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Thanks for asking. The nature of the attacks against Adria are EXTREMELY misogynistic (rape threats, death threats, people calling her a c_nt, b_tch, wh_re, etc

Thanks for asking. The nature of the attacks against Adria are EXTREMELY misogynistic (rape threats, death threats, people calling her a c_nt, b_tch, wh_re, etc) and many people have taken up a "burn her at the stake" mentality. They've also pulled into question her professional credibility and called her an affirmative action hire. They are saying this kind of behavior should be expected from someone with the domain "butyouragirl". Misogyny is kind of like porn: "you know it when you see it". There is a simply an undue level of hatred for Adria which is correlated to her gender, I think in large part because she is an outspoken feminist. A lot of people in this community would very much like outspoken feminists not to exist (check the comments here or on Reddit anytime a post about women in tech goes up). Another way to look at it: I can't imagine this chain of events would have gone down if a man pointed out a lewd joke at a conference. The whole thing really smells like a feminist backlash. I'm trying to be more outspoken about gender bias I encounter in the workplace, but incidents like this are a terrifying reminder of why that can be dangerous. A few months ago I posted about an inappropriate comment someone made to me at a hackathon and got lots of advice (on this forum) to publicly out and shame the person. Seeing that my company could have come under attack for that is a reminder of why it's dangerous for women to speak out.

deleted 14y ago
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vor_ 14y ago
Men and women alike have been coming forward and questioning Adria's actions, especially since she made the same type of joke during the conference. She's become a PR nightmare for her employer because she used her media position to take matters into her own hands. It needs to be understood that posting someone's picture on the internet with the intent of making an example out of them through public shaming, and without the accused having equal footing to present their side, has consequences, especially for an accusation as politically charged as sexism. Such an accusation can get someone fired. One reason this has grabbed so much attention is that the remarks she overheard were not only rather benign and non-sexist, but they were also the kinds of comments both men and women make to their friends, including Adria, as she did on Twitter. > Another way to look at it: I can't imagine this chain of events would have gone down if a man pointed out a lewd joke at a conference. If you want to go down this route, a man complaining about a dongle joke probably would not have received the attention Adria's accusations received because she's a woman. That's simply because accusations made by women are taken more seriously due to them more often being on the receiving end of sexism. That's why it's so important to make sure the attention paid to gender inequality issues isn't wrongly exploited.
sjs382 14y ago
These attacks, presumably, aren't being made by anyone that's actually involved with the situation...
afandian 14y ago
Absolutely, the reaction would be terrifying for anyone. I assumed you were talking about her initial actions. I was. There's been sensible debate and abuse. There may be an overlap, but they are distinct reactions. If you challenge someone, you invite them to challenge you back (I hope she's not terrified by disagreement). But abuse and threats are entirely separate, and seem to have come from people beyond the industry, e.g. anonymous. Lots of trolls on the net are just looking for a fight and gender politics fades into the background when you have a large number of people on a hair-trigger, willing to use any language at their disposal that they can make fit the target.
drucken 14y ago
While I do not disagree with you about the offensive content of many of the attacks, what do you or Adria Richards expect to have happened after posting a public picture of her accused and calling out other people by name and company? She chose public justice for all, including herself and anyone she represented in that context. That works both ways, regardless of gender.

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vor_ 14y ago

Men and women alike have been coming forward and questioning Adria's actions, especially since she made the same type of joke during the conference. She's become a PR nightmare for her employer because she used her media position to take matters into her own hands. It needs to be understood that posting someone's picture on the internet with the intent of making an example out of them through public shaming, and without the accused having equal footing to present their side, has consequences, especially for an accusation as politically charged as sexism. Such an accusation can get someone fired. One reason this has grabbed so much attention is that the remarks she overheard were not only rather benign and non-sexist, but they were also the kinds of comments both men and women make to their friends, including Adria, as she did on Twitter. > Another way to look at it: I can't imagine this chain of events would have gone down if a man pointed out a lewd joke at a conference. If you want to go down this route, a man complaining about a dongle joke probably would not have received the attention Adria's accusations received because she's a woman. That's simply because accusations made by women are taken more seriously due to them more often being on the receiving end of sexism. That's why it's so important to make sure the attention paid to gender inequality issues isn't wrongly exploited.

sjs382 14y ago

These attacks, presumably, aren't being made by anyone that's actually involved with the situation...

afandian 14y ago

Absolutely, the reaction would be terrifying for anyone. I assumed you were talking about her initial actions. I was. There's been sensible debate and abuse. There may be an overlap, but they are distinct reactions. If you challenge someone, you invite them to challenge you back (I hope she's not terrified by disagreement). But abuse and threats are entirely separate, and seem to have come from people beyond the industry, e.g. anonymous. Lots of trolls on the net are just looking for a fight and gender politics fades into the background when you have a large number of people on a hair-trigger, willing to use any language at their disposal that they can make fit the target.

drucken 14y ago

While I do not disagree with you about the offensive content of many of the attacks, what do you or Adria Richards expect to have happened after posting a public picture of her accused and calling out other people by name and company? She chose public justice for all, including herself and anyone she represented in that context. That works both ways, regardless of gender.