Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

businessweek.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 102 posts

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#31

Post by ColinCera »

jpeg_hero wrote: post #21

So they were dating? IAC is screwed. Dating an direct report is essentially sexual harassment in the eyes of the court. I am adding "anti-fraternization" policy to my employee handbook today. Seriously, does anybody know how to handle the hr on discovering a supervisor / direct report are dating? I've been told that best practices is to immediately suggest one or the other resign, and if they don't, fire both for vio…

> Dating an direct report is essentially sexual harassment in the eyes of the court.

That's not even remotely true. No court has ever held that merely dating a subordinate is ipso facto sexual harassment. Accordingly, many companies do not have an official policy against it.

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#32

Post by nostrademons »

jacquesm wrote: post #25
jpeg_hero wrote: post #21

So they were dating? IAC is screwed. Dating an direct report is essentially sexual harassment in the eyes of the court. I am adding "anti-fraternization" policy to my employee handbook today. Seriously, does anybody know how to handle the hr on discovering a supervisor / direct report are dating? I've been told that best practices is to immediately suggest one or the other resign, and if they don't, fire both for vio…

Someone should tell Bill & Melinda Gates. You can make all the policies you want but human nature does not care much for policies. The best cure is an immediate transfer to another department of either of the two. That way you avoid all the claims of favoritism and possible fall-out in case the relationship goes sour. Also make sure that managers know that such relationships should immediately be reported to upper ma…

Or Sergey Brin & Amanda Rosenberg, or Larry Page and Marissa Mayer.

That said, in all three of those cases they were dating an indirect report. That's still a bit of a no-no, but nowhere near as problematic as dating a direct report. Your manager has a huge influence on your career; the company CEO dating someone who works for the company is a little dodgy and will cause morale problems elsewhere, but it's much harder to argue direct influence when they don't directly interact in the course of the workday.

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#34

Post by shawnz »

hyperliner wrote: post #14
hyperliner wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes people. Please flag [EDIT, as in write "NSFW" when applicable. Thanks shawnz]. The article feels that is going to be serious, which it kind of is, but then the pics. What was the point of that? The writer could not have simply mentioned the pics ?

I don't disagree with optimus. It's just about lacking the flag.

I think people thought you meant "flag" as in reporting the article, not "flag" as in writing NSFW in the title.

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#35

Post by jw_ »

jjsz wrote: post #20

Does one really lose the freedom to express themselves once they are VC backed founders? Tinder is a hook up app, and yes, perhaps Tinderslut is too revealing and direct about what any female or male users do with it, but, if he were to use promiscuous tinderian and have a gender neutral tone: would there be that much controversy? If I love naked women and art do I have to throw naked men and art in the mix to not be…

He said a lot more than that, from the article.

You are still free to say whatever you want, and people are free to call you an asshole and distance themselves from you.

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#36

Post by hyperliner »

hyperliner wrote: post #14
hyperliner wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes people. Please flag [EDIT, as in write "NSFW" when applicable. Thanks shawnz]. The article feels that is going to be serious, which it kind of is, but then the pics. What was the point of that? The writer could not have simply mentioned the pics ?

I don't disagree with optimus. It's just about lacking the flag.

My bad.

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#37

Post by pauleastlund »

jjsz wrote: post #20

Does one really lose the freedom to express themselves once they are VC backed founders? Tinder is a hook up app, and yes, perhaps Tinderslut is too revealing and direct about what any female or male users do with it, but, if he were to use promiscuous tinderian and have a gender neutral tone: would there be that much controversy? If I love naked women and art do I have to throw naked men and art in the mix to not be…

Not to pile on, since you've already been downvoted, but have you actually read the abusive texts that started this whole shitstorm? Nothing in this article speaks well to Justin's character, but I don't think any of it would be getting attention if it weren't for the can of batshit misogynist crazy he opened up on a female co-worker. I think the social media behavior documented here is pertinent context for those allegations.

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#38

Post by surprised12 »

Hmmm so i wondered if this reporter went through many other successful start-up guys in their early to mid 20s (even late 20s) instragram and twitter feeds would he find similar stuff?

Their actions aren't right, but they are not surprising based on age and level of success.

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#39

Post by dasil003 »

jpeg_hero wrote: post #21

So they were dating? IAC is screwed. Dating an direct report is essentially sexual harassment in the eyes of the court. I am adding "anti-fraternization" policy to my employee handbook today. Seriously, does anybody know how to handle the hr on discovering a supervisor / direct report are dating? I've been told that best practices is to immediately suggest one or the other resign, and if they don't, fire both for vio…

We're talking about co-founders here. There is no HR director to bring down the policy hammer.

In this situation the real problem is a you have sexist fuckwad of a partner who is basically a loose cannon and going to get you in trouble eventually. If you really want to build a company with someone like that you need to start telling them to tone it down early and often, but of course that's easier said than done.

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#40

Post by stmchn »

jjsz wrote: post #20

Does one really lose the freedom to express themselves once they are VC backed founders? Tinder is a hook up app, and yes, perhaps Tinderslut is too revealing and direct about what any female or male users do with it, but, if he were to use promiscuous tinderian and have a gender neutral tone: would there be that much controversy? If I love naked women and art do I have to throw naked men and art in the mix to not be…

You're right, she totally should have "battled for relevancy" despite being called a "slut" and a "whore" while the CEO does nothing about it. Obviously, she just wasn't trying hard enough.
Post reply on HN