I have, if you substitute "book" for "paper".

Now that we've traded anecdotes, where does that leave the discussion?

> ... the problem won't be solved if you run around trying to make special rules for the girls.

What special rule do you have in mind? I would feel uncomfortable with partially-unclothed dancers of any gender at a Bar Camp or hack day regardless of cultural norms. I suspect I'm not the only person who would feel that way, and I'm very comfortable suggesting that conference organizers should avoid hiring said dancers.

"Don't hire strippers. No lap dances." aren't special rules for the girls.

Technology is possibly one of the most meritocratic fields that there are.

Yes, clearly there are no social issues and sexism in technology, which is why we get blog posts about it from women who take issue with blatant examples of sexism in technology.

Sarcasm aside, I can't recommend the above video highly enough.

The way that you're presenting it is, however. "Don't hire strippers because it makes the girls feel uncomfortable." is the subtext here.

So? You're saying male strippers wouldn't make the men feel uncomfortable?

For instance, I was watching some Torchwood last night. The amount of sex and actual nudity suprised me, because I forgot that other places don't have hangups about such things. The culture is different, rear male nudity is completely normal on the BBC at 9pm, apparently. And that's fine. Their hometown, they get to make the rules.

Presenting hypothetical questions about male strippers is a non-sequitor. What we're discussing is the appropriateness of some girls in slutty clothing at an event. Which is apparently par for the course in that part of the world, so, whatever.

I would argue that hiring strippers in any capacity here in America would be a poor idea, because _everyone_ would feel uncomfortable.

If you don't like naked males, don't watch Torchwood.

If you want to be part of the technology community, but feel uncomfortable with strippers and lap-dances, too bad?

Um, just go to any of the thousands of other conferences that are not "Hack Day in Taiwan"? You are interpolating too much - there was ONE event with dancers (not strippers it seems), and you seem to think it is common to all events.

Here is a thing about the media: only unusal stuff gets reported. The dancers are unusal, hence they make a blip on the radar. Just try any other event or conference and you should be fine.

Good luck.

That may be, but before you abandon the question, I suggest watching that Google Techtalk.

I can understand (if not agree with) the argument that dancing girls are a culturally acceptable form of entertainment in Taiwan.

However, judging from those pictures this was more akin to lapdancing than dancing on a stage.

I cannot believe that anyone would try and say that isn't associated with sex. That isn't wrong in itself, but it does mean that it's a form of entertainment aimed at a specific gender preference. While I do not preclude that many female developers are attracted to females, statistics show that on average a (much) greater proportion of males prefer females as a sexual partner than females do.

That means their entertainment was primarily aimed at men.

I believe that Yahoo should not discriminate based on race, religion or gender, and this bias is a form of discrimination.

QED

(There are other genuine concerns about the objectification of women as sex objects at a technology event, but I believe that the above argument is sufficient to show that it is wrong)