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I don't get why this is made to be a big deal. Gender or race shouldn't matter in choice of speakers, it should be their talent, track record, relevance of their work etc. What woman would want to be invited to speak if they knew it was because the organizers want to be representative of both sexes.

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There is this perverse notion that there is something like "fair discrimination". As a South African this is something I've been forced to accept. Actually what it does is breed extreme discontent and disillusionment in those on the opposite side of the fence. No amount of rationalization can make this palatable. They even do it in sports. What this does is discredit people because everyone is thinking "Oh look, a quota player" and any actual merit this person might have possessed is discredited because of the bias in the selection process.

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