5 ms·

If they wanted to back up this claim "...from the start I've made sure YC had an environment that is supportive of women," they would provide affordable childca

by klunger 12y ago

If they wanted to back up this claim "...from the start I've made sure YC had an environment that is supportive of women," they would provide affordable childcare.

debacle 12y ago
Because men aren't responsible for children in the same way women are? Your comment is incredibly sexist.
- tomp 12y ago
  It's a pretty accurate and factual observation that most of the burden of child-care falls on mothers, either time- or money-wise.
- DanBC 12y ago
  When you have companies offering to freeze eggs it's a reasonable point to make about childcare -- society pretty much makes women responsible for children. The nice thing about making a workplace more suitable for women with children is that you're also making it more suitable for men with children.
dugmartin 12y ago
I don't think affordable childcare is a women's only issue. Men have children too.
- pistle 12y ago
  Nobody says that it's only a women's issue. But, if that servers your rhetorical needs, you keep putting those words in peoples' mouths. Childcare is vastly a burden born by women, thus considered a women's issue. That doesn't mean "there are no men who are burdened by childcare." It means that, in aggregate, the impact falls far more on the women. It's so egalitarian of you to not want it to be so, but until women are paid the same and men are taking on equal responsibilities (in aggregate) with the child rearing, the feigned "equality uber alles" cry is the fight song of the MRA. "I found an outlier, therefore WOE ARE THE MEN MEN MEN!!"
  - tptacek 12y ago
    Child care is not a "women's issue". That idea has the unique property of being insulting both to women and to men in equal measure. No institutional change is going to solve child care for company founders --- which is, after all, what we're talking about here. If your "investors" provide child care, double check to make sure their proper title isn't "employer". Tech workers with young families should be especially careful about asking for child care benefits. They're a powerful form of lock-in for employees. Altering child-care arrangements is often traumatic for everyone involved, and is at the very least a logistical headache that most people who change jobs don't have to face. Tech jobs are already very amenable to child-care arrangements. They almost always feature flexible hours and often support WFH arrangements. The problem with tech isn't that it fails to account for child care. The problem is that tech companies have a terrible habit of stigmatizing child care responsibilities†. That's what needs to change, not the child care itself. † https://www.dropbox.com/s/s4npejyy4hg76tj/Screenshot%202014-11-24%2013.11.08.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/s4npejyy4hg76tj/Screenshot%202014-...
    - jacalata 12y ago
      Child care is not a 'women's issue', but it is an issue that has a disproportionate impact on women and therefore one that should come up earlier in a discussion on "how can we better support women" than in the equivalent discussion of "how can we better support men".
      - tptacek 12y ago
        The rest of my comment, after the first few words that prompted you to respond, addresses your sentiment. What did I miss?
        jacalata 12y ago
        I don't see where your comment addresses my sentiment that childcare is more of an issue for women than men? It seems to be talking about the risks of having childcare through an employer, which is valid (like healthcare) but a different aspect of the topic.
- klunger 12y ago
  True, but, that is not the issue. While both men and women are indeed needed for baby-making, the burden of child care falls disproportionately on women in our society. So, male founders with young children can reasonably expect their child to be cared for by their partner while they dedicate all of their time to YC. But, the same cannot be said of potential female founders. It is not sexist to recognize this unfortunate state of affairs and suggest that child care support be considered an issue particularly important to women. Thus, since YC expects their founders to spend most of their waking hours working on their start-up, they need to provide adequate child care support, if they want to have women with children among their founders (at least, those who are not already extremely rich and can afford the outrageous child care rates in SF).
  - tptacek 12y ago
    It doesn't even make sense for an investor to provide office space, or even payroll services. How could it possibly make sense for them to provide child care? This is a red herring. In fact, it comes across a little like "well, thing will be better for women once society fixes their expectations about child care". No. Women are perfectly capable of balancing their child care needs inside their families using their own support networks. Child care is a private issue. Founders are adults. Don't infantilize them. Don't try to run their families for them. What needs to stop happening is people bringing up child care as an impediment to entrepreneurship. That's the child care problem we have in startupland.
corndoge 12y ago
I dropped by their office once when I had some downtime on a business trip in the Valley. In the lobby, I couldn't help but notice preeminently female-oriented magazines and mused to myself if perhaps this supportive environment had gone too far. Not a single Sports Illustrated in there.

