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Comment by ucee054 | Hacker News Reader

Sexism is if you're Noether in 1915 and you can't get a faculty postion because you're a woman.

Sexism is not if you are being a nag and you get called a bitch as a result. The guy in the story just sounds like a jerk who wasn't taking his TA responsibility seriously.

Finally, even if there were sexism in that one CS departmenT it wouldn't mean that there's hidden sexism in CS departmentS. That's just stupidity and assumption.

Because one female had a problem in one CS department, she implies the same problem exists everywhere from Timbuktu to Helsinki?

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Sexism can manifest itself in many ways, and the subtle ways arent less legitimate concerns just because it could be worse. "At least youre not getting beaten, be thankful for that".

Sexism can totally be if you are a "nag" and get called a "bitch"!

Talking about an isolated relatively minor situation with the lens of sexism becomes difficult, because without establishing a pattern of behavior, its hard to determine if the situation is sexism or not.

What happens when many females encounter similar attitudes in many CS work spaces. Will we still deny that society isnt perfect?

Sexism can totally be

That's just an unbacked assertion; come back with something better.

"nag" and get called a "bitch"!

If you are a nag you probably deserve to get called a bitch. I'm fairly certain if I nag like the OP, I'll get called a bitch, and I'm not a girl. If that's sexism, I supposed it's misandry if I get called a dick. Lame.

What happens when many females encounter similar attitudes in many CS work spaces

What happens is that it will be demonstrable with a valid statistical test, instead of being stretched from one anecdote to a complaint about CS DepartmentS in general, which the idiotic OP did. I'm waiting for you to produce the stats.

"Come back with something better", "I am waiting on you to produce the stats", "<crickets/>"

...um, why would I want to engage in a discussion with someone who communicates like this?

Also before you insult people's arguments by attempting to devalue them as assertions lacking proof, make sure you are also not guilty of the same. You use a lot of absolute language for someone concerned with evidence.

Lots of things in life cant be proved, does that mean we cant talk about them like mature and curious adults?

Note to self: dont feed trolls.

Yeah you had to delete your posts because they made you look bad.

Note to myself: beware cowardly, feminist frauds

"Mature adults" don't make allegations without evidence, like Swept under the rug: the hidden sexism in CS departments

why would I want

The hell with your feelings, this is about true and false. Back up what you say or shut the hell up.

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So your bullshitting is my mental health issue now ?

Congratulations! You've upgraded from baseless assertion to ad-hominem!

Let's see what offence against logic you will commit next

It was abuse, using a misogynistic word, in a department where there is already a dearth of women due to the hostility they face. Brushing it under the carpet by denying her experience isn't helpful. You don't need to read this story to learn of sexism in CS departments, just ask any woman who does computer science and you can hear plenty of stories.

Right, but it's an anecdote. The title of the piece suggests some sort of comprehensive study, but fails to deliver anything beyond a single story of friction between two people (one of whom clearly has women issues).

"Bitch" being a misogynistic term is a stretch...

Its more about what was communicated/interpreted than the actual words.

Take for instance: "I'm not going to let some bitch tell me what to do" vs. "Hey bitches, whats up?"

the first statement could communicate that the speaker has issues with females telling him what to do. The second statement is playful and affectionate.

However, because the word bitch is so generic and well used, the first speaker could easily only have issues with unpleasant people, not females. Its not clear.

That's why it is better to talk about a person's pattern of behavior, rather than labeling an isolated incident as sexism.

where there is already a dearth of women due to the hostility they face

Where the hell did you pull that from? I suppose there's a "dearth" of men in nursing too? Can I infer an epidemic of misandry because we don't have 50% male nurses? Ludicrous.

just ask any woman

Yeah, because the plural of anecdote is data </sarcasm>

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