Everyone is well aware of the technology stereotypes. If he called all the men <insert stereotype> would Dell have to apologize?
No, because men aren't oppressed in our society and especially our industry.
Saying stuff that contributes to an oppressive environment isn't okay, even if you package it as a joke.
If you don't understand what I just said: congratulations, you're probably pretty privileged.
men aren't oppressed in our society and
especially our industry
Jokes have been historically used by oppressed people to express their frustrations. Not saying it's the same thing here, but trying to ban humor, even if it is politically incorrect, is really not OK.
The world would be a much better place if we smiled more.
Jokes have been historically used by oppressed people to express their frustrations. Not saying it's the same thing here, but trying to ban humor, even if it is politically incorrect, is really not OK.
The world would be a much better place if we smiled more.
Majority of homeless: men
Majority of crime victims: men
Majority of workplace fatalities: men
Majority of prisoners: men
That said, there are enough places where sexist jokes are made at men - by both men and women. Nobody complains and nobody cares. That is just the way it is :(
Oh for fuck's sake, it's not thought when words are uttered out loud. It's also not crime when free people freely protested the free speech of a free individual who has not been punished by any government.
Godwin's Law should be updated to include Orwell's fictions because nobody seems to have a sense of perspective about them.
> I, for one, welcome the world where nobody complains about jokes.
And I would welcome a world where everyone thinks for two seconds about what it's like to be a constant target of said jokes, uses their basic human empathy to listen to said complaints, and then reasons about it for a while instead of defensively dismissing the complaints with a privileged wave of the hand.
1) person A, using free speech, espouses some (typically ill-conceived) idea
2) person B, using free speech, criticizes said idea
3) person A compares person B to Adolf Mao Orwell scuffing their jackboots on free speech.
For example, imagine a fat person (or a short person, or a ugly person, bald person etc) - is it okay to make fun of his/her fatness, shortness etc, all day long? how would that person feel?
This has nothing to do with "professionalism". It is about just being as much nice to fellow humans as possible.
And according to the article, this Christensen guy is supposed to be "motivational speaker" - what kind of motivation, I can't understand.
The worst thing out of this episode is this - there are lots of nice men in the IT industry, who genuinely want more women in the industry. They'd like to help, and do everything they can to make IT more appealing to women - then routinely, a couple of times a month, these incidents occur - and it gives the entire IT industry a bad name, undoing all the good work done by others.
If they had hired a comedian who singled out men in tech as neckbeard virgin nerds, and played on stereotypes, I think it would be almost as unacceptable. "Unacceptable" because it's an obnoxious stereotype, "almost" because men are still the majority/power group in tech and can take it more easily than the outnumbered female minority.