6 ms·

The first 2 comments on HN on this article about women in cycling are talking about men in cycling instead. It’s fascinating. I can’t tell if it’s a sign of HN

The first 2 comments on HN on this article about women in cycling are talking about men in cycling instead. It’s fascinating. I can’t tell if it’s a sign of HN commenters never talking about the topic itself, about HN being predominantly male, or the fact that women issues are constantly ignored in society and men tend to make things about themselves instead.

b3ing 2y ago
Odds are the demographics shift that way on this site.
- yareal 2y ago
  That's not an excuse. Men can and should be capable of "oh shit, we should fix this bad experience women have!" Without needing to center men's experiences.
  - idunnoman1222 2y ago
    Or I don’t know, women could do it
    - idunnoman1222 2y ago
      [flagged]
  - lelanthran 2y ago
    > That's not an excuse. Men can and should be capable of "oh shit, we should fix this bad experience women have!" Why? I never see any of the womens books, magazines and websites my wife visit ever go "Oh shit, we should fix this bad experience for men first" before discussing anything. Demographics discuss what they find relevant, usually. Why is this a problem for you?
    - yareal 2y ago
      You aren't paying attention to women's media if you think that's the case. Plenty of women's media discusses the difficulties in men's lives. And when they do, for instance talking about testicular cancer, they tend to stay away from, "ok but breast cancer is worse actually. " We should all be comfortable lifting each other up, rather than focusing only on our own demographics. Otherwise those without power will suffer needlessly.
      - lelanthran 2y ago
        > You aren't paying attention to women's media if you think that's the case. I am paying attention, and I just asked my wife, and she says she can't remember ever seeing that happen in any group of women, online or not. You'll forgive me if I take the account of actual women I know over the account you are selling.
        yareal 2y ago
        Spend ten minutes googling, it's really not hard to find articles that talk about men and unique needs of men in traditionally women's spaces, and they stayed focused on men. It's trivial to demonstrate that these exist. Maybe your wife just doesn't read Vogue, glamour, Elle, etc. but for those of us who do, this sort of thing is a mainstay. https://www.voguebusiness.com/beauty/everyone-wants-in-on-mens-beauty https://www.voguebusiness.com/beauty/everyone-wants-in-on-me... https://www.teenvogue.com/story/men-talk-about-your-mental-health https://www.teenvogue.com/story/men-talk-about-your-mental-h... https://www.elle.com/beauty/a26342438/ryan-reynolds-armani-code/ https://www.elle.com/beauty/a26342438/ryan-reynolds-armani-c... https://www.glamour.com/story/mens-sperm-and-lifestyle-choices https://www.glamour.com/story/mens-sperm-and-lifestyle-choic...
blueflow 2y ago
The article also includes a paragraph about erectile dysfunction in men.
- klyrs 2y ago
  ... as a point of contrast between how men's and women's health are discussed. Here, HN illustrates the issue raised in the article. We could hope to do better, primed with such information, to have a curious conversation about how to prevent labial swelling before it requires labiaplasty.
flumpcakes 2y ago
There's famously more men in tech and people like to talk about themselves or apply a situation to themselves. I fully expected comments to talk about how this affects men. I believe you'll find the reverse happens too; talk about an issue affecting men to a prominently female audience and the topic will be changed to how it affects women.
kazinator 2y ago
Balls and shafts stick out more than labia, so in this situation, it's entirely fair to suspect that the remedies for male cycling problems are of (even more) benefit to women. You know, like split saddles that don't poke at the crotch region, but support the "sit bones". Which are unlike the garbage saddles that come most cheap, bicycle-shaped objects.
- msrenee 2y ago
  The cutout saddles actually cause similar injury in women. That's a big point in the article. Women need specialized support in that region, not a complete cutout.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- klyrs 2y ago
  > Balls and shafts stick out more than labia Do you suppose that this first-order reasoning was not available to the riders, their doctors, and saddle designers? Would you be willing to consider that balls and shafts may stick out differently than labia; and how addressing those differences may be more fruitful than reducing a 3-dimensional problem to a one-dimensional consideration of "more vs less"?
  - kazinator 2y ago
    Once the mindset sets in that we're gonna deliver an innovative product to the market, all sorts of first-order reasoning is cast aside.

