... can we please keep this kind of gender politicking off of Hacker News? I mean, I get the cases where it's directly relevant to the software development industry, like the Github debacle, but this sort of thing is purely the domain of MRAs and SJWs and women's studies departments and the like.
The loudest voices in the debate may at times be at the extremes, but the issue is still enormously relevant.
I would say it's especially relevant here, though not necessarily this particular story. The way women are treated online is still very, very much different from the way men are treated. And this has widespread and significant effects on damned near everything. Whether it's the structure and makeup of online communities (like this one) or the acceptance of women's voices in online gaming and tech journalism to the participation of women in hacking/development activities and the encouragement/discouragement they receive to do so, and so on.
Sorry to see you're getting downvoted, I agree with you though. Been here for many, many days and these sort of easy-drama articles have unfortunately become more of the norm over the years. They tend to capture everyone's attention but not really add much value from a strictly hacker/startup perspective.
Best thing you can do is just flag and move on, or log out and set your homepage to /best. FWIW, the founding father has moved on from the site, so what does that tell you about where its been headed?
I am a hacker, and I find this interesting. Changing perceptions on traditional gender roles and issues is very much within the realm of intellectual curiosity. I don't see a problem with this story wrt. the guidelines.
The story was just fine with respect to the guidelines. The thread, unfortunately (and predictably), was not. I share your frustration about that, but I also understand why many users flagged the story—not because it's uninteresting or unimportant, but because HN, or rather a small subset of HN users, can't manage to discuss it without a flamewar.
