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Blue Origin: Toxic, dysfunctional ‘bro culture’, low morale and delays

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Blue Origin: Toxic, dysfunctional ‘bro culture’, low morale and delays

#31

Post by natpalmer1776 »

badRNG wrote: post #27
narraturgy wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The commenter to whom you are replying did not seem to misunderstand the term, they called for the use of more meaningful terms that do not rely on slang which is potentially subject to regional or experiential biases. To that point, I highly doubt that "everyone" has the same view of the word "bro" that you do. That will only become more true the further you get from America and American slang. The fact that you fel…

The intention is to contrast the term with alternatives that men often find far more upsetting like "rape culture" or calling the culture openly misogynistic or sexist. Men often find these terms upsetting, as they feel it makes them out to be victimizers or predators. It's difficult to land on any language describing a misogynist, sexist work environment without needing to consider the emotions of those who's partic…

I think the point of the original comment is to avoid the conundrum I now find myself in after reading your response.

To me, bro culture does not evoke the environment you described. As a average-as-you-get-cis-white-male, bro culture to me is a description of a culture in which individual accountability is lacking, and who you know matters more than what you can do.

My purpose here isn't to get into a debate of who's interpretation of "bro culture" is correct. The point is that 'bro culture' cannot be tied to a subjective interpretation of the author's intent without the reader supplanting their own preconcieved interpretations.

¯\_㋡_/¯

Re: Blue Origin: Toxic, dysfunctional ‘bro culture’, low morale and delays

#33

Post by DFHippie »

vishho wrote: post #30
seattle_spring wrote: post #26

> Another top executive was coached by human resources on appropriate workplace behavior after he repeatedly referred to a group of female employees as “mean girls,” which continued even after they complained about it to management What's a logical reason why "mean girls" is egregious enough to require reeducation, but "bro culture" doesn't bat an eye?

There is no logical reason. The emotional reason, of course, is that one targets men and the other targets women. Most activism these days is retalitory, not consolidatory. So you are allowed to attack white men, because they are always in a position of power. But both outlets are owned by Bezos, so maybe both outlets are just toxic. The fish rots from the head.

The Post is quoting when it uses both phrases. They are reporting what people involved said. One person used the phrase "bro culture" and there was another incident where a manager referred to some female employees as "mean girls".

Re: Blue Origin: Toxic, dysfunctional ‘bro culture’, low morale and delays

#34

Post by seattle_spring »

dragonwriter wrote: post #28
seattle_spring wrote: post #26

> Another top executive was coached by human resources on appropriate workplace behavior after he repeatedly referred to a group of female employees as “mean girls,” which continued even after they complained about it to management What's a logical reason why "mean girls" is egregious enough to require reeducation, but "bro culture" doesn't bat an eye?

> What's a logical reason why "mean girls" is egregious enough to require reeducation, but "bro culture" doesn't bat an eye? Maybe its not a difference between the words, but between describing a broad social trend in the latter case and “referred to a group of female employees” in the former.

Isn't it possible, or even likely, that the "group of female employees" was referred to as "mean girls" specifically because they were being cliquey and exclusionary? I seriously doubt the phrase was used to describe a set of women simply working on a task together.

Re: Blue Origin: Toxic, dysfunctional ‘bro culture’, low morale and delays

#36

Post by chucksta »

badRNG wrote: post #27
narraturgy wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The commenter to whom you are replying did not seem to misunderstand the term, they called for the use of more meaningful terms that do not rely on slang which is potentially subject to regional or experiential biases. To that point, I highly doubt that "everyone" has the same view of the word "bro" that you do. That will only become more true the further you get from America and American slang. The fact that you fel…

The intention is to contrast the term with alternatives that men often find far more upsetting like "rape culture" or calling the culture openly misogynistic or sexist. Men often find these terms upsetting, as they feel it makes them out to be victimizers or predators. It's difficult to land on any language describing a misogynist, sexist work environment without needing to consider the emotions of those who's partic…

Either of your augments make no sense in any other contexts of people, and is only "acceptable" because it's men.

>It's difficult to land on any language describing a misogynist, sexist work environment without needing to consider the emotions of those who's participation is most important in confronting the issue.

Why should socially acceptable language be any different here? Do their emotions not deserve respect too? Where else can you say "well, there isn't a better word for it, so that's what we're calling them regardless of their feelings"

Re: Blue Origin: Toxic, dysfunctional ‘bro culture’, low morale and delays

#37

Post by fsloth »

mrgalaxy wrote: post #3

> Bezos, who recently stepped down as chief executive of Amazon, also owns The Washington Post. I like how they hide this statement several paragraphs into the article. Suddenly I have to ask if I am getting the entire story. Surely there is a better source for this story?

"Suddenly I have to ask if I am getting the entire story. Surely there is a better source for this story?"

Generally it's in good taste to declare ones business and ownership ties. For respected journalism this is not an obvious problem.

This is pretty much the story that's been going around in space news circles. It's not "news" news, just rehash of more or less "well known" facts. Mainstream media has not kept up that much with BO so that makes this article more poignant.

Re: Blue Origin: Toxic, dysfunctional ‘bro culture’, low morale and delays

#38

Post by pseudalopex »

mc32 wrote: post #29
badRNG wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The intention is to contrast the term with alternatives that men often find far more upsetting like "rape culture" or calling the culture openly misogynistic or sexist. Men often find these terms upsetting, as they feel it makes them out to be victimizers or predators. It's difficult to land on any language describing a misogynist, sexist work environment without needing to consider the emotions of those who's partic…

Can the journalist describe what happens there with actual descriptions of the behavior that occurs along with how often it may happen? Taking a quote like bro culture is as lazy as saying hoodlum or hooligan culture, etc. What are they trying to say and have us imagine? Just tell us what the behavior is.

The article expanded on the headline.

Re: Blue Origin: Toxic, dysfunctional ‘bro culture’, low morale and delays

#39

Post by bb88 »

this_user wrote: post #9
mrgalaxy wrote: post #3

> Bezos, who recently stepped down as chief executive of Amazon, also owns The Washington Post. I like how they hide this statement several paragraphs into the article. Suddenly I have to ask if I am getting the entire story. Surely there is a better source for this story?

It's a pretty negative article. What do you think they might be hiding? That things are even worse than described? If they were trying to hide something, they would have never drawn attention to this matter by killing the article in the first place.

Bezos may be using articles like this as an alternative to paying high priced consultants.

Also, maybe, if you don't want your behavior published in the Post, maybe don't behave that way in the first place.

Re: Blue Origin: Toxic, dysfunctional ‘bro culture’, low morale and delays

#40

Post by plugger »

whoisjuan wrote: post #25

The main problem with Blue Origin is that it isn't SpaceX. And I think Bezos clearly knows that he has a very small window of chance to make it work. So I bet the top-down pressure is insane. Perfect condtions for a toxic culture. So if you get a job at Blue Origin with the expectations that is going to feel like working for a cozy, cultural-heavy, trendy startup, you probably should re-caliber the way you set your e…

> The main problem with Blue Origin is that it isn't SpaceX.

Really? I'd say the problem is more that they've not produced much in the way of progress despite being at it for years. Beyond the suborbital dong they've done nothing but static fires and not even full duration burns. To make rockets you need engines. Until Blue sorts our their orbital propulsion they're dead in the water. And SpaceX has nothing to do with that.

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