Interesting reactions. While everything everyone said is intelligent and I generally agree with it, I think some people are taking this way too seriously. Yes, this implies only men do startups, which is totally untrue. Yes, this implies all smart men are datable, which is untrue. Yes, it implies several things that are untrue, and hopefully we're all smart enough to know that those things are untrue. <div>
<br></div><div>To me this is the standard "nerds can't get girls" joke, and I think its an amusing and implementation. Especially since I follow the startup scene and read about Y-Combinator every day. I also think its completely harmless.</div>
<div><br></div><div>All the arguments against it are arguments against politically incorrect humor as a whole, and I disagree with the idea that every joke has to be respectful of everybody. We need to be able to say things we think are funny without having to make sure that every part of their content and everything their content implies is completely factually accurate and fair. That would be terrible. We need to be able to ignore some of the facts of a situation and just laugh at it. I think that is a really important core human need.</div>
<div><br></div><div>That doesn't mean I think ignoring womens/mens/blacks/whites/etc's rights is okay, I just think we need to hold our culture to a higher standard. We shouldn't expect people's thoughts to be binary and unchanging. We should expect people to be smart enough to know when something is a joke and when it isn't. I understand that that's expecting a lot. People are bad at filtering everything out, and there is some risk that it will get to their head. But when it comes time to make real decisions, they should know what thoughts are theirs and how they truly feel about something. I tell rape jokes all the time (yes, you hate me now if you didn't already), but I also fight strongly for women's rights and equality. I think rape is a terrible terrible thing and its pervasiveness is completely unacceptable. But I still appreciate ignoring all that stuff and just joking about it. Louis CK tells a joke about raping Hitler that's hilarious. I joke a lot about racism, but only because I think racism is so completely dumb that the people who still are racist just seem comically out of touch to me (though the way they behave obviously isn't comical).</div>
<div><br></div><div>My point is, I don't want to live in a society where you can't tell a harmless "nerds can't get girls joke" without being accused of perpetuating our rape culture and objectifying women. Those issues are incredibly important, but finding them in a harmless joke like this, in my opinion, is taking things way too far. (Its also probably an ineffective way of getting your message out)</div>
<div><br></div><div><Steals flame suit from interpetive arson></div><div>-Taylor</div><div><br></div><div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 10:32 AM, Ken Adler <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ken.adler@gmail.com">ken.adler@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">I wonder how long that picture on the home page stays there. Anyone want to start a betting pool?<div><br></div><div>
I know one of the guys in the picture and gave him the heads up about the site. He (a) was not aware of the site,and (b) was "not amused" that his picture was being used without his permission.. especially in this context.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Ken<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 9:46 AM, Tom Cauchois <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:tcauchois@gmail.com" target="_blank">tcauchois@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
This is an example of something that's hard to pick up on for guys who have never really thought about it, because I don't think it's trying to be offensive. It's just trying to make fun of startup founders.<div>
<br></div><div>The part that makes it obvious, and the part that really annoys me, is again "all startup founders are guys and we need to get them dates through the internet". That's a denial of the great women in tech and a discouragement for more women to enter tech. Maybe low impact because it's a joke site, but it's also the pervasive thinking, which sucks because a gender balanced tech workforce would be sweet.</div>
<div><br></div><div>It also implies these guys are dateable, in spite of "The Social Network".</div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div></div><div>On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 3:03 AM, Christie Dudley <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:longobord@gmail.com" target="_blank">longobord@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
</div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div></div><div><div><div><div><div>On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 12:10 AM, Griffin Boyce <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:griffinboyce@gmail.com" target="_blank">griffinboyce@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:</div>
</div><div><div class="gmail_quote"><div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div>I would think in this case that the guys would be the "commodity" since they are the ones vying for the affection of those who are considered to be socially-superior.</div></blockquote><div> </div></div><div>
uh... no, not really. When you seek money for your startup, it's the money that's the commodity, not the unique original idea that you have. Last I checked, the whole point of money is that it's a commodity.<div>
<div><br></div><div>I found the whole thing more sad than funny. It seemed a lame attempt at humor, relying on stereotypes (thus reinforcing them) to make a joke that at best was really childish, like laughing at a disabled kid for not being able to play ball like normal kids. Not only do I agree with Liz about the assumption that it's only men doing startups, but entirely found the treatment of women on that site uncomfortable. Although I suspect they meant it to be creepy, it is neither truly over the top, nor not-creepy, thus failing on either side. </div>
<div><br></div><div>They might have been able to pull it out with interesting embellishment or even meaningful credibility, but failed there, too. I mean seriously, no feedback form? Just an email address? You never got to know anything about the girls, not even how they select them. They could have taken that humorously quite a long ways, potentially making the women seem even *gasp* desirable in any way at all other than "lovely young". But by that omission, they so thoroughly commoditize the women, they assure that it falls flat. (They seriously would do better with cattle!)</div>
<div></div></div></div><div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div></div><div>To me at least, it's coded as access to romance and basic human affection, which (again in my experience) isn't limited to "access to a vagina." In fact, it's incredibly insulting that it's so frequently assumed that "all men want" is sexual interaction. And yes, I've met (and frequently dated!) men who were exceedingly polite and respectful, but were too shy in most circumstances to make a good first impression. The same goes for women, come to think of it. Something like this could be a good way to meet people for all genders and sexualities. </div>
</blockquote><div><br></div></div><div>Oh, and I guess you missed the FAQ where they tell you they don't offer boys to date. "Our model works best." was their response. It makes </div>
<div><br></div><div>I think the biggest reason the joke here falls flat is because it's not even outrageous enough that it's clear to people who read it through that it's a joke. Or maybe that's the joke?</div>
<div><br></div><div>Christie<br clear="all">_______<br><font face="sans-serif"><span style="line-height:19px"><div>I'm the kind of person who finds and makes choices where there appear to be none.</div>
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