And so the Internet has found a new woman to hate. Most of you are probably already familiar with the Adria Richards debacle that’s developed over the past several days. If not, Jill at Feministe has a good summary of events:
Adria Richards, formerly of the company SendGrid, was at a tech conference this week when some dudes behind her made a series of inappropriate and sexual jokes. Annoyed by the pervasiveness of misogyny in the tech world, she snapped a photo of them and put in on Twitter with a complaint. One of the conference organizers spoke to the men and they apologized. Totally reasonable! Good response, PyCon. Later, one of the dudes got fired. Instead of getting mad at the company that made the choice to fire him, the internet hordes descended on Adria. She was on the receiving end of rape and death threats. Her address and phone number were published. Her blog and her company’s website came under DDoS attack. Oh and then her company, SendGrid, fired her.
Like Jill, I think firing someone for a “dongle” joke is an overreaction, to say the least. But Richards wasn’t responsible for that; indeed, she told the fired man she hoped his employer would reconsider and take him back.
SendGrid’s firing of Richards is far more problematic. It’s one thing to get in trouble for acting like a sexist boor; it’s quite another to get in trouble for simply pointing out someone else’s problematic behavior. Richards faced a virtual lynch mob for simply documenting an example of the everyday sexism that permeates the tech world; by firing her, SendGrid essentially sided with the mob.
Is “lynch mob” an unfair term to describe those who’ve gone after Richards? No. In this context, the term is sadly apropos, as the target of all this online “activism” is not only female but black – two strikes against her in the minds of many of her, er, “critics,” who attacked her as a “fucking nigger” as well as a “cunt.” (The more genteel racists referred to her derisively as a “diversity hire.”)
Numerous commenters have already documented some of the appallingly racist and misogynist attacks on Richards. (The links in the above paragraph contain plenty of examples.)
Here, I’d like to focus specifically on the attacks on Richards coming from Men’s Rights activists – that is, from people who like to think of themselves as upstanding human rights activists for the 21st century, virtual equivalents of Martin Luther King. In fact, many of the reactions of MRAs show them to have far more in common with the bigots who fought against the civil rights movement than they do with King.
In the Men’s Rights subreddit, the MRA masses gave more than one hundred upvotes to a graphic describing Richards as a “racist, sexist and hypocritical cunt.” Evidently pointing out that white men as a class have certain advantages in the world is a kind of “racism.”
Elsewhere in the subreddit, aasorted commenters indulged themselves in gendered slurs. Greyfeld got dozens up upvotes for comments denouncing Richards as a “feminist cunt” and a “screeching harpy cunt.” DerpaNerb described Richards as “a racist/sexist cunt [who’s] clearly … not capable of doing her job properly.” Buster2209 scored 160 upvotes with a comment describing Richards as a “stupid bitch [who] brought it on herself.” Cyridius simply declared “I hate her because she’s a dumb ignorant bitch.”
Others happily gave the Men’s Rights movement credit for Richards’ firing. The execrable EvilPundit got 180 upvotes for a post essentially endorsing the virtual lynch mob and declaring Richards’ firing to be proof that the Men’s Rights movement had entered a “new phase.”
Sorry to burst your bubble, Mr. Pundit, but there’s nothing new about men harassing and threatening a black woman.
AnnArchist – a former contributor to Reddit’s now-banned Beating Women subreddit — reacted with indignation to someone who pointed out Richards had been harassed:
Over on A Voice for Men, where the locals describe themselves with no sense of irony as Men’s Human Rights Activists, there was much rejoicing over the firing of Richards, who was variously described as an “entitled bitch,” a “sociopathic bitch,” a “femshit” and a “bush pig.” Naturally, the c-word, applied to all feminists, made an appearance as well.
Daflory hoped that Richards’ firing would be the start of an industry-wide purge:
Adria Richards seems like an entitled narcissist, who had become used to deference as a moral authority through her impeccable credentials as a diversity goddess: black, Jewish, and female. …
No one ever told Adria Richards that she was at best only an tolerated guest in the world of tech, and she could either play by male rules and contribute, or get lost. Hopefully other feminists in tech will get a similar message.
And August Løvenskiolds’ mind went straight to the gutter:
[A]fter being outed as a betrayer of her customers, none of them will want to work with her, and any tech company that hires her will instantly lose credibility.
She’s going to be hard-pressed to find a job as a sex-worker unless the light is quite dim.
