Why Every Man Should Be Strong | Hacker News Reader

Why Every Man Should Be Strong

artofmanliness.com

11 pointsahmad1952611 comments

This does not belong on HN.

While it is probably true that the site's demographic is primarily men, articles appealing exclusively to men are just that, exclusionary, and they don't belong on a site for all hackers regardless of gender.

The article is /about/ men, however, jumping from that to a claim that it appeals "exclusively to men" is both unsupported by your post and isn't immediately obvious otherwise.

Women can enjoy reading, learning, and thinking about men and masculinity. Men certainly do so about women and women's issues (even on Hacker News). If we take the logic in your post to its natural conclusion then any articles about women's issues (e.g. sexism against women in technology) shouldn't appear on the site, which is patently absurd.

I actually agree that this article shouldn't be on the site, but only because the theme has absolutely nothing to do with programming, startups, entrepreneurship, or business which is Hacker News' bread and butter. Not for the reasons you do (which are silly).

The reason I posted this article to HN, although it does not directly contribute to "programming, startups, entrepreneurship, or business" is because there are many self-help/improvement related posts on HN.

I'm starting to see a trend in HN being a place where people learn more about many things. Maybe HN should not have these kinds of posts, I can't answer for what HN should be. I do think this post can help people be better individuals, and in turn be better programmers, entrepreneurs, business persons, etc.

Hey, thanks for your feedback. I debated with myself about posting this article on HN. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that, this article shouldn't be seen as appealing exclusively to men but rather this article contributes to the knowledge and self-awareness of individuals and their society. I read content which deals with information that applies to many things that don't apply to me -- e.g. struggles in other countries, womens health issues, K-12 school issues and more --- not for the sake of gaining practical knowledge to implement in my life, but just because I'm curious. I think your statement, "appealing exclusively to men", does not describe every persons personal interests. Sorry if this post offends you.

Thanks for responding. I guess I had a sort of a knee-jerk reaction of, "Seriously? HN is just openly about male-specific issues, now?"

If we think that's not actually what's going on here, then no, not offended at all.

"Please don't submit comments complaining that a submission is inappropriate for the site. If you think something is spam or offtopic, flag it by going to its page and clicking on the "flag" link... " https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Thanks. I did flag, but posted because it seemed like one of those pervasive, subtle sexism things. "Hey, it's HN, we're all men here, right?"

I don't doubt that much of HN's audience will find it interesting, but that seemed like something worth bringing up.

Articles about gender politics in the tech industry have to do with hackers' behavior as they go about their hacking. Articles about masculinity itself (or feminine identity, for that matter) I would consider off-topic to begin with, but a discussion of men's fitness in particular on a software industry forum seems like it reinforces the software industry as a boys club.

I find it appropriate. It's talking about the importance of fitness to body and mind, and the demographic of this site is composed of people who sit on a chair most of the day.

Exercise recommended: read a WW II memoir, for example With the Old Breed or Crossing the Line. Consider the constant dangers these guys faced and lived through, in combat or simply working on a flight deck. Then look at the bodies. The men are fit, with low body fat and good muscle tone. They are not "ripped". They do not have biceps like cantaloupes.

So excuse me if I'm not impressed with the arguments at AoM.

Jeebus. What a load of shite.

There is a certain stigma associated with lifting weights. The trope of "jocks v. nerds" is far from dead. I will agree though that its a shame that the voice of dissent has to be "artofmanliness.com".

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