Google is a Sexist Pig

blog.isabeldraves.com

3 points·spot··5 comments

While I agree that not allowing you to change your name is annoying, I feel relating it to sexism seems a bit extreme.

I disagree.

It fits in with Patrick's article yesterday, about all of the false beliefs programmers have regarding names. One of those was that "names don't change," and I'd argue that one of the reasons most of us hold this belief is because most of us don't change our names.

If it was a cultural norm in the US that men regularly changed their names, I'm sure that the situation the post describes would not be occurring.

Google does let you change your name.

Google does not require that your email address is your name.

If you used company_name@gmail.com and try to rebrand yourself Google is suddenly anti-corporate by this logic. If only Google were mainly made up of people that had been employed by companies before this would have never happened.

Extreme or not, this gives a bit of insight into how a real user feels (and what they tells their friends) when your system screws up

A bit extreme? "Google is a sexist pig?"

For an email usability glitch?

That kind of language is completely out of line.

To call it "sexism" cheapens the word sexism. Never mind the women who suffer from actual, honest-to-goodness sexism, of the truly ugly variety. No it's this lady, with her email usability glitch, that's the one being discriminated against.

Please. Cry me a river.

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