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Comment by mistercow | Hacker News Reader

I don't think the majority explicitly thinks like that. Probably, if you asked them why they upvoted, their post hoc justification would be about how not-sexist they were. They'd be proud of it.

But the post hoc justifications people come up with when they actually think about their motivations are very often not the original reasons for their actions, especially when the original reasons are not admirable.

Don't get me wrong here - I don't think that men should feel guilty about their gut reactions to stories like this. If the "female nerds are popular on the internet because they fuel male nerd-girl fantasies" problem is one that needs to be addressed, I have no idea of how to address it. I just think we should recognize that that's what's happening instead of congratulating ourselves on being so modern.

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My deleted comment was "I don't think the majority thinks like that" , which i deleted because i don't have data to back it up.

But after reading your reply, what the hell dude/gal? Can't it be that people upvoted the article because sexy subject+technology is double win? Can't it be because i am actually jealous i haven't hacked my penis yet? And i'm not even a Feminist. Now your theory about guilt and nerdgirl fantasies... i think you 're really reaching there

>Can't it be that people upvoted the article because sexy subject+technology is double win? Can't it be because i am actually jealous i haven't hacked my penis yet?

Yeah, it can be. I just doubt that it is. Sure, that may be the case for some people, but I'm talking about majority behavior, not universal behavior.

>And i'm not even a feminist.

That is apparent.

>Now your theory about guilt and nerdgirl fantasies... i think you 're really reaching there

Go to reddit and look at posts that fulfill the nerd-girl archetype. Now read the sleazy comments. We don't have those here, but that's because we have strong standards as a community for what is acceptable to say in comment threads, not because there aren't a lot of people here who would post those comments in the absence of those standards.

You have absolutely zero evidence or basis for your assumption. The truth is that nobody has any idea what people's motivations were for upvoting it, but it deserved to be upvoted. The only person who has made this conversation sexist is you and those who brought the topic up.

I have plenty of evidence and basis in experience, and anyone can see exactly what I mean by following what I mentioned above.

>The only person who has made this conversation sexist is you and those who brought the topic up.

Ah yes, the same thing that anyone steeped in unchecked privilege says when they've got nothing left to argue. Black people are racist for complaining about discrimination, feminists are sexist for pointing out objectification, blah blah blah. Bored now.

For that argument to work, there needs to be sexism to point out, but all you have is conjecture.

Ah yes, pre emptively insulting anyone that disagrees with you. A fine debate tactic if there ever was one.

Look, we really really don't need every single Goddamn topic that involves females to turn into an ultrafeminist soapbox. At the very least it seems to attract a certain amount of crazy negativity (see SRS on Reddit), at best it's highly offtopic. This is Hacker News, not Feminist News.

Here you're judged by the coolness of what you do, not your gender.

"Unchecked privilege" isn't an insult.

Speak for yourself.

The juxtaposition of

> unchecked privilege

and

> says when they've got nothing left to argue

so ironic.

The problem with your argument at the bottom is that black people actually are at a disadvantage because of discrimination. Whereas society treats men poorly in some areas and women poorly in others.

> That is apparent.

I needn't continue this thread but how is this apparent? Are my comments sexist or sth? If anything, you are the one who sees a sexist angle in an article that doesn't have any. Does it mean you 're more sensitive to these issues - no, perhaps you feel you have to overcompensate for something even in a neutral environment.

This isn't reddit.

Your presumption that it is is sexist in and of itself, how is that not apparent at this point? Your projecting, plain and simple.

> And i'm not even a Feminist.

Careful with this: A number of people think that 'feminist' means 'in favor of gender equality', so if you distance yourself from any kind of feminism you're painted as being against gender equality. Also, in their minds no form of feminism is possibly counter to gender equality, even the feminists who think less of women who want to be housewives.

Wow, what a round about way to attack feminism. You have a chip on your shoulder up and down this thread. It's good that you can manage to dismiss it and feel superior about it and pretend you're the moral superiority and champion of gender equality.

I am in favor of gender equality. Whatever you're getting out of my posts is your own problem.

Indeed i meant i m not an female rights activist; i m all for gender equality.

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