[hackerspaces] Safe Space Policies?

[Don Ankney]

There may be a larger criticism here than misandry ‹ it also points out
the difficulty of modifying language use. If the goal really is to create
a space that openly welcoming of all groups, then it has to be openly
welcoming on *all* groups, disenfranchised or not.

Changing language is really, really difficult ‹ here¹s an example where
somebody calling for this sort of change didn¹t quite meet the bar
themselves.

I expect that a lot of the push-back you¹re seeing isn¹t because members
think that ass-battery towards people different than themselves is
acceptable, but because codifying what ³safe space² means represents a lot
of effort/cost that has nothing to do with technology. Declaring ³Safe
Space² or ³Be Excellent to One Another² should be enough in many people¹s
mind.




On 1/26/14, 6:48 AM, "Walter van Holst" <walter at revspace.nl> wrote:

>On 26/01/2014 15:27, Glyn Kennington wrote:
>
>> As this usually includes calling out oppressive language, it's worth
>>noting
>> that the term "sausagefest", while a snappy way of summarising the
>>problem, is
>> cissexist.
>
>Look! I sport a penis! And I feel oppressed by this!
>
>Basically, it is this sort of political correct wankery that contributes
>to it being next to impossible to have a meaningful conversation about
>the hacker scene being horribly homogeneous. It simply is nowhere near
>to equate calling a bunch of white males who have never felt anywhere
>close to a single doubt of their right to be in a hackerspace (or in the
>wider world for that matter) a "sausagefest" to calling a woman in that
>space who has in all probability had encountered all sorts of social
>discouragement to be interested in technology, and by extension may feel
>way less being in that space a birthright,  a "chick". The latter is
>misogynous and sexist, the former is merely a factual observation of a
>somewhat informal sort.
>
>They simply are not equal. Moreover, while cissexism is a great scrabble
>word, it is not applicable in this situation. The proper term would have
>been "misandrous" or "misandry". Which is great to troll people with,
>but is not likely to be applicable in earnest for this situation anytime
>soon.
>
>Regards,
>
> Walter
>
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