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Comment by manuscreationis | Hacker News Reader

My first thought was "With a name like that, won't people be a little embarrassed to say they're using it?"

Then I realized I need to grow up, as I wouldn't have batted an eye if it were called Jock Strap or something inherently male in nature.

Bit of a disconnect between the "meaning" of the name and the logo, but again, part of this may boil down to my own level of discomfort/unfamiliarity with products that women make use of on a day to day basis.

Or maybe the person who made it is intentionally going for something that will cause discomfort and discussion, to further spread awareness of his product.

tl;dr; Things that initially make us uncomfortable may end up revealing a little something about ourselves.

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I'm a woman, and I think this needs to be renamed (and given a new logo, stat). Not because tampons make me uncomfortable, but because it seems like a cheap ploy to get attention, and it makes it more difficult for me to take the app seriously on its own merits.

I also agree it makes it harder to take the app on its own merits with a name that seems like such an obvious attention grab.

My point was mainly one of self reflection

I'm not a woman, and I agree. It just opens the door for lame, offensive jokes and doesn't have anything to do with the project. There probably was no negative intent, but it should be renamed.

I wouldn't have batted an eye if it were called Jock Strap or something inherently male in nature

Really? I would totally cringe at something called "Jock Strap" or "scrotum" or "foreskin".

Tampon isn't just a feminine word like "flower" or "butterfly", it's biological and personal. "Anal Probe" is gender-neutral neutral term that also feels inappropriate because of its personal and biological nature.

I feel like your counter examples were fairly over the top.

He didn't name it "Labia" or "Clitoris", he named it after a product that females use for hygienic purposes. I can't really think of a particular brand of male-genital-hygiene products off the top of my head (that aren't also used in other areas, ie: hair trimmers or washes), so I went with something as similar as I could that served a single unique purpose.

I'm not saying I'd see a product named Jock Strap and say "Wow, that's a great name!". My point was, the initial shock value of the name wore off once I realized I wasn't in the third grade anymore and it was just the name of a product that ~50% of the worlds population makes use of on a regular basis. A shock value that would not have been there for me had the name been something like Jock Strap, which would be a product that I'd be more comfortable making quips and jokes about.

Also, "Flower" and "Butterfly" are feminine words now?

I totally see your point. There aren't any, that I know of, male-specific genital hygiene products.

Flowers and butterflies, as cultural concepts, tend to correlate with femininity more than rocketships and monster trucks. I was trying to think of a non-biological example of something that's perfectly OK to use.

"There aren't any, that I know of, male-specific genital hygiene products."

And isn't this the REAL injustice?!

Male soap. Male wet-wipes.

So, I never got as far as looking at the app cos the name made me shudder at the potential for similar behaviour underneath the surface.

How about Spermacide or Condom? They're gender-specific and inherently sexual (as in, pertaining to sex organs). We're not in the third grade, you're right. But apparently the author of this app is. If he's not behaving seriously, he can't expect to be taken seriously.

The reason to be okay with this name is because you have a third-grade sense of humor. The reason to not be okay with it is because you're mature and the author is not.

in my experience "not being okay" with something is rarely a sign of maturity, and certainly never when the something is the name of an open source app.

Am I the only one that checked to see if analprobe.com was registered?

I wouldn't bother, but if you're willing to use two-letter country code domains, you might be able to get http://analprob.es

Scrotwm is an open source Linux window manager.

I'm struggling to think of too many other examples - "Back Orifice" was a script kiddie tool from about a decade ago, I guess that was a "provocative" name (iirc, it had a plugin system called "buttplugs", but I may have imagined that).

Question to the people who are objecting to the name: would you object to a punk band that called itself "Tampon"? Would you say things like "this will really harm adoption of your product"? If not, what do you consider to be the relevant distinction between open source software and punk music?

Tampon is a great name for a punk band. There's an all-mom punk band here in Seattle called "the Kegels" and people love them.

I usually say that people should be as edgy and experimental as they want on their own time. A serious product or workplace should have a different standard of decorum.

>> Question to the people who are objecting to the name: would you object to a punk band that called itself "Tampon"? Would you say things like "this will really harm adoption of your product"? If not, what do you consider to be the relevant distinction between open source software and punk music?

By punk standards, 'Tampon' would be a relatively boring and unimaginative name. However, aren't we comparing apples to oranges?

I used to play in a punk band, during which time I sported a very respectable mohawk. I also wore tweed jackets from the salvation army, moshed and drank aggressively and cursed profusely.

As great fun as that was, I wouldn't do either of these things in a place-that-I-code. Not in a co-working space, not at a coffee shop, and certainly not in my place of employment.

I doubt people are outraged. I know for myself, I don't care what he wants to do. I just think he should rename it if he wants to be taken seriously.

Well, it's an open source project, not a whole company, right?

As I said, call it whatever you want, I'm not outraged. Simply put: it's up to you if this project is something you want to put on your resume or Linkedin and be taken seriously,

Or associated with your other github projects...oh, wait.

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