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Debugging conference anti-harassment policiesDebugging conference anti-harassment policiesPosted Feb 3, 2011 18:49 UTC (Thu) by shmget (subscriber, #58347)In reply to: Debugging conference anti-harassment policies by dneary Parent article: Debugging conference anti-harassment policies
dneary said:
'"Don't do anything that standard workplace conventions would forbid" might cover things like drinking alcohol, ... The thing is: sex is different from a lot of other potentially offending things in our society.'
Which confirm brilliantly that this whole discussion is about anglo-saxons (and particularly the US-WASP kind) generalizing their cultural and religious taboo to the rest of the world.... and rather than seek professional help to resolve their issues demand that the whole world become as neurotic as they are.
It's the story of the agoraphobic that demand that no game be played in open-air stadium because that makes him uncomfortable, and of course the his claustrophobic neighbour disagree strongly.
"it seems clear to me that we need to engage in some positive discrimination"
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Debugging conference anti-harassment policies Posted Feb 3, 2011 19:06 UTC (Thu) by mjg59 (subscriber, #23239) [Link]
No, the reason that sex is different is that the power balance is still heavily weighted towards men. It's got nothing to do with cultural prejudices or sex positivity.
Debugging conference anti-harassment policies Posted Feb 3, 2011 19:07 UTC (Thu) by dneary (subscriber, #55185) [Link]
> Which confirm brilliantly that this whole discussion is about anglo-saxons
> (and particularly the US-WASP kind) generalizing their cultural and > religious taboo to the rest of the world.... and rather than seek > professional help to resolve their issues demand that the whole world > become as neurotic as they are.
Not really. In a European, North or South American, or Australian context, monotheist christianity has influenced local culture enormously. In North Africa or south-west Asia, Islam would be a dominant cultural influence. In China, Korea, Japan and other parts of South East Asia, taoist/buddhist influences affect people's views of things like violence, sex, alcohol, etc.
So, as a conference organiser, you try to find a sane common denominator. Not the lowest common denominator of "offend no-one" (which some people seem to imply) but a more reasonable "don't do anything which could reasonably be expected to offend". And in different places this will be different things. At a salon for erotica, there will be different rules for decorum (both for participants and attendees) than at an AA meeting.
> that is another example of an US-centric oxymoron.
Ahem. First, I'm an Irishman living in France. Second, I'm a WIC (white Irish Catholic) not a WASP. Third, and most importantly, positive discrimination can be all positive. I get your point, if you're talking about a limited resource like jobs, or places in a college course, where one person getting in implies someone else being kept out. But by bringing more women into free software communities, we're not excluding any men - we're just growing the community. Maybe some behaviour which was OK at 99% male becomes unacceptable at 80% male - honestly, I'm OK with that.
Debugging conference anti-harassment policies Posted Feb 4, 2011 5:32 UTC (Fri) by shmget (subscriber, #58347) [Link]
"Ahem. First, I'm an Irishman living in France."
"But by bringing more women into free software communities, we're not excluding any men "
"Not really. In a European, North or South American, or Australian context, monotheist christianity has influenced local culture enormously. In North Africa or south-west Asia, Islam would be a dominant cultural influence."
"Maybe some behaviour which was OK at 99% male becomes unacceptable at 80% male - honestly, I'm OK with that."
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