[Noisebridge-discuss] XY Combinator

[Christie Dudley]

On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 12:10 AM, Griffin Boyce <griffinboyce at gmail.com>wrote:

> 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.
>

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.

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.

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!)


> 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.
>

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

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?

Christie
_______
I'm the kind of person who finds and makes choices where there appear to be
none.
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