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Come on, guys (and gals). If we accepted that "Beards of Experience" is sexist, we would have to accept that it's also racist (many Asian men can't grow beards

by geoka9 14y ago

Come on, guys (and gals). If we accepted that "Beards of Experience" is sexist, we would have to accept that it's also racist (many Asian men can't grow beards like the guy on gun.io) and maybe homophobic. Don't you think it would get ridiculous at that point? What about parenting sites where the design and images are clearly targeted at mothers (and not fathers)? Are they evil? Sexist?

saraid216 14y ago
I don't see anything that makes me think it's homophobic? Are you implying that gay men tend to be beardless? And yes. Parenting sites that assume that fathers can't be parents are sexist. Parenting sites that assume that fathers won't be primary caretakers because their target demographic's culture is sexist and doesn't understand that male parents are important are fence-sitting and sexist by omission.
- geoka9 14y ago
  I don't see anything that makes me think it's homophobic? Me neither. But then again, I don't see anything that makes me think it's sexist. Or racist, for that matter. And yes. Parenting sites that assume that fathers can't be parents are sexist. Well, that's the problem I'm trying to highlight. They probably assume no such thing. But we must brand them as sexist by the same token that we are not supposed to tolerate a guy with a beard on an IT recruitment site. Here's another example: when Nike uses a photograph of a tall black guy to advertise their basketball shoes - are they being racist, sexist and disrespectful to short people?
  - saraid216 14y ago
    > Well, that's the problem I'm trying to highlight. They probably assume no such thing. That's true. It's a good thing someone points it out, then. > Here's another example: when Nike uses a photograph of a tall black guy to advertise their basketball shoes - are they being racist, sexist and disrespectful to short people? Yes.
rdl 14y ago
There's nothing evil or even sexist, IMO, about reinforcing stereotypes. However, given that there is a shortage of tech workers, and there are fewer women in tech than would be predicted based on accomplishment in other fields (bio/chem/pharma/med, specifically), I think it's reasonable to make an effort to be inclusive and try to reach out to women when recruiting or conducting other professional activities. It's even more wrong to criticize someone aggressively for sexism in this case, but overall I think there would be net gains to everyone by attracting and retaining more women in technology. So, while it's not evil or sexist, "beards in technology" is counter to one's own interests even as a male in technology.
mwetzler 14y ago
It's not evil. It's not mean-spirited. It is a tad sexist, but not in a super offensive way. Probably the worst thing about it is that it's turning away some women and some feminist men. I doubt Gun.io intended that. I think it's a good example of an easy thing to change for the tech community to be more inviting to women. If we want to break down stereotypes and gender ratios in tech, one thing we can do is make it more inviting for women to work here.

by geoka9 14y ago

saraid216 14y ago

I don't see anything that makes me think it's homophobic? Are you implying that gay men tend to be beardless? And yes. Parenting sites that assume that fathers can't be parents are sexist. Parenting sites that assume that fathers won't be primary caretakers because their target demographic's culture is sexist and doesn't understand that male parents are important are fence-sitting and sexist by omission.

geoka9 14y ago
I don't see anything that makes me think it's homophobic? Me neither. But then again, I don't see anything that makes me think it's sexist. Or racist, for that matter. And yes. Parenting sites that assume that fathers can't be parents are sexist. Well, that's the problem I'm trying to highlight. They probably assume no such thing. But we must brand them as sexist by the same token that we are not supposed to tolerate a guy with a beard on an IT recruitment site. Here's another example: when Nike uses a photograph of a tall black guy to advertise their basketball shoes - are they being racist, sexist and disrespectful to short people?
- saraid216 14y ago
  > Well, that's the problem I'm trying to highlight. They probably assume no such thing. That's true. It's a good thing someone points it out, then. > Here's another example: when Nike uses a photograph of a tall black guy to advertise their basketball shoes - are they being racist, sexist and disrespectful to short people? Yes.

rdl 14y ago

There's nothing evil or even sexist, IMO, about reinforcing stereotypes. However, given that there is a shortage of tech workers, and there are fewer women in tech than would be predicted based on accomplishment in other fields (bio/chem/pharma/med, specifically), I think it's reasonable to make an effort to be inclusive and try to reach out to women when recruiting or conducting other professional activities. It's even more wrong to criticize someone aggressively for sexism in this case, but overall I think there would be net gains to everyone by attracting and retaining more women in technology. So, while it's not evil or sexist, "beards in technology" is counter to one's own interests even as a male in technology.

mwetzler 14y ago

It's not evil. It's not mean-spirited. It is a tad sexist, but not in a super offensive way. Probably the worst thing about it is that it's turning away some women and some feminist men. I doubt Gun.io intended that. I think it's a good example of an easy thing to change for the tech community to be more inviting to women. If we want to break down stereotypes and gender ratios in tech, one thing we can do is make it more inviting for women to work here.