Hacker News Reader

Comment by mwhite | Hacker News Reader

What is a feminist company?

Given that 'feminist' and 'feminism' are used by many people to mean many different things, it would be nice to specify what being a feminist company means.

Is it just a company run by people who self-identify as feminists, maybe one that only hires other people who self-identify as feminists? If so, how do you enforce this? Or is the company's feminism defined by specific policies that are based in a specific meaning of 'feminism', and if so, what are they?

View on HN

Women constantly get harassed on okcupid. Their goal is to do online dating where the women won't get harassed.

Being against the harassment of women is pretty fundamentally feminist.

I always thought it was about "not being a bad person", a concept which predates feminism by a few millennia.

The presence of "harassing women" has not traditionally been in the category of "things a good person does not do".

Yes but the problem can be addressed without addressing sex.

In some universe of pure forms, sure, but on the other hand: material reality.

I feel you are being disingenuous in your disagreement - that you're deliberately trying to be combative as opposed to engaging in honest discussion.

Clearly, goals can belong in several umbrella categories at the same time. Most people would agree that "not harassing women" falls under "not being a bad person." But, at the same time, it is also a major goal of most feminists.

our company is a feminist company- it just means that feminist values are a part of the company culture.

This is not a response to

> Given that 'feminist' and 'feminism' are used by many people to mean many different things, it would be nice to specify what being a feminist company means.

Which feminist values?

feminism = social political and economical equality between women and men. A company culture with feminist values means equal maternity and paternity policies, thoughtful consideration for hiring 50/50 men and women, providing health care that covers birth control, etc. Just thinking about equality in every business decision.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com