5 ms·

I just happened on this thread, even if a day old. Un-fucking-believable. I'm disappointed nearly all around here. Disappointed in pycon for actually kicking t

I just happened on this thread, even if a day old. Un-fucking-believable. I'm disappointed nearly all around here. Disappointed in pycon for actually kicking them out. Very disappointed that some would say posting their picture was fine (hint: it was not). Utterly disappointed they lost their jobs over this. I still can't believe they lost their jobs over this. What a sad state of affairs the world is in when someone's twitter rant (with no proof, mind you) gets someone canned. Additionally, I'm flabbergasted that so few seem to think that Adria is, of all things, NOT the bully in this situation. The way she handled it was sensationalist, abusive, slimy and, most of all, cowardly. Look, I get it, Adria was offended. We've all been there. I hear someone say something racist around me, I offer up a "not cool, dude" and move on. Handle it maturely, rise above and walk away. Or better yet, explain it. Too intimidated to explain it to them? Fine, write about it in the abstract. What Adria did was as low as it comes. Could those guys have used some better judgement? Sure. Were the alleged jokes appropriate? Mildly not appropriate (but lets not get hyperbolic here...they were MILDLY not appropriate). Should they have been kicked out of the conf? No, someone should have talked to them about code of conduct. Should they have been fired? WTF? NO! And, lastly, Adria's hypocrisy would be amusing if not so sad. https://twitter.com/adriarichards/status/312265091791847425 https://twitter.com/adriarichards/status/312265091791847425 Freakin' absurd.

mr-hank 14y ago
The PSF did not kick us out, they pulled us from the main convention and got our side of the story. I gave a statement, apologized and thanked them for upholding the cons integrity. They felt I was sincere and let us leave of our own accord. I was also the only one who was let go.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- selenamarie 14y ago
  Thanks for continuing to speak in this thread. As someone who has not spoken up when I felt objectified or uncomfortable in the context of sexual jokes at technical conferences, I am relieved by how you've handled this. I wouldn't say I feel suddenly comfortable with speaking out to someone directly, but let's say that I feel a bit more like if I did speak to someone directly, they might not attack me. It's an unfortunate fact that speaking up often has far more downside than upside for women professionally. It's only recently I think that women have had enough status in the tech community to speak up and not be a) blacklisted or b) harassed by whoever they spoke up to. Clearly, this thread demonstrates that lots of people still feel that their ability to say whatever they want, whenever they want, trumps all. It makes me sad, to say the least. This is a big community, and I hope you find a new job soon. If there's something I can do to help, you can ping me on twitter or gmail.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
    - selenamarie 14y ago
      Unclear on why you are explaining the internet to me.
      - zshprompt 14y ago
        Sorry too bummed out about the situation to parse your previous. Everyone is applauding Adria for her courage, but taking someone's photo and posting it on twitter is not speaking out. I know that turning to someone and saying "what you said is offensive to me" or reporting them to the staff is not easy, but nevertheless it was the correct course of action. She smiled and took a picture of those guys. She never even bothered to give them a dirty look. And now all these women and men are praising her as a hero. Worse it appears that some assumptions on her part are not correct. Even worse, her own previous blog post states: "Because of my experiences growing up, I have triggers. This means that I’m always scanning for danger; for situations that seem like something from the past that could hurt me. When I recognize something that matches, I can overreact and feel intense fear, anger or anxiety. " her blog name is butyoureagirl.com. What does that mean? "you don't expect me to do all this do you?". Now she can go write a book, while this guy lost his job. This is so sexist and so unfair and so ironic.
        taligent 14y ago
        > She never even bothered to give them a dirty look. How old are you ? 10 ? Grow up.
        jonhendry 14y ago
        "Now she can go write a book, while this guy lost his job." He can write a book too. And he has free time now to do so.
        francopd 14y ago
        "Everyone is applauding Adria"......I think 99% of the comments are all against Adria, then you have that 1% of angry feminists. Adria got fired today.....well deserved!
- rdtsc 14y ago
  Do you intend to sue for having your image posted by Adria? Sounds like she might get some commercial value of it since she is doing talking engagements. A wave of publicity will surely benefit her. I suspect you might have a job offer pretty soon as the larger community realized that this was terribly unfair and it was someone taking advantage of a situation to create controversy.
- female101 14y ago
  Sorry to hear about you losing your job, that was not cool. As a woman in tech who is also a mother and raising 2 daughters, I experience the boys club every day. I love all the men I work with, I think they are great. I don't think that they are aware of some of the things they do that are offensive to women and I try to give them feedback to help them understand. I want my daughters to go into their career of choice and be comfortable in that environment. Maybe something to reflect on as a father is how you can foster a future in tech that isn't all about the boys club, especially if one or more of your 3 kids is a girl.
  - joshlegs 14y ago
    I'm not so sure the "boys club" is really the "boys club." It's more like the "in crowd." And many people suffer from not being part of it, men included. Anything that threatens the in crowd's exclusiveness is shunned. That said, there more than a few misogynists out there, and not just in the tech realm. You should have worked at my last job. Boss literally thought a woman's place was solely in the kitchen, and hired accordingly (or as much as he could get away with). He also thought all black people should be shot, or so he said on one incredibly surprising occasion.
ushas 14y ago
Try topping it off with her feeling like she did something heroic. https://twitter.com/adriarichards/status/313442430848487424 https://twitter.com/adriarichards/status/313442430848487424
quattrofan 14y ago
I hope everybody retweets that tweet...with a suitable comment.
- tobych 14y ago
  And a hashtag. #joanofarc or something.

