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> Call your grandma, friend, dad, girlfriend, anyone A bit offtopic, but the author seems to assume you are a straight coder guy. This was probably not his in
by Jean-Philipe 10y ago
> Call your grandma, friend, dad, girlfriend, anyone
A bit offtopic, but the author seems to assume you are a straight coder guy. This was probably not his intention though. Why not replace "girlfriend" by something more neutral, like "your better half"? Being inclusive doesn't cost much, really.
- spurgu 10y agoUmm, it's more like a figure of speech. Anyone (I hope) can make the connection that he's referring to a romantic partner.
- timwaagh 10y agoWow
- SmellyGeekBoy 10y agoWhy not replace "grandma" with "grandparent" as well? I know I won't be calling my grandma any time soon, even if I wanted to!
- kraftman 10y agoYour comment seems to assume only straight coder guys can have girlfriends. The author is just giving examples of people you can talk to, if it just said 'Call your girlfriend' that would be different.
- Jean-Philipe 10y agoNo. I actually thought it, but I assumed the author would refer to straight guys as an audience. I might be wrong though. I didn't not make any assumptions about his actual audience, only about the author's perception.
- alvarosm 10y agomaking assumptions is racist. and sexist. and very much not PC. shame on you!
- what_the_hell 10y agoHe also assumes you don't have a grandad or a mother, that's cruel
- Philipp__ 10y agoI think everybody got the point. The dude was writting blog about keeping healthy social life, not sexuality. If we keep splitting it to atoms, it would be pretty distracting experience for writter of any blog post. Being a little bit inclusive doesn't cost much, but it could cost a lot if you go by your logic for every other thing...
- the_other 10y agoIs there a book or a list of ways to brush an issue under the carpet? This is one of them, one of the most pernicious. The language we use, especially the language we use casually, defines how we appear. To those outside the predominantly straight white male clique of programming, repeated exposure to these casual assumptions of stereotype pile up and create a sense that those not fitting the stereotype are unwelcome. Imagine if, every single day you had to drive around the same pothole in the road into coming traffic: eventually, you'd find a different route.
- douche 10y agoCan we just not do this? Twisting every innocuous throwaway statement into some covert form of oppression gets really tedious after a while. "Come and see the violence inherent in the system. Help, help, I'm being repressed!"
- zrail 10y agoNope. Repeating the message in different ways is the only way to get it across, unfortunately. Throwaway assumptions really are death of a thousand cuts for people who don't fit those assumptions.
- roninb 10y agoYou're right. The point is that it's not a covert form of oppression, it's de facto. There is a straight, white male clique-iness to the programming world. Most blog posts assume the reader is a straight, white male. These are turn offs to some people, whether conscious or not.
- 10y ago
- vilmosi 10y agoYou mean something like: "anyone"?
- alvarosm 10y agoBeing retarded, on the other hand, can be quite costly!
- clevernickname 10y agoThank you for this insightful, valuable comment.
- dudul 10y agoYeah he also assumes that you have a dad, what about if you have 2 moms! Also, he assumes that your grandma is still alive! And BTW, "girlfriend" could apply to gay coder chick.