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Comment by taskstrike | Hacker News Reader

I could be totally wrong. Perhaps what the author assumes is an assumption of incompetence based on sexism is actually additional attention due to attraction.

If I was a PR guy hanging out all day with guys playing games in a booth near me, and a girl showed up, the thought of "offering advice" to her would seem appealing.

Just applying simple human logic here.

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"offering advice" is different than removing her from play and taking over. If someone bumped you off a game and took over treating you like an invalid how happy would you be. Poor tactic even for flirting. And it's a business conference showing off wares, poor and inappropriate time for flirting too.

just no

I'm not sure PR guys at a gaming conference are Don Juans. He might be going for this: http://www.masterfile.com/stock-photography/image/400-047792...

Yes, theoretically they should all act professionally and give reporters equal attention regardless of gender. But I find that in reality human nature dictates behavior more than guidelines.

Which is why we need to be aware of human nature and override it with basic decency.

If a woman is there to play a game and I take the opportunity to hit on her, I'm failing to do my job (which is definitely not to hit on chicks) and I'm treating her like a sex object instead of a fellow professional. Professional spaces demand professional behavior: it is part of being an employed adult.

Human society dictates that in a professional atmosphere, people should be trying their best to maintain their professionalism, not win brownie points with the cute girls.

So the PR guy isn't sexist for assuming a woman is incompetent and can't understand video games, but is sexist because women at a gaming conference are conquests and not professionals. That totally makes it OK.

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