Heroku Pulls Sponsorship After Boston API Jam Publishes Sexist Eventbrite

Post by Czarnian » Tue, Mar 20, 2012, 10:09 PM UTC

marshray wrote: post #114

javadyan wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, did you expect to see a "WARNING! WE NOW WILL ATTEMPT A POTENTIALLY OFFESIVE JOKE" written in red print? Those things are supposed to be spontaneous, you know.

It looks to me like a well planned document, not a spontaneous remark. They could have quickly retracted it if they didn't mean it.

Post by dudeguy999 » Tue, Mar 20, 2012, 10:13 PM UTC

marcusf wrote: post #48

ellyagg wrote: post #29

Whenever people get outraged about things like this, it interests me. I like looking at attractive women. I like programming. Would it be possible to have an event where I could program and look at attractive women at the same time? Or does enjoying seeing attractive women in public make me a bad person? As a man, is this my original sin? In fact, I've even been known to flirt with attractive women in public--perhaps…

For me, there's so much viscerally wrong in this comment I'm just flabbergasted. I wrote a long reply and erased it. I think I'd rather just leave you with a cultural observation. Americans tend to mired in sexism to a much greater extent than for example Sweden, where I'm at. The above comment would simply not be made by a professional in Sweden. I guess we don't equate sexism and fun to the same extent some america…

Post by barrybe » Tue, Mar 20, 2012, 10:14 PM UTC

byrneseyeview wrote: post #119

jballanc wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you're describing is moral relativism. If I kill someone that everyone hates, is that wrong? If I kill a homeless person that had no friends and no family so nobody notices they're dead, is that wrong? The real question here is would you stand in front of the mirror, with no one around, and say to yourself "The women at this conference are a great perk!" without feeling bad? It's tempting to think "I have these…

Offensive comments are morally relative, though. Someone has to be offended, right? In your examples, the victim certainly notices and cares; if they get a vote, they're going to vote "immoral." But if you did something "murderous" in absolute privacy--like, say, doing some target shooting--I don't think it would be considered equivalent to murder. Similarly, if you do something "offensive" and nobody is there to get…

Post by yummyfajitas » Tue, Mar 20, 2012, 10:24 PM UTC

StavrosK wrote: post #120

yummyfajitas wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In addition, the marketing material assumed that the people reading it would be drinkers, and gave no consideration to the idea that a non-drinker might actually want to attend. In addition to sexism, the marketers seem to believe that "teetotalers don't really qualify as people in the same way drinkers do, and no I've never really thought very hard about it". (They also seem to feel the same way about people who don…

The objection is more about equating women with cupcakes, I should think.

Post by Czarnian » Tue, Mar 20, 2012, 10:26 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #56

rauljara wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The marketing material assumed that the people reading it would be heterosexual men, and gave no consideration to the idea that a woman might actually want to attend an event. Finding women attractive is not a sin. Assuming the whole world should revolve around what you find attractive without giving any consideration to the other half of the world's population is sexist. Not "I hate women" sexist. Just "women don't…

Tech population =! world population. To not recognize that the tech population is dominated by men is to put your head in the sand. I like to code, I like to look at scantily clad women, and I fully believe they're just as equal as men. EDIT: Downvote away. You don't have to believe in fact for it to exist.