mr-hank 14y ago

The PSF did not kick us out, they pulled us from the main convention and got our side of the story. I gave a statement, apologized and thanked them for upholding the cons integrity. They felt I was sincere and let us leave of our own accord. I was also the only one who was let go.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
selenamarie 14y ago
Thanks for continuing to speak in this thread. As someone who has not spoken up when I felt objectified or uncomfortable in the context of sexual jokes at technical conferences, I am relieved by how you've handled this. I wouldn't say I feel suddenly comfortable with speaking out to someone directly, but let's say that I feel a bit more like if I did speak to someone directly, they might not attack me. It's an unfortunate fact that speaking up often has far more downside than upside for women professionally. It's only recently I think that women have had enough status in the tech community to speak up and not be a) blacklisted or b) harassed by whoever they spoke up to. Clearly, this thread demonstrates that lots of people still feel that their ability to say whatever they want, whenever they want, trumps all. It makes me sad, to say the least. This is a big community, and I hope you find a new job soon. If there's something I can do to help, you can ping me on twitter or gmail.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
  - selenamarie 14y ago
    Unclear on why you are explaining the internet to me.
    - zshprompt 14y ago
      Sorry too bummed out about the situation to parse your previous. Everyone is applauding Adria for her courage, but taking someone's photo and posting it on twitter is not speaking out. I know that turning to someone and saying "what you said is offensive to me" or reporting them to the staff is not easy, but nevertheless it was the correct course of action. She smiled and took a picture of those guys. She never even bothered to give them a dirty look. And now all these women and men are praising her as a hero. Worse it appears that some assumptions on her part are not correct. Even worse, her own previous blog post states: "Because of my experiences growing up, I have triggers. This means that I’m always scanning for danger; for situations that seem like something from the past that could hurt me. When I recognize something that matches, I can overreact and feel intense fear, anger or anxiety. " her blog name is butyoureagirl.com. What does that mean? "you don't expect me to do all this do you?". Now she can go write a book, while this guy lost his job. This is so sexist and so unfair and so ironic.
      - taligent 14y ago
        > She never even bothered to give them a dirty look. How old are you ? 10 ? Grow up.
      - jonhendry 14y ago
        "Now she can go write a book, while this guy lost his job." He can write a book too. And he has free time now to do so.
      - francopd 14y ago
        "Everyone is applauding Adria"......I think 99% of the comments are all against Adria, then you have that 1% of angry feminists. Adria got fired today.....well deserved!
rdtsc 14y ago
Do you intend to sue for having your image posted by Adria? Sounds like she might get some commercial value of it since she is doing talking engagements. A wave of publicity will surely benefit her. I suspect you might have a job offer pretty soon as the larger community realized that this was terribly unfair and it was someone taking advantage of a situation to create controversy.
female101 14y ago
Sorry to hear about you losing your job, that was not cool. As a woman in tech who is also a mother and raising 2 daughters, I experience the boys club every day. I love all the men I work with, I think they are great. I don't think that they are aware of some of the things they do that are offensive to women and I try to give them feedback to help them understand. I want my daughters to go into their career of choice and be comfortable in that environment. Maybe something to reflect on as a father is how you can foster a future in tech that isn't all about the boys club, especially if one or more of your 3 kids is a girl.
- joshlegs 14y ago
  I'm not so sure the "boys club" is really the "boys club." It's more like the "in crowd." And many people suffer from not being part of it, men included. Anything that threatens the in crowd's exclusiveness is shunned. That said, there more than a few misogynists out there, and not just in the tech realm. You should have worked at my last job. Boss literally thought a woman's place was solely in the kitchen, and hired accordingly (or as much as he could get away with). He also thought all black people should be shot, or so he said on one incredibly surprising occasion.

ushas 14y ago

Try topping it off with her feeling like she did something heroic. https://twitter.com/adriarichards/status/313442430848487424 https://twitter.com/adriarichards/status/313442430848487424

quattrofan 14y ago

I hope everybody retweets that tweet...with a suitable comment.

tobych 14y ago
And a hashtag. #joanofarc or something.