5 ms·

It's not a dumb question. I made Women Make open because I think a change is only possible together (making women and other underrepresented folks more visible)

It's not a dumb question. I made Women Make open because I think a change is only possible together (making women and other underrepresented folks more visible). Which means everyone is welcome, including men, as long as they are here to empower women.

newswasboring 7y ago
what would empowering women entail? Helping them to make stuff, answer there questions? So does that mean men are not allowed to get questions answered? Or is it about the community/morality guidelines? Because if its not an exclusively female forum, I don't understand it's purpose.
- mg794613 7y ago
  What I understood from it: We are still dealing with heavy inequalities today. To change this we need anybody wiling to change this.
  - mariedm 7y ago
    Exactly. We need to talk, to listen to each other, and more importantly to understand each other. I think it is very important. Women cannot “fix” this issue alone on their side, we need everyone involved.
- mariedm 7y ago
  A few examples of what it means: answering questions, listening, offering your help and advice. Men are allowed to ask questions as long as they are contributing to the community. That being said, Women Make is here to promote women, and on a moderation level, I will always make sure women are being put at the forefront.
  - DoofusOfDeath 7y ago
    Could you explain a bit more about the specific problems / challenges your policies (e.g. women-first moderation) are meant to address? I'm a man working in the tech industry, and I feel like I still don't 100% understand the concerns or frustrations that motivate a project like yours. I'd like to better understand where you (and presumably some other women) are coming from.
    - mariedm 7y ago
      Does this comment I posted earlier answers your question? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22128957 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22128957
      - DoofusOfDeath 7y ago
        Thanks! That comment was helpful. If you don't mind I have some more questions still: > Gathering us is an opportunity to find allies, but also models, people from who you can inspire from and find the strength to do what you want to do. IIUC, you're saying that you see value in having (specifically) women as allies and sources of inspiration / strength. If that's true, why would that be? > But I’m glad I have a place like Women Make for certain topics and to know I’m not alone in this. Would you mind sharing a bit about what those topics are?
        mariedm 7y ago
        "What would that be?", what do you mean by that? What I'm trying to say is that obviously I identify myself better with other women. And I want to be able to find other women entrepreneurs specifically because we face certain common issues. I think this comment sums up pretty well what it's like: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22129625 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22129625.
        DoofusOfDeath 7y ago
        Thanks, I hadn't seen that latter comment until you posted the link. That was very helpful. I can't tell if your question to me was rhetorical, but I'll try to answer it just in case you're interested. (Apologies that it's long-winded, I couldn't find a way to make it brief.) The comment you linked to includes this: "Would you rather hang out in a community where everyone fundamentally understands the challenges you face daily, or one where you have to explain the basic premise of your daily challenges when you initiate a conversation about them? (Or rather, would you prefer to hang out in both, or just the latter, since it's not really an either/or.)" I understand the appeal of working in a team where, on an interpersonal level, I can easily and naturally relate to every one of my teammates. And it sounds like that's the vibe you're going for, IIUC. When I'm leading a team in the tech industry, part of my job is to remove obstacles to the team's happiness and productivity. The kind of homogeneity mentioned above would undoubtedly prevent some of the problems that can arise in a diverse team. But my job is to make find ways to make a heterogeneous team happy and productive; turning it into a homogenous team (e.g. all members being the same sex) isn't an option that I have (or want). So I'm hoping to understand, in as much detail as you're interested in sharing, what the factors are that make you more comfortable doing maker work with women than with men. Because perhaps that knowledge would help me create a better work environment for everyone on my teams.
  - newswasboring 7y ago
    > Women Make is here to promote women, and on a moderation level, I will always make sure women are being put at the forefront. This is exactly what I don't get. What does this mean? The moderation team will be all female? Biased towards females? Because to me it just seems like all you need is for everyone to be decent to each other. I don't see the women centric angle here.
  - Erlich_Bachman 7y ago
    > and on a moderation level, I will always make sure women are being put at the forefront. So it will take decisions based on the gender of the participant regardless of the issue at hand? If an issue arises and there is a man and a woman discussing something, the moderation will by default just lean towards the woman? That's just plain old sexism? How is it not?
mg794613 7y ago
Thank you so much for this comment as I had the same question.
TheAdamAndChe 7y ago
This structure makes your community far more constructive than most similar sites that actively discriminate against men. The goal should not be to suppress the competition, but to produce an environment where everyone can flourish. Thank you. I wish you the best of luck with your project.
- mariedm 7y ago
  Thank you very much, that's really the idea behind Women Make and it seems to be working pretty well so far.
Erlich_Bachman 7y ago
> as long as they are here to empower women. This is an extremely vague definition, which is very likely prone to corruption and preferential treatment within the organization.

