BritRuby cancelled due to a lack of racial and gender diversity

Re:BritRuby cancelled due to a lack of racial and gender div... by rmc on Monday November 19, 2012 @06:45AM (#4803940)

If you're in a under-represented group seeing that "all people who do Ruby/Tech/IT/knitting/nursing/$ACTIVITY are members of $OTHER_GROUP" can be just another reminder that your group shouldn't be here, that you'll stick out, that you'll be the different one here.

We have numerous expressions in the English language saying that lots of little things can build up: The straw that broke the camel's back, death by a thousand cuts. Let's try to get rid of as many straws as we can, and get rid of as many cuts as we can.

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Re:BritRuby cancelled due to a lack of racial and gender div... by aes256 on Monday November 19, 2012 @07:07AM (#4804014)

I can't fathom why racial minorities would not feel welcome at such a conference. Do they think people are going to be surprised that they are in attendance, disapprove of them being there, or look down on them?

It's a programming conference, not a meeting of the KKK.

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Re:BritRuby cancelled due to a lack of racial and gender div... by rmc on Monday November 19, 2012 @11:53AM (#4805182)

Do they think people are going to … look down on them?

Yes that's what happens now.

Dell conference: comeidan brought on by Dell "The IT business is one of the last frontiers that manages to keep women out." http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2174903/dell-issues...

CouchDB "Perform like a porn star" http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/CouchDB_talk

Tech company organises a code jam. "Perks: Women" http://readwrite.com/2012/03/20/how-casual-sexism-put-sqoot-...

More here: http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Incidents

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Re:BritRuby cancelled due to a lack of racial and gender div... by aes256 on Monday November 19, 2012 @01:20PM (#4805623)

If you try hard enough you can be offended by anything.

Dell comedian? Comedians thrive on controversial material. Sounds to me like a tongue-in-cheek observational joke that is just as offensive to men as it is to women. "Congratulations, the IT industry is a sausage-fest, just the way you want it to be, right?"

CouchDB? Can't find a copy of the original presentation, but what's wrong with allusions to pornography? There are plenty of male porn stars, and plenty of pornography that degrades men?

Perks: Women? Again, an observation on the male dominance of the industry. Similar to the Dell comedian, this is much a joke aimed at men as it is at women; male geeks need to attend a code jam to come into contact with women, etc.

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