Hacker News Reader

Comment by jerrya | Hacker News Reader

If it happens to be a result of evolution, and I am not biologist, but if there are biological, evolutionary reasons for it, either because it helped program babies nursing, or because it was a replacement signal for buttocks when humans began to walk on two feet, then why call it the act of staring at breasts sexist?

It would be like saying a buffer overflow is sexist, or ctrl-alt-delete is sexist.

And calling the act sexist would serve to shame an activity that we all engage in due to primary biological programming.

Compare it to the discouragement we have to "slut shaming". If tit staring is basic human programming, something wired in to our brains, what are the benefits of shaming that activity? And if it is just an neurological tick we all have, is it accurate to call it a sexist behavior that presumably men and women can be weaned off of?

View on HN

We are not evolutionary automatons, we can override our programming at will. If something that served an evolutionary purpose a million years ago is no longer an appropriate behavior in our complex, modern society, then we simple don't do it any more.

I occasionally feel compelled to beat the living shit out of someone. This is probably an evolutionary impulse. Those who cross me in the jungle must be eliminated before they eliminate me, etc. But do I go around beating the hell out of people? Not a chance, absolutely never. Why? Because I don't want to live in a society where people solve differences with violence, and I don't feel violence on my part is necessary.

That being said, I definitely "notice" attractive individuals of the opposite sex. I don't harass, stalk, or assault them in any way, but I do notice them. I don't believe this is sexist. However, going up on a stage in front of people and making a joke about "staring at tits" might very well be construed as sexist because it goes well beyond the act of "noticing", and involves a mixed audience who may not all appreciate the concept.

I haven't said anything about whether the demo was appropriate or not. Just the behavior.

If it's an unconscious tick over and done with, much like a blink of an eye than it's not comparable to your beating someone up which would take this hypothetical compulsion of yours and render it into an act spanning minutes.

"We are not evolutionary automatons, we can override our programming at will."

Let me know how successful you are to not blinking, or not having goosebumps, or not feeling ticklish, not having a reflex, not being averse to certain odors, ...

As I said, there is nothing offensive about noticing an attractive woman, I even admitted to doing it myself. But that doesn't, in any way, excuse the behaviour that motivated this discussion. That's my point. Even your bringing it up just distracts from the real issues, which are sexism, acceptance of potentially offensive actions, and the casual attitude with which those things are treated.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com