by klunger 12y ago

If they wanted to back up this claim "...from the start I've made sure YC had an environment that is supportive of women," they would provide affordable childcare.

debacle 12y ago

Because men aren't responsible for children in the same way women are? Your comment is incredibly sexist.

tomp 12y ago
It's a pretty accurate and factual observation that most of the burden of child-care falls on mothers, either time- or money-wise.
DanBC 12y ago
When you have companies offering to freeze eggs it's a reasonable point to make about childcare -- society pretty much makes women responsible for children. The nice thing about making a workplace more suitable for women with children is that you're also making it more suitable for men with children.

dugmartin 12y ago

I don't think affordable childcare is a women's only issue. Men have children too.

pistle 12y ago
Nobody says that it's only a women's issue. But, if that servers your rhetorical needs, you keep putting those words in peoples' mouths. Childcare is vastly a burden born by women, thus considered a women's issue. That doesn't mean "there are no men who are burdened by childcare." It means that, in aggregate, the impact falls far more on the women. It's so egalitarian of you to not want it to be so, but until women are paid the same and men are taking on equal responsibilities (in aggregate) with the child rearing, the feigned "equality uber alles" cry is the fight song of the MRA. "I found an outlier, therefore WOE ARE THE MEN MEN MEN!!"
- tptacek 12y ago
  Child care is not a "women's issue". That idea has the unique property of being insulting both to women and to men in equal measure. No institutional change is going to solve child care for company founders --- which is, after all, what we're talking about here. If your "investors" provide child care, double check to make sure their proper title isn't "employer". Tech workers with young families should be especially careful about asking for child care benefits. They're a powerful form of lock-in for employees. Altering child-care arrangements is often traumatic for everyone involved, and is at the very least a logistical headache that most people who change jobs don't have to face. Tech jobs are already very amenable to child-care arrangements. They almost always feature flexible hours and often support WFH arrangements. The problem with tech isn't that it fails to account for child care. The problem is that tech companies have a terrible habit of stigmatizing child care responsibilities†. That's what needs to change, not the child care itself. † https://www.dropbox.com/s/s4npejyy4hg76tj/Screenshot%202014-11-24%2013.11.08.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/s4npejyy4hg76tj/Screenshot%202014-...
  - jacalata 12y ago
    Child care is not a 'women's issue', but it is an issue that has a disproportionate impact on women and therefore one that should come up earlier in a discussion on "how can we better support women" than in the equivalent discussion of "how can we better support men".
    - tptacek 12y ago
      The rest of my comment, after the first few words that prompted you to respond, addresses your sentiment. What did I miss?
      - jacalata 12y ago
        I don't see where your comment addresses my sentiment that childcare is more of an issue for women than men? It seems to be talking about the risks of having childcare through an employer, which is valid (like healthcare) but a different aspect of the topic.
klunger 12y ago
True, but, that is not the issue. While both men and women are indeed needed for baby-making, the burden of child care falls disproportionately on women in our society. So, male founders with young children can reasonably expect their child to be cared for by their partner while they dedicate all of their time to YC. But, the same cannot be said of potential female founders. It is not sexist to recognize this unfortunate state of affairs and suggest that child care support be considered an issue particularly important to women. Thus, since YC expects their founders to spend most of their waking hours working on their start-up, they need to provide adequate child care support, if they want to have women with children among their founders (at least, those who are not already extremely rich and can afford the outrageous child care rates in SF).
- tptacek 12y ago
  It doesn't even make sense for an investor to provide office space, or even payroll services. How could it possibly make sense for them to provide child care? This is a red herring. In fact, it comes across a little like "well, thing will be better for women once society fixes their expectations about child care". No. Women are perfectly capable of balancing their child care needs inside their families using their own support networks. Child care is a private issue. Founders are adults. Don't infantilize them. Don't try to run their families for them. What needs to stop happening is people bringing up child care as an impediment to entrepreneurship. That's the child care problem we have in startupland.

corndoge 12y ago

I dropped by their office once when I had some downtime on a business trip in the Valley. In the lobby, I couldn't help but notice preeminently female-oriented magazines and mused to myself if perhaps this supportive environment had gone too far. Not a single Sports Illustrated in there.