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Comment by phaed | Hacker News Reader

Came here to say this. Like it or not, you're already fighting a stereotype with your name.

Is that kind of comment necessary?

I would say that it's a comment that's not good to give in polite company, but something that one close friend would say to another. Sometimes brutal truths or tendencies of society can be overlooked by some people or deliberately ignored by others, maybe with altruistic intentions, but that just means that those tendencies will be taken advantage of by people with fewer scruples. It's best to acknowledge and be publicly aware of these tendencies, rather than hide them away.

Why would anyone want to work for someone where the applicant's name is relevant? Think of it as a filter to get rid of shitty employers.

As someone who hates pictures, I never smile for them either. I find the grammatical errors mentioned elsewhere much more important.

I can think of many reasons why one would work for someone where the applicant's name is relevant. Some include: lack of choice (the fact that many people here can afford to reject jobs based on such things is a privilege that not everyone enjoys), and the possibility that the gatekeeper is the bad apple (unless you hold the belief that one bad apple spoils the whole bunch, which would rule out most companies that many people here want to work for).

It's important to see the world as it is. That doesn't mean that one should give up one's ideals on how the world should be; rather, it means that one should clear the cobwebs away from ones eyes so that one can endeavor to make changes where they have impact.

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