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Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

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Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#241

Post by Nursie »

patrickyeon wrote: post #188
beambot wrote: post #23

To all the people kvetching in the comments... this is the live stream for "YC's Female Founders Conference" [1]. That's why "female" is in the post title. I'm an ardent supporter of the effort, and I hope (much like startup school) that YC is able to make it into an annual event! Very inspiring! Also, my wife is in attendance. I look forward to hearing her reactions later tonight. If the live stream is any indicator…

When people start whining about events or programs like this, I like to send them off to read "When I Moved Abroad"[1], a blog post by that was like flipping a switch in my mind that suddenly made these things make so much more sense. [1] https://blog.mozilla.org/it/2013/03/29/when-i-moved-abroad/

That made up travel blog is silly. As another person that has lived in countries other than where I grew up, it sounds to me like a recipe for ghettoisation and continuing isolation rather than a good strategy for a happy life in another country.

Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#242

Post by Crake »

thesimpsons1022 wrote: post #84
nsxwolf wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The rationale is wishful thinking and nothing more. Some people need to believe men and women are the same in every possible way in all cultures.

100 percent of pregnancies are women :( there is some obvious discrimination going on!

Damn, I knew science was a tool of the patriarchy!

Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#243

Post by Crake »

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…

More opportunities these days for women than in the 1960s--they're off enjoying too many other things, in a lot of cases. If we expanded gender roles for men to encompass the same spread that women now have, maybe we'd see a bit more equality. You can try to convince women with a ton of options to come, or you can try to expand options for men, so that they aren't trapped into certain things because many others are closed to them.

Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#244

Post by Crake »

danilocampos wrote: post #72
cube_yellow wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there's something else going on. It's irresponsible and misogynistic to assume this is true. Irresponsible as it's used as an axiom for powerful political movements, and you as a smart person, should confirm this (and not via feels) before stamping your name across it; there is nothing 'else' going on. Misogynistic because you disrespect a woman's agency to choose her own profession.

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

Pregnancy?

Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#245

Post by theknown99 »

dandrews wrote: post #48
staticelf wrote: post #29

I dislike the fact that females get a lot more attention because of their gender. If you want true equality you've to start treating everybody as equals and giving extra space for some just doesn't cut it. I see this all the time in my country (I don't know if this is the case here) but females get a lot more attention in basically all areas of society and I don't think much good can come from that. Well, I guess I'm…

staticelf, most of us here want that "true equality" that you refer to. But the unassailable fact of the matter is that we don't have it today. Look around you: assuming you're in IT, unless you work in a truly remarkable place men considerably outnumber women. We (and I mean the egalitarian "we") have to do something about that. I'd welcome your suggestion. But "start treating everybody as equals" is a goal, and not…

> unless you work in a truly remarkable place men considerably outnumber women.

That in no way points to inequality. It points to the fact that men and women want different things, and have different strengths and weaknesses.

The idea that there aren't as many women in IT as men because of some sort of discrimination is laughable.

Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#246

Post by Mz »

cube_yellow wrote: post #240
Mz wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Creepy is code for unattractive I am really tired of hearing that. I do not think that is what women mean when they refer to someone as "creepy." Closer to "unattractive and won't give up in the face of no" perhaps.

You can be creepy without even saying anything. E.g. "creepy guy standing in the corner".

That's true. I don't think that is evidence that "creepy" simply means "I wouldn't hit that." Body language and other things can indicate that a person behaves in a certain way, without anyone saying a word.

Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#247

Post by enneff »

staticelf wrote: post #209
enneff wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> that special thing is the golden rule to treat others how you want be treated yourself. Unless you have some magical way of forcing everyone to suddenly drop their prejudices, then there is a need for social activism. Sorry if that inconveniences you. Your entire argument is a straw man. Who are these women being given more than a fair chance? Bear in mind that the purpose of this "Female Founders" event is to show…

No, my entire argument is about convincing people that events like these are sexist events and does not belong in an equal society. My experience is not that people have prejudices against females. My experience is that people rely on prejudices to exist in order to make sexist events "ok" or even "good". Maybe female founders inspire women which is completely fine and maybe almost all the other founders events would…

> My experience is not that people have prejudices against females.

Are you female? Because if you're not, you're probably not aware of them. Ask some of your female colleagues about it sometime.

Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#248

Post by enneff »

elohesra wrote: post #201
enneff wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> that special thing is the golden rule to treat others how you want be treated yourself. Unless you have some magical way of forcing everyone to suddenly drop their prejudices, then there is a need for social activism. Sorry if that inconveniences you. Your entire argument is a straw man. Who are these women being given more than a fair chance? Bear in mind that the purpose of this "Female Founders" event is to show…

>Unless you have some magical way of forcing everyone to suddenly drop their prejudices, then there is a need for social activism. Predicated on what? What's your proof that such prejudices exist, or that they're applied more so to women than men? Furthermore, what's your proof that discrimination is the form of social activism required to fix this unproved prejudice? In any debate around this issue there seems to be…

> What's your proof that such prejudices exist

Ask any female programmer about it sometime. It'll be enlightening for you.

Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#249

Post by Dewie »

rmrfrmrf wrote: post #216
joyeuse6701 wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like a lot of the knee jerk negativity comes from the implication that the event is 'good', 'great', 'inspiring' because of it being only. Sort of has that liberal agenda, politically correct twang to it that really seems to exist in America, at least in this form. It gives a circle jerk like quality to it. I was personally uncomfortable with attending events in a minority only engineer group for the same reas…

I feel like a lot of the knee jerk negativity comes from the implication that the event is 'good', 'great', 'inspiring' because of it being only. Since when is that a bad thing? On the flip side, there is an equally powerful emotional appeal to support an event like this when wife, daughter, girlfriend, female friend would like to attend. That's a very Christian take on the subject and one that more people need to ge…

> That's a very Christian take on the subject and one that more people need to get rid of. A woman is not "made of man"; a woman's worth does not come from her relationship to a man. No one's worth comes from someone else's existence.

What is a "Christian take", here?

- Refering to people by their role in your life? That is an incredibly common way to refer to people, whether that person is man or woman.

- It having an appeal because it supports people in one's life? That is possessive? Being encouraging because people that you care about, care about it? I'm at a loss.

Re: Y Combinator Female Founders Conference LiveStream

#250

Post by Dewie »

prayag wrote: post #221
elohesra wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Unless you have some magical way of forcing everyone to suddenly drop their prejudices, then there is a need for social activism. Predicated on what? What's your proof that such prejudices exist, or that they're applied more so to women than men? Furthermore, what's your proof that discrimination is the form of social activism required to fix this unproved prejudice? In any debate around this issue there seems to be…

>What's your proof that such prejudices exist This guys has a point. Yea women where is the proof that you are prejudiced against except centuries of discrimination? The last western country to give women right to vote was in 1960s. Almost 50 years ago. The fact that you make 80 cents to every dollar a man makes is not a proof of any prejudice but a proof that women are genetically pre-disposed to making less money t…

> The last western country to give women right to vote was in 1960s.

Women got the right to vote at a federal level in Switzerland in 1971.

> The fact that you make 80 cents to every dollar a man makes is not a proof of any prejudice but a proof that women are genetically pre-disposed to making less money than men.

No. You talk about sociology 101, so how about this nugget; making less money than someone has many more variables associated with it than discrimination (for example; part time vs. full time). This is practically an urban myth at this point. You can Google for refutations of it if you want (either 80 cents, or 77 cents) and you should be able to find a dozen decent ones.

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