[hackerspaces] Improve hackerspace diversity - Donate to Ada Initiative

[Walter van Holst]

On 23/09/2014 21:44, Liz Henry wrote:
> Come on, Walter! 
> 
> Men's Rights Activists: A lot of dudes who straight up stalk and harass
> women and threaten violence and are super horrible.
> Ada Initiative:  A small non profit run by two people who once pissed
> off Violet Blue. How can you compare these things? 

MRAs: white dudes blaming their confusion about a changing world,
including a slight loss of privilege as well as not getting laid on
feminism, to the point of threatening women with rape. In the process
making a genuine conversation about certain problems males face
impossible. Like an overrepresentation in physically dangerous and/or
health harming jobs.

Ada Initiative: seeing harrassment where there actually isn't,
considering any discussion of sex taboo and/or harassment in itself. In
the process making it impossible to have a genuine conversation about
actually occurring harassment and sexism in our communities. To the
point of actively suppressing an open conversation about sex.

> 
> If you could see Double Union you might change your mind. It's lovely! 
> We have a lot of fun.  I think that we help promote other Bay Area
> hackerspaces well. Our membership is happy. Does your hackerspace have
> 150 women members?  Mine does!

No, my hackerspace actually has just a one female member and there are
several prominent members, including board members, who consider that
not even a problem worth talking about. Because "women clearly just
aren't interested in tech, otherwise they would just show up and
participate, but they don't and we do not feel we should actively fix
all wider social problems. And the women who talk about this are just
shrieking harpies, just like the Ada Initiative" (I am roughly
paraphrasing).

The shitstorm raised by The Ada initiative during 29C3 about supposed
harassment there with examples that turned out to have no basis in
reality as well as the Violet Blue incident have put me in the position
that they are completely and utterly counterproductive and very
detrimental to those who want talk about what is a real problem.

Regards,

 Walter