Among many other good posts in the blogosphere about the harassment of Kathy Sierra is Violet Blue’s piece in the SF Chronicle–correctly pointing out that this isn’t an issue of one tech clique hatin’ on another, but a fairly typical example of the mentality of boys who love computers because computers, unlike women, don’t turn around and refuse to fuck you.
As the old-timers know, of course, this isn’t new to the blogosphere end of the tech world. (Usenet, anyone?) It’s the same old same old: a certain damaged segment of the geek community getting its patriarchy on, and using technology to carry out their hate fantasies instead of their weak, pasty little fists.
Perhaps some of them should learn that their house addresses show up on Google Earth, too.
mythago
2 Responses to ““They want women out of their worlds””
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I’m not intending to be difficult here, but how do we know that the targetERs are actually men. I have come under posting attack by women, generally in groups. In fact you saw that in one of the threads you started “Poly With It’s Pants On”. Perhaps men have the same group attack mutually ratifying mentality, but I have generally seen it directed at me only when there were women around to impress.
The thing is, that these attack blogs, being of invisible provenance, could be by anyone posing as any archetype. It could be women who hate women in tech/sex areas because that violates their idea of what is proper for women. It could even be writers looking to create a controversy so they have something to write or polemicize about. Then again, it could also be by totally sexist pigs – maybe men who hate women who have a technological superiority to them.
I sure would like some positive IDs on these people so that we would at least know what all was going on.
If you have any – or better still, have any studies done that track them down and interview them – I’d welcome it. When I see any article with the word “objectifying”, I get immediately suspicious, since it’s a vague term that is pretty much impossible to disprove. It also covers up the “objectification” of the alleged attacker(s) – the willingness to portray them as objects out of a script, and wholly lacking in any individuality.
You’re right, Roy; “objectifying” is bad. “Treating them like subhumans whose only function is to be fucked and to please their betters” is more accurate.
Perhaps it’s really anonymous women talking how much they’d like to assrape the poster with whom they disagree, but I wouldn’t put my coffee money on it.