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Comment by vectorpush | Hacker News Reader

it doesn't matter what someone said before or after they sexualized someone in a professional context.

Why is the offensive part the only part that matters? It doesn't matter to you because you're not the one being denounced as sexist, but when it comes time to convict someone in the court of public opinion, it is important to give a comprehensive account of the events in question. This guy made some stupid and sexist comments, but the first half of his introduction mitigates the idea that he is blind to Lovell's accomplishments and only sees her as a sex object. No two ways about it - the comments were sexist and wrong - but the full context speaks to this guy's general regard for women (poor, but not vindictive, predatory or misogynistic).

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If we are talking about whether or not sexism occurred, then it does not in fact matter what someone said before or after they said something sexist.

I'm not trying to convict anyone - in another comment I note that these situations are often unclear, and many very well-intentioned people may not even realize they are harming or undermining someone (and they probably think highly of that person, too!). To be honest, my primary impetus was to explain why a comment like this is actually sexist (there seemed to be some disagreement on that part) and why it is harmful. It's not always intuitive, since we often describe our friends as "attractive" or "sexy" without a second thought in a friendly/social context.

I'm not trying to say that the introducer was sexist - the behavior was.

Edit: From the downvotes, it seems that there is disagreement here - which part do people take issue with?

If we are talking about whether or not sexism occurred, then it does not in fact matter what someone said before or after they said something sexist.

It does not matter with regard to the assessment of his remarks as sexist, but it does matter with regard to his perceived attitude towards women and how that perception will impact his reputation. The author was right to call this guy out for his sexist comments, but it was not right for him to omit 50% of the transcript that shows this guy is actually a human being and not the paragon of male sexism and misogyny.

In short: Context. You might want to pretend it doesn't matter, but it does.

Sheesh. You'd think coders (of which we have many here) would understand the importance of context! ;)

I thought this discussion was about sexism in tech - what kind of comments are sexist and why that matters - not about convicting or even trying a particular individual in the court of public opinion.

Of course it matters to his reputation, but by definition if we're talking about the larger question of sexism in the industry, it doesn't seem relevant to me. In fact, I think it serves to excuse or ignore the question of sexism that was raised.

>Why is the offensive part the only part that matters?

How do you think the other women now feel? The ones who didn't get a generous helping of compliments? Women in that professional setting also have to consider if they fall in this sexy category which only applies to them. And for what? Some pointless filler? His intent is completely irrelevant.

You seem to be under the impression that the compliment offsets the objectification, as if it's some balance sheet.

When you start talking about women's bodies in a public setting you've now made their bodies part of the dialogue. This is something men can be completely blind to. It doesn't make those men bad people, but it does mean they should expend some more energy on empathy for others in the environment.

If someone leaves his browser open to furry porn (anthropomorphic animals), but only does this once, does your opinion of him go back to normal once he closes the page?

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