News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Survey of YC female founders on sexual harassment, coercion by angels and VCs. Parent comment

Re:Survey of YC female founders on sexual harassment, coerci... by chongli on Monday October 15, 2018 @06:02PM (#18224250)
I'd be careful about assumptions. Just because most women may have experienced harassment or otherwise unwelcome advances doesn't mean most men are harassers.

It only takes one abusive man to make every woman in an office miserable. If he also happens to be the boss, then what is anyone, man or woman, to do to stop him?

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Survey of YC female founders on sexual harassment, coerci... by phlakaton on Monday October 15, 2018 @06:26PM (#18224466)
I'd be careful about assumptions. Just because it only takes one abusive man to make every woman in an office miserable doesn't mean that the problem is always so easy to confine. Consider how that person got hired or promoted. Consider which men might have known about this behavior but done/said nothing to fix it. Perhaps more salient to this particular discussion, consider how social mores in the entrepreneurial community, where power relations are generally not as formalized as they are in a workplace, might stop or permit such behavior.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Survey of YC female founders on sexual harassment, coerci... by chongli on Monday October 15, 2018 @06:43PM (#18224619)
Oh I agree, I just think it's absurd to cast a pall over all men. As if to say that all men are equally guilty and all men need to take equal responsibility for solving the problem. It doesn't work that way. Some men have far more power than others. Some men do far more harm than others.

It's just as difficult for a man to stand up and oppose his boss as it is for a woman. More so, in fact, if he only heard about the harassment but never witnessed it. When people's jobs are on the line, it's not hard to see why we have a culture of silence.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Survey of YC female founders on sexual harassment, coerci... by rtpg on Monday October 15, 2018 @11:00PM (#18226043)
If you are in a relatively high position of power/OK with potentially losing your job, publicly calling someone out, even your boss, for something like this is risky but the right thing to do.

Even small stuff like calling BS on the sort of comments that happen when only guys are around (we've all heard them).

The implicit consent of everyone around these kinds of people is what lets this stuff continue (along with everything else of course).

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Survey of YC female founders on sexual harassment, coerci... by DoreenMichele on Monday October 15, 2018 @11:01PM (#18226057)
If you are in a relatively high position of power/OK with potentially losing your job, publicly calling someone out, even your boss, for something like this is risky but the right thing to do.

I don't really think so. I think there are better ways to handle this.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Survey of YC female founders on sexual harassment, coerci... by village-idiot on Monday October 15, 2018 @09:12PM (#18225607)
To be fair, for every egregious abuser there are usually quite a few people helping cover it up.
[ Parent | on HN ]