Comment by ahelwer | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ahelwer | Hacker News Reader

Warning regarding the comments here: r/MensRights has recently taken an interest in HN regarding this case. A recent HN thread on this same topic is linked on the homepage[1], and there's been discussion of HN in particular here[2].

There's an agenda being pushed. Furthermore, the above PasteBin alleges the forking innuendo was pure fabrication in an attempt to paint Adria as a liar; the full story right from the source is found here[3].

The narrative being pushed is the same old feminism-has-gone-too-far crap where we live in a world in which men are terrorized by women who have the power to destroy lives with the snap of their fingers. Recognize this angle, ponder its absurdity, then form your own opinion.

Some other links to r/MensRights posts, in which Adria is called a "stupid twitter bitch" and a "terrorist" (yes, actually): [4] [5]

[1] http://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/1aofm4/programme...

[2] http://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/1algtc/woman_at_...

[3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5398681

[4] http://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/1ao6mu/reaction_...

[5] http://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/1aonpl/thoughts_...

The fact that there are some comments on Reddit calling Adria Richards a bitch doesn't seem relevant to this submission. You can find crazy opinions on the internet from either side of a politically charged story submitted here. The community here will filter the comments as they see fit.

I can't speak to the agenda of r/MensRights, or whether or not this is a case of feminism gone too far, but it must be said that your post is itself pushing an agenda to discredit comments posted here by implying that critical comments are Reddit plants linked to vitriolic posts you found there. After all, your Twitter feed states that you're a feminist and criticizes "gender role enforcement" on Hacker News, which suggests you're coming at this story from a predisposition. That's fine, but it means your warning may be tinted by previously held views.

To my knowledge, nobody is putting forth the worldview that men are being terrorized by women destroying lives. However, there are people who believe that losing a job over something so far removed from anything that actually matters as an overheard dick joke is step in the wrong direction for gender equality, especially when Adria made the same kind of joke herself.

As for calling her a liar, that stems from the discrepancy in accounts. The guy who was fired claimed there was no sexual innuendo in the forking comment, and that it was applied by Adria in her telling of the incident.

It's a service to warn people that a group is trying to push a narrative. My interest in feminism means I'm aware of these groups and the narratives they employ. My personal opinion is that firing the man was not a proportionate response, but the responsibility for that decision rests with his employer and has nothing to do with Adria.

Regarding calling her a liar, the linked pastebin very obviously strips context from its simple assertion of lying.

"To my knowledge, nobody is putting forth the worldview that men are being terrorized by women destroying lives."

I got the opposite impression from the OP. To me, this post practically screamed men's rights. It's dripping with hyperbole (probably the worst of which occurs in the fifth paragraph - "now men will be looking over their shoulder every time a woman is present in the workplace or a conference because hey, she might do what Adria did"), peppered with ad hominem (calling her cowardly, etc...), and makes sexism the focus of the discussion. I read her blog post. Her problem seemed to be that the dongle guys were behaving inappropriately, not being sexist.

Oh jeez.. and knowing Reddit, that means r/ShitRedditSays will be close by.

Brace for sockpuppetry.

The forking comment in the guys own words: "I would fork that guys repo".

It might not have been explicitly meant in a sexual way, but it seems a little silly to not realise it would come off that way. And in fact, I'd say the only reason someone would find it funny would be the resonance it does have with sexual comments like "I'd tap that".

It's quite reasonable to assume that the comment was meant in exactly the way you're describing: a tongue-in-cheek parody of sexual terminology. All things considered, rather harmless and inoffensive in this day and age and really quite a silly thing to be offended over. The key point is that she made the same type of joke on Twitter.

Many men and women alike are struggling to understand how Adria came to the determination that what she heard meant that the two men would prevent future generations of women from loving to program, as she put it, and how it warranted a public shaming that had somewhat dire consequences for one of them.

One reason this is a trending topic on HN is that gender equality in tech has been an electrically charged subject the past few years. This has the potential to do so much damage to the movement; it's really quite tragic.

/r/Mensrights is a cesspool right up there with SRS. It's best to ignore both of them as much as possible and be wary of brand new accounts on this thread.

I've seen a recent upswing of accounts created just to troll one-off topics making me wonder if new accounts should be read-only for the first week or some such.

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