[LaGrange]

"picking up women"

This is what's wrong with this. I mean, I do know it's a pretty good day for a chauvinistic dude, but that's objectification of women as pleasure devices.

"overly-P.C buzzkill" Aw. Someone ruined making fun of women for you.

[ArtB]

Sorry, but what exactly is sexist about trying to get laid? Not trolling, or sarcastic. It honestly seemed like an event that tried to combine the things that a certain demographic of people like to do into one event. I don't see how different this is from a Sushi buffet-dubstep-LAN event.

If it was a networking conference for high-powered female C*Os and they were advertising that the waiter's were all young buff men I wouldn't get up in arms.

Interesting story: I went for dinner out with a friend (both males) and all the girls (we saw only women waitresses their) were ~20ish and in small black dresses. Our waitress was one of these. However, our food and drinks were brought to us by men that looked like tax accounts. Then we spotted a male waiter, he was serving a table of young women... and he was built (biceps with a diameter of a strip of bacon), tanned, and coifed, but their food was brought but those same tax accounts. That's not sexism, but sex appeal in marketting and was used gender neutrally, and it seemed the ratio of male vs female servers was reflective of the patrons.

[untog]

Sorry, but what exactly is sexist about trying to get laid?

Nothing. The hilarious image of a bunch of brogrammers hitting on their waitresses aside, the issue is that the event effectively excluded women programmers- or at least made it clear that they weren't wanted. Perhaps if the flyer boasted "hot chicks and buff dudes serving you drinks" it might be a little more equal. Horrifying, but equal.

[batista]

the issue is that the event effectively excluded women programmers- or at least made it clear that they weren't wanted.

OK, and that is an issue because?

Can't one just make an event with a SPECIFIC target audience in mind? Especially, if, hypocrisy aside, the audience was gonna be male populated anyway, even if a semi-naked Brad Pitt served drinks.

Perhaps if the flyer boasted "hot chicks and buff dudes serving you drinks" it might be a little more equal. Horrifying, but equal.

And when does that need for "equality" stop when planning a SPECIFIC event? Even if they did what you suggest, someone could come and say: "this event is terrible, it excludes gays by having hetero male and female servers, we also need hot gay guys serving drinks". And then lesbians.

[Cushman]

One can host whatever event one likes. One can market it however one likes. Similarly, one's funders can choose to withdraw their sponsorship if they feel they don't wish to support one's politics, and one's community can castigate one for enforcing damaging messages.

Hooray for freedom!

[marvin]

Well, if you are a guy looking for casual sex, the women are certainly not going to pick up you. This is just the way the sexual marketplace works, 9 times out of 10. Nothing chauvinistic about that statement...it's just acknowledging reality.

The belief that no women enjoy casual sexual relationships and always resent being hit on, is just as misunderstood as doing something that's actually sexist (which also happens regularly in tech circles, unfortunately). Can't we just find a middle ground somewhere?

Besides, he was joking.

[andrewvc]

If you want to divine whole worlds of phantom meanings from innocuous phrases I'd recommend picking up PoMo lit-crit as a hobby, it's where such speculation belongs.

For the record, I hardly view women as 'pleasure devices', and "picking up" is such a common phrase in the english language that to divine from that someone's entire attitude toward present gender issues is disingenuous.

As a community with a genuine gender disparity I think it's great that we've latched on to these issues. However, comments like LaGrange's, and the sibling in this thread are just as much a threat in their distraction from real issues.

There's a difference between opposing genuinely oppressive language and going on a linguistic witch hunt. Going after a phrase like 'pick up' (something girls do with guys as well by the way), is in the same hyperbolic category as the ill fated attempts to change the word women to womyn.

[namidark]

Everyone is WAY to oversensitive about this issue. Why dont we harp on alcoholism, or the lack of exercise being done at these events?

[gisikw]

Because alcoholism and lethargy primarily harm the self - rather than others. Sexism targets and excludes groups of individuals.

[ma2rten]

People getting upset about this type of thing is a sign to me that emancipation still has a long way to go. Nobody would have complained if the girls in a Sex and the City movie would have gone 'fishing for some men'.

[angersock]

women certainly arent picking up men at hackathons

(because all programmers are big fat neckbeards and brogrammers are gigantic hunks of meat)

(that is the joke you see)

[stevvooe]

I have had it with these beardist remarks.

[batista]

"picking up women" This is what's wrong with this. I mean, I do know it's a pretty good day for a chauvinistic dude, but that's objectification of women as pleasure devices.

Really? Because, humans sometimes just want to pick up some other human (of the different or even the same sex) and JUST have pleasure with each other bodies. They don't want to marry, and they don't want to discuss Russian Literature. They don't even intent to date, they JUST want to fuck each other's brains out. We call this "picking up". Sometimes, it even turns to a proper romance, sometimes it's just an one night stand.

Now, somehow this is bad, because?