Taking a step back from the particulars of the incident, Mark Trueblood wondered if a man strike might help to put things right once again:
I’m pretty sure Amnesty International doesn’t exactly endorse this sort of “human rights” activism.
yeahright do you know what the word autistic means?, Because while the rest of your comment was just stupid that was completely out of place.
Shorter yeahright – Wah!
When, from her blog posts, this was more than just “heehee, dongle”. The whole Rebecca Watson thing – I’ve been following it since the beginning and it’s just disgusting.
JohnH – I think the troll was trying to call us autistic? Because we notice and care about the feelings of others? Usually they go for “overemotional”.
Abi, she did not get him fired. His employer chose to fire him. You might take note of the fact that the other guy, who was employed by the same company, still has his job.
That’s strange. That either implies that the forking joke was over the line but the dongle one wasn’t (or was it the other way around?), or that something else is going on here.
Obviously, I have no proof, but it’s likely that the guy who got fired had other strikes against him, because who fires someone for being a dipshit at a con ? (My techie husband assures me they are full of drunk idiots) (and/or the guy who didn’t get fired had some pull with upper management).
I can’t find the link now, but in the huge Pharyngula thread about this issue, someone linked to the company stating that they fired their employee for “multiple reasons,” which to me indicates as lumi suggests above — that particular guy already had strikes against him.
My two cents! Yay! This was a professional conference, correct? So two men, at said conference, decided to act like no-manners, low class, crass white trash jerks…and it’s the woman’s fault, one woman. These individuals, I’m guessing, were all chosen to represent their companies at this conference. The men were, in hindsight, chosen poorly. None of them deserved to be fired. Warned, yes, but fired? Now the companies look like douchebags, yes? Would I have reacted differently from the female? Probably. I was also raised to just ignore such crap, roll my eyes and move on. And later, during drinks, maybe join in with the white trash talk. It doesn’t matter what anyone wants to call this (sexist vs sexism I think is what Thomas tried to say) to me. It’s unprofessional. Period. Even during drinks.
Thomas, I’m a troll of sorts here. The rules have been explained multiple times by David and the commenters: they mock misogyny (sp?)/jackass behavior & thoughts/what they don’t agree with. It’s David’s site and he can do what he wants. I don’t agree with everything said here or every opinion etc. Knowing this I can decide to read, maybe see situations from others’ POV, maybe learn something about myself and learn to respect the opinions of others. Or I can take my ball and go. Simple, really. It’s been a test of patience some rare days but mostly not. (It sure beats the MRA bullshit) There are problems out there that I either don’t have names for or have different words for or worse, I was raised to see this as “normal” and don’t see a problem with it (?!wtf). Doesn’t change the fact that there are problems. The commenters here have insight that I don’t. I don’t always want my back patted with “oh, you’re so right!”. I’d rather speak my thoughts as they are and get feedback. I don’t have to believe or change my opinions. I just have to be willing to listen.
Thanks for the cute vids. I’m going to take the risk and request notify of comments. Hoping I don’t see 800 or more. That was a hellofashock and a bitch to delete.
Off-topic: Does anyone else melt down when they can’t remember where they put their glasses? My vision isn’t even that bad, but I am not going to be comfortable until I find them.
lumi – yeah, I do. And I’ve several pairs, so it’s not like I’m going to be stuck if I can’t find a particular one!
Tina – I’ve never seen you as a troll.
Let’s go ahead and stipulate for the sake of the argument that the jokes these two were making were horribly, horribly offensive, even though they weren’t. It’s times like these when we need to recall the wisdom of Fran: “Being offended is the natural consequence of leaving one’s home. I do not like after shave lotion, adults who roller skate, children who speak French, or anyone who is unduly tan. I do not, however, go around enacting legislation and putting up signs.” It’s pretty simple really: can’t handle being offended? Stay home. The world does not owe you a life free of friction. At the same time, sure, the same principle applies if you want to screech and post up on twitter how terribly offensive these two guys are who are joking between themselves: certainly, you’re free to do so. But don’t expect reasonable people to think that somehow there is an equivalence between two guys making somewhat off color jokes and someone then engaging in an effort in widespread social humiliation to quiet them down. The former are, at worst, mildly disruptive. The latter is, at least, a quasi authoritarian/fascist. This woman has an authoritarian/fascist personality, auite clearly.
“Good people of ManBoobz” makes us sound like our own country or something. And I am totally okay with this 😀
You gotta love the reasoning behind this whole thing.
