philsnow – thanks for at least couching your response in a framework that is not patently absurd. 4 for you, philsnow.
Allow me to respond to various issues with my initial call of “Party Foul” en masse:
The thing says “chubby” models on a “diet”. I know that could refer to males or females, but this article was not written in a bubble – it was written by a thought leader in a male-dominated industry using a tongue-in-cheek title clearly meant to attract attention and elicit a chortle by explicitly evoking body issues (and don’t give me “Rails is fat models and skinny controllers” – that stops holding water when you change the terms to “chubby” and “diet”)(And please don’t try to argue that society holds body issues over men as much as it does women – that sentiment is so patently absurd that it’s not even worth parsing.). There is no “conclusion” to leap to – it is laid out prima facie. I’m not saying this applies only to women, I’m just saying that society tortures women a lot more with body issues than it does men and invoking those issues for the sake of a “clever pun” is not worth it for several reasons, including but not limited to: 1. Reinforcing the perception that tech is a frat house. 2. Reinforcing the reality that tech is a frat house.
I love DHH and everything he has contributed to technology.
Nevertheless:
After further review, the call on the field of “Party Foul” stands. 15 yard penalty – still third down.
Doesn’t make DHH a bad guy. I know a lot women who are involved in tech specifically because of Ruby/Rails – DHH’s net effect on making technology a comfortable and inviting field for women to specialize in is vastly positive, IMHO. I don’t think he intended anything negative with either his post or its title. I’m just saying the pun he picked to put in the title of his post sucks. That’s it. For those of you whose knee-jerk response to this is “lighten up”: I respond in kind. I’m just calling a “Party Foul”, not trying to pillory your gods. Lord knows, I probably have and will say/write things that are much more insensitive than this… I just hope that when I do, someone will call me out for it in a thoughtful, non-reactionary way.
Because I don’t want to lose that much more HN karma over this (I don’t believe in this enough to sacrifice 50 points criticizing everyone’s idol.), this will be the last comment I make.
Allow me to respond to various issues with my initial call of “Party Foul” en masse:
The thing says “chubby” models on a “diet”. I know that could refer to males or females, but this article was not written in a bubble – it was written by a thought leader in a male-dominated industry using a tongue-in-cheek title clearly meant to attract attention and elicit a chortle by explicitly evoking body issues (and don’t give me “Rails is fat models and skinny controllers” – that stops holding water when you change the terms to “chubby” and “diet”)(And please don’t try to argue that society holds body issues over men as much as it does women – that sentiment is so patently absurd that it’s not even worth parsing.). There is no “conclusion” to leap to – it is laid out prima facie. I’m not saying this applies only to women, I’m just saying that society tortures women a lot more with body issues than it does men and invoking those issues for the sake of a “clever pun” is not worth it for several reasons, including but not limited to: 1. Reinforcing the perception that tech is a frat house. 2. Reinforcing the reality that tech is a frat house.
I love DHH and everything he has contributed to technology.
Nevertheless:
After further review, the call on the field of “Party Foul” stands. 15 yard penalty – still third down.
Doesn’t make DHH a bad guy. I know a lot women who are involved in tech specifically because of Ruby/Rails – DHH’s net effect on making technology a comfortable and inviting field for women to specialize in is vastly positive, IMHO. I don’t think he intended anything negative with either his post or its title. I’m just saying the pun he picked to put in the title of his post sucks. That’s it. For those of you whose knee-jerk response to this is “lighten up”: I respond in kind. I’m just calling a “Party Foul”, not trying to pillory your gods. Lord knows, I probably have and will say/write things that are much more insensitive than this… I just hope that when I do, someone will call me out for it in a thoughtful, non-reactionary way.
Because I don’t want to lose that much more HN karma over this (I don’t believe in this enough to sacrifice 50 points criticizing everyone’s idol.), this will be the last comment I make.