b3ing 2y ago

Odds are the demographics shift that way on this site.

yareal 2y ago
That's not an excuse. Men can and should be capable of "oh shit, we should fix this bad experience women have!" Without needing to center men's experiences.
- idunnoman1222 2y ago
  Or I don’t know, women could do it
  - idunnoman1222 2y ago
    [flagged]
- lelanthran 2y ago
  > That's not an excuse. Men can and should be capable of "oh shit, we should fix this bad experience women have!" Why? I never see any of the womens books, magazines and websites my wife visit ever go "Oh shit, we should fix this bad experience for men first" before discussing anything. Demographics discuss what they find relevant, usually. Why is this a problem for you?
  - yareal 2y ago
    You aren't paying attention to women's media if you think that's the case. Plenty of women's media discusses the difficulties in men's lives. And when they do, for instance talking about testicular cancer, they tend to stay away from, "ok but breast cancer is worse actually. " We should all be comfortable lifting each other up, rather than focusing only on our own demographics. Otherwise those without power will suffer needlessly.
    - lelanthran 2y ago
      > You aren't paying attention to women's media if you think that's the case. I am paying attention, and I just asked my wife, and she says she can't remember ever seeing that happen in any group of women, online or not. You'll forgive me if I take the account of actual women I know over the account you are selling.
      - yareal 2y ago
        Spend ten minutes googling, it's really not hard to find articles that talk about men and unique needs of men in traditionally women's spaces, and they stayed focused on men. It's trivial to demonstrate that these exist. Maybe your wife just doesn't read Vogue, glamour, Elle, etc. but for those of us who do, this sort of thing is a mainstay. https://www.voguebusiness.com/beauty/everyone-wants-in-on-mens-beauty https://www.voguebusiness.com/beauty/everyone-wants-in-on-me... https://www.teenvogue.com/story/men-talk-about-your-mental-health https://www.teenvogue.com/story/men-talk-about-your-mental-h... https://www.elle.com/beauty/a26342438/ryan-reynolds-armani-code/ https://www.elle.com/beauty/a26342438/ryan-reynolds-armani-c... https://www.glamour.com/story/mens-sperm-and-lifestyle-choices https://www.glamour.com/story/mens-sperm-and-lifestyle-choic...

blueflow 2y ago

The article also includes a paragraph about erectile dysfunction in men.

klyrs 2y ago
... as a point of contrast between how men's and women's health are discussed. Here, HN illustrates the issue raised in the article. We could hope to do better, primed with such information, to have a curious conversation about how to prevent labial swelling before it requires labiaplasty.

flumpcakes 2y ago

There's famously more men in tech and people like to talk about themselves or apply a situation to themselves. I fully expected comments to talk about how this affects men. I believe you'll find the reverse happens too; talk about an issue affecting men to a prominently female audience and the topic will be changed to how it affects women.

kazinator 2y ago

Balls and shafts stick out more than labia, so in this situation, it's entirely fair to suspect that the remedies for male cycling problems are of (even more) benefit to women. You know, like split saddles that don't poke at the crotch region, but support the "sit bones". Which are unlike the garbage saddles that come most cheap, bicycle-shaped objects.

msrenee 2y ago
The cutout saddles actually cause similar injury in women. That's a big point in the article. Women need specialized support in that region, not a complete cutout.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
klyrs 2y ago
> Balls and shafts stick out more than labia Do you suppose that this first-order reasoning was not available to the riders, their doctors, and saddle designers? Would you be willing to consider that balls and shafts may stick out differently than labia; and how addressing those differences may be more fruitful than reducing a 3-dimensional problem to a one-dimensional consideration of "more vs less"?
- kazinator 2y ago
  Once the mindset sets in that we're gonna deliver an innovative product to the market, all sorts of first-order reasoning is cast aside.