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Thank you for trying to respond a bit more rationally. I'll break this down further: Of course she could be uncomfortable. Lets agree she's actually reasonable

Thank you for trying to respond a bit more rationally. I'll break this down further: Of course she could be uncomfortable. Lets agree she's actually reasonable in doing so. However, you don't know what will make one person uncomfortable or not. Can you? You can guess, you can try your best, but ultimately you have no idea what someone will find offense. Can you? Is there an algorithm for it? No. Ok so that means that sometimes people will be offended by things that weren't intended to offend. Now we're to the point where the offended person gets to React. How do they handle it? Do they think of all the angles? What I disagree with is her reaction. You don't seem to disagree. This is what I am saying should be changed. Aaron- maybe her talk would have helped hundreds of people. All those people lost out. Could she have asked the organizers in advance to change the image? It looked like they these went out privately for approval. Maybe I mis-read that? Lets assume that they never asked for her approval and 5 minutes before she goes up, the slide goes up and BAM she is uncomfortable and feels sexualized. Again, its about her reaction. Others in this thread commented they would roll with it, be resilient, etc. This is what we, as society, should reinforce in each other. And yes, we have to make judgments about where the line is. I don't agree with her judgement, I'll state that clearly. Think about this: I think she only thought about herself and PROJECTED onto everyone else that they would stereotype her. What if I were in the audience and saw the image and also thought "oh wow that sucks for her, ok i'll be extra supportive of her and try my best to not sexualize her". So, when you support her reaction, you are actually making a negative judgement about everyone else in the audience as well. I'm curious how you think about that? Maybe i'm missing another perspective. Please let me know and i'm curious to introspect my own thoughts further. I can't help but think if she just went along with it, everyone would respect her as a woman in tech to a much higher degree because she would have actually been a woman in tech doing real tech talks. Now shes a woman in tech not doing tech talks. It's kind of sad.

aaron-lebo 9y ago
The thing is, I agree with you about resilience, I agree with you about ignoring perceived slights, but I can't fault her personally for being offended in this way. I can't say she's really being unreasonable by being uncomfortable about that, she has a right to feel this way and even react in such a way without assuming that it's just about "drama" and emotional immaturity" (which you accused her of having). If the organizers had handled it differently, it might be easier to see her as overreacting, but it's completely unprofessional to chide someone as acting like an adult in a professional setting like that, which probably only plays into whatever she's feeling with people not respecting her. I felt you were condemning her position, which doesn't seem right. If my posts to you have been very one-sided and dismissive, that's because you were towards her claims. Thank you for the more balanced posts and the discussion.

aaron-lebo 9y ago

The thing is, I agree with you about resilience, I agree with you about ignoring perceived slights, but I can't fault her personally for being offended in this way. I can't say she's really being unreasonable by being uncomfortable about that, she has a right to feel this way and even react in such a way without assuming that it's just about "drama" and emotional immaturity" (which you accused her of having). If the organizers had handled it differently, it might be easier to see her as overreacting, but it's completely unprofessional to chide someone as acting like an adult in a professional setting like that, which probably only plays into whatever she's feeling with people not respecting her. I felt you were condemning her position, which doesn't seem right. If my posts to you have been very one-sided and dismissive, that's because you were towards her claims. Thank you for the more balanced posts and the discussion.