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I don't understand people who use the demeaning and sexist term "tech bros" unironically. Did you know that there are women who like VR? Who code for VR? Who w

by criley2 10y ago

I don't understand people who use the demeaning and sexist term "tech bros" unironically. Did you know that there are women who like VR? Who code for VR? Who work to create it? Who are on the boards making decisions about its future? Does your "techbro" bigotry leave room for the women of tech? It makes me think you're a Gawker commenter who accidentally found their way to a community where you don't belong. I just don't get how this kind of condescending sexism finds its way here.

politician 10y ago
It's worth pointing out that "Tech bro" is fairly derogatory toward men too.
anon_d 10y ago
So, this person's male-specific slurs are sexist against women because it fails to insult them as well?
- madamelic 10y ago
  Hey, we deserve to be insulted just as much as men are. Equality.
geofft 10y ago
I think there are two distinct things you can disagree with in the parent comment. The first is whether the use of the phrase "tech bros" is defensible; the second is whether all the people who are supporting VR are those who can be called (rightly or wrongly) "tech bros". I think you're conflating those. I've always interpreted the term as being gendered, but not gender-essentialist; there are plenty of women who are "tech bros", because it's referring to a culture and set of ideals derived from gendered spaces like fraternities, but not those spaces themselves; plenty of "tech bros" were not members of a college fraternity, for instance. It is true that the vast majority of tech bros are men, for many reasons relating to society and gender. It's certainly possible that the term could get inaccurate, in which case I at least would favor a different one, but it works for now. Under that definition, "there exist women who do behavior X which you attribute to tech bros" does not imply "attributing behavior X to tech bros is incorrect". That leaves the question about whether "tech bros", such as they are, are the only people rooting for VR. I think that's fairly unlikely to be true, and yes, your points seem do rebut that claim. (That said, it's probably worth mentioning somewhere here that while women exist in VR, the industry seems to be biased towards an assumption of men, from various apps placing virtual objects at heights that are difficult for most biological women to reach, to the entire concept being based on a model of 3D visual processing that is more common in biological men: https://qz.com/192874/is-the-oculus-rift-designed-to-be-sexist/ https://qz.com/192874/is-the-oculus-rift-designed-to-be-sexi... Pointing out the obvious truth that VR seems to be male-dominated is not excluding women, and your question about bigotry seems to be attacking the messenger.) But even if it's misplaced to associate the entire VR industry with "tech bros", I don't think that invalidates the concept of "tech bros" itself. Finally, I think it's inappropriate to imply that a good-faith participant doesn't belong here.
- y_u_no_rust 10y ago
  the tech-bro says what?
- srtjstjsj 10y ago
  You're bending over backwards to try to rationalize a sexist term, and digging yourself deeper by then stereotyping fraternities.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

by criley2 10y ago

politician 10y ago

It's worth pointing out that "Tech bro" is fairly derogatory toward men too.

anon_d 10y ago

So, this person's male-specific slurs are sexist against women because it fails to insult them as well?

madamelic 10y ago
Hey, we deserve to be insulted just as much as men are. Equality.

geofft 10y ago

I think there are two distinct things you can disagree with in the parent comment. The first is whether the use of the phrase "tech bros" is defensible; the second is whether all the people who are supporting VR are those who can be called (rightly or wrongly) "tech bros". I think you're conflating those. I've always interpreted the term as being gendered, but not gender-essentialist; there are plenty of women who are "tech bros", because it's referring to a culture and set of ideals derived from gendered spaces like fraternities, but not those spaces themselves; plenty of "tech bros" were not members of a college fraternity, for instance. It is true that the vast majority of tech bros are men, for many reasons relating to society and gender. It's certainly possible that the term could get inaccurate, in which case I at least would favor a different one, but it works for now. Under that definition, "there exist women who do behavior X which you attribute to tech bros" does not imply "attributing behavior X to tech bros is incorrect". That leaves the question about whether "tech bros", such as they are, are the only people rooting for VR. I think that's fairly unlikely to be true, and yes, your points seem do rebut that claim. (That said, it's probably worth mentioning somewhere here that while women exist in VR, the industry seems to be biased towards an assumption of men, from various apps placing virtual objects at heights that are difficult for most biological women to reach, to the entire concept being based on a model of 3D visual processing that is more common in biological men: https://qz.com/192874/is-the-oculus-rift-designed-to-be-sexist/ https://qz.com/192874/is-the-oculus-rift-designed-to-be-sexi... Pointing out the obvious truth that VR seems to be male-dominated is not excluding women, and your question about bigotry seems to be attacking the messenger.) But even if it's misplaced to associate the entire VR industry with "tech bros", I don't think that invalidates the concept of "tech bros" itself. Finally, I think it's inappropriate to imply that a good-faith participant doesn't belong here.

y_u_no_rust 10y ago
the tech-bro says what?
srtjstjsj 10y ago
You're bending over backwards to try to rationalize a sexist term, and digging yourself deeper by then stereotyping fraternities.

deleted 10y ago

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