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Typical of a lot of the the writing/journalism crowd, they want to belittle people and make them social outcasts they were in high school again. Cannot bear the

Typical of a lot of the the writing/journalism crowd, they want to belittle people and make them social outcasts they were in high school again. Cannot bear the fact that those 'nerds' are now enormously successful, both financially and in their personal life. The writer's jealousy just shows through in this. "The enormous features that read so well in photos looked cartoonish in person: Chiclet teeth, rubbery grin, duck-feathery hair." Yeah, if it had been a slam poet, how much are we betting the writer would have said something like "Wavy hair, dreamy eyes, and delicate-boned face"?

devindotcom 13y ago
The "writing/journalism crowd"? What is this new prejudice? There is no such "crowd," nor, if there were, would they share the features you describe. What an absurd generalization.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- revelation 13y ago
  Huh? Of course there is such a "crowd". Who do you think can be a journalist in this country? You need, at the minimum, a college degree. Since it is a rather popular field, you will need to do an internship for no or minimal pay (this pretty much disqualifies anyone without significant parental suppot). And to get any of the previously mentioned qualifications, it will help enormously if you have been socialized/grown up in an environment that 1) speaks the correct dialect and 2) fosters interest in things like politics. And then, of course, lots of publications have deeply ingrained political (even social) leanings that they more or less openly display; if you want to get a job there, you better share the mindset.
- parennoob 13y ago
  I mean a loosely defined aggregation of people who work in freelance writing, journalism, and content strategy who tend to be born into middle-to-upper class homes, are generally socially successful at high school and (often liberal-arts) college. They typically come from non-technical majors such as English Literature, "Communication", etc. Is there really no such group that comes to your mind? Alternately, let me put it this way. Is there anyone on HN who has a job at NYMag?
lelandbatey 13y ago
That's a really, really specific judgement of what's going on. I really wouldn't put it down to active malicious intentions. As is so often the case, it's generally a more nebulous reason; in this case I think they're just posing him in a popular style for the young but successful. The writer is trying to convey a young male who's a tremendous outlier, so they describe him as being just as outlier-esque in his appearance and mannerisms. The reasons behind why this is a popular style of portrayal may very well be as you say, but it could very well be just a deep seated need to mark those who have vast differences in ability as being of a very different social or behavioural group. This need to be different could stem from jealousy, and a general uneasyness about their own life acheivements. After all if the tremendously successful aren't different, and are instead just like us, then how are they so much more successful? Why are aren't we all successful? That's an uneasy thought, so humans may want to dismiss it by saying "They must just be 'different.'"
- parennoob 13y ago
  Your point is well taken. It may not be jealousy per se, but more a need to 'mark out' people who are different in some way. Either way, it is ridiculous that tech 'journalists' feel that they have open license to mock the physical appearance of males in the technology industry like this, because, face it, who's going to stand up on their behalf? It's a thin line between general mud-slinging and actively malicious intentions . The classroom bully also sometimes does it "just for fun", he doesn't have "actively malicious intentions". On the other hand imagine the outcry if an article had described Marissa Mayer in this photo (http://i.huffpost.com/gen/881509/thumbs/r-MARISSA-MAYER-INTERVIEW-large570.jpg http://i.huffpost.com/gen/881509/thumbs/r-MARISSA-MAYER-INTE...) as "having a cartoonish smile, with stringy blond hair, BO, and a surprising number of wrinkles." (note: NOT something I intend to be taken seriously, just an example of generally saying horrible things about a person). People would have been up in arms about "objectifying women in the tech industry and criticizing their looks instead of concentrating on their successes."

devindotcom 13y ago

The "writing/journalism crowd"? What is this new prejudice? There is no such "crowd," nor, if there were, would they share the features you describe. What an absurd generalization.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
revelation 13y ago
Huh? Of course there is such a "crowd". Who do you think can be a journalist in this country? You need, at the minimum, a college degree. Since it is a rather popular field, you will need to do an internship for no or minimal pay (this pretty much disqualifies anyone without significant parental suppot). And to get any of the previously mentioned qualifications, it will help enormously if you have been socialized/grown up in an environment that 1) speaks the correct dialect and 2) fosters interest in things like politics. And then, of course, lots of publications have deeply ingrained political (even social) leanings that they more or less openly display; if you want to get a job there, you better share the mindset.
parennoob 13y ago
I mean a loosely defined aggregation of people who work in freelance writing, journalism, and content strategy who tend to be born into middle-to-upper class homes, are generally socially successful at high school and (often liberal-arts) college. They typically come from non-technical majors such as English Literature, "Communication", etc. Is there really no such group that comes to your mind? Alternately, let me put it this way. Is there anyone on HN who has a job at NYMag?

lelandbatey 13y ago

That's a really, really specific judgement of what's going on. I really wouldn't put it down to active malicious intentions. As is so often the case, it's generally a more nebulous reason; in this case I think they're just posing him in a popular style for the young but successful. The writer is trying to convey a young male who's a tremendous outlier, so they describe him as being just as outlier-esque in his appearance and mannerisms. The reasons behind why this is a popular style of portrayal may very well be as you say, but it could very well be just a deep seated need to mark those who have vast differences in ability as being of a very different social or behavioural group. This need to be different could stem from jealousy, and a general uneasyness about their own life acheivements. After all if the tremendously successful aren't different, and are instead just like us, then how are they so much more successful? Why are aren't we all successful? That's an uneasy thought, so humans may want to dismiss it by saying "They must just be 'different.'"

parennoob 13y ago
Your point is well taken. It may not be jealousy per se, but more a need to 'mark out' people who are different in some way. Either way, it is ridiculous that tech 'journalists' feel that they have open license to mock the physical appearance of males in the technology industry like this, because, face it, who's going to stand up on their behalf? It's a thin line between general mud-slinging and actively malicious intentions . The classroom bully also sometimes does it "just for fun", he doesn't have "actively malicious intentions". On the other hand imagine the outcry if an article had described Marissa Mayer in this photo (http://i.huffpost.com/gen/881509/thumbs/r-MARISSA-MAYER-INTERVIEW-large570.jpg http://i.huffpost.com/gen/881509/thumbs/r-MARISSA-MAYER-INTE...) as "having a cartoonish smile, with stringy blond hair, BO, and a surprising number of wrinkles." (note: NOT something I intend to be taken seriously, just an example of generally saying horrible things about a person). People would have been up in arms about "objectifying women in the tech industry and criticizing their looks instead of concentrating on their successes."