newswasboring 7y ago

what would empowering women entail? Helping them to make stuff, answer there questions? So does that mean men are not allowed to get questions answered? Or is it about the community/morality guidelines? Because if its not an exclusively female forum, I don't understand it's purpose.

mg794613 7y ago
What I understood from it: We are still dealing with heavy inequalities today. To change this we need anybody wiling to change this.
- mariedm 7y ago
  Exactly. We need to talk, to listen to each other, and more importantly to understand each other. I think it is very important. Women cannot “fix” this issue alone on their side, we need everyone involved.
mariedm 7y ago
A few examples of what it means: answering questions, listening, offering your help and advice. Men are allowed to ask questions as long as they are contributing to the community. That being said, Women Make is here to promote women, and on a moderation level, I will always make sure women are being put at the forefront.
- DoofusOfDeath 7y ago
  Could you explain a bit more about the specific problems / challenges your policies (e.g. women-first moderation) are meant to address? I'm a man working in the tech industry, and I feel like I still don't 100% understand the concerns or frustrations that motivate a project like yours. I'd like to better understand where you (and presumably some other women) are coming from.
  - mariedm 7y ago
    Does this comment I posted earlier answers your question? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22128957 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22128957
    - DoofusOfDeath 7y ago
      Thanks! That comment was helpful. If you don't mind I have some more questions still: > Gathering us is an opportunity to find allies, but also models, people from who you can inspire from and find the strength to do what you want to do. IIUC, you're saying that you see value in having (specifically) women as allies and sources of inspiration / strength. If that's true, why would that be? > But I’m glad I have a place like Women Make for certain topics and to know I’m not alone in this. Would you mind sharing a bit about what those topics are?
      - mariedm 7y ago
        "What would that be?", what do you mean by that? What I'm trying to say is that obviously I identify myself better with other women. And I want to be able to find other women entrepreneurs specifically because we face certain common issues. I think this comment sums up pretty well what it's like: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22129625 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22129625.
        DoofusOfDeath 7y ago
        Thanks, I hadn't seen that latter comment until you posted the link. That was very helpful. I can't tell if your question to me was rhetorical, but I'll try to answer it just in case you're interested. (Apologies that it's long-winded, I couldn't find a way to make it brief.) The comment you linked to includes this: "Would you rather hang out in a community where everyone fundamentally understands the challenges you face daily, or one where you have to explain the basic premise of your daily challenges when you initiate a conversation about them? (Or rather, would you prefer to hang out in both, or just the latter, since it's not really an either/or.)" I understand the appeal of working in a team where, on an interpersonal level, I can easily and naturally relate to every one of my teammates. And it sounds like that's the vibe you're going for, IIUC. When I'm leading a team in the tech industry, part of my job is to remove obstacles to the team's happiness and productivity. The kind of homogeneity mentioned above would undoubtedly prevent some of the problems that can arise in a diverse team. But my job is to make find ways to make a heterogeneous team happy and productive; turning it into a homogenous team (e.g. all members being the same sex) isn't an option that I have (or want). So I'm hoping to understand, in as much detail as you're interested in sharing, what the factors are that make you more comfortable doing maker work with women than with men. Because perhaps that knowledge would help me create a better work environment for everyone on my teams.
- newswasboring 7y ago
  > Women Make is here to promote women, and on a moderation level, I will always make sure women are being put at the forefront. This is exactly what I don't get. What does this mean? The moderation team will be all female? Biased towards females? Because to me it just seems like all you need is for everyone to be decent to each other. I don't see the women centric angle here.
- Erlich_Bachman 7y ago
  > and on a moderation level, I will always make sure women are being put at the forefront. So it will take decisions based on the gender of the participant regardless of the issue at hand? If an issue arises and there is a man and a woman discussing something, the moderation will by default just lean towards the woman? That's just plain old sexism? How is it not?

mg794613 7y ago

Thank you so much for this comment as I had the same question.

TheAdamAndChe 7y ago

This structure makes your community far more constructive than most similar sites that actively discriminate against men. The goal should not be to suppress the competition, but to produce an environment where everyone can flourish. Thank you. I wish you the best of luck with your project.

mariedm 7y ago
Thank you very much, that's really the idea behind Women Make and it seems to be working pretty well so far.

Erlich_Bachman 7y ago

> as long as they are here to empower women. This is an extremely vague definition, which is very likely prone to corruption and preferential treatment within the organization.