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Comment by etchalon | Hacker News Reader

So I just bought one, but am now regretting it.

You need to make it clear "Girls Who Code" has nothing to do with this shirt.

"We intend to give the money to Girls Who Code. In the event that they do not accept the money we'll look for another charity that supports women in tech."

While I firmly stand on the side of the poor bastard who got fired for making a simple joke, I find it distasteful that a bunch of guys would design a shirt making fun of the situation and then donate the money the a charity that "supports women in tech."

If Girls Who Code actually made the design, it'd be different.

Instead, this feels mean-spirited.

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I don't understand why you find that distasteful? I've spent way more time than I should have following many, many conversations about this insanity. When you filter out the crazies on either side, it seems that most rational people have decided that it's ok to make fun of things, even if your joke isn't for everyone.

I think it's unfortunate that you're saying that a man or group of men shouldn't be able to raise money for a group aimed at getting more women into technology. They're more than likely not using it as a cover for their bro-vinistic villainy.

I personally think the more people we can get to make fun of all of this stuff, the better off we'll all be. Fun, it's what makes life worth living.

Because a woman got fired because she got a guy fired for making a completely innocent joke and then a bunch of guys all started harassing that woman on the internet to the point where I had to kinda feel bad for her even though she was entirely in the wrong and I was glad she got fired.

So a bunch of guys then making fun of the whole thing with a shirt seems mean-spirited. Like, your gender won (well, common sense won, but) let it go.

> Because a woman got fired because she got a guy fired

She got fired because she showed the whole world (and by whole world, I of course refer to the ridiculous tech circus that cares about this at all) that she it exceptionally bad at exactly what she is payed to do, which is to maintain a healthy relationship with the developer community of her employer.

> So a bunch of guys then making fun of the whole thing with a shirt seems mean-spirited. Like, your gender won (well, common sense won, but) let it go.

Except both genders lost. Having a laugh with the t-shirt is the consolation prize.

I'm sorry you feel that way. There was really no intention to be mean spirited. As a software engineer myself I definitely want to see more women in tech. I've seen a lot of interest in the donglegate story over the last couple of days and just saw an opportunity to shift focus onto a worthwhile cause.

Yeah, I get that, and I don't think it was actually mean spirited, just feels that way.

"Male geeks are sad, fragile virgins." Hey! I'm sorry if that made you feel uncomfortable. There was no intention to be mean spirited!

I'm a male geek, and was a virgin too once, I'd buy that shirt just because it makes me laugh.

People need to lighten up a little and not read so much into everything overall.

Didn't make me feel uncomfortable in the slightest.

Karen, the designer of the shirt, is a girl https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5421513

Karen Cheng appears to be a woman. Or are you using 'guys' in the gender-neutral sense?

I was sort of using it in the "As best I can tell, all these people are dudes", sense. Like, Finbarr is a dude. If there's a girl involved, maybe that's less terrible.

And yes, I realize how ridiculous that is, but that's just kinda how these things work.

> And yes, I realize how ridiculous that is, but that's just kinda how these things work.

Maybe they work that way in the common view of things, but if you think it's ridiculous, then why do you think it? You get to decide.

I think that way for the same reason most people think that way: It's OK for the oppressed to mock the powerful, but dickish when it's the other way around.

Being part of a group that is, statistically and on the whole, more powerful does not necessarily make an individual more powerful. Contrariwise, being part of a group that is, statistically and on the whole, less powerful does not make an individual less powerful. I'd say that being able to influence firing decisions with a Tweet is pretty damned powerful.

If you stop thinking of the world as a giant game of Boys vs Girls, it might start making more sense to you.

I don't think I implied that's how I saw the world? We're talking specifically about a situation that was (very literally) girl vs boys.

I think it can still be terrible, even if women are doing it. Women do all kinds of terrible things.

It has her name at the bottom right alongside Finbarr's.

>Like, Finbarr is a dude. If there's a girl involved, maybe that's less terrible.

That's pretty damn sexist.

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