Sexism

Well, I've seen the calm kind being assumed to be the "I just wanna hit women" kind before. Sorry if I made a wrong assumption here.

edited 31st Aug '15 5:07:10 PM by Murataku

Whether or not they're calm isn't really relevant. If you think "Okay so I can hit you now" upon finding out someone is a feminist that says some pretty nasty stuff about you.

I didn't express myself well. I meant, I've seen people who say "I want to be able to defend myself if I am attacked" have their words twisted into "RAWR I AM BIG MAN WANT HIT WOMEN" or such. I assumed that might be happening here, and I was wrong. No harm done.

Happened to me as a kid. Got in scuffles with the class's big girl. Was a wimp boy, but big too. We were evenly matched, fights were enthusiastic but inconclusive. It was her way of flirting. I got called a disgusting coward for hitting a girl, by many people.

Including my father.

Who beat both me and my mom, semi-regularly.

I am a bit terrified at the prospects of raising my hands against women, not just because I was taught from early on I should never do that but the M.O. of the cops would be to arrest the biggest party and there are many legal ways for me to get royally screwed even if it was in legitimate self defense.

I was raised on chivalristic notions by tv and stil hold some of those in the back of my head. Although given I am 170cm, I wouldn't be caught on a fight with a women significantly shorter than me anyway.

So you'd do it if you wouldn't be caught?

As for affirmative action in Sweden, I think the overall buzz about it died out a few years ago when they tried that on the fire department. People said, "Nope." Equal requirements no matter sex. There's still an "all else being equal" recommendation, I believe.

In corporate executive seats, I think there might be a minimum requirement, or it might be a strong recommendation. But overall, I think the pool of potential executives (with the education/experience and the will to see it through) is still skewed enough that it just wouldn't work well to have an entirely equal distribution. However, it's getting more equal over time.

Politically I'm not sure it needs to be a law, considering the PR benefits you get from having an equal distribution.

In programming, including game development, there's as far as I know an overall demand for more women. It's one male-dominated area where it's much easier getting a job if you're female. Or at least for the companies I've been in contact with, or had classmates with contacts, along with their impressions. I also think (which may be entirely wrong) these kinds of companies have an overall younger worker base, or are at least more in touch with the younger generations, which tends to be more equal-minded.

Another impression I've gotten is that equality stuff has been less front-page material here as of late, and more simply something that's not so much news anymore as it is part of culture. Still pops up on occasion, like everything else, though.

edited 1st Sep '15 4:12:54 AM by AnotherDuck

Coding used to be a woman's job...

And now it's nerdy and women aren't allowed to be nerds because nerds aren't pretty.

The odds are good, but the goods are odd.

Dont mind me. I am just a man who doesnt know how to sell a contradiction

As for the programming industry, let me tell ya. It is a cannibal industry. It is an industry where people are very disposable based on what certifications and knowledge they have. Python Programmer you had today is one that could be gone to another company next week because they were offered a higher pay.

As said above, it is not so much the gender alone, but more the opportunities and knowledge the person has. Many women, because of the families they come from can afford to stay up to date in the latest techs and hence they will be eagerly cannibalized by companies. Companies who are all about keeping people aay because of their gender will find that they will be easily bought out by others

The difference is in the opportunities on education and I have yet to hear a school or college that turned down people for certifications based on gender. A lot has to do with th stigma society has on "nerd" girls or tech oriented girls but as shown with the increase of women in the game industry market, this is quite volatile and subject to change.

Thankfully.

That's the hard thing about feminism. Not only are there enemies at the gates, there's spies inside the castle. "I totes care about women's rights. Let's talk about that over dinner and maybe back at my place. You'll pay, of course."

Male allies have a hill to climb because not only do we need to support women's rights, we also need to not be that guy right in the middle of the feminist discussion, and some feminists are very slow to trust. There are many feminists who are opposed to the principle of male allies entirely, which isn't because they're just evil bitches who hate men; it's because they've been burned too many times by wolves in sheep's clothing.

edited 1st Sep '15 8:34:51 AM by TobiasDrake

Add on top of that the "Brownie Point Best Friends" who are only your friend because they're trying to score a chance in your pants then whine about being "friendzoned" as if being just my friend is some sort of punishment and horrible thing.

Women are wary. The amount of men out their actively trying to fuck us over isn't the majority of men. We know that. But the lengths the malicious side will go to in order to act on their maliciousness is enough that women have to be careful of all men.

Again, it's like minorities and cops. Chances are that random cop isn't out to get them and everything will be fine. But if that cop is out to get them, the amount of danger to their life is so high including their death, they have to be wary of all cops.

Still, being wary of allies is one thing, but one does have to be wary of being both wary and uncharitable, or else we get a Tim Hunt situation.

edited 1st Sep '15 9:17:33 AM by vandro

To be honest I really am scared of being that guy in the middle of a feminist discussion so I usually just keep my mouth shut when those sort of things start.

I like to think just sorta being there and just being nothing more than a cheerleader still helps you know?

@The Handle Coding then started to be associated with stinky and socially inept nerds, thankfully after decades this trend is reversing.

Which sadly ensured the Silicon Valley was filled with white and asian men since the beginning.

And that is why you are a good ally Garcon. And much appreciated for it.

Like I am not Latino, male, or black, but I support freer rights and improved quality of life for these demographics by supporting their leadership and not trying to be their leadership.

The biggest thing is to not talk over those who are actively affected by it.

Like the idiots who want to mansplain to be about the wage gap when they are rich white males who've never even had to ask where the DHS office is, or who try and tell me how birth control is supposed to work for contraception only.

.... What is the DHS office?

I am afraid I don't have much experiance with any of the letter buildings that are not directly related to university.

>.<

Fear of being wrong is troublesome in the sense that if one does not get used to the idea of being wrong then you might never know what you are doing wrong.

The internet is particularly great because it allows a safe way to discuss things pople might be wrong at without too much judgment. Specially when compared to RL, where ostracism would have a much bigger effect.

Department of Human Services. It does happen to share an acronym with the Department of Homeland Security.

Do we need to use gendered insults?

But yeah Feminism isn't easy, on top of all the groups mentioned there also the people who are only around for a fight, to them Feminism is simply a cover for throwing abuse at people and feeling justified about it, they don't actually care about women, they just want a way to justify their abuse of others. Luckily such people don't seem to be around in real life, instead they're more of an internet thing.

* Googles the term *

Oh, you mean a version of the DWP? Them? Wouldn't touch them with a bargepole.

Except that one is a valid one, due to the shere amount of men that decide "Let me telll you how you as a woman should feel about the thing that affects you and not me"

Okay, two things.

"Mansplain" is a very real problem that men, as a privileged group, regularly deny, and it's really not on the same level as calling someone a cuckold, a bitch or a bastard. I'm suspicious of anyone who actually takes this as an insult on the same level as any of the aforementioned terms because it has a categorically different purpose and meaning.

Secondly, the internet is real life. The notion that digital debate spaces have no bearing on real-life interactions is erroneous, and if anything, that fiasco with Tim Hunt bolsters that point. Nevermind the numerous women who have had to change their addresses and phone numbers, change jobs or be especially leery of public gatherings. The person on the other end of that screen you're arguing with is a human being with emotions, and not being able to see, feel or hear that person doesn't erase the emotional content behind the discussion being had.

That, too.

edited 1st Sep '15 10:51:33 AM by Aprilla

Some of us, however, have to learn how to dexterously wiggle bargepoles, regardless of how we feel about what we're trying to prod into doing the job it's technically supposed to be there for. :/

edited 1st Sep '15 10:53:51 AM by Euodiachloris