[reallyseriously]

Informal at the places I've worked meant wearing silly shirts on Friday and harsh language was used if you screwed up. If a woman quit does that mean it was a sexist workplace? If a guy quit after being berated is that different? I don't think so.

Also, you linked to a feminist site to provide the definition of a word. Is that normally how people cite the standard/objective meaning of a word or is this story a chance to talk about something you feel very strongly about whether it fits or not?

Edit: just read the definition. Women can't be sexist? Hilarious. Let me guess, African Americans & Asians can't be racist either? Warped view of the world.

[pron]

> If a woman quit does that mean it was a sexist workplace?

No. But if she quits because she felt the environment was sexist, then yes.

> If a guy quit after being berated is that different? I don't think so.

Well, male-on-male bullying is also an interesting topic and subject to research, but the topic du jour is sexism, so let's stick to that.

> Also, you linked to a feminist site to provide the definition of a word. Is that normally how people cite the standard/objective meaning of a word...?

Well, I don't know if "sexism" has an "objective" definition, but yes, words are usually best defined by experts on the subjects. Just as gravity is best defined by physicists, sexism is best defined by feminists, who have studied sexism for the past few decades. I'm a newbie to feminism, so I defer to the experts.

> or is this story a chance to talk about something you feel very strongly about whether it fits or not?

It is something I feel strongly about because of this story and others like it. Because so far all evidence suggests that "it fits", I think those trying to make it look irrelevant are suspect.

[camelite]

> No. But if she quits because she felt the environment was sexist, then yes.

What if she feels she's Jesus... is she therefore Jesus? She also felt a bunch of guys watching some girls hula-hooping was sexist... and that the word "meritocracy" on a rug was sexist... so perhaps you should ask yourself whether her feelings are such an accurate guide to reality before berating the HN community for their supposed chauvinism.

[chc]

Feminist scholars are in this case at odds with most experts on the English language, and the topic is unfortunately word usage. This is one of the peculiarities of modern feminism that I find frustrating. It is difficult enough to persuade people that discrimination against women is a real problem that needs addressing without also having to convince them to adopt this weird Newspeak.

[dragonwriter]

> Well, I don't know if "sexism" has an "objective" definition, but yes, words are usually best defined by experts on the subjects. Just as gravity is best defined by physicists, sexism is best defined by feminists, who have studied sexism for the past few decades.

Feminism is an ideology, not a field of study (well, one can study "feminism" in that you can study what feminists believe and do, but that's not the subject here.)

[pron]

Yes, feminism is an ideology, but one that is universally shared among those who study gender and sexism, just as anti-racism is an ideology shared by those who study racism. You can dismiss it based on ignorance, or try to listen for a second and might learn something.