9 ms·

Cool I am going to host the "Male Founders Conference" And no girls are allowed. What are you implicitly stating here? Women aren't good enough to stand toe to

• ChrisAntaki 13y ago
  > Cool I am going to host the "Male Founders Conference" I feel like I've seen that conference before, many times. Don't get me wrong, there were some very good speakers. But if one is trying to differentiate, and try something fresh, an all women conference makes a lot of sense.
  • human_error 13y ago
    > I feel like I've seen that conference before, many times. Really? Where? Could you please give an example?
    • Tohhou 13y ago
      Silly males! The world is your conference!
    • danilocampos 13y ago
      Uh, every single tech conference... ever?
      • rimantas 13y ago
        Every single tech conference did not allow girls? Really?
        • kyro 13y ago
          I've got a question for you. Blacks are incredibly underrepresented in the medical field (13% in the US population, 4% as physicians). Some believe it to be due to the damaging effects of medical experiments conducted on African Americans -- eg. the Tuskegee experiment where many were purposefully left untreated for syphilis despite the existence of a simple treatment (read: penicillin). Other reasons include the lack of African American physicians in the media, peer-pressure to pursue other career paths, and financial constraints. Bottom line: there is a racial disparity in the medical field, and those that are underrepresented have some very legitimate reservations for entering that industry. So, the question: Would you be against movements targeted towards Blacks/African Americans meant to both encourage them as well as address their many concerns regarding entering a career in medicine?
          • mcantelon 13y ago
            >Some believe it to be due to the damaging effects of medical experiments conducted on African Americans Or an even simpler explanation: medical education is expensive and many blacks (and members of other races) are working class. So perhaps scholarships tailored towards the economically disadvantaged, rather than any specific race, would address the disparity.
            • kyro 13y ago
              High tuition is one reason, yes, but it isn't the entire story. Check out: - http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/medical-ethics/about-ethics-group/institute-ethics/research-projects/the-history-african-americans-organized-medicine.page http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/medical-... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2575862/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2575862/ - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9395587 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9395587
              • deleted 13y ago
                [deleted]
              • mcantelon 13y ago
• nRike 13y ago
  > Cool I am going to host the "Male Founders Conference" And no girls are allowed. You can apply if you are male. > Why can't I go to this event and learn from female founders do they have nothing of value to convey to me as a male ? I think the conference goal is pretty clear: help aspiring female founders start more startups, the same way Startup School does.
  • human_error 13y ago
    > You can apply if you are male. Don't you think it'd be just a 'founders conference' in that case?
    • nRike 13y ago
      > Don't you think it'd be just a 'founders conference' in that case? That's right, but its seems YC is looking to find an open space for aspiring female founders and, at the same time, still remain open for male atendees. What I said was because in the application form you can say if you are male or female.
      • SDGT 13y ago
        > YC is looking to find an open space for aspiring female founders and... PG is probably partially covering his own ass after the most recent debacle. Correlation does not equal causation and all that fun stuff, but this is rather well timed.
        • smtddr 13y ago
          Nope. PG planned this before that other incident happened. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7097462 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7097462
• wellboy 13y ago
  Could you kindly s tfu please? Women do simply have it much harder than men in tech and if you even criticize them for trying to build a community, you do a lot of harm to the whole industry and will scare away even more women from becoming interested in tech. With statements like yours, you are making sure that the gender divide becomes bigger and bigger and that people become very sensitive and insecure when discussing female founders, female programmers and similar.
  • wellboy 13y ago
    Why the downvotes, I said kindly?
    • tomp 13y ago
      >s tfu Not really. The way I understand GP's comment, he was stating why the whole idea might be considered controversial/misandric/inappropriate by reversing the genders (I'd say he was quite successful, btw, as you have clearly demonstrated by assuming chauvinistic/misogynistic intentions behind GP's comment). On the other hand, what you have done is you projected your dogmatic worldview where intellectual discussion and criticism is not welcome and only one point of view is correct/allowed.
      • wellboy 13y ago
        If you mean that he meant his comment to be satirical, I can't see a hint for that anywhere in his comment.
        • tomp 13y ago
          No, I mean that he was making a point, as if (s)he was in a debate and he was assigned to argue the opposite side of the argument
          • wellboy 13y ago
            Looking at the other comments, he was serious...gotta fight that!
• rfnslyr 13y ago
  Why can't people just have their own events for their own people where they feel more comfortable? Maybe that's what it takes for some women, a friendly environment of just women. Let it be.
  • orthecreedence 13y ago
    Yeah take a look at some of the comments here, and it's understandable why there would be a conference geared towards women. That said, it's not like they're pulling down your pants and checking if you have a dick at the door. Men can go. It's a conference to help women with the challenges they will face specifically as females in the tech industry. If you find this topic interesting, then by all means go: man, woman, or anyone inbetween.
  • danellis 13y ago
    As a man, I wonder what makes me assumed to be so unfriendly to women.
• kyro 13y ago
  Please explain to me the worst that can happen because of an event like this.
  • dkhenry 13y ago
    People who might not have the ability to succeed in the wider market are encouraged to start and then drop out and they extend the perception that females aren't suited to be start-up founders
    • kyro 13y ago
      That you take an event like this meant to inspire and empower an underrepresented group and interpret its implication to mean that said group is somehow inferior to the majority is just a remarkable level of mental gymnastics. You are essentially in support of no form of supportive outreach that targets a specific group because the act of targeting alone implies a kind of special assistance for the less capable.
      • dkhenry 13y ago
        Actually I would be against most forms of target supportive outreach. The one exception would be experiential targeting ( I have no issues with a "First time founders" conference ) I don't subscribe to the notion that the way to fix the imbalance in anything is to treat groups of individuals special. That has never worked through all of history so I don't know why we think it will start working now.
        • kyro 13y ago
          But can't you look at this event in the same light? To women, blacks, etc, entering a given field in which you are underrepresented, you are no different than a first time founder with concerns, reservations, a desire to connect with people similar to you who've achieved success and to learn about the obstacles you may face. The set of factors that may work against a woman getting into tech may differ from that that works against other groups doing the same. There's no harm in addressing these sets of concerns specifically. It seems like a more efficient way.
• PopsiclePete 13y ago
  Sheesh. Somebody feels threatened. Let them be, seriously. We have enough "Ruby-on-rails super-star douche-wad with tits and porn jokes on his slides" events for overgrown man-children, let there be something for women that doesn't make them feel awkward or weird. We already have a problem with this industry being a boys-only club, no need to get your panties in a bunch over this.
  • rimantas 13y ago
    Or maybe women feel awkward and weird when tits and porn jokes are on slides just because men taught them to feel that way? > overgrown man-children That's the spirit!
  • danellis 13y ago
    What do you mean to say by suggesting that a man is wearing "panties"? It reads like you're suggesting he is acting like a woman by getting upset, which makes your position very unclear.
• jmelesky 13y ago
  > What are you implicitly stating here? Good question. Actually, let's ask more simply "what are you stating here?" > Women aren't good enough to stand toe to toe with male founders so the only way they will ever be able to succeed is if they are given special treatment. It seems unlikely that's what they're stating. What other possible interpretations could there be? Or do you sincerely believe that the organizers of this conference are denigrating women? If so, how do you go about warning your female founder friends that this conference is denigrating them?
• Permit 13y ago
  It makes a lot of sense to encourage minority groups to join a field. An example including men would be something like the American Assembly for Men in Nursing.[1] Alternatively, there are men-only classes for parenting, and those aimed at stay-at-home fathers. These sorts of groups are not exclusive to women. [1]http://aamn.org/ http://aamn.org/