The Great Ubuntu-Girlfriend Experiment (Content Consumer)

What I find a bit distressing about almost all of these conversations--and there are often
many--is that those complaining of sexist overtones (and yes, there are many here) assume they
are intentional, get verbally offended, and set up a confrontational relationship with the
author/editor right from the start.

I've NEVER seen anything productive come from a confrontational relationship.  If anything, it
just makes people dig in to their (possibly wrong) viewpoints even more.  Such as my wife and
her parents, who got into enough arguments about eating vegetables that to this day she won't
let her father see her eating a salad.

I mean honestly; if you assume the intent of someone was to offend--as many of the posters
seemingly did--you'll make no progress on what is a pretty valuable social agenda.  Did the
article and blurb have, probably unintentionally, sexist language?  Sure.  But the author and
editor are more than likely intelligent rational people who (gasp!) MADE A MISTAKE.  Treating
them as he-man woman-haters intent on keeping a gender repressed is going to do more harm than
good; pointing out the problem in rational terms and asking for admission of the problem and
an apology--which was eventually given--will do a lot more.