[mholt]

> if you say "that's just how it is some times" you are a part of the problem.

Come again? How is astrocyte part of Jessie's problem? People are responsible for their own choices, not the choices of others.

> Never say it's OK.

Although I agree, I don't think astrocyte is saying that harassment is OK. (I assume that's what you're referring to.)

[yoshuaw]

To put it bluntly Astrocyte is telling Jessie to shut up. They aren't saying harassment is OK, it just shouldn't be talked about.

[astrocyte]

Agreed mholt. I never said this harassment was ok. It is not ok and threats can be followed up by police if she really wanted to get even... I am saying that it looks like modern day internet trolling to me. Sign on Xbox live or a modern gaming network .. People are threatening and calling each other vile names all day long. No one cares if you're a female/male or what your ethnicity is. However, if you provide that info, that gives them more ammo to try to mind fuck you ... The aim is to frazzle you w/ extreme comments. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=For+the+lulz This has nothing to do w/ the tech industry. I only voiced that I am getting tired of people, especially now-a-days, going on a bash party against men every time some woman goes through something. The majority of men, regardless of industry, still want to respect and protect women. So, here we are.. A woman gets trolled on the internet and, because she feels she's the center of the world, it's ok for her to incorrectly cast this against males in the tech industry? The majority who are running to her defense and ready to fight each other to the death to prove they are worthy of women? .. Come on, give me a break.. That's what i'm trying to say. And there's deeper issues to address here really. Were "equals" but the gender defending still isn't. Men are still running to the rescue of women at the slightest peep of wrongdoing.. The reverse isn't true.. So, I stated in extended commentary : Contrary to what is being portrayed, men still are stepping all over each other to defend women.

The rampant retraction of the upvotes my initial post is seeing just goes to show how men are willing to stab each other in the throat even when the truth is mentioned just to show a woman that they support them. Those same base tendencies are what steered a bunch of trolls to target Jessie. Same root.. Different leaf.

unbelievable .. Yet another showing though that you get the society/industry you deserve.

\/ To the link below.. keep up the shallow fight.. If you're not comfortable digging into the dirty details of the root, you're just playing whack-a-mole .. Feels good but nothing is achieved and you're likely being manipulated towards some further end-goal that is more harmful (for us all).

[Jweb_Guru]

> The majority who are running to her defense and ready to fight each other to the death to prove they are worthy of women?

Do you honestly think people on HN--where the majority of users are anonymous--are saying things in order to "prove themselves worthy" of women? Like, is that actually something you believe, or just a reflexive thing you say? It's dumb enough that you have to go mansplain 4chan to people (because "for the lulz" is just so complex that I'm sure no one here could figure it out on his or her own), presume to understand how you would react to emails like those Jessie has received when you've never had to, and posit vague conspiracy theories without further explanation ("you're likely being manipulated towards some further end-goal that is more harmful").

Sorry, I realize this isn't exactly the worst post here, but it's frustrating to me because I think your attitude is highly typical of software engineers and is a large part of the reason why shit like this keeps happening. Women do not feel comfortable talking about the things they have to deal with because of posts like this, and it helps normalize harassment.

[yoshuaw]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YesAllWomen

[purp]

It's easy to say that this happens all the time, urge folks to call the cops, let them deal with it, and otherwise don't make a big deal.

So here's the thing: people have been calling the cops; the cops are ill-equipped to deal with this. The inherent structure of police agencies in the U.S. is oriented around physical communities and jurisdictions. More than 5/6 of the sworn officers are below the federal level, thus not easily able to pursue investigations across state lines.[1] but it's easier to push this conveniently to being a problem for the cops than it is to think and choose to act.

You could instead:

* lobby your congressperson and senators to start a federal reporting program. * develop a set of tools that helps narrow the source of these threats, along with a toolkit of self-serve legal forms to demand IP information so victims can submit full evidence to police * support EFF and others who are helping fight this * stop blaming the victim

mholt, you ask how Astrocyte's is part of Jesse's problem. Here's how:

* Astrocyte is assuming that none of this has already been done. * Astrocyte is refusing to do some research and learn about the current state of affairs before minimizing the concerns of people actually experiencing the problem. * Astrocyte is demanding that victims prove they've met Astrocyte's standards before those victims are supposed to raise broad-based concerns publicly. * Astrocyte is writing this off as an isolated thing despite it clearly being more than that. * Astrocyte is doing so publicly while implicitly urging others to do the same.

Astrocyte is choosing to push this problem away and say it's not as big, as wide, as common, or as horrific as it is. That's Astrocyte's choice. People are responsible for their own choices.

Astrocyte is part of the problem.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement_in_the_Unite...