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Comment by bitops | Hacker News Reader

Cue the usual slew of comments stating "I have a hard time seeing how this is sexism."

Really, there's no need to post these types of stories on HN anymore. The discussion always goes the same way - lots of heated argument, no open discussion, no admission of vulnerability.

Very few men are willing to question the power structure they've been brought up in. If you're born at the top, why bother to question the system?

[EDIT: yeah, I'm grumpy about this today.] [Further edit: when I first posted this my karma was 1129 - let's see where it stands at the end of the day.]

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I'm new around here, and I've got to say, this thread has really let me down. All these definitions of feminism and sexism that seem to have been taught by straight white fathers to their straight white sons.

Welcome Crindy!

HN is great for some topics, but on the issue of women, get ready to cringe. In the same thread where I said I didn't want kids I was told that I would live a miserable life where I would always wonder what I was missing on top of being told that I shouldn't have a problem with not getting a certain job or making less money because the potential for maternity leave is a liability to the team (I don't disagree with the latter in theory, but I'm an individual, not a gender, so if something doesn't apply to me, I shouldn't be reprimanded for it).

There's also at least one member (with a decently large karma score) that goes around downvoting (and often times insulting) every female-looking username in these types of threads. For this reason, many women use gender-neutral names and don't bother engaging in these conversations.

Very embarrassing for the community, we need to do better.

Thanks for the warm welcome, Nicole!

I'm also new and until now I didn't actually encounter the angry, hateful sexism on HN that is rampant on Reddit & Co. However with comments like "There is a very thin line between being a feminist and being an asshole." I guess I just didn't look hard enough.

Reddit is definitely worse. But any HN discussion on gender will leave you feeling a bit depressed.

I know what you mean, but the problem is not straight white males, it's everyone. I find MYSELF being sexist at times (and then I catch myself and feel terrible). Seems there's a feminist backlash that has been deeply ingrained into most of us. I hope to write about this soon.

The "fathers" to "sons" thing I get, but you have to be straight and white to have an incorrect interpretation of feminism these days? I am _genuinely_ confused by this. Not trolling, I just don't understand this aspect of the discourse.

Well your racist, hetero-phobic and misandrist accusations aren't helping the situation. Are you coming here from Tumblr?

> Further edit: when I first posted this my karma was 1129 - let's see where it stands at the end of the day.

And you were doing so well until then…

I think he means "I think I'm going to get downvoted by a lot of privileged dudes", rather than "I'm gonna get mad points from this!"

Both meanings would be equally unproductive. If your post deserves up or downvotes, let it stand on it's merit. Anything else is an attempt to game the system and adds nothing to the discussion.

I was ok with it. It's just the HN equivalent of "Yep, I know I'm going to get lambasted, egged, heckled but so be it bring it on" type of thing.

From the HN Guidelines:

> Please don't bait other users by inviting them to downmod you.

That was my meaning -- I'm not really attached to my karma score. I use it as a barometer of what kinds of feedback is valued on HN. I've been greatly disappointed by the amount of downvotes volleyed against "let's have a frank discussion about sexism" comments.

These days, the pre-emptive "cue the usual slew of comments..." happen first. Then someone feels they have to defend the tech industry against these silly generalisations, and the prophecy is fulfilled.

Love this. At the very least, you get a +1 from me.

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