[wellylug] off-topic whining

[Jethro Carr]

On Mon, 2009-09-14 at 13:03 +1200, John Barstow wrote:
> Thanks, I just convinced my wife (who has been using Linux for over
> three years) to come to the next meeting, it wouldn't matter if she
> was the only woman there.
> 
> Now she feels really unwelcome. I'm not even sure she's going to come
> to SFD thanks to the hostility. She's not offended by the "guys",
> she's offended by the hostility evident in the replies to Daniel. As
> am I, I'm unsubscribing now.

hi John,

Well, that's a shame, but your loss.


Most people at Wellylug (and SFD which is a large event that Wellylug is
only a small part of) are pretty decent people.

However, when people on mailing lists start accusing guys who are
respectful of women of using sexist language it tends to get people
pretty angry.

Every time someone says that, what it really says to me is: "you're one
of those guys who scares women away from IT" and it's actually really
offensive to me.


That's one of the major complaints I have with linuxchix - I support the
idea of getting women involved in IT and to prevent sexism, but they
always discuss the problem as in all males are deterring women from IT
and open source which actually puts me off their cause since it's
implying that as a male, I'm responsible for it.


Anyway, I apologise if I came across too aggressive but Daniel touched a
raw nerve with myself and others on this list.


John, you and your wife are always welcome at Wellylug meetings, and I
do suggest you attend SFD as it's an exciting event with many members of
both sexes involved, to miss it would be a shame.

regards,
jethro

-- 
Jethro Carr
www.jethrocarr.com/index.php?cms=blog
www.amberdms.com
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