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I once had the CEO of a company roll his eyes at me in the middle of a meeting and say roughly "you tech people are all the same". Did I scream discrimination
by braveo 10y ago
I once had the CEO of a company roll his eyes at me in the middle of a meeting and say roughly "you tech people are all the same".
Did I scream discrimination or did I pass it off as the powerplay of an asshole?
I passed it off as the powerplay of an asshole.
The thing about assholes is that they're assholes. It's a part of being in the workplace and when it happens you have to think about whether or not it's worth it for you.
But when you look at everything through the lense of feminism, then he's suddenly not an asshole, but is instead a misogynist.
I once saw a woman complain that she was on a mailing list and someone said something mean to her and no one spoke up to defend her. She felt like that meant the mailing list itself was sexist.
I read her account and my thought was "if it were a male, would you expect others to defend him, or would you expect him to defend himself?".
I could go on and on, ALL OF US who have been in the workforce for any length of time have dealt with pricks. We've dealt with them as co-workers, we've dealt with them as managers, and sometimes we deal with them as subordinates, but we've all dealt with them.
That's the point the poster you were responding to was making.
men deal with a lot of bullshit in the workplace too, but when we come across it, we can't call it gender discrimination, or whatever else. We have to decide if, when, and how to defend ourselves from it.
That's the reality of the workplace, and it's the reality of women in the workplaces as well. But that doesn't make it sexist.
- tptacek 10y agoWhat kind of discrimination can't you dismiss with logic like this? "That's not a racist! That's just a prick! That's not an antisemite! That's just a prick, like the kinds all of us deal with!"
- braveo 10y agoNo, hey, you're right, that CEO was probably sexist against men. Or was he racist against minorities? I sometimes can't figure out which thing I'm supposed to be offended about, there's so many to choose from.
- tptacek 10y agoI'm sorry, I understand and empathize with the emotions you're trying to convey here, but I have to point out that you've in no way responded to the actual question I posed.
- braveo 10y agoIt's a technique known as Reductio Ad Absurdum, and it's absolutely a valid way to point out the flaw in someone's argument. Your issue is that you're too entrenched in your way of thinking to accept it, which is not the same as your claim that I've somehow avoided responding to the point.
- wolf550e 10y agoIf someone is an asshole to women and not to men, he's sexist. But if he's an asshole to everyone, he's just an asshole.