At the risk of getting into a conversation I really don't want to, I'll see if I can help (I'm British and live in the Bay Area).
I think that there is a different cultural thing in the Valley that you don't find elsewhere due to the gigantic number of people working in just one, male-dominated, industry. I would guess that there is a fixed X% of men and women who are jerks. In a male-dominated industry, the absolute value of that X% is pretty high, so everyone is going to get a dose of them at one time or another.
Everyone in this industry has to rise above those unfortunate encounters, but gender puts a nastier spin on things; what might have been a trollish rebuttal to a male gets gender thrown in as well. And there are women who are not happy about that situation, and the Internet gives them a venue to disseminate their upset, which is all fine. Getting things out in the open gets us to discuss it and try and move things forward.
I don't think that what the guys did was sexual harassment, just silly. But when taken with context of a history of meeting jerks, you can kinda see why Ms Richards may have been sensitive towards it. No-one has the right to not be offended, but PyCon is also not a pub. There's a certain expected level of decency.
I think PyCon pulling them in and saying "hey guys, make the jokes in the bar afterwards" and letting them on their way was a proportional response. I don't think that broadcasting photos on the Internet of people who you don't like is at all proportional. That's vilification, and I think Ms Richards is also very much in the wrong. No-one should have lost their job, everyone should be able to get along better.
Makes perfect sense ta. Yeah it was a conversation I didn't necessarily want to have either but I was interested enough to give it a shot. Thanks again.
I think that there is a different cultural thing in the Valley that you don't find elsewhere due to the gigantic number of people working in just one, male-dominated, industry. I would guess that there is a fixed X% of men and women who are jerks. In a male-dominated industry, the absolute value of that X% is pretty high, so everyone is going to get a dose of them at one time or another.
Everyone in this industry has to rise above those unfortunate encounters, but gender puts a nastier spin on things; what might have been a trollish rebuttal to a male gets gender thrown in as well. And there are women who are not happy about that situation, and the Internet gives them a venue to disseminate their upset, which is all fine. Getting things out in the open gets us to discuss it and try and move things forward.
I don't think that what the guys did was sexual harassment, just silly. But when taken with context of a history of meeting jerks, you can kinda see why Ms Richards may have been sensitive towards it. No-one has the right to not be offended, but PyCon is also not a pub. There's a certain expected level of decency.
I think PyCon pulling them in and saying "hey guys, make the jokes in the bar afterwards" and letting them on their way was a proportional response. I don't think that broadcasting photos on the Internet of people who you don't like is at all proportional. That's vilification, and I think Ms Richards is also very much in the wrong. No-one should have lost their job, everyone should be able to get along better.