Jacinta Richardson <jarich at perltraining.com.au> wrote:
> That's the problem with sexualised presentations. Not only do I suddenly feel
> like an other, but I feel like an other in a crowd of men - some of whom may
> consider me merely as a sexual object, some of whom may have committed sexual
> assaults themselves in the past.
>
> The conference doesn't only seem more dangerous but it has actually *become*
> more dangerous because - to some men (and neither you nor I can tell by looking
> at them which ones they are) - laughing about rape is a signal that sexual
> assault (and even rape) is okay and that they won't get ostracised for "being
> too pushy".
>
> Perhaps you're thinking: "Not at LCA!". Why not? Studies show that about 6% of
> men are willing to self-report to rape so long as the word "rape" isn't used.
> Potentially 37 attendees at LCA are sexual predators who don't view themselves
> as such. That's more than survivors! (Further study information here, massive
> and many trigger warnings:
> http://yesmeansyesblog.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/meet-the-predators/ )
This is an excellent argument - finally some research is being introduced into
the discussion.
>
> If LCA wants to be more welcoming to women and other minorities in open source,
> then an anti-harassment policy that gets enforced is a great start, and the
> correct thing for the organisers. However the attendees have to be on board
> too. It was _awesome_ to see that the majority of people applauded the apology
> and that we then moved on from there. It was much less awesome to see a very
> small number of people complain so bitterly about that on twitter and on this
> mailing list, but high awesomeness for the wonderful responses so many others
> have contributed. There will always be some resistance to challenging the
> status quo, but I'm glad to be a part of such a great conference that is making
> an effort to make me and members of other minorities feel safe and welcome as an
> attendee (and speaker).
That's encouraging, and welcome.
Although assaults are of course the worst aspect of the problem, more subtle
forms of discrimination occur, some of which were exemplified at the workshop
on Monday.
I would recommend the following reference.
http://www.understandingprejudice.org/apa/english/
Received on Tue Feb 01 2011 - 17:05:07 GMT