Hacker News Reader

Comment by Veratyr | Hacker News Reader

I think the exact wording and context is important here.

"Hey Googlette, you look really good in a bathing suit" is a comment about how the woman's body looks in a revealing outfit. I'd say this is generally unprofessional, though in some contexts (perhaps she'd just been expressing a lack of confidence in her body), it could still be appropriate.

"Hey Googlette, that bathing suit looks really good on you" is a comment on the particular bathing suit and how the combination works well. It's potentially more of a comment on her good choice and fashion sense than on her body. If the bathing suit is particularly risqué then it might be inappropriate but if it's just a normal bathing suit I don't think it'd be any more inappropriate than "your new haircut looks really good" or "is that a new top? It looks really good".

View on HN

a good rule of thumb is just to never make any comments about a female coworker's body. it's very easy to cross over to unprofessional territory and make someone feel uncomfortable or degraded. that's the rule I've followed my entire life.

In what context is it not unprofessional to comment on a coworker's body?! I feel like I'm on crazy pills.

First situation that comes to mind is in a conversation where the coworker has raised the subject in conversation:

"I've been working out a lot the last few months. I managed to lose a lot of weight and I think I look good."

"Yeah, you looks great, that work definitely paid off."

The coworker brought it up, which indicates that they're comfortable talking about it and the comment is a celebration of the coworker's achievement rather than any kind of expression of sexual desire.

And then of course there are professions where the body is directly relevant to the work, like acting, modelling and sports/atheleticism.

All this really depends on context though. In a corporate office where everyone's barely more than strangers, I don't think even the situation above would be appropriate. In a small business where a "coworker" is as much a close friend as a colleague, I think the threshold for what's acceptable is very different.

The Google example is none of those.

You asked for an example after already seeing that one, clearly giving it to you again would just lead to pointless debate so it makes sense to give you a new one.

> The Google example is none of those.

Right. Its a comment on a thread, it has zero context. You don't know whether it was or wasn't appropriate based on the context.

You're jumping on the "unprofessional" bandwagon without investigating further. An "affirmative stance" if you will.

You don't see the irony?

This is why I avoid gender politics like the plague, the debates are not grounded in logic and rationality.

There's plenty of context: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14938427

Reply on news.ycombinator.com