Two guys make public comments that are unprofessional, disgusting, and make people feel extremely uncomfortable: “FREE SPEECH! Why is anyone even paying attention to what these guys were saying? They’re allowed to talk, and if anyone’s hurt by their comments, too bad.”
One woman publicly comments on what aforementioned guys said: “HOW DARE YOU?! Don’t you know your words can have consequences?!”
Also, who else thinks Adria would be getting the exact same treatment if absolutely nothing had happened to the guys?
Thanks, Kitteh.
lumi: yeah, keys glasses checkbook important paperwork insurance cards. If I don’t have a designated, constantly used basket/folder/drawer for important stuff and I leave my keys in my purse or coat pocket/my glasses in the basement/by the computer/my wedding rings on the dresser…I am not a happy camper.
Did you not notice that she filed the complaint as sexual harassment?
What did you think his employer was going to do?
faith in humanity still falling…
sigh, more ableism. I hope somebody linked this guy to the last thread we were talking about it, I don’t feel the need to repeat myself.
@hellkell
enjoy your time off, and internet hugs from me if you want them.
I’d like to know this one too. All the shit she’s had thrown at her…I’d like to do something. Gah. idk what though
ten dollars says he actually hasn’t been reading it for a while. Nice* to see one of those ‘prove me wrong’ trolls. Sorry bub, but you don’t get to tell us how to react to your ableism, especially when some of the comenters here may be ‘crazies’.
*I lied. It’s not nice.
ow. ow. ow. I facepalmed so hard it hurt.
@Podkayne
ew. Sorry you have to meet those disgusting assholes. Also, cue my reaction: so if men can’t/won’t control themselves, are you suggesting we lock them all up?
@nopestories
Seriously, trolls. We just had the ableism talk. At least chose a new shit spouting point. You guys are boring, and totally unoriginal.
Dang, I’ve been calling you Argenit Aertheri this whole time 😉 So…hehe…hopefully I’m not bugging you. Though I’ll switch if you so desire. 🙂
@yeahright
yeah, I was really impressed with his ableism /sarcasm. Oh, and yours. I somehow missed that first time reading your comment.
@abi
but…he was acting that way on his job. It actually was what he was doing on it. Like, seriously? Idk if firing him was ‘over reacting’ but she basically tweeted about what he was doing at work
@lumi
If I need to go somewhere. If I’m sitting at my computer/drawing I don’t really need them. But I need them for going outside. My visions pretty bad though 😉 I don’t remember what order the numbers go, but with my left eye what someone with good eyes can see at 50 feet I see at 20, and w/ my right what good eyes see at 200 feet I see at 20. 😛 So not very good.
Huh. My comment is on moderation and I have not the faintest idea why. Ohwell, trust me, I actually responded to what people said, but it’s stuck 😛
Nvm, quoted someone w/ slurs. Now I realize. Sorry for spamming here…
Completely ot : I’m at the hospital with a very suicidal friend. My heart hurts.
Oh WeeBoy, I’m so sorry to hear that.
Internet hugs and metaphorical baked goods for you and your friend.
@weeboy
Gah. I’m sorry. Internet hugs for you and your friend if you want them.
How’s it going, David?
I’m really interested to know your reaction to this blog from a woman working in tech. –
http://darkedragonfly.com/knee-jerk-reaction/
She’s expressing concern about the same thing I’m speculating about. That is, men feeling it’s not safe or proper to socialize with women anymore. I was clearly not advocating this eventuality as activism, I was offering it as a thought experiment.
I’m sure you’ll find some novel ways to spin my words and incite selective outrage for lulz, but I have wonderful male and female friends and collaborators. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Abi: She did get him fired, the same way emailing a video of him being drunk and rowdy to his boss might have got him fired, even though it would be unrelated to his actual job.
No. She didn’t. She didn’t send it to his boss. She talked about it with someone else. And someone else took it to his boss. His boss chose to fire him. You are, in effect, saying she has no right to talk about things which bother her; because someone else must suffer. So she must suffer in silence, even if that means others too must suffer, so that the person making her suffer is free of repercussion.
Now, Anonymous did get her fired. They specifically attacked her company to make that happen. I don’t see you declaiming they were wrong.
Some sense of justice there.
Tina: I don’t think any of us is in accord with everyone here all the time. I know that I’m not. As you say what makes the difference between “troll” and not, is attitude. Trolls don’t accept that anyone else might be right.
WeeBoy, hugs.