
Libuv developer chided for making docs gender neutral - zaph0d
https://github.com/joyent/libuv/commit/804d40ee14dc0f82c482dcc8d1c41c14333fcb48
======
vezzy-fnord

       [*] arrogantly dismissed gender neutrality as "trivial"
       (#1015)
       [*] actively taken steps to revert positive gender
       neutrality change
       [*] chided @isaacs unnecessarily
       [] removed women entirely from the industry
    

Ostensibly, reverting a pointless commit is one step away from removing women
entirely from the tech industry.

Most shocking to me is how some people in the previous commit discussion
genuinely believe that modifying two pronouns in code comments will somehow be
a crucial step towards gender equality.

~~~
V-2
Because it's magical thinking at its best...

Personally I would have used "them" from the beginning (or the equivalent in
my native language), but correcting someone like this is condescending and it
would irritate me too.

This atmosphere of hysteria - ooh, ooh, he's just about to remove women from
the industry - reminds me of religious fundamentalists who also want to shove
their worldview down everybody's throat and never fail to inform you how the
apocalypse is approaching, how we're doomed to eternity because someone wore a
mini-skirt etc. etc.

~~~
hakunin
Except there is a difference in that the really awful scenario is already
here, and little by little, with big and small efforts, some communities are
trying to climb out of it. How is spreading fear of upcoming doom in any way
similar to trying to fix the existing, real problem?

------
sjtgraham
Title should be: "Libuv developer chided for allegedly merging commit without
proper sign off"

Post should be: buried.

~~~
zaph0d
There was a sign-off apparently:
[https://github.com/joyent/libuv/commit/804d40ee14dc0f82c482d...](https://github.com/joyent/libuv/commit/804d40ee14dc0f82c482dcc8d1c41c14333fcb48#commitcomment-4736897)

~~~
sjtgraham
Hence "allegedly".

------
geedew
I don't usually a comment about the things I know little; however this seems
harmless enough.

It's apparent to me there is a back story here and the guided reasons were not
to demean women, but that's certainly how I feel after rereading the comment
in this commit.

It would be wise to not treat things like this lightly in public forums, no
matter what the back story is.

------
glomph
This is basically already being discussed here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6821677](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6821677)

Reverting is pretty weird.

------
Ettolrahc
Some suggestions it was fraudulent over on @alex_gaynor's twitter, but unsure
if something like this can be faked.

------
static_typed
1\. However well intentioned, this sort of pedantry (the change from 'him' to
'them') just alienates efforts to make things more inclusive, rather than
actually helping .

2\. Reverting the change appears to be fairly petty. By all means talk to the
author of the commit about it, but commit tennis just makes the project look a
little immature.

3\. Is libuv really now at the point where it is 100% kitchen-sink-included-
feature complete, mathematically and empirically tested bug proof, and with
code so clean it brings a tear to a developer's eye? If not, then why are you
all wasting time on such petty commits, and not on actually, you know,
improving the code base.

My boss always puts herself in frame as the 'user' in her comments, documents
and emails, so all examples are framed with 'her' in mind. Does anyone mind?
Does anyone start making changes to 'them'? No, not really. I guess there are
more important things to do.

~~~
steveklabnik
> rather than actually helping

Nope:
[http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/27784423?uid=246033817...](http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/27784423?uid=2460338175&uid=2460337855&uid=2&uid=4&uid=83&uid=63&sid=21103021094217)

~~~
Dylan16807
So if I'm reading this right, using 'he' as a generic is actually worse than
having explicitly male examples, in terms of comprehension?

Did they specifically test using 'they'? I would imagine that it would
distract some people who expect plural, but I have no guess as to how large
this factor would be in comparison.

