Would it still make sense? Is it ok to hold a conference for a demographic with common challenges and opportunities -- rooted in the fact they're from Europe?

You're sad.

Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#126

Post by Crake »

danilocampos wrote: post #61
GhotiFish wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's perhaps too harsh. You hear from people who are physically handicapped that the thing they hate most is the contrast in treatment. They want to be treated normally. A different person in a different perspective gets treated differently because they are viewed as different. A common complaint. Is he being empathetic or indifferent? I dunno, but it's hard not to say to yourself "Women are being treated different…

You're sure busy on this thread for someone who claims not to have opinions or skin in the game. > Is that misguided? Completely. Being a woman isn't having a handicap. Being brown isn't having a handicap. At least it isn't to my mind. Is it to yours? When you go and talk to people who are women or brown or some intersection of these, one thing that's clear is that they feel much more comfortable when interacting wit…

>When you go and talk to people who are women or brown or some intersection of these, one thing that's clear is that they feel much more comfortable when interacting with other folks whose lives and paths look like theirs.

I agree completely. I'm way more comfortable with my tech friends (of any race, sex, or ethnicity) than I am with people who have a single or multiple exterior characteristics in common with me.

It's HOW and WHAT you think that matters, not what you look like. Being subjected to the discriminatory policies people like you keep forcing on us "for [your] own good" only reinforces our desire to both perceive and be perceived for our minds, not our bodies. This was once readily available in tech; thanks to your efforts, it is now a much rarer experience.

Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#127

Post by david_shaw »

Crake wrote: post #108
chc wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't have to support things like this, but have you ever considered not constantly taking pot-shots at efforts to correct a really blatant inequality like this?

There isn't any blatant inequality except for the sex based discrimination being pushed on the field by feminists, which won't be corrected without pushback from egalitarians.

> the sex based discrimination being pushed on the field by feminists

I've tried to avoid this inane discussion, but realizing that you're probably misinformed rather than malicious, I thought I'd chime in.

Feminism is egalitarianism. Feminism literally means that women should be equal to men. I'm not going to argue with you about so-called "segregationist" policies, because it seems like we'd come to a stand-still. The only thing I'd like to point out is that we should all be feminists, because the only alternative is sexism. Seriously, look it up.

If you've had a bad experience with radical women who say "all men are pigs," please don't use that as a reason to not support true feminists (such as myself), who (among other things) are trying to rectify the atrociously low ratio of women in tech.

Yes, we all want a meritocracy. Yes, there's something that we're doing to prevent more women from entering the field. Yes, we need to change that.

Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#128

Post by dovel »

Crake wrote: post #116
vacri wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So essentially you're saying that wheelchair ramps shouldn't be installed because we need to maintain an ironclad everone-gets-exactly-the-same-treatment position? A ramp serves only a very select part of the population, therefore it isn't 'fair' and should be shunned? Women are being treated differently, that is what is keeping them out, so I will endeavour not to treat them differently? The flaw here is the fundame…

At least with my own disability/disabilities, I much prefer people to act normally around me. I absolutely feel othered if people go on forever about it. Able-bodied people can use ramps too. If I were in a wheelchair, I'd prefer my friends to walk beside me without talking the whole time about how tragically victimized I am by the existence of stairs and other devices employing 90 degree angles of oppression. I'd de…

I googled your 70% stat and found this [1].

"Two centuries later, women -- who control more than $20 trillion or about 70 percent of global consumer spending -- account for only about a tenth of the voting power on the world’s key interest rates"

You seem to be ignoring a pretty big 'but' there. Plus its 70% of consumer spending, not 'global spending'.

Then you described someone in a wheelchair as 'significantly crippled'.

Also, this poster's reference to ramps and stairs was a metaphor - a tool for understanding. Not literal.

What I got from their comment was nothing you seem to have. I think they were saying that we need to understand the ways people are excluded, and support them.

[1] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-24/women-controlling-7...

Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#129

Post by belorn »

danilocampos wrote: post #50
Crake wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I usually don't bother with links to things that are phrased in such a way as to suggest support of segregationist policies. I don't care about women in tech. I care about people in tech.

> I don't care about women in tech. I've noticed. When you collect a few more life experiences, perhaps get a decade of career under your belt, you'll learn how toxic it is when monocultures form. You'll learn about the blind spots. The exclusion. The lack of productive conflict from varying ideas. And perhaps at that point you'll learn why "caring about people in tech" means caring that no people feel actively exclu…

Please, don't try insult people who say they are humanist rather than pro-male or pro-female. Not only is it offensive, but the very statement say that sexism is the only cure to sexism and anyone else are wrong, ignorant, and do not care about "people".

I would say that people that make such statement don't care how people feel. If you can't behave, do please walk out.

Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#130

Post by arbutus »

onmydesk wrote: post #42

When is the blue eyed founders conference? The left handed? Its an interesting watch for sure but what the hell. Pandering to a fashionable discrimination. When we all get over this as a society we'll be shaking our heads at it.

I didn't know left handed people faced regular discrimination and sexual harassment.
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