

Startups have a sexism problem - thejteam
http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/25/technology/innovation/sexism-startup/index.html

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setrofim_
Sad to see CNN give further validity to this non-story. Especially since it
has already been established that there was no actual sexism involved.

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acangiano
It's as if they intentionally tried to write the worst possible article on the
issue.

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nugget
Startups are one of the LEAST discriminatory environments I have ever worked
in.

In corporate america, you can usually find some subtle undercurrents of
discrimination wherever you work. But in a startup company, everyone has so
much vested in the success of the venture. If you can code, or sell clients,
or recruit partners effectively, or fill some other critical function, then
most entrepreneurs will move heaven and earth to hire you, their teams will
welcome you with open arms, and you will be heartily thanked and celebrated
when you deliver. When everyone's money and future is on the line the bullshit
evaporates pretty quickly, as it should.

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mackem
Why is no one in these stories even questioning the concept of whether any
joke about sex or sexual innuendo is inherently sexist?

Whilst not my personal comedic cup of tea, sexual innuendo is just a pun. Puns
might be uninspired non-comedy, but a sexual pun is no more inherently sexist
than a non-sexual pun.

Is the idea that because it was a woman who felt uncomfortable about a sexual
innuendo, it was an inherently sexist act? People feel uncomfortable and
offended with jokes all the time, that doesn't define their sexism or lack
thereof.

This whole thing smacks of artificial controversy. It's a shame two people had
to lose their jobs over what appears to be a total non-issue.

If this is the most blatant example of sexism in the tech industry / "start
ups", one might think there are other more important things to focus on and
get people fired for.

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dragonbonheur
Of course I'm nobody but if I had to say something to women it would be this:
real geeks don't care if you're women, just code or hack hardware. Go create.
Nobody in his right mind would question the worth of geniuses like Jeri
Ellsworth, Jessica Mah of InDinero or Tan Le of Emotiv. These three just went
and created stuff. Women don't need approval or permission to be great and
real geeks don't care that they're women.

However, and I mean that for men as for women, gay or straight, of any color
or race, don't take offense when people are talking among themselves about
things which do not concern you in any way. Chances are you heard wrong. Don't
eavesdrop on people's conversations with the ambition to become "modern Joan
of Arcs".

Otherwise, welcome to our family.

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yarrel
"What's hard is she isn't the first person to get fired for speaking out, and
she won't be the last."

No, she wasn't the first person to get fired.

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leeoniya
the sad thing is, the whole PyCon situation is not even a representative
example of sexism.

if you're a woman planning to walk into a men's restroom, don't complain about
what you hear and see - their comments were not targeted towards her, nor
towards women. the whole thing makes about as much sense as some guy going to
a largely-female yoga class and outraged about two women making jokes about
breast sizes.

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setrofim_
> if you're a woman planning to walk into a men's restroom, don't complain
> about what you hear and see

Are you trying to imply that PyCon is a "boys club" and that women have no
right to expect to feel comfortable being there?

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leeoniya
nothing of the sort is implied, but the fact that it's currently 95% boys is a
reality that will not change overnight. if you're someone who's easily
offended by immature jokes of any sort, then you should expect to feel
uncomfortable around any group of people who tend to make immature jokes.

...and programmers/techies make _a lot_ of immature jokes :P

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dictum
CNN has a pageviews problem.

Don't worry, they're working on it.

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moron4hire
Why are self-espoused feminists so sex-negative?

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illuminate
To give a sincere response, "sex-negative" doesn't mean embracing sexual
behavior and discussion in every possible context.

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mackem
Nor does it imply the exclusion of sexual behaviour/discussion in every
possible context. (assuming here you meant to say "sex-positive")

This conference was a big event with lots of people and lots of talking. I
think it would be odd if in all those countless discussions someone didn't
mention something sexual just by accident.

Whilst I don't think sexual innuendo's are particularly witty, I would hardly
count 2 of them in a conference with hundreds of people as a grotesque and
unnecessary insertion of sexuality into a non-sexual context.

This incident does reek of sex-negativity. If this was any other form of joke
someone didn't find funny, it would be a non-issue. But peoples
uncomfortability with anything remotely sexual means it gets perceived as
sexist. I mean, sex kind sounds like sexist right?

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illuminate
"assuming here you meant to say 'sex-positive'"

Yep.

"This incident does reek of sex-negativity."

Again, it's all about context. Feeling negative about sexual discussion at
work and at conferences does not mean that you can not promote positive
attitudes in your private life and among your friends.

I don't find the specific example that all this originated the best
representative of the attitude, but you do not have to be okay with every
childish/naive dirty joke in every environment to have a healthy attitude
towards sex.

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moron4hire
I'm sorry, but I fundamentally disagree with your core premise.

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largesse
It's funny to see how this story migrated from being about the tech industry
to being about startups. Are the two synonymous now to people outside the
industry?

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neya
It's about pageviews my friend. You know, writing anything controversial and
attaching it to a broad evergreen topic like 'Start-ups' will result in more
pageviews. Which means more money for the site. Fuck these shitty media sites.
Infact, this is a very poor reporting on the incident and has so many un-
related knots.

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lignuist
Feminists start up a problem.

