Re: [Pan-users] Re: updated info

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Thu, 5 Aug 2010 04:06:59 pm Duncan wrote:

> This one's a well known classic from 2000.  It's an ad for QSOL (a
> Linux server company now out of business, for the best, many would
> agree, after this, after the reaction they apologized and pulled the
> ad, but ran it again (!!) in 2007) that appeared in Linux Journal.
>
> http://img341.imageshack.us/i/qsoladvertisementps2.jpg/
>
> OK, I can see both sides of that one.  As a guy, it's amusing, but
> offensive as well, because I can empathize with women.

Why on earth would it be *offensive*? It's empowering. It's about a 
woman who *doesn't* need to give sexual favours to keep her job. It 
recognises that in many professional fields, women until recently did 
need to give such sexual favours to keep her job, and in some fields it 
is still very common. And in some parts of the world it is still 
virtually compulsory. Just try being a Filipina housemaid in Kuwait.


> But I can 
> certainly see how it might have provoked the desired response from
> the (male) curly-haired-boss types it's obviously aimed at.  But I'd
> not want my wife, daughter, or simply peer that happens to be female,
> to have to deal with that

Because you think so little of your wife, daughter and female peers that 
you imagine that they can't cope with reminders that life is sometimes 
unpleasant?


> One of the most recent (July, 2009 Gran Canaria Desktop Summit), and
> it's a shame it's only now being addressed as he's been making the
> references in public presentations for years, is the Richard M
> Stallman references to "EMACS virgins".  The ruckus was triggered
> when he did a presentation at a GNOME conference.
>
> From the geek-feminism link below, here's a quote of the remark in
> question (tho from a different presentation where a transcript was
> made):
>
> """""
> [W]e also have the cult of the virgin of emacs. The virgin of emacs
> is any female who has not yet learned how to use emacs. And in the
> church of emacs we believe that taking her emacs virginity away is
> a blessed act."
> """""
>
> Even when I first read of that remark, the "taking away" of the
> virginity sounded uncomfortably like rape, to me.  After a bit of
> analysis using "take" in other contexts, for instance, "he took the
> keys", vs "he took away the keys", I realized that inserting the word
> "away" dramatically strengthens the implication that it was NOT
> voluntarily given.

What? Now you're really stretching. The difference between "take" 
and "take away" has nothing to do with it being voluntary or not. 
Either can be voluntary, or not.

I'm rather amazed that the thing you're focusing on is the innocuous use 
of the modifier "away" rather than the obviously sexist implication 
that *male* Emacs virgins are third class citizens, not even worthy of 
consideration by the Church of Emacs.


> Try it with other examples if you like.  If you 
> come up with one or better yet a class where that's NOT the case,
> please post it, as I'm not aware of it and it could well change my
> thinking on the subject.

"Bruce Wayne's innocence was taken the night he saw his parents brutally 
gunned down in the alley outside the Gotham City Opera House."

"Bruce was able to take away his own fear of bats by spending many hours 
deep in the caves under Wayne Manor."

"I'm giving away a perfectly good laptop that I no longer have use for. 
If you want it, all you have to do is take it away and it's yours."

"Hey, don't take that, I need it!"

"It was the realisation that her friends were in danger that took away 
Buffy Summers' fear and indecision."

"Saving the President's life and catching the real assassin cleared my 
name and took away the cloud of suspicion over my head."

"The German Army was able to take the advantage against the Allies with 
a daring paratroop attack 30 miles behind the front line."

"I finally got a new medication that has taken away the panic attacks 
I've been suffering from."

"The prisoners were grateful to be taken away from the dungeons and 
torture chambers of the secret police and returned to civilian life."

"Would you please take away that garbage, it is starting to stink?"

"Don't take that pile of rags, it's actually a very controversial work 
of art called 'Don't Talk to Me About Mondays' by Daniellarina Pouter."

"After a rash of domestic shootings, police are instructed to 
temporarily take away any firearms in the house when responding to a 
domestic dispute."

"Just when I had started to enjoy myself, my tranquility was taken from 
me by a gang of louts who started abusing me and my friends."


> While thankfully not rape/sexual, I am an abuse survivor.  This isn't
> something to be joking about.

My wife is a rape survivor, and she thinks it is something to joke 
about.

Me, I think that *everything* is worth joking about. Humour is one of 
the most perplexing, inexplicable, WONDERFUL human traits. The ability 
to see humour in tragedy is important, and making jokes about things 
which are unpleasant is an important coping mechanism.


> Finally, it's well known that women within FLOSS are unfortunately
> the target of death threats on occasion.

There have been some disgraceful incidents, and some trivial incidents, 
but is there anything to suggest that death threats against women are 
either more prevalent or worse than death threats against men?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9747070-7.html

The fact that death threats against women in the FOSS community are 
newsworthy demonstrates that they are rare. If they were common, they 
wouldn't be newsworthy.


> I look forward to the day when if someone makes a remark like that in
> a presentation, RMS or no RMS, half the room (more, it'd be great if
> it were the entire audience, but there's always the few) 

A few what? A few people with a sense of humour? 

A few people whose coping strategy for tragedy is to make light of it? 

A few people who think that tolerance means tolerating things you don't 
like, not just things you do like?

A few people who think that freedom includes the freedom to puncture 
sacred cows, even if it offends others?

A few people who think that nobody has the right to not be offended?

A few people who don't consider rape to be a fate worth than death?

This is not a rhetorical question. I wonder which "few" you are 
referring to.


> gets up as 
> if one body and walks out, end of presentation, beginning of message
> that such behavior will NOT be tolerated.



-- 
Steven D'Aprano