[TriLUG] Palmer for another SC term; proposed amendment to the bylaws

[Pete Soper]

I applaud any effort to encourage women to engage with TriLUG and 
related groups. I think the effort needs to go into personal contact, 
encouragement, staying connected with visitors and following up and *of 
course* that other stuff to do with not being a dork wrt women just as 
you wouldn't want to be a dork if you were standing close to a Martian 
and slurred the Martian. (Not really much difference, heh?)But it has to 
focus on the probably excruiciating exercise of making contact with 
girls, encouraging them to go to meetings, rewarding them with huge 
amounts of attention when they do attend, etc. No, I'm serious. Changing 
the incredible cultural biases starts with *us* and will belong to *us* 
until we die.

-Pete


On 04/24/2013 03:11 PM, Cristóbal Palmer wrote:
> On Wednesday, April 24, 2013 at 1:56 PM, Phillip Rhodes wrote:
>>   
>> I just want to be *very* careful that we don't create an environment
>> where people feel like they are walking on eggshells, having to
>> constantly worry about being busted by the "PC police" at every turn,
>
> Jesse Noller and others I link to on background address this concern, and I speak to it with these paragraphs in my blog post:
>
> -----8< snip 8<-----
>
> Furthermore, having an anti-harassment policy doesn’t mean we can’t joke or have fun. It’s not our role to try to avoid anything and everything that might be found insulting. Rather, it is our role to be sensitive to past problematic behavior and framings so that we can be more inclusive in the future. It is our role to be understanding and kind when people come to us with a problem. Being sensitive and inclusive does not have to be a crippling burden. It may be more work at first, but I think the rewards are worth that work.
>
> The wonderful thing about a policy like this is that we don’t have to beat people over the head with what they can’t do. It’s like the paint on a roadway. Here, go read this and then see if you don’t think bike lanes and anti-harassment policies have something in common (http://agentfin.tumblr.com/post/46712547856/the-ux-of-community-in-contested-space). Let me tell you: bike lanes don’t get rid of crazy @#$%*!^s, but those simple stripes sure do make me feel a lot more comfortable riding on the road.
>
> -----8< snip 8<-----
>
> I'd encourage people who want to engage on this topic to read the whole blog post. Again, that's here:
>
> http://pebkac.homelinux.net/2013/04/24/an-anti-harassment-policy-for-trilug/
>> when they are at a TriLUG function. But if we can strike the right
>> balance, I think it's more or less a no-brainer. Obviously we don't
>> want people getting harrassed at Trilug events (or on the mailing
>> list, or IRC, for that matter).
>
> I'm glad you agree in principle. :)
>
> As I say at the end of the blog post: patches welcome.
>
> Cheers,
> --
> Cristóbal Palmer
>
> cmpalmer.org
>
>