Comment by Mz | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Mz | Hacker News Reader

This is what I wrote earlier in reaction to this piece, then decided to not post for REASONS, but given how this is going, I am going to throw it out there now:

Oh, give me a break.

This piece posits that we need to punish male VCs who sexually harass female applicants.

First of all, this approach (of doing things like basically boycotting them) is so ridiculous and impractical that it amounts to saying "I want you to think I am a highly ethical person, but I don't actually want to do anything about the problem. I just want to say things that sound good so I will look good."

Second, it gives zero remedy to the women who were seeking funds from VCs.

A much, much better answer would be to find a solution that involves getting money into the hands of the female entrepreneurs who not only had to put up with this shit, but also (in most cases) did NOT get funding from these men who see them as nothing but sex objects.

Failing to find a means to get more funding into the hands of female entrepreneurs also de facto reinforces the current status quo. Advocating some kind of punishment for the men who assaulted them while doing nothing to remedy the material harm done to their career aspirations makes you part of the problem, not part of the solution.

I don't really care if any men get hung high here. What I really care about is how in the hell do women get more opportunities? And everyone is so focused on being angry and outraged and also outraged at the presumed lack of outrage that no one can be bothered to do anything about this critical piece of the puzzle. Yet, it is the single most important thing here and it is the one thing I never see anyone talk about at all.

Why is no one starting a fund to get monies into the hands of female entrepreneurs in the face of this problem? I am not seeing that piece happen.

Am I wrong? If I am wrong, please link me to the fund that someone has started to get money into the hands of women in the face of this.

Maybe I am biased because I am not in SV and my company funds itself, but you don't have a right to anyone's money / funding. That is an extremely entitled sentiment.

People aren't starting a fund to fund women entrepreneurs because it is simply a less effective way to make money than funding whoever you feel will be the most profitable regardless of gender or any other such consideration. When I decide what to do with my money, I do whatever I think will be the most profitable, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is not my responsibility to pay to fix the bad things other people do. And you probably do the same with your money.

Edit: I don't want people to misunderstand me, I do believe you have a right to other people's money in the sense that I agree with the government taxing us and helping those in need (like healthcare and education for everyone, etc). But I don't believe you have a right to someone throwing a ton of money at your startup. It just sounds ridiculously entitled.

I'm just going to leave this here and then step away from the insanity here on HN:

http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-crux-of-...

I'm nowhere as involved as you are in HN, but I can't help but notice your obsession with karma and leaderboards. What gives?

I don't think anybody owes you a job or any other sort of quid pro quo for that comment you made "in tptacek's defense" 6.5 years ago, and it's not because you're a woman.

You "backed" someone who has a large amount of karma on HN and you expected this to result in some significant positive effect on your life? And you think if you were male, this would have been the case? You also feel people on HN are partly responsible for your financial problems? O_O

I am sorry that you are homeless, I think nobody deserves that and that the government should fix this problem but I think you have an unrealistic view of how the world works and an unhealthy relationship with this web site.

Your comment here is at least as harmful as edw's "man up and face your problems" comment to aaronsw. You need to restrain yourself in this situation.

Don't kill yourself. Hopelessness is not a permanent feeling. You may not be able to imagine it now, but you will feel better.

What mental health resources are you able to access where you are? There are people who can and will help you -- it's just a question of finding them and getting to them.

I don't need mental health resources. I need money. The TLDR is that my ex husband did not get my alimony to me yesterday like he said he would and he is not answering my emails either.

If people are concerned about me, rather than suggesting I am merely crazy, it would be much more helpful if they did one of the following:

1. White listed my sites on ad blocker and/or promoted my writing on social media.

http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/p/my-sites.html

2. Left a tip or gifted me some money to get through this crisis.

3. Became a patron.

https://www.patreon.com/MicheleinCalifornia

4. Hired me to do resume work.

http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/p/resumes.html

PSA: Every time someone either commits suicide or talks about suicide, the big feels brigade who claim to care come out in spades and it makes me crazy. If you actually care about people and want to prevent suicide, then focus on helping people solve their actual personal problems instead of acting like feeling suicidal is merely a form of insanity.

http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2017/01/preventing-c...

You have read a lot into my comment that wasn't there. I don't think you're crazy, and not every person who needs mental health care is insane. Everyone needs it during difficult times that feel hopeless.

I can't help save you or help you from suicide. No one can because it's your decision. I was just imploring you to use the resources available to help yourself.

> "I don't really care if any men get hung high here."

What kind of place are the moderators of HN running here where this kind of comment is allowed? It's absolutely ridiculous the double standards going on here.

I think you are reading that to mean the exact opposite of what I intended. The entire point of all my comments here is that going on a witch hunt with the intent to hang men high (as suggested by the article we are discussing) is not productive. It is counterproductive.

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