3 ms·

I can perhaps see how he could be accused of misogyny but how is RMS been ableist or transphobic? Is the former supposed to be some stretch about GNU software a

I can perhaps see how he could be accused of misogyny but how is RMS been ableist or transphobic? Is the former supposed to be some stretch about GNU software accessibility or something?

tzs 6y ago
The transphobic thing appears to be because he advocates using gender neutral pronouns, but apparently not the right gender neutral pronouns. I'm not sure how this is supposed to be transphobic. The ableist thing is probably his recommending that women with Down's syndrome fetuses should abort them.
- bitwize 6y ago
  > I'm not sure how this is supposed to be transphobic. Trans, genderqueer, or nonbinary people often express their preferred pronouns. If you do not use these pronouns to address or refer to that particular person, it is considered transphobic. By far the most common gender-neutral pronouns are "they/them". It does not matter what Strunk & White says -- you are considered a transphobe if you do not use "they" for someone who has an expressed preference for "they". Period. By choosing deliberately not to respect their preferences, you are thought to deny or "erase" their gender identity. You may think this doesn't matter. Ultimately, even in the grand scheme of terrible things that have been done to trans people, it's quite a small issue (the buzzterm is "microaggression" after all), and it certainly doesn't matter in a technical discussion. But securing compliance in small things like this is a dry run in pressure tactics: if people, especially if held in high esteem, buckle under and adopt and enforce the orthodox practice with regard to gender pronouns or other detail, the tactics worked. Ultimately the goal is to use those tactics to sway decisions on issues that matter, like who gets an authoritative say in what constitutes open source and which overarching goals should the movement serve.

I can perhaps see how he could be accused of misogyny but how is RMS been ableist or transphobic? Is the former supposed to be some stretch about GNU software accessibility or something?

tzs 6y ago

The transphobic thing appears to be because he advocates using gender neutral pronouns, but apparently not the right gender neutral pronouns. I'm not sure how this is supposed to be transphobic. The ableist thing is probably his recommending that women with Down's syndrome fetuses should abort them.

bitwize 6y ago
> I'm not sure how this is supposed to be transphobic. Trans, genderqueer, or nonbinary people often express their preferred pronouns. If you do not use these pronouns to address or refer to that particular person, it is considered transphobic. By far the most common gender-neutral pronouns are "they/them". It does not matter what Strunk & White says -- you are considered a transphobe if you do not use "they" for someone who has an expressed preference for "they". Period. By choosing deliberately not to respect their preferences, you are thought to deny or "erase" their gender identity. You may think this doesn't matter. Ultimately, even in the grand scheme of terrible things that have been done to trans people, it's quite a small issue (the buzzterm is "microaggression" after all), and it certainly doesn't matter in a technical discussion. But securing compliance in small things like this is a dry run in pressure tactics: if people, especially if held in high esteem, buckle under and adopt and enforce the orthodox practice with regard to gender pronouns or other detail, the tactics worked. Ultimately the goal is to use those tactics to sway decisions on issues that matter, like who gets an authoritative say in what constitutes open source and which overarching goals should the movement serve.