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Comment by BubRoss | Hacker News Reader

> I'm a gay man of color

What is the connection here? What does that have to do with linking relationship dynamics to astrology?

The article is mainly about how cis white males don't like astrology and thus it is misogyny. So the connection is pretty much perfect as he is giving an example of how you can be annoyed by astrology without being a cis white male.

edit: typo

I was thrown by the same thing. Both the article and the parent comment have the same premise - the author presumes that Rachel, as a woman, is more qualified than the average person to judge whether Apple's rejection of an astrology dating app is an act of discrimination. And then parent comment says that "as a gay man of color," he's more qualified than the average person to judge whether Rachel / the author's complaint about discrimination is well founded. It's a subtle form of the argument to authority fallacy.

I mean, is a woman more qualified to judge whether a situation is an example of misogyny? Perhaps not, as a man could reach the same conclusion. But it's certainly more appropriate than leaving it to a group of men, or an industry that is generally dominated by men. It's relevant, not because the logic is dependent on the fact, but because it is a perspective regarding societal power.

The article indicates that hating astrology is characteristic of white cis men. The parent comment says "FWIW, I'm not those things, and I hate astrology." They aren't asserting their authority to make a logical argument. They are offering their perspective as a sample.

Respectfully, I think you are letting your intellect get in the way of your ability to think by dismissing these perspectives, misidentifying a report of someone's subjective experience as a logical argument, and therefore a fallacy.

Personally, I hate astrology, but I wouldn't have this app flagged as spam and banned from the app store because of it. I think the argument that this is a form of (probably unintentional) racial/gender/sexual discrimination holds water. If nothing else, I find the idea that Apple happily exerts this kind of force on their customer's personal interests super frustrating and distasteful, and bad for business. Money talks, and bullshit walks. If there is no market for it, let it die on its own merit. I don't need Apple's protection from astrology.

We don't all have to embrace each other, but we do have to suffer each other. And traditionally, some of us have been suffering a lot more than others.

That's just my opinion. Take it for what it's worth.

TFA states that white men are against astrology because women and POC like it (???)

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