4 ms·

The irrational venom and utter cowardice of those who attacked this woman and her supporters, including here on HN, shouldn't be surprising, but somehow it stil

by logjam 14y ago

The irrational venom and utter cowardice of those who attacked this woman and her supporters, including here on HN, shouldn't be surprising, but somehow it still is. Tech? I would have thought better of arguably among the most "rational" humans. Yet another lesson in how close to the surface very primitive emotions lie. And tech remains a cesspool of mysogyny.

ryguytilidie 14y ago
As I tweeted yesterday: "Only thing that still bothers me about #donglegate is how people decided that 4chan/reddit trolls=the genuine opinion of all males in tech." Faceless trolls trolling the most trollable topic on the internet does not mean their opinion represents "men in tech".
theorique 14y ago
Part of the issue is that "tech" people tend to be out of touch with their emotions, so while they do feel them very strongly, they may not always understand their origins or be able to handle them in a resourceful manner. Not admitting that many important decisions have an emotional component is part of the problem. They can be 'rational' when it comes to doing numerical things, but when it comes to an emotional issue like picking emacs or vi, they are no better than your average touchy-feely New Age believer at being rational.
misnome 14y ago
Tech? On the internet, with Anonymity/Age Ranges/Trolling, why should we expect anything else? Taking everything said on the internet to heart is a very, very bad idea, especially with anything this incendiary. Every time something like this happens people act surprised. Hello, have you ever been on the internet before? I'm not defending it, just saying that it should be treated for what it is - background noise.
- srdev 14y ago
  The problem is that simply saying that we should treat it as background noise is functionally indistinguishable from defending it. Bad behavior should be called out and discouraged.
  - jiggy2011 14y ago
    Problem is, how do you discourage legions of anonymous 4chan users who have learned from experience that they can take action without any repercussion?
Guvante 14y ago
Who says it was tech? There were several examples of both extreme sides using this as a standing ground for their cause. You can't use these kinds of situations to gauge reaction because the vocal minority yells louder than ever.
njharman 14y ago
She was kind of a douche. You don't get a pass for being a douche just because you're female (or anything else). If that's irrational, venomous, and cowardly I'll wear those labels proudly.
- TheZenPsycho 14y ago
  you will cast your lot in with the dudes threatening rape and death?
  - javert 14y ago
    He's not casting his lot in with those dudes. The guy who he is responding to, is. Which is a gross injustice.
    - TheZenPsycho 14y ago
      You are either lying or stupid, and I can't tell which. edit: To those who would downvote me LOOK AT THE POST he is referring to. What is your problem with actually reading things?
javert 14y ago
I lost any potential sympathy for her when it turned out that she is an avowed racist [1]. She said, "Black people CANNOT be racist. Racism is a position of the oppressor who has power." The same premise that would lead to that position, would require someone to think the same thing about sexism and gender issues. This context sheds some light on things beyond the faux pas aspect of publicly shaming someone on Twitter, via an unauthorized picture, which already is unacceptable for someone who is a professional communicator. Now, if you want to say that this is "irrational venom" and "utter cowardice" and not "rational" and based on "very primitive emotions" and "mysogynistic", fine, but that itself is just an emotional spew that doesn't look at the facts of the case that I have pointed out. Of course, there _are_ lots of trolls, but not everyone who thinks her behavior was disgusting should be lumped in with them. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5419868 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5419868

by logjam 14y ago

ryguytilidie 14y ago

As I tweeted yesterday: "Only thing that still bothers me about #donglegate is how people decided that 4chan/reddit trolls=the genuine opinion of all males in tech." Faceless trolls trolling the most trollable topic on the internet does not mean their opinion represents "men in tech".

theorique 14y ago

Part of the issue is that "tech" people tend to be out of touch with their emotions, so while they do feel them very strongly, they may not always understand their origins or be able to handle them in a resourceful manner. Not admitting that many important decisions have an emotional component is part of the problem. They can be 'rational' when it comes to doing numerical things, but when it comes to an emotional issue like picking emacs or vi, they are no better than your average touchy-feely New Age believer at being rational.

misnome 14y ago

Tech? On the internet, with Anonymity/Age Ranges/Trolling, why should we expect anything else? Taking everything said on the internet to heart is a very, very bad idea, especially with anything this incendiary. Every time something like this happens people act surprised. Hello, have you ever been on the internet before? I'm not defending it, just saying that it should be treated for what it is - background noise.

srdev 14y ago
The problem is that simply saying that we should treat it as background noise is functionally indistinguishable from defending it. Bad behavior should be called out and discouraged.
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  Problem is, how do you discourage legions of anonymous 4chan users who have learned from experience that they can take action without any repercussion?

Guvante 14y ago

Who says it was tech? There were several examples of both extreme sides using this as a standing ground for their cause. You can't use these kinds of situations to gauge reaction because the vocal minority yells louder than ever.

njharman 14y ago

She was kind of a douche. You don't get a pass for being a douche just because you're female (or anything else). If that's irrational, venomous, and cowardly I'll wear those labels proudly.

TheZenPsycho 14y ago
you will cast your lot in with the dudes threatening rape and death?
- javert 14y ago
  He's not casting his lot in with those dudes. The guy who he is responding to, is. Which is a gross injustice.
  - TheZenPsycho 14y ago
    You are either lying or stupid, and I can't tell which. edit: To those who would downvote me LOOK AT THE POST he is referring to. What is your problem with actually reading things?

javert 14y ago

I lost any potential sympathy for her when it turned out that she is an avowed racist [1]. She said, "Black people CANNOT be racist. Racism is a position of the oppressor who has power." The same premise that would lead to that position, would require someone to think the same thing about sexism and gender issues. This context sheds some light on things beyond the faux pas aspect of publicly shaming someone on Twitter, via an unauthorized picture, which already is unacceptable for someone who is a professional communicator. Now, if you want to say that this is "irrational venom" and "utter cowardice" and not "rational" and based on "very primitive emotions" and "mysogynistic", fine, but that itself is just an emotional spew that doesn't look at the facts of the case that I have pointed out. Of course, there _are_ lots of trolls, but not everyone who thinks her behavior was disgusting should be lumped in with them. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5419